Foolish Shepherds? Zechariah 11: A Warning to the SBC?

Foolish Shepherds? Zechariah 11: A Warning to the SBC?
Monday, June 7, 2021 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Zechariah 11, is not exactly a go-to passage, is it? But that passage has been on my mind a great deal of late. While the chapter deals prophetically with what would happen to the religious leaders and the nation in general after their rejection and crucifixion of Christ, the passage also goes into detail about the foolish shepherds, and God’s subsequent judgment of them.

Two passages concern us:

Zechariah 11:4–5: “Thus says the LORD my God, ‘Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them.” (NAU)

Zechariah 11:15–17: “The LORD said to me, ‘Take again for yourself the equipment of a 1afoolish shepherd. For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs. Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered And his right eye will be blind.” (NAU)

The false teachers, or shepherds if you will, who proclaim the lie of the “health and wealth” gospel immediately come to mind. One thinks of those who live in luxury by financially abusing their flock, all the while proclaiming that God has made them rich. Various cult group leaders also come to mind.

But, what about us? What about SBC leadership? How does one react to uncalled for bonuses, inexplicable “golden parachutes,” leadership’s filing of lawsuits, and even submitting falsified law briefs? That sounds dangerously close to what God describes in verses 4–5, doesn’t it? How is that not an abuse of the flock? Worse, much of what is being done, is done behind closed doors, without true oversight or accountability.

Where it gets scary is God’s subsequent judgment of the foolish shepherd. First, verses 15–17 describe the exact opposite of how a true shepherd behaves. The shepherd does not care for the perishing, does not seek the lost, or heal the broken. The shepherd devours the healthy sheep, going so far as to even tear their hooves apart.

Second, what does God do to that shepherd? God both blinds one of his eyes and withers one of his arms. As the shepherd had not cared for the sheep when he could, God sends a judgment that makes caring for the sheep impossible. Think of a shepherd in ancient times, the equipment a shepherd needed, and how he watched over the flock. Without proper eyesight, the shepherd could not identify the precise location of a moving predator (with only one eye he would not have proper depth perception). With the use of only one arm, he could not defend the flock, or even himself. What he had willfully chosen to do—not care for the flock—God’s judgment made permanent. To me, for us today, that is a warning it would be wise to heed. If the status quo remains in place, we may well be inviting God’s judgment against us, and the SBC could find itself in the dustbin of history.

God makes it clear that what is hidden will be made known (Matthew 10:26; Luke 12:2), and it would be far better for us to clean our own house rather than have God serve us a foreclosure notice, and have it turned over to others.

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