March 24, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Sold for Silver, Bought by Blood

-            The

Sold for Silver, Bought by Blood


Genesis 15:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
    I am your shield,
    your very great reward.”

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Who is Abram’s shield and “very great reward” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why does Abram say “what can you give me since I remain childless” (verse 2)?


Why does Abram say “a servant in my household will be my heir” (verse 3)?


How does the Lord reassure Abram (verse 4)?


What does the Lord compare Abram’s offspring to (verse 5)?


Why was it credited to Abram “as righteousness” (verse 6)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Zechariah 11:1-17 - New International Version (NIV)         

¹ Open your doors, Lebanon,
    so that fire may devour your cedars!
² Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan;
    the dense forest has been cut down!
³ Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

⁴ This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. ⁵ Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

⁷ So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. ⁸ In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them ⁹ and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

¹⁰ 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 oppressed 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 valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.

¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

¹⁷ “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”

Why is it significant that the cedars and the oaks will be devoured and ruined (verses 1 through 3)?

What flock is Zechariah to shepherd (verse 4)?


Who goes “unpunished” (verse 5)?


In your opinion, what does it mean that the Lord “will no longer have pity on the people of the Land” (verse 6)?


What did Zechariah call the two staffs he took to shepherd the flock (verse 7)?


How did the flock feel about Zechariah (verse 8)?


In your opinion, why did Zechariah say “I will not be your shepherd” (verse 9)?


What did breaking the staff called Favor revoke (verse 10)?


How much did they pay Zechariah (verse 12)?


What did the Lord tell Zechariah to do with the pay (verse 13)?


What did breaking the staff called Union break (verse 14)?


What kind of equipment is Zechariah to “take again” (verse 15)?


Who will the not be cared for (verse 16)?


Who is the “woe” for (verse 17)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, how are the offspring of Abram from Genesis 15:1-6 related to the sheep being shepherded in Zechariah 11:1-17?


Matthew 27:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰ and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Who made plans to have Jesus executed (verse 1)?

What did they do to Jesus (verse 2)?

How did Judas feel when Jesus was condemned (verse 3)?

What did Judas do with the thirty pieces of silver he had received (verse 3)?

How had Judas sinned (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the chief priests and elders say “that’s your responsibility” (verse 4)?

What did Judas do with the money (verse 5)?

What did Judas do to himself (verse 5)?

Why could the money not be put in the treasury (verse 6)?

What did they do with the money (verse 7)?

Why is the potter’s field called the “Field of Blood” (verse 8)?

Whose prophecy was fulfilled (verses 9 and 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between Abram in Genesis 15:1-6 and the chief priests and elders of the people in Matthew 27:1-10?

In your opinion, how is the way that Zechariah was treated by the flock in Zechariah 11:1-17 and the way Jesus was treated by the chief priests and elders in Matthew 27:1-10 similar?

Ephesians 1:3-10 – New International Version (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Who has blessed us “with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (verse 3)?

When were we chosen to “be holy and blamelsss in his sight” (verse 4)?


How are we adopted “to sonship” (verse 5)?


What has God “freely given us in the One he loves” (verse 6)?


How do we have redemption  (verse 7)?


What has God done with the riches of His grace (verses 7 and 8)?


What has God “made known to us” (verse 9)?


Who will “all things in heaven and on earth” be brought to unity in (verse 10)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, how is the righteousness Abram received when he “believed the Lord” in Genesis 15:1-6 related to the redemption and forgiveness of sins that Paul talks about in Ephesians 1:3-10?


In your opinion, how does Zechariah breaking the staffs of Favor and Union in Zecahariah 11:1-17 help us understand how amazing it is that God offers glorious grace according to Paul in Ephesians 1:3-10?


In your opinion, what part does the remorse that Judas felt about his sin in Matthew 27:1-10 play in the forgiveness of sins that Paul talks about in Ephesians 1:3-10?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, Zechariah, Matthew and Ephesians teach us about responsibility and righteousness?


In your opinion, how do we move from responsibility and remorse to redemption and righteousness?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)