Page 157 - Advanced OT Survey Revised

Themes: Visions of Victory (1-6), Call for Justice (7-8), Oracles of a Coming Kingdom (9-14)

Message: YHWH will restore His people, rescuing them from their enemies and redeeming them from
sin!

Brief Summary: The Book of Zechariah teaches that salvation may be obtained by all. The last chapter
depicts peoples from all over the world coming to worship God, who desires that all people follow
Him. This is not the doctrine of universalism, i.e., that all people would be saved because it is God's
nature to save. Rather, the book teaches that God desires that all people worship Him and accepts those
who do, regardless of their national or political expressions. Finally, Zechariah preached that God is
sovereign over this world, any appearance to the contrary notwithstanding. His visions of the future
indicate that God sees all that will happen. The depictions of God's intervention in the world teach that
ultimately, He will bring human events to the end He chooses. He does not eliminate the individual's
freedom to follow God or rebel, but holds people responsible for the choices they make. In the last
chapter, even the forces of nature respond to God's control. cxxxiv

"Is Zechariah 11:12-13 a Messianic prophecy?"

Zechariah 11:12-13 offers an intriguing account regarding 30 silver coins, bringing to mind the betrayal
of Jesus by Judas Iscariot. The New Testament identifies this as a Messianic prophecy, which found its
fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

12Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they
weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—
the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the
house of the LORD, to the potter.

The verses read, “I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.’ So, they paid me
thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the handsome price at which
they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the
potter.”

Earlier, Zechariah had been commanded to watch a flock of sheep doomed to slaughter (Zechariah
11:4). He obeyed, using two shepherd’s staffs that he named Favor and Union (verse 7). Within a month,
Zechariah fired the three shepherds working under him (verse 8). Then Zechariah abandoned the flock
and broke his staff named Favor. Observers realized these actions were “the word of the LORD” (verse
11). The Lord would remove His favor from His people, allowing them to be harried by their enemies
(verse 6).

In verses 12-13 Zechariah tells his employers to pay him his wages if they saw fit to do so. They pay him
30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32), as an insult to Zechariah. The prophet
sarcastically calls it a “handsome price.” God then commands Zechariah to give the coins to the potter in
the house (or temple) of the Lord.

The corresponding passage in the New Testament is in Matthew 27. Judas is filled with remorse for
betraying the Lord, and he tries to return the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests (verse 3). When

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