◄ Zechariah 11:14 ►
Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Study Bible
Then I cut in pieces
The phrase "cut in pieces" signifies a deliberate and decisive action. In the Hebrew context, the verb used here is "גָּדַע" (gada), which means to cut down or hew. This action symbolizes a complete and irreversible severance. Historically, this act represents a prophetic gesture by Zechariah, illustrating God's judgment and the breaking of a covenant or relationship. It is a vivid depiction of the seriousness of Israel's disobedience and the resulting consequences.

my second staff
The "second staff" refers to a symbolic tool used by shepherds, representing guidance and protection. In the context of Zechariah, the staff is a metaphor for God's leadership and care over His people. The use of a "second" staff indicates that there was a first, suggesting a sequence of actions or judgments. This staff, named "Union," highlights the intended unity and harmony among God's people, which is now being dismantled.

called Union
The name "Union" (in Hebrew, "חֹבְלִים" or "hoblim") signifies the bond or connection between the tribes of Israel. This term underscores the ideal of unity that God desired for His people. The breaking of this staff symbolizes the fracturing of this unity, a poignant reminder of the division that sin and disobedience bring. Historically, this foreshadows the eventual split of the united kingdom into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

breaking the brotherhood
"Breaking the brotherhood" conveys the dissolution of familial and national ties. The Hebrew word for "brotherhood" is "אָחִים" (achim), which denotes kinship and close relationships. This phrase highlights the tragic outcome of internal strife and rebellion against God. It serves as a warning of the spiritual and social consequences of turning away from divine guidance.

between Judah and Israel
The division "between Judah and Israel" refers to the historical split between the two kingdoms after the reign of Solomon. Judah, representing the southern kingdom, and Israel, the northern kingdom, often found themselves at odds, both politically and spiritually. This division is emblematic of the broader disunity among God's people, a theme that resonates throughout the prophetic literature. It serves as a call to repentance and a return to the covenantal relationship with God, emphasizing the need for unity under His sovereign rule.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Zechariah
A prophet who conveyed God's messages to the people of Israel during the post-exilic period. His prophecies often contained symbolic actions and visions.

2. Judah and Israel
The two kingdoms that were once united under King David and Solomon but later divided. This division is symbolic of the spiritual and political disunity among God's people.

3. The Staff Called Union
A symbolic representation of the bond or unity between Judah and Israel. The breaking of this staff signifies the end of their brotherhood and unity.

4. The Shepherd
In the broader context of Zechariah 11, the shepherd represents leaders or messianic figures. The breaking of the staff by the shepherd symbolizes a deliberate act of division.

5. The Covenant
The broader context of Zechariah 11 involves themes of covenant and leadership, with the breaking of the staff indicating a breach or change in the covenantal relationship.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Unity
Unity among believers is crucial for the health and witness of the Church. The breaking of the staff called Union serves as a warning against division and disunity.

Consequences of Disobedience
The division between Judah and Israel was a result of their disobedience and failure to follow God's commands. We must strive to live in obedience to maintain unity.

Symbolism of Leadership
Leaders play a significant role in maintaining or breaking unity. We should pray for and support godly leaders who seek to unify rather than divide.

God's Sovereign Plan
Despite the division, God's ultimate plan is for restoration and unity. We can trust in His sovereignty and work towards reconciliation.

Reflecting Christ's Prayer for Unity
As followers of Christ, we are called to reflect His prayer for unity in John 17 by actively working towards reconciliation and peace within our communities.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the breaking of the staff called Union symbolize in the context of Zechariah 11:14, and how can this apply to modern-day divisions within the Church?

2. How does the division between Judah and Israel in Zechariah 11:14 relate to the themes of unity and disunity found throughout the Bible?

3. In what ways can we, as individuals and as a church community, work towards maintaining unity among believers?

4. How does the role of leadership in Zechariah 11:14 inform our understanding of the responsibilities of church leaders today?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced division within a community. How can the teachings from Zechariah 11:14 guide you in seeking reconciliation and unity?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ezekiel 37
This chapter speaks of the reunification of Judah and Israel, contrasting with the division mentioned in Zechariah 11:14. It highlights God's ultimate plan for restoration.

Psalm 133
This psalm emphasizes the beauty and blessing of unity among God's people, providing a positive contrast to the division in Zechariah 11:14.

John 17
Jesus prays for the unity of His followers, reflecting the heart of God for unity among His people, which is broken in Zechariah 11:14.

Matthew 23
Jesus laments over Jerusalem, reflecting the brokenness and division among God's people, similar to the division between Judah and Israel.
Sermons
The True ShepherdW. Forsyth Zechariah 11:7-14
A Model Spiritual TeacherHomilistZechariah 11:10-14
Mean Treatment of an Old Prophet by His PeopleJ. Morlais Jones.Zechariah 11:10-14
The Goodly Price of JesusW. Hay Aitken, M. A.Zechariah 11:10-14
The Price of Our RedemptionJohn Nance, D. D.Zechariah 11:10-14
A Model Spiritual TeacherD. Thomas Zechariah 11:12-14
People
Zechariah
Places
Bashan, Jordan River, Lebanon
Topics
Annulling, Apart, Asunder, Bands, Binders, Break, Breaking, Broke, Broken, Brotherhood, Brothers, Cut, Cutting, Judah, Named, Pieces, Relation, Rod, Staff, Union, Unity
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Zechariah 11:7-17

     7130   flock, God's

Zechariah 11:10-14

     4512   staff

Library
Inspiration of Scripture. --Gospel Difficulties. --The Word of God Infallible. --Other Sciences Subordinate to Theological Science.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. BUT that is not exactly what St. Paul says. The Greek for that, would be He graphe--not pasa graphe--theopneustos. St. Paul does not say that the whole of Scripture, collectively, is inspired. More than that: what he says is, that every writing,--every several book of those hiera grammata, or Holy Scriptures, in which Timothy had been instructed from his childhood,--is inspired by God [330] . It comes to very nearly the same thing but it is not quite …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

And Again David Says:...
And again David says: They looked upon me: they parted my garments among them, and upon any vesture they cast lots. For at His crucifixion the soldiers parted His garments as they were wont; and the garments they parted by tearing; but for the vesture, because it was woven from the top and was not sewn, they cast lots, that to whomsoever it should fall he should take it. And again Jeremiah the prophet says: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was sold, whom they bought …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

In the House of his Heavenly, and in the Home of his Earthly Father - the Temple of Jerusalem - the Retirement at Nazareth.
Once only is the great silence, which lies on the history of Christ's early life, broken. It is to record what took place on His first visit to the Temple. What this meant, even to an ordinary devout Jew, may easily be imagined. Where life and religion were so intertwined, and both in such organic connection with the Temple and the people of Israel, every thoughtful Israelite must have felt as if his real life were not in what was around, but ran up into the grand unity of the people of God, and …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The closing words which Jesus had spoken to those Pharisees who followed HIm breathe the sadness of expected near judgment, rather than the hopefulness of expostulation. And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. All the topics of the former Discourses are now resumed and applied. They are not in any way softened or modified, but uttered in accents of …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins from the final disturbance and overthrow of the Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal; and as it was to bring the first plague on the empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it depopulates the territory and people of the Roman world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of the northern nations, …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Remorse and Suicide of Judas.
(in the Temple and Outside the Wall of Jerusalem. Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 3-10; ^E Acts I. 18, 19. ^a 3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned [Judas, having no reason to fear the enemies of Jesus, probably stood in their midst and witnessed the entire trial], repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. [There are two Greek words which are translated "repented," …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Questions.
LESSON I. 1. In what state was the Earth when first created? 2. To what trial was man subjected? 3. What punishment did the Fall bring on man? 4. How alone could his guilt be atoned for? A. By his punishment being borne by one who was innocent. 5. What was the first promise that there should be such an atonement?--Gen. iii. 15. 6. What were the sacrifices to foreshow? 7. Why was Abel's offering the more acceptable? 8. From which son of Adam was the Seed of the woman to spring? 9. How did Seth's …
Charlotte Mary Yonge—The Chosen People

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative …
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Of the Incapacity of an Unregenerate Person for Relishing the Enjoyments of the Heavenly World.
John iii. 3. John iii. 3. --Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God. IN order to demonstrate the necessity of regeneration, of which I would fain convince not only your understandings, but your consciences, I am now proving to you, that without it, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God; and how weighty a consideration that is I am afterwards to represent. That it is thus impossible, the words in the text do indeed sufficiently prove: but for the further illustration …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Fifthly, as this Revelation, to the Judgment of Right and Sober Reason,
appears of itself highly credible and probable, and abundantly recommends itself in its native simplicity, merely by its own intrinsic goodness and excellency, to the practice of the most rational and considering men, who are desirous in all their actions to have satisfaction and comfort and good hope within themselves, from the conscience of what they do: So it is moreover positively and directly proved to be actually and immediately sent to us from God, by the many infallible signs and miracles …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Zechariah
CHAPTERS I-VIII Two months after Haggai had delivered his first address to the people in 520 B.C., and a little over a month after the building of the temple had begun (Hag. i. 15), Zechariah appeared with another message of encouragement. How much it was needed we see from the popular despondency reflected in Hag. ii. 3, Jerusalem is still disconsolate (Zech. i. 17), there has been fasting and mourning, vii. 5, the city is without walls, ii. 5, the population scanty, ii. 4, and most of the people …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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