Favor and Union—two staffs
Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.
12 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.
13 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.
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Finally the staff called Favor is broken, symbolizing that God would withdraw his gracious offer. “How long, O Lord?” is what the saints cry in heaven. That cry is twofold. “How long until you save your people? How long until you bring to justice those who have snubbed you?”
The covenant is finally revoked with the unwilling. They were the ones who really abrogated it. And on that day when God’s patience finally runs out against the unbelief of this world it will be equally true: “The afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.” Just as Noah and his family heard the muffled cries outside the ark and the hammerblows of the storm, they too knew that the awful act of judgment was the Word of the Lord, who will not permit his gracious offer to be trampled underfoot.
The incredible thing is how cheaply the world values their shepherds. How much is a faithful pastor worth? (Remember that the word pastor means “shepherd” and that the prototype of all pastors is Jesus.) The world does not place a high premium on the work of godly ministers, on the shepherding of souls. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, was only worth 30 pieces of silver. Judas would not have gotten rich on the money had he kept it. The potter’s field was not choice real estate around Jerusalem. It remained a monument to what the world thought of shepherds in general and the Shepherd in particular.
Zechariah’s people paid more for the care of their bodies than they thought they needed to pay for the care of their souls. Naaman, the leper, came to be healed in his body with 750 pounds of silver and 150 pounds of gold (2 Kings 5:5). But salvation and healing of the soul—well, 30 pieces of silver will do for that!
It was an insult to the blood of the Lamb. The work of the Shepherd was free. Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. It was accomplished not with 30 pieces of dirty silver but with his holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death.
The Lord’s words through the prophet drip with sarcasm: “The handsome price at which they priced me.”
Verse 14 tells us that the staff called Union was also broken.
True union, whether between Judah and Israel or between any two parties, depends on their belief in God. Where there is no agreement on how we believe in the triune God, there can be no true union. How can there be when the very most important thing in life is left in question? This holds true in the church. It also holds true in the state and even in marriage. It holds true between all people in whatever situation they are in. This fact remains: “What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:15).