Zechariah 11:1 - Meaning and Application

In dark and symbolic language, which is common in Scripture when it speaks of events far off, Zechariah foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish church and nation. Later, when the time drew near, our Lord Jesus spoke of that same destruction very plainly and directly.

First, Zechariah shows the way is being opened for that destruction (Zechariah 11:1). “Open your doors, O Lebanon!” Lebanon would not open its doors to receive its true king, the one who came to his own and was not received by his own people. Now its doors must open to let in ruin. “Let the gates of the forest, and all its entrances, be opened, and let the fire come in and devour its glory.”

Some take Lebanon here to mean the temple, because it was built with cedar wood from Lebanon and its stones were white like Lebanon’s snow. The Romans burned it, and their soldiers forced open its gates. To support this, Jewish writers tell a story that forty years before the second temple was destroyed, its gates opened by themselves. After that sign, Rabbi Johanan said, as one Jewish writer records, “Now I know that the destruction of the temple is near, according to Zechariah’s prophecy, ‘Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.’”

Others understand Lebanon to mean Jerusalem, or even the whole land of Canaan, since Lebanon marked the northern entrance into the land. Then the meaning is that everything will be left open to the invader, and the cedars, the great and noble men, will be destroyed. That must strike fear into those below them, as verse 2 says. If the cedars have fallen, if the strong and honored leaders are ruined, let the fir tree cry out. How can weak fir trees stand if tall cedars fall? If cedars are burned, it is time for fir trees to lament, since fir wood catches fire easily. Let the oaks of Bashan cry out too, for the forest of the vintage, or the fruitful vineyard that used to be guarded with special care, has been brought down. Some read this as the protected forests, like Lebanon, being cut down.

The point is plain: when the wise and good fall into sin, or when the rich and great fall into trouble, it warns those far below them not to feel secure.

Second, Zechariah describes the mourning that follows this destruction (Zechariah 11:3). There is a sound of wailing. Those who have fallen cry out in grief and shame, and those who see their own turn coming cry out in fear. The great men especially are struck with deep confusion. The same men who once roared in times of celebration and victory now howl in their terror, because they are suffering more than others.

These great men were shepherds by office. They should have protected God’s flock, the people placed under their care. That was the duty of both rulers and priests. Instead, they acted like young lions. Their roaring frightened the flock, and their tearing made the flock their prey. It is a sad thing when a people’s supposed shepherds act like savage lions toward them.

What happens to them in the end? The shepherds howl, because their glory is gone. Their pastures and the flocks that once covered them, the pride of the countryside, are laid waste. The young lions howl, because the pride of Jordan is destroyed. That “pride of Jordan” means the thick brush along the riverbanks where lions rested. When the Jordan flooded and ruined those thickets, the lions came out roaring (Jeremiah 49:19).

The lesson is clear: when people in power use that power proudly and cruelly, and act like lions instead of shepherds, the righteous God will bring down their pride and break their strength.