Shall we turn this morning into the book of Zechariah reading from the eleven chapter? Chapter eleven in the book of Zechariah. The word of God coming by the Spirit through the prophet and saying, Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy seeders. How? For a tree? For the seeder is fallen. because the mighty are spoiled. How, O ye oaks of bation, for the forest of the vintage is come down. There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled. A voice of the roaring of young lions, for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. Thus saith the Lord my God, feed the flock of the slaughter. Whose possess a slave then, and hold themselves not guilty. And they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich, and their own shepherds pity them not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land set the Lord. But lo, I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king. and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them, and I will see the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock, and I took unto me two stays, the one I called beauty, and the other I called bands, and I fed the flock. Three shepherds also I cut off in one month, and my soul loathed them, and their soul also aboard me. Then said I, I will not feed you, that that die of, let it die, and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off, and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. and it was broken in that day, and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. And I said unto them, If ye think good give me my price, and if not for there, so they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter. a goodly price, that I was prized out of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. Then I cut aside mine other staff, even bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish, or even of a wicked shepherd. For though I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor see that that standeth still, but he shall eat the flesh of the fat and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth a flock, The sword shall be upon his arm and upon his right eye. His arm shall be cleaned right up and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. May God the Spirit bless the reading and may he give the understanding of this wonderful but most solemn portion of the word of God in relation to the history of his people Israel. we come to a chapter that presents the fruit of sin and the divine punishment that has been metered out in judgment upon the people of Israel may I remind you of the preceding section of our study in this prophetic portion when we have the series of eight visions in one night we not only found in the opening vision the promise of divine blessing and restoration given by God the Spirit to his servant Zechariah the prophet. But we also found following the promise of restoration and blessing there was the record of Israel's iniquity and sin as well as the divine dealings of God in relation to their moral and spiritual disobedience. In this last great section of the prophecy of Zechariah, we began in chapter nine and ten and read of the blessings that God promises and will in his determined purpose fulfill for Israel. But again we find, and it's often a principle of prophetic scripture, not only in the prophecies but even in the book of the Revelation. that God returns to give in a parenthetical section some of his deemings in judgment with his own. Likewise in the eleven chapter of Zechariah, if I may humbly say it, I believe we have the most solemn chapters before us that describe the darkest chapter in Israel's history. For as you note in the chapter as we have read it, It could be divided into three sections. In the first three verses which we have read and shall now consider, we have the explanation and the visitation of the wrath of God upon his people Israel. In verses beginning of verse four going through verse fourteen, in that section we have the reason for the visitation of God's judgment and his wrath. And then at the end of the chapter, beginning at verse fifteen, through the end of the chapter we shall find one of the most solemn facts regarding Israel's history. And that is the ultimate confirmation of Israel's sin in the final scourge that shall be upon them in the days of the Great Tribulation. Let's look at the first three verses briefly. where we have the visitation of God's wrath. Now may I re-emphasize that God often parenthetically goes backward in writing his prophecy. You find it in the book of the Revelation again and again. And going backward in the prophecy, here in our chapter he now describes what I believe we could literally chronologically as a time element say took place after the rejection and the crucifixion of the Messiah by his people when God scattered them abroad through the length and the breadth of the earth and which scattering went on until a very recent day listen to the words as you have it in the opening verse where we find the description of complete desolation and judgment sweeping through the land, from the highlands even down to the lowlands, the north and the south of the whole land of Palestine, affected by the divine visitation of God's wrath. Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy seedeth. How, for thee, for the seed there is fallen. because the mighty are spoiled. And from the north of the land where the mighty cedars of Lebanon existed, down to the very oaks of Bation, there was the mighty judgment of God falling upon the whole land of Israel. Then you go to verse three which we have, and we find in verse three the word of the prophet saying, there is a voice of the howling of the shepherds for their glory is spoiled a voice of the roaring of young lions for the pride of Jordan is spoiled may I point out as we have so frequently seen there was not only the visitation of divine wrath literally but there was the visitation this visitation of God's judgment upon the spiritual condition of the nation, and the howling of the shepherds, the shepherds indicating the leadership of God's earthly people, but a ministry of shepherding that led them not to Jehovah, but away from him in its character, and even the glory of the spiritual leadership was spoiled. and the voice of the roaring of the young lions and the pride of Jordan ruin. Beloved, we can safely assume that the judgment of God was thorough when upon Israel was torn out his unmitigated wrath because of their sin of disobedience. Now let's look for the reason of it as we begin in verse four going down through verse fourteen. For Israel's great sin and the tragic consequences are very clearly declared as to that which caused them. In verse four, Thus said the Lord my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter. May I emphasize the principle that the prophet emphasizes here? The spirit of God writing, The flock of God's people were to be fed. The feeding of God's people is one of the most important principles in relation to his divine testimony upon the earth. Whether in Israel and whether in the church today, one of the greatest principles of responsibility that we not only find emphasized in the ministry of the priests of Israel and the prophets of Israel and also in the church, Feed the flock of God. We think of the words of the Apostle in Acts twenty-twenty-eight when exhorting even the elders of the church in Ephesus. Feed the flock of God over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers or shepherds. And the responsibility of the shepherds. Feed the flock. But then don't... Instead of feeding the flock of God, we find in verse five that there were heartless shepherds, and particularly the reference would imply, the heartless character of the shepherds of the Gentile nations. For when God visited in judgments and wrath his earthly people had scattered them, He gave them over to the control and the governmental authority of the nations. The Gentile powers. And those Gentile powers were yet responsible to shepherd the people of God and not visit them with added burdens of judgment and destruction. But now note. Their possessors, writes the prophet, slay them. and hold themselves not guilty. And they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich, and their own shepherds pity them not. Now it is indeed an accusation that stands clearly throughout the annals of history that the shepherd into whose hands God permitted his flock to be driven were heartless and cruel, and their actions toward God's earthly people had manifested the actions of intense cruelty and hatred. And they pitied the people of God, not at all. But now note verse six. This is more solemn. For in verse six, not only the shepherds, not only the civil and religious leaders, not only the nations around pitted not Israel but not the solemnity of God's words in verse six for I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land said Jehovah but lo I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor's hand and into the hand of his king and they shall smite the land and out of their hand I will not deliver them. My beloved, it's a solemn fact that when God visited his beloved people in judgment following the death, the crucifixion of the Blessed Messiah, the Lord Jesus, there was fulfilled As the Lord stated very clearly in Matthew twenty four, the judgment that was to come upon Israel, Jerusalem, and the earthly people of God. And they were to be scattered among the nations. And as we recognize, may I point out to you, go with me to Matthew twenty four, if you please. Matthew chapter twenty four. let me read the words of the opening of that chapter when the Lord Jesus thus was speaking to his disciples and in Matthew chapter twenty four we have the words of the Savior declaring in answer to the disciples as they showed in the glory of the temple verse one and two Jesus went out and departed from the temple May I go back into chapter twenty-three, the context is very clearly part of it, at the end of it. Let me read verse thirty-seven, the words of the Lord Jesus. As undoubtedly for the last time he looked over the city of Jerusalem, and said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou didst killest the prophets, and stonest them which ascend unto thee, How often would I have gathered my children together, even as the hen gathered her chickens under her wings? And she would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. May I impress upon you the solemnity of those words of verse thirty-eight? Your house is left unto you desolate. Now when you read of the Lord Jesus in his ministry during life, coming into the temple, he honored it as the house of his father. He honored it as the temple of Jehovah. But when, following his rejection, and on the threshold of his crucifixion, for the last occasion, in relation to that earthly house, he wept over the city, and then declared, Your house is lest unto you desolate. One cannot fathom the desolate character of these words, that their Jehovah Messiah was leaving them to their destruction. Now read on, for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, which will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation. But then read verse one and two of chapter twenty-four. And Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And one can recognize as undoubtedly They wandered their way to the mound of islands for the last occasion in the life of the Lord Jesus before his death. As they crossed the valley of Tindran and ascended the mound, they undoubtedly looked back on the beauty and the glory of the temple buildings in the rays of the setting sun. And the disciples pointed out the beauty of that great temple of Herod. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now go back to our chapter in Zechariah. Let me reemphasize the solemnity of the words that certainly are corroborated by the words and the action of the Lord Jesus. when he left the temple and the environment of the house of the Lord in that name verse six for I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land saith Jehovah but lo I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor's hand and into the hand of his king and they shall smite the land and out of their hand I will not deliver them. One is only to read the graphic account of Josephus as he wrote concerning the great siege of Jerusalem in the year AD seventy under the great general Titus when the city was destroyed. One of the most violent sieges and one of the most terrible sieges of human history that lasted for two years before the city was overtaken and the people destroyed and scattered abroad and never regathered again in the land until the year nineteen hundred and forty eight may we not recognize it's one of the most solemn events and tragic consequences of the sin of Israel as the nation but let's read further for we have heard them in verse seven the prophetic ministry of the prophet as thus Zechariah is commanded I will feed the flock of slaughter even you oh poor of the flock will you notice this expression as we have it in verse seven the poor of the flock will you notice it again in verse eleven and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord Now may I make a clear distinction between the flock of slaughter and the poor of the flock. The flock of slaughter undoubtedly embraced the whole nation of Israel, but within the whole flock there was a remnant, small undoubtedly, feeble, unquestionably. and he calls them the poor of the flock. You'll find in the eleventh verse the poor of the flock appreciated and acknowledged his word. What took place in the judgment of God there was a small remnant that recognized this is the hand of the Lord in judgment upon us. And they were the poor of the flock. And in the midst of those judgments, there was the assurance that the Spirit of God, the great shepherd of his sheep, would minister to those who in their humility and the acknowledging of God's ways of chastening upon them, he would feed them. How true that principle is today. But then note, as though they realized these words, Then note what follows, the action of Jehovah. Verse seven at the end, I took unto me two staves or staves, the one I called beauty, the other I called bands, and I fed the flock. Now these two staves, one named beauty and the other named bands, the word beauty suggests pleasantness and favor from Jehovah. the word band suggests a binding together let me remind you that the shepherd the oriental shepherd he had two staff he had a rod and he had a staff the rod was to protect the sheep from out with danger and and the and the staff the same was to protect the sheep from internal strife and difficulty and so God has two had two staffs in relation to his people one building upon which his merit or his favor would thus be ministered to his people and he had a staff called man whereby he united his people together and God protected his people and the favor of God was directed to his people in thus protecting them from their enemies and destroying their enemies But he had a band that found them together in brotherhood, united within the nation. But God, as we shall see, he deals to break these asunder. Now note verse eight, please. And here you have the statement opening with the fact there was opposition to his ministry. Now note verse seven, I will feed the flock of Florida. Now may I remind you that back of these words is the ministry of the good shepherd. Our Lord Jesus came to his own and said, I'm the good shepherd. And as the good shepherd, he ministered to feed the flock of his own dear earthly people in that day. But there was opposition. And we read in verse eight, three shepherds also I cut up in one month. and my soul loath them and their soul also aboard me. Three shepherds, well, perhaps it's not too fanciful to declare that in Israel there was a threefold ministry. There was the ministry of the prophets. There was the ministry of the priests. There was the ministry of the rulers of the Sanhedrin. But they were cut off entirely. And when the great judgment of God fell upon Israel, in the year of their dispersion, they never again had the ministry of prophets. They never again had, as a nation, the ministry of the priests. They never again had the ministry of the rulers and the Sanhedrin. It was entirely and completely cut off. Because, as he declares, My soul loathed them, and also their soul also abode me. There was not only his displeasure of the godless shepherds, but there was their great dislike to the good shepherd. Now note verse nine. As we come to verse nine, terrible calamities follow as the result of God's judgment. Then said I, I will not feed you. That that die, let it die. That that is to be cut off, let it be cut off. And let the rest eat every one of the flesh of another. And beloved, as we think of what took place in that day, in the past, there has been war, there has been famine, there has been pestilence, there has been eternal strength, there has been mutual destruction overtaking the deluded people of Israel. Will you go with me to Luke chapter nineteen please? I want again to read the words of the Lord Jesus. They're very solemn in relation to the judgment upon the nation that came. Chapter nineteen, begin reading with me verse forty-one. Again I want you to recognize, even in the words of the Savior is recorded by Luke. in chapter nineteen, and we shall read one verse in chapter twenty-one. Verse forty-one, Luke nineteen. When he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hast known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace, but now are they hid from thine eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, that thine enemy shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another. Now note the reason, because thou kneweth not the time of thy visitation. Now may I go to chapter twenty-one with one verse only to read verse twenty-four. And here you have the complete finality of his judgment upon the worthless shepherds and the disobedient nations. They shall fall by the edge of the sword. They shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trunded down of the Gentiles. until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Beloved, may I say, I believe with all earnestness, there has never been a more sad party of Israel's history than that which has transpired since their rejection of their Messiah and his crucifixion down to this present day. And it was the judgment of God upon them because of their disobedience and their sin. But then let's go on in our chapter in Zechariah. That band of beauty, which was the symbol of his divine favor, that band that was called, or the stack that was called bands, which was the symbol of his holding the people together, we find what happens in verse ten. I took my staff, even beauty. I cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant, which I had made with all the people. And here we can recognize what God does. He takes the symbol of His blessing upon them, and He breaks that symbol, and He removes it so that it is broken. And we read in verse eleven, it was broken in that day. and the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. May I make this comment kindly, the one I believe to be a solemn truth, in my own observation, conversation, and experience with a few of God's earthly people, who know not and will not and do not acknowledge their Messiah. And may I go even further? I have found this also, sometimes sad to say, amongst Christian Jews, the unwillingness to acknowledge the terrible disobedience of rejecting their Messiah. Some years ago in the north, speaking upon the great National Day of Atonement, which we shall reach in chapter twelve and thirteen, I was amazed at one of the Christian Jews in the audience coming to me and telling me, you've spoiled a perfectly good sermon. And I said, how? And this is how, in his opinion. It was just at that particular time the Pope had given a message of exoneration, clearing the nation of Israel from its guilt of putting the Messiah to death. And as I was speaking of the fact, as we shall see in a later message in the next chapter, God brings the guilt of crucifying the Messiah to the nation at the end time to convict them and bring them to repentance. And I just commented on the unfortunate fact that it was an impossibility for the Pope to exonerate that guilt. And to my amazement, that was the cause of the provocation. The very brother was not willing. And I thought to myself, if I was a Christian Jew, I would bow in the dust and think that my nation crucified their own Messiah. Another young Christian Jew, willing, stayed in this land. It was the will of God that he had to die. To hide behind the sovereign will of God. My beloved, listen. Even a Christian dared not do that. though it was the will of the Savior to die upon Calvary, you know and I know my sins and yours put in there. And oh, beloved, what a sad confession. None of these words. The reason I state that is in verse eleven. There were God betrayed among them the poor of the flock. And what an expression. May I say, now listen to this carefully, you'll find the poor of the flock are the most spiritual ones. Now that doesn't imply the poverty literally nearly. But you'll find that the spiritual who see the hand of God in this judgment, they are the poor of the flock. They realize that the verse continues to say, The poor of the flock that waded upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. It was the word of the Lord. Oh, the submission, even to the judgment, and thank God, there have been those, even amongst these earthly people, who have acknowledged the judgment of God upon them. God grant, we may realize it in our own lives when we are chastened of the Lord. Now look at verse twelve, and as we go to verse twelve, we have the good shepherd and Israel's value of him in twelve and thirteen. I said unto them, now this is an example that may have literally taken place in Zechariah's experience. but behind it is the representation of a type of the Lord Jesus, the good shepherd, the great shepherd who came to his own. I sent unto them, if you think good, give me my price, tell me what I am worth, if not forbear, so they wait for my price, thirty pieces of silver, and the Lord sent unto me, cast him unto the potter, and then perhaps in sarcasm the prophet might Of goodly Christ that I was prized of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver. And cast them to the potter. In the house of the Lord. My beloved may I say. The Lord came unto his own. And what was he looking for? He was looking for the spiritual fruit. Remember when the Lord came to the tree. Outside the city. And he was looking for fruit. And there was none upon it. He cursed it. symbolical of the act of his judgment upon the nation for their rejection of him. How much did they value him as the prophet, right? Instead of finding the spiritual fruit, of repentance, of faith, of love, of piety, and obedience? He received thirty pieces of silver, which was that some equivalent of telling the shepherd why we can get a slave to work for us for thirty pieces of silver and that is the only value we think you have the value of a common slave and instead of giving him his wages they gave him an insult now may I bring that home to realize what did the Lord Jesus the King of Israel the Messiah of his people, what did he deserve to receive? What were the wages that the people of Israel should have paid him? You know as I do, the complete obedience and acknowledgement of his person and of his greatness and of his shepherding character to bless. and instead of giving him the wages of spiritual fruit they said you're worth no more than a slave and as in Zechariah's case the thirty people of silver were cast to the ground and note where cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord now the potter in Israel was suddenly the lowest laboring class and in that day The deed was done publicly in the house of Jehovah. If you read Matthew twenty-seven and read of Judas taking the thirty pieces of silver when he was thus convinced and realized the enormity of his crime, he went, now you know, let me point out this particular distinction. He went into the house of the Lord and he cast it before the priest. Now there are two words in your New Testament Greek language that describe the temple. There is one word that describes, as in Matthew twenty-four, the disciple showed the Lord all the buildings of the temple and the beauty of them. And that word describes the whole environment of the temple area. But there is another word that only describes the holy place where alone the priests were privileged to enter. And when Judas went into the temple to cast the thirty pieces of silver, he did not cast it in the open court of the temple. He went into the holy place where only the priests were permitted to go, in his great condemnation of conscience, and cast it in the very house of the Lord in the holy place. Repudiating his acts and regretting it, but not to his salvation, but to his judgment, we know. And the temple was chosen as the act of repudiation. For my beloved, what a fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy. In the very temple of Jehovah, the very price that the nation valued in him. But now, let's go on, if you please. And I wanted to notice something very special at the end of our chapter. Verse fourteen. And then you can note the importance and the meaning of that word. Then. Notice. Then. Then when I was so valued. Then I cut asunder my another staff. Even then. That I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. No beloved, the stacked bands that held the nation together, though it was the remnant of Judah and Benjamin, God said, I'm going to break them apart and scatter them. Oh, my beloved, may I say, earnestly and solemnly, you and I can certainly realize the hand of God's chase me upon his dear earthly people. There's never been a nation that has suffered at the hand of God in judgment as Israel. Let's realize that. They now note the last confirmation, which is even far worse. At the end of the chapter in the last section, fifteen through seventeen, the prophet tells what will be the final apostasy, as well as the final breach between God and Israel. confirmating by the appearance of what could and should be called the wicked shepherd what you have in the words that close the chapter is the description of the Antichrist the false Messiah for the disobedience now please may I state it listen the disobedience of Israel beginning with the rejection of the Messiah at his first advent the judgment and chastening hand of God all through the centuries and their present return as a nation in the land of Israel in bringing them to that place where the greatest abomination will be perpetrated by the nation of Israel when they accept the false messiah the great antichrist listen to the words the Lord said unto me take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish And the Hebrew idiom of the word foolish implies a wicked shepherd. Now note verse sixteen. For as you have in verse fifteen, you have the character of that shepherd. Now what the chapter involves is, in the opening of it, is the unfortunate wickedness of the shepherds of the past. And then comes in the true shepherd. with his ministry and the presentation of his person and what and the nation rejected their good shepherd now at the end you have the wicked shepherd now may I say this is the implication of perhaps the most wicked person that ever lived in human history may I remind you what we read in second Thessalonians chapter two when the Apostle Paul writes concerning the rapture, and then what follows, then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall be destroyed by the breath of his mouth. My beloved, I cannot magnify too greatly the wickedness of this character. There have been wicked persons lived on the earth, but it is my humble opinion and deep conviction This person will be of the most wicked character there's ever been known in human history. And when you read particularly Revelation and the thirteenth chapter and see the two last world great wicked characters, the revived Roman Empire with its civil head, and the false prophets, May I remind you that at the end of chapter nineteen of the book of Revelation, those two wicked men are the first occupants of hell, and they are consigned to the lake of fire without even dying. And it's my opinion that any person, and these particular two, so wicked, that God will not even give them a trial at the great white throne judgment. and without death they are immediately the first occupants of the eternal lake of fire and they are there a thousand years before the devil himself gets there now let's look at this character again in Zechariah just realize the implication the broad meaning of the wicked shepherd his character then look in verse sixteen and we see his word for lo I will raise up a shepherd in the land Oh, may I say, may I put it this way, and this is personal. There was one thing that was in my heart the little time I was in the land of Israel. All that I saw was a definite, wonderful interest. But underneath in my soul and in my mind and heart were going the words of Scripture that reminded me that the day is coming when this nation will have the most wicked person and accept him as their false messiah. Oh, on the day that will be, I will raise up a shepherd in the land which shall not visit those that be cut off. Neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still, but he shall eat the flesh of the fat and tear their claws in peace. My beloved, the character of this man, which many in Israel will follow and accept for the destruction of the people. He has no heart for them. He has no desire to feed them. He has no desire to help the young. He has no desire to heal what's broken and feed that the standard still. But if ministry will be one of destruction, he will eat the flesh. and he will tear their claws in pieces. Oh, the character of his work. You know I'm glad I'm saved. Oh, what a strong delusion. As Paul says in Second Thessalonians, for this cause rejecting the true one, I will send them strong delusions that they may believe a lot. Or go with me to chapter five of the book of John, please. May I point out to you something of which time permitted us to go further. But look in chapter five. And verse forty-three. Listen to the words of the Lord Jesus. And listen to them carefully. For in John five, forty-three, the Lord Jesus speaks of that one. I am come in my Father's name. And he received me not. If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. This is one of the saddest commentaries in the Gospel of John regarding the rejection of the nation. You remember the opening of chapter one of John and those words of verse eleven? He, the living word, came unto his own and his own received him. And in Luke forty-third verse, the Savior says, I am come in my Father's name. And every act and every word of the Savior's ministry proved he was sent by Jehovah above. But they rejected him. Now know, and this is a sad thing, another shall come in his own name. Him ye will receive. My beloved, may I say again? Please may I say it. When you connect it with the chapter before us in Zechariah, it is the saddest event in the history of Israel. It was indeed sad that they rejected their true Messiah. Will it not be more greatly sad and a tragedy when they receive one who is the false Messiah? Part of the great judgment of Jehovah upon the disobedient nation. But now back to our chapter and the closing verse. We find the character of the wicked shepherd in verse fifteen. We find his work described in verse sixteen. In verse seventeen we have the judgment and the punishment of that shepherd. Woe to the idle shepherd that leave us afloat. The sword shall be upon his arm and upon his right eye. His arm shall be clean, dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. Now, beloved, there are two things involved in the expression. His right eye, his arm, and his right eye. The arm is the symbol of his strength. And when you read the contemporary scriptures, such as we've mentioned in Revelation thirteen, as well as in second Thessalonians two, you can recognize the power, the signs, the lying wonders and the miracles that he performed to deceive the world. But his right arm, his arm of strength, God says in the day of judgment, it will indeed be completely withered away. and his eye. And may I say, the eye speaks of his intelligence. And beloved, there's no question of doubt. The world at large is looking for a man who has the strength and who has the intelligence to correct the conditions among the nations. And beloved, you and I who know the good book and the hope of the church realize that when the church is gone, God will permit this idle shepherd to appear, who they will follow, and many to their destruction. And at the end of that period, the idle shepherd will whither away completely. His strength will be utterly done. the intelligence that the world admired will disappear. You know, I think of the words of the Lord Jesus, and I say with all earnestness as I close, may we know the truth of them. Come unto me, all ye, that labor and the heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek, and lonely in heart, and ye shall find rest for your soul. My beloved believer, please may I encourage and exhort you as well as myself, fix your heart upon that lonely man who is the perfect pattern for us to follow. He's the good shepherd. He's the great shepherd. He's the chief shepherd. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, we shall receive a crown of glory that fainteth not away. Shall we pray? Oh, Blessed Father, we do thank thee again, for the illuminating Spirit of God, who underneath the precious words of thy book, brings out the treasures of truth, and magnifies to us the one who is over all, blessed forever. Even our Savior, the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, again we pray for thy people, Israel. As we have covered this chapter, we are deeply conscious. They are facing the greatest trial that they will ever have known as a nation. And the great dark period ahead is going to bring them the greatest deception that ever has been known in Israel from beginning to the end of its history. The false Messiah. Blessed Lord, have mercy on thine earthly people today. Save some of them. Bless those that are seeking to win them to Christ. Open their eyes that they may find thee now. Blessed Savior, their Jehovah Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, and their Redeemer. And we who are thine, how grateful we should be, thou hast redeemed us and brought us to thyself. May the truth we've covered magnify thyself, Lord, to every one of our hearts, that we may be thy humble, but thy devoted followers until we see thee face to face. We ask it in thy precious and holy name. Amen. Thank you.