verse 6 – the Lord will bring many Jewish people back to Israel – Ez 36:24

verse 7 – the Lord will strengthen Israel, and joy will return to their hearts

vs8-10 – the whistle gets people’s attention –  and can gather them together

verse 9 –  the Lord dispersed the Jewish people among the nations, and now He gathers them together

verse 11 – there will be miraculous events to help bring Israel back home

verse 12 – The Lord brings Israel to their land, defeats their enemies, and they will be able to walk in liberty and freedom

             ZECHARIAH 11

verse 1 – fire comes into the temple

1. God is a consuming fire – Heb 12:29

-open up the door and let the fire of God in – Rev 3:20

-the Holy Spirit and fire need to enter into the house of the Lord also – Acts 2

2. The Lord lit a fire in you the day you were saved – Lev 9:23-24

3. Keep the fire burning – Lev 6:9-13

-This is daily and each believer’s responsibility

-feed yourself

4. Strange Fire came into the temple – Leviticus 10:1

-this is fire that is not from the Lord…unauthorized…improper

-so the fire of God in Zechariah 11:1 is the fire of God’s judgment

     Zechariah 11

Verse 1 – The leaders of Israel move away from the Lord

-The result of this is the Romans destroying the temple & Jerusalem in 70AD

       —Matthew 24:1-2

Verse 2 – because of the temple being burned down, everyone is crying for different reasons

Wail o Cypress – a common tree, and refers to the common people

Glorious trees are the leaders of Israel

Wail Oaks of Bashen – crying because of a loss of their position

-The impenetrable forest refers to Jerusalem, which will also be destroyed

verse 3 – Wailing Shepherds – glory is ruined – they did not care about the people because it was all about them.  They lost their benefits & positions

Roaring lions – the political leaders.  Temple taxes were gone now so their perks and financial blessings were gone

The temple and city of Jerusalem were destroyed because the leaders & politicians of Israel closed the door of the  – this means to turn away from the Lord and neglect His Word

verse 4 – Prepare the people for hard times – 2 Timothy 3:1-5

-slaughter – refers to going through hard times

-Jesus and His Word will get you through hard times

vs5-7 – Jesus is the Great Shepherd – v7

-if the earthly shepherds do not feed the flock, then He will (the Incarnation)

-Jesus was called teacher more than any other title in the scriptures (Jn 3:1-2)

-the Lord will feed the poor of the flock – those who are hungry for Him

WE NEED THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE IT NEVER RETURNS VOID……..Isaiah 55:11 – it is always working, moving, healing, and helping…

v8 – The Lord will remove bad and false teachers

v9 – They rejected the Lord’s way, and they will fight each other

verse 10 – they rejected the ways of God, and the Lord broke the staff, which means the favor of God was lifted off of them

verse 11 – the poor, the hungry for Jesus, understood what was happening and knew it was the Lord’s will.