Christ in the Old Testament

Zechariah 11:10

Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Zechariah 11:10-13

Zechariah refuses to be the shepherd any longer in verse 9. He is going to leave the flock to their own devices. The ones who are set on dying will die because he’s done with them. So in verse 10, he took his staff – the one called Favor – and broke it. The staff called Favor represented the blessing that Israel received from the covenant God made with them. Recall the covenant:

“Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me” (Ex 19:5).

Moses received this covenant from God on top of Mount Sinai. The covenant was conditional. God would make Israel a special treasure so long as the obeyed Him. Moses took this covenant down from the mountain and presented God’s offer to the nation of Israel and they accepted God’s offer:

“And all the people responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has commanded.’ So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord” (Ex 19:8).

The covenant was then sealed. God gave them a clear set of rules and regulations that were to be followed. In return, God would give them Favor. As we know, the Israelites did not hold up their end of the bargain. In fact, there were very few periods of time when Israel even came close to holding up their end of the covenant. The Israelites seemed to be in a permanent state of disobedience:

“Yes, you have been rebelling against the Lord as long as I have known you” (Deut 9:24).

So about 1300 years after this covenant was established, God had had enough. As a final attempt to shepherd His people, he sent His son and they crucified him. So God breaks the covenant with Israel. The Old Covenant is broken because Israel never held up their end. God told them this day was coming through the prophet Jeremiah:

“‘The day is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,’ says the Lord” (Jer 31:31-32).

When Jesus came to earth, God knew that Israel would reject him as their Messiah. That’s what they have always done. Every time he sent a prophet, Israel would send them packing. They didn’t want to hear God’s message. They wanted to do things their own way. Over and over God would send a prophet or a judge and every time Israel would end up disobeying God.

The irony in all of this is that in sending Jesus, God was establishing a New Covenant. Yes the Old Covenant would be broken, but God is not going to abandon His people. He’s going to turn the death of His one and only son upside-down and make it the seal that secures the New Covenant:

“‘But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord. ‘I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, “You should know the Lord.” For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins’” (Jer 31:33-34).

“When God speaks of a ‘new’ covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear” (Heb 8:13).

The staff called Favor is broken. The Old Covenant is broken and obsolete. It’s time for a fresh start. Israel rejected the Good Shepherd but God made Jesus the seal that guarantees the New Covenant:

“Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God” (Heb 7:22).

This New Covenant is eternal forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. It’s so much better than the Old Covenant. There were daily rituals and regulations that had to be followed. Even the slightest misstep would result in eternal death. There was no cure for sin. There were only temporary reprieves through the sacrifice of animals. Now, through Jesus, we can have complete forgiveness of sin and have a true relationship with the Father through the Holy Spirit that lives in us.

God will not remove His favor from us ever again. Jesus has secured it for all eternity:

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire” (Heb 12:28-29).

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for establishing God’s New Covenant and giving me eternal life. Help me to be thankful in all that I do today so that I am pleasing to you.