Please turn to Zechariah 11, we are going to read the prophecy of verses 4- 14
Zec 11:4-14 4 Thus says the LORD my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 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. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD; “but behold, I will cause the men to fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will strike the land, and I will not deliver them from their power.”
7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD. 12 I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
So here we are with the next few prophecies on our list found in Zec.
/4. The price of His betrayal was also foretold by Zechariah.
Prophesied: ZEC 11:12
Fulfilled: MAT 26:15 \
/Zec 11:12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give {me} my wages; but if not, never mind!” So, they weighed out thirty {shekels} of silver as my wages.\
/
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Now the value of a shekel:
The new shekel in Israel right now is worth about .41 US dollars so that would mean about 30 shekels would be close to $12-15 dollars… wow, doesn’t seem like much.
But we must take it for when the Scripture was written and in the times of Christ being betrayed.
During this time, 1st century, it was said to be fragments of silver. So, not like today, when we have 1 troy oz coins or even fractional coins (those that collect precious metals).
/The Shekel in weight and value, is important for us to understand that Christ was sold out for a “robbers price”.\
What do I mean by robbers’ price? They would take what they could get, even if it was a nominal value. Usually, they would bargain or haggle when they would pawn-off the stolen goods, or in this case the betrayal of Judas giving up Jesus Christ.
Interesting look at this,
/Mat 26:55a “ At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? \
just another facet of Scripture, Our Lord questioning the mob, in front of Judas and referencing a robber, thief’s which leads to the price paid.
We see that the shekel, as recorded by the Jewish historian Josephus, was use for the payment of the Temple tax.
/½ shekel annually tax paid for the upkeep and maintenance for the Temple\
and was common, in 1st century.
Now this is the same type of coin that Peter found in the fish’s mouth of Mat 17:24 -27. And it is where we confirm this fact.
[Hold your place in Zec 11]
Let us turn there and read. Mat 17:24-27.
/Mat 17:24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?” ( 2 drachma = ½ shekel)\
25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” 26 When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. 27 However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up;
/ Mat 17:27b ;and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”\
This same /Shekel payment was said to be a slave’s wage; for unskilled labor.\
Now that is important as we will see in just a moment.
We are to understand this was not too much money, due to the fact that the religious leaders, could collect even the small amount that the slave or poor man had, they could still hopefully pay the amounted Temple Tax. This is not the ROMAN TAX, which was much more…very unfair, aka – Boston Tea Party, etc.
With all this in mind we come to the conclusion that
/ The 30 pieces or shekels of silver are approx. 12 – 15 oz of silver or worth today about 300 dollars. \ that would be the wt. price.
Now just remember that may have seemed more valued at that time, which became a sure baiting that Judas would take when we see the fulfillment. (sadly, the religious leaders would say to Judas “I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse!” – Godfather style)
But let’s go back and see the Prophecy in Zechariah 11:4-14
/Zec 11:12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give {me} my wages; but if not, never mind!” So, they weighed out thirty {shekels} of silver as my wages.\
/ In the prophecy of Zechariah 11, Zechariah was to be Shepherding (doomed) flock of Israel. (v4)\
He is giving them the opportunity to do the right thing and pay Him for shepherding the flock, looking to be PAID$$$.
What is the cost, well we just covered that,
30 shekels of silver but again see here what the Lord states earlier in Zec 11:4 for
/Zec 11:4 Thus says the Lord my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.”\
/Reference – God knew that His people would reject the Messiah and were facing doom to the point of slaughter – betrayal.\
They were turning their back on God, an obstinate kind of people.
But out of mercy God provided for them, they did not want to hear or accept the Shepherd God sent them – due to Negative volition!
/Zechariah, and also Haggai, were sent to stir up the nation\ get this – that let the foundation of the Temple construction to lay there for 16 years.
/The so-called leaders were not doing their job, not truly shepherding over them,\
but they did the opposite by oppressing them and just collecting without shepherding, even though at that time the land remain polluted from their former sins and was not producing. Such was not good for fruit or crop.
In verse 8, Zec 11:8 says
/Zec 11:8 Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me \
Not positive on this but this could refer, by my study, to 3 types of shepherds, three individuals or what the 3 offices these leaders held: prophet, priest, king.
Look at what the prophet Jeremiah says, another interesting verse that has these 2 prophecies in mind.
/Jer 2:26 “As the thief is shamed when he is discovered, So the house of Israel is shamed;
They, their kings, their princes
And their priests and their prophets,\
Which also represents titles and functions of:
/Our Lord Jesus Christ – Prophet, High Priest, KING!\
So, here in Zechariah 8 we see he got rid of those positions.
And this adds to of much turmoil was seen during the 400-500 years following of silence for the nation of Israel, and more rejection of them as a people-nation took place; leading up to the night of the betrayal.
/ Problem = They became familiar with the Word of God. Result = God went silent! \
Please do not ever fall into that folly, Royal Family. When you can sanctify your time with Him and dig in the Scripture, take advantage of your opportunity, don’t let God’s Word ever become dull.
/The Words and principles of Scripture should jump off the pages, being FULL of Spirit & Truth – Living water for your souls.\
The flock or nation, even though they got the Temple complete and operating, would not receive Zechariah as her shepherd. There was a remnant, some that responded, but the majority did not. As we read in Zec chapter 11.
However, the point we need to make:
/As a shepherd, Zechariah was entitled to ask for his wages or pay\
– from the religious leaders and guess what they decided…
Zechariah says “So, they paid me thirty pieces of silver” in verse 12.
Zechariah was so taken back and disgusted for being given “a slave’s wage”, (remember I said we would get to that), He, along with the Lord in Zec 11:13,said throw it back at them. Refuse it and very sarcastically. look
/ Zec 11:13 Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.”\
In Exodus, the law of personal injury was laid out for the Israelites,
/Exo 21:32 If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.\
Can you imagine, a slave’s price or wage, (for the work and responsibility Zechariah was given). It was not excepted by him or God for that matter.
Remind me of an important principle, that the NT teaches even today:
/1Ti 5:17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.\
/ 1 Ti 5:18 For the Scripture says, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”\
/Principle – Our Pastor-teacher should be given a double portion and we are to honor him.
(Zec 11:12)”if it is good in your sight” Oh Lord!\
We will see in the next prophecy, what Zechariah did with the money, but you know the story, right … He threw it back into the house of the Lord (for the potter).
Zec 11:12 prophecy, Fulfilled in total accuracy:
/ MAT 26:15 (Judas Iscariot) and said, “What are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you?” And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.\
Now, like most people that God brings in to fulfill prophecy, they do not even realize they are doing so.
\ Do you really think, if the religious leaders that were trying to get rid of Jesus (and his claims to be Messiah), Would offer to pay up the exact price?? /
Probability says, it should be a different price?
No, due to the fact of Prophecy, which is God’s perfect plan!
The prophecies will be fulfilled, as Our Lord tells us multiple times throughout Scripture, while the historical events are being carried out. That is why we study them, to give us confidence.
In Mat 26:50 you can go there now … After they laid hands and seized Jesus: and He rebuked the one rising up, using the sword…
Jesus stated / Mat 26:54 How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”\
With this in mind, remember that:
/Judas manages the disciples’ finances, which gives him ample opportunity to steal (John 12:6)\
As Samantha covered in the previous prophecy,
Judas’ personal choices make him the perfect candidate for the job, and so God has placed him in the company of the disciples. God’s perfect plan without violating Judas’ free will.
It is likely Judas heard that the chief priests and elders (religious leaders) are looking for someone who can give them access to Jesus away from the crowds (John 11:57), and he sees his chance.
John 11:57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.
/Acts 1:16“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.\
So, when Judas, is led by Satan possessing him, what does he do …
He asks How much? What can I get out of this?
At this point, Judas is thinking I’ll seek whatever I can get, this guy is going to eventually get killed and I don’t want to be associate with Him. Judas has invested time and already getting to steal from being in charge of the finances (John 12:6 money box), but he still needs to get something out of it and Judas just cannot walk away.
/Greed and the love of money.
Judas is committed and his fate is sealed.\
As most of you know, a good scheme, needs to be played out. God’s permissive will allow this to happen. He is committed and his fate is sealed.
But /Judas is messing with the wrong Man!
God (always) Wins! \
Judas will suffer for his bad choices.
/MAT 26:24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”\
Referring to Himself as the Son of Man, Jesus again notes that what happens to Him is part of prophecy. We might see that in another prophecy.
Interesting fact that /”Judas” is the Latin form of the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Judah.”\
With that in mind I want to show one more thing about this prophecy that I saw in Zec 11. (you can Read it on your own, if you chose)
Which will again lead us into another one of the prophecies as we will see: God is Amazing; just a Grand weaver of Scripture!
/In Zec 11 – We had the mention of 2 different staffs that would be broken by Zechariah.\
The first one was called “Favor” when it was broke, it represented a break of the covenant with the people, that Israel was no longer in favor of God.
/Zec 11:11 So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD.\
The second called “Union” was broke and represented the brotherly (or friend) relationship between Judah and Israel (Judas and Jesus). Fractured kingdoms but also Judas separation from Israel or God’s chosen people, solidifying His betrayal of Jesus Christ and Judas being the Son of Perdition.
/John 17:12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition (Judas), so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.\
Judas excepted the money for the betrayal and led the religious leaders to the location in the Garden of Gethsemane. That is where Judas knew they would be (from previous visits and prayers).
And as Judas approached the group, He sought out Jesus, but let us look at this event.
—Please Turn to Mat 26:46-50
/Mat 26:46 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”\
47 While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.”
/Mat 26:49 Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. \
Judas’ attitude is recorded here through his own words. He did not address Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest or King but as a teacher, “rabbi” (common name) instead of the Honored Title He deserved. But Jesus loving them all until the end finishes by saying,
/Mat 26:50 And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands-on Jesus and seized Him.\
The conclusion to this prophecy being fulfilled, just as was foretold in Zechariah. Jesus loved Judas even to the end, even though
/Jesus was Sold out and betrayed, by Judas, for “30 Shekels (pieces) of silver.”\
/5. Then Zechariah also foretold what would be done with the betrayal money.
Prophesied: ZEC 11:13
Fulfilled: MAT 27:3-7 \
/ZEC 11:13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, {that} magnificent price at which I was valued by them.”
So, I took the thirty {shekels} of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.\
The amount of money is truly revealing and here the Lord say to Zechariah. They have revealed to me that I am of no value to them. We have studied in the past that word “hire” or “price” means a value set upon a person.
Which they thought Zechariah only was to be worthy of as a slave. As we covered in Exo 21:32, Now that contrasts with a Freeman Israelite, which was valued to be at 50-60 shekels.
Moving on to The use of potter has some reference to a place,
/”(H)Akeldama ( Hak-el-da-mach).
A field outside Jerusalem that name means “field of blood”.\
Judas purchased with the 30 pieces of silver he received for betraying Christ and that received its name (meaning “field of blood”) from its being the site of Judas’ suicide (Acts 1:19).
HAkeldama appears as the name of that field in both Matthew and Acts. In contrast to Acts 1:19, where the Aramaic name is transliterated, Matt 27:6–19 gives only the Greek translation of the place name—”Field of Blood
Matthew 27:3–8 records that after condemning Jesus, Judas “changed his mind” and tried to return the thirty pieces of silver the high priests had paid him to betray Jesus. The priests did not want to return the “blood money” to the treasury, so they used it to purchase a place to bury foreigners; So where does the potter fit in.
Let us read the fulfillment account in Mat 27:3-8, starting in verse 1.
27:1 Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; 2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.
/ Mat 27:3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,\
Only the degree of punishment Jesus suffers appears to be Judas’ motivation for a change of heart. The only clear point is that whatever remorse Judas experienced was not enough to lead him to genuine faith in Christ.
/Mat 27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”\
/Mat 27:5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.\
/Mat 27:6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” \
*The temple treasury, was most likely the source from which the money (30 shekels) had been paid to Judas,
Therefore, it would be the natural place to deposit any money left in the temple, but its use as blood money made it unclean. (Deu 23:18) “You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog [male prostitute] into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.”
It was not lawful to put the coins into the treasury, because they are the price of blood:
Apparently, interpretations of laws such as Deuteronomy 23:18 only meant the coins could not be “brought into” the temple. They did allow for such money to be used outside of Judaism for the common good of the community.
If they kept it, fear of the plot and the hypocrisy of the chief priests would become transparent.
/Hypocrisy – The Chief Priests did not want to defile themselves with the price of blood, even though it was a price that they themselves paid.\
Let’s continue in Mat 27 to see what happens.
/Mat 27:7 And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. 8 For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.\
/Mat 27:9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE PRICE OF THE ONE WHOSE PRICE HAD BEEN SET by the sons of Israel; \
This also reveals how little value Israel’s religious leaders placed on Jesus
To note:
**It is not a mistake of Scripture here, if you note that Matthew says spoken through the prophet Jerimiah, that which Matthew refers to is the scroll of Jeremiah, which included the book of Zechariah. Common reference among the Jews of that time due to the Hebrew bible. 3 cat – Law, Writings, Prophets
The explanation is two-fold. First, Jeremiah also bought a field at the Lord’s command (Jeremiah 32:6-9). Second, the Hebrew Bible was divided into three sections: the Law, the Writings, and the Prophets. The Prophets began with Jeremiah, and it was common for people to refer to the whole section (which included Zechariah) as “the book of Jeremiah.”
10 AND THEY GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER’S FIELD, AS THE LORD DIRECTED ME.”
they purchased it from the owners at the time which were called “potter’s”, which next to it was a small burial place or cemetery.
The cemetery existed at the time of Matthew’s writing and the people in Jerusalem associated it with those who had died in unfortunate ways (though it was used to bury foreigners).
/In Acts, the field is named Hakeldama, field of blood, because it was the place where Judas died (Acts 1:18–19). \
/ Acts 1:18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. \
/Acts 1:19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)\
When we see in Scripture two different recordings of a similar prophetic event, we need to compare the likenesses to the truth of prophecy.
1.The field that the priests bought with Judas’ money in Matthew “could be regarded as his purchase by their agency” Mat 27:5-7.
2.The field that the priests bought in Matthew was also the one where Judas died as narrated in Acts 1:18,19.
The biblical authors, inspired by Holy Spirit recorded what was said in Jerusalem at the time, what the two accounts have in common is that the field’s name results from Judas’ suicide after his actions led to Jesus’ execution.
For just a little background on this and to help us see where the “potter” name fits in,
The historian Jerome mentions the field and locate it south of the Valley of Hinnom southeast of Jerusalem. This traditional location south of the Valley of Hinnom would place the field near where the Valley of Hinnom and the Kidron Valley come together.
/ The field’s soil, made of red clay, was called the “Potter’s Field.”\
Key here was ** it was named that prior to Matthew’s account but know at the time of Matthew’s recording,
/Excavation of the red soil around this field served the potters (pot maker) well,\
A working field used for making their tools and common utensils. Also, for broken and rejected pots (more on that at the close), but
Then it became a burial place … and is still there to this day.
Even During the 12th century ad Crusades, the fifty or more patients who died each day in the Knights Hospitaller hospital in Jerusalem were buried in this very field.
Referring back to the fulfillment we just read in Mat 27:3
/Judas was filled with remorse, but not repentance.\
Even though he knew exactly what he did (I have sinned by betraying innocent blood), Judas was more sorry for the result of his sin than for the sin itself. There is a huge difference in being sorry about sin and being sorry for sin.
When Judas through the money back into the Temple, Judas wanted to implicate the priests in his crime. It was his way of saying, “You also are guilty of this.”
The religious leaders treated their servant Judas badly. “What is it to us”, they dismissed him and basically said you are on your own, deal with it yourself.
FF Bruce had this to say:
/ “The act of a desperate man, determined that they should get the money, and perhaps hoping it might be a kind of atonement for his sin.” (F.F.Bruce)\
- Spurgeon also states this about the event,
/Innocent blood: “Judas had been with our Lord in public and in private; and if he could have found a flaw in Christ’s character, this would have been the time to mention it; but even the traitor, in his dying speech, declared that Jesus was ‘innocent.’” (Spurgeon)\
There is more we could talk about in this prophecy, but we are going to move on for now, so let me end this prophecy with this:
/In his unrepentant remorse and despair, Judas committed suicide. Mat 27:5, Act 1:18\
Being the son of perdition (John 17:12), we are assured he went to eternal punishment. You may say it is ironic, that Judas hanged himself in the very place, the Potter’s field that they would purchase with the blood money of the betrayal of the Lord Jesus, and you would be correct,
However, I say that it was to completely fulfill of Zechariah’s prophecy exactly.
/What would be done with the betrayal money?
Prophecy – Zec 11:13
Fulfilled – Mat 27:3-8\
In Closing:
This whole act was a callous, cruel, and diabolical action the religious leaders took,
in buying from the traitor (Judas), at this cheap price, to put Jesus to death,
/An unspeakable Wickedness!
Man-made Religion and arrogance =
Blinds us to the Truth!\
But being In Christ, Trusting Him as our Lord and Savior, we can look at this a different way…
/Mark 8:31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.\
The potter’s field was considered a piece of useless land where a potter threw his broken, damaged, and rejected pots. We can sometimes relate to those pots, and even see that
Jesus’ price(that they valued Him) did purchase the potter’s field – the place where broken, rejected, and useless people like us are scattered. My friends, He gathers us to Himself, in Love and holds us worth something.
/ 1 Peter 2:4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,\
Redeemed from our sin and assured through His death and resurrection into eternal life with Him.
/Galatians 4:5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.\
/1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.\
However, the price Jesus paid for us was immeasurable! It was not like the slave’s wage but with the Blood of Christ!
/1PE 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,\
/1PE 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.\
JC / Colossians 2:14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.\
A Debt we owed but could never pay,
Thank you, to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for all you have done for us!