1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, That fire may devour your cedars. 2 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. 3 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.
The eleventh chapter prophesies the rejection of the coming Messiah, the “Good Shepherd,” and the embrace of the “worthless shepherd,” the coming Antichrist.
Chapter 11 presents a bleak picture of death and destruction. There are two prophetic oracles in this chapter (11:1-36 and 11:17). The first oracle depicts the destruction of lands north of Israel (Lebanon, Bashan, and the Jordan Valley). The last oracle characterizes the woe to come upon the shepherd who fails to protect his flock. Thus, God will bring judgment to those who disregard Jehovah’s message.
The first three verses are a lamentation about the coming destruction of Israel. Zechariah personified trees as wailing. This misery is the outcome of the nation rejecting her Messiah.
Open your doors, O Lebanon,
Lebanon is the mountain north of the Sea of Galilee. This challenge to the region north of Israel is a pronouncement of doom. Its destiny is so sure that there is no need to resist the coming invading armies. Lebanon was historically the door of invading armies.
That fire may devour your cedars.
Mount Lebanon was known for its majestic cedars, valuable material for building solid structures. However splendid the Lebanon cedars were, Lebanon was subject to judgment. A conflagration was to come.
Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, Because the mighty trees are ruined.
God calls on the cypress trees to mourn the destruction of the cedar trees. These trees represent the political powers of the region.
Wail, O oaks of Bashan, For the thick forest has come down.
Oak trees are to mourn for the carnage of the thick forest of cedar trees. Cedar trees represent strength and power. Bashan was situated to the east of Jordan and north of Mount Gilead. Moses assigned this area to half of the tribe of Manasseh.
There is the sound of wailing shepherds! For their glory is in ruins.
Shepherds wail because of the loss of their lush pastures and sheep. “Wailing” is a poetic figure of misery. “Shepherds” signifies leaders, and the “glory” is their material wealth.
There is the sound of roaring lions! For the pride of the Jordan is in ruins.
“The pride of Jordan” denotes the great river that runs north to south in Israel, from Mount Hermon to the Dead Sea. Lions in the forest roar because of the destruction of their habitat. The “lions” are other leaders in Israel.
When the Messiah comes to establish His kingdom, He will exercise judgment on the nations listed in this context.
The enemy of Israel will follow a scorched earth policy toward the nation in the future.
The events of the first three verses of chapter 11 may refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. Zechariah depicts the Roman army as a fire that burns whatever is before it. By rejecting the Messiah, the nation Israel faced destruction by the Romans. The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 may be a foretaste of the desolation of the land during the Great Tribulation.