Then I said, “I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.”  And I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples.  So it was broken on that day. Thus the poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD. Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.  Zechariah 11:9-12

Now as we look at this section of the text today in Zechariah, the first thing that jumps out at you is the reference to “30 Pieces of Silver” , the mention of this should bring you back to when Judas betrayed Christ and sold him for 30 pieces of silver 

and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.  Matthew 26:15

Is this a coincidence the Son of God was sold for the 30 pieces of silver mentioned by the prophet Zechariah? Of course not, there are no coincidences in the Word of God. So how do we reconcile these texts, very easily when you understand what Christ accomplished on the cross, not only the atonement for our sins (1 John 2:2) but also the fulfilment of the Old Covenant (Matthew 5:17)

Look at what God says to Israel here “I might break the covenant which I had made with all the people” What is this talking about? Its the judgement of Israel in 70 A.D. , its the destruction of the Temple (Matthew 24:1-2) This is the fulfilment of the Old Covenant, and a New Covenant in Christ is being prophesied and completed by Jesus

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  Luke 22:20

Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.  Hebrews 9:15

By Judas betraying the Son of God, the religious leaders of Israel paying 30 pieces of silver to hand him over to be crucified, they have fulfilled these prophecies and essentially the Old (Mosaic) Covenant

And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter. Zechariah 11:13

If your not convinced by the prophecy of the 30 pieces of silver, how about this next part. The religious leaders knew this was “blood money”, they couldn’t recieve this money for the Temple because they know it was from the shedding of innocent blood, so they spent the money on a “Potters field” to bury foreigners and strangers. This was prophesied also by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18 and 19) and fulfilled by Judas and the religious leaders

This is what the LORD says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests,  Jeremiah 19:1

Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on Him by the people of Israel, / and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord had commanded me.”  Matthew 27:9-10

Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.  Zechariah 11:14

This text predicts the rejection of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, the crucifixion of Christ began the judgement of God upon Israel and the ending of the Old Covenant 

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  Acts 2:36

Open your doors, O Lebanon, That fire may devour your cedars.  Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, Because the mighty trees are ruined. Wail, O oaks of Bashan, For the thick forest has come down.  There is the sound of wailing shepherds! For their glory is in ruins. There is the sound of roaring lions! For the pride of the Jordan is in ruins.  Zechariah 11:1-3

When it comes to eschatology, the study of end times, 70 AD is an important event in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, not only symbolic of God’s judgement upon Israel and the end of the Mosaic Covenant. 

This is exactly what the prophet Zechariah is prophesying about here, the same what Jesus predicted at the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) The sign of the old religious system coming to an end (The Temple, The Sacrificial System, The Priest Line)

And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  Matthew 24:2

Thus says the LORD my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter,  whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do not pity them.  For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”  Zecharian 11:4-6

The reference to the religious leaders, the false shepherds , who have misled the people and led them to the slaughter. The false teachers who have rejected the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and have conspired to crucify The Lord of Glory on the cross

“The shepherds do not pity them” the religious leaders of Israel have no concern for their people, just as false teachers and false prophets (Matthew 7) they are only concerned with themselves 

God warns of his judgement “They shall attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand” The destruction of Jerusalem foretold because of the sins and disobedience of his people, and ultimately their rejection of the true Messiah, the son of God, Jesus Christ

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.  Daniel 9:26

But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Matthew 22:7

So I fed the flock for slaughter, in particular the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bonds; and I fed the flock.  I dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.  Zechariah 11:7-8

As Jesus revealed, Christ is “The Good Shepherd” (John 10:11) The Christ has come to feed and protect His sheep, Gods people. Jesus is also the Way, the Truth, and The Life (John 14:6) by His word, he exposed the false shepherds, the religious leaders, the 3 shepherds (priests, elders, and scribes) They are all corrupted and The Good Shepherd has exposed their wickedness and removed their positions, the fulfillment of the Mosaic Covenant

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. / Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.  Jeremiah 23:1-2

Those who are the true Sheep, the people of God, hear the voice of the Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and listen to His voice and follow Him (John 10, Psalm 23)