Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
The verse belongs to Zechariah chapters 9–14, whose language seemed more like Jeremiah's and led some to think it had originally been part of Jeremiah's writings, which would help explain why Matthew attributes a quotation from Zechariah 11 to Jeremiah. It stands in a prophecy about the shepherds of Israel, the spiritual leaders entrusted with the flock of God. A shepherd means a feeder who both leads and feeds the flock, and the prophecy exposes the utter unfitness of Israel's teachers for that work of feeding God's flock, in contrast with Jesus the good shepherd who truly leads and feeds.
It foretells destruction in which Lebanon's cedars are devoured by fire and the surrounding forest is brought down, and the following howling over fallen trees and spoiled rulers presents this destruction as part of a figurative picture of a condition among the people. It predicts Jerusalem's destruction by the avenging hand of God through the united forces of the nations, a lot the Jews chose by rejecting their king instead of receiving miraculous preservation of their city, temple, and nation. It is a prophecy of the temple's impending destruction, so that when the temple gate opened by itself the event was taken as a warning that the temple would soon be destroyed, with Lebanon's cedars representing the destruction to come. It belongs to the latter part of Zechariah that looks forward to the final restoration, giving a hopeful outlook for the people of God who truly seek Him and grasp by faith the promises of the Spirit, while foretelling sad judgment that will come upon all those who reject Him.
The verse belongs to Zechariah chapters 9–14, whose language seemed more like Jeremiah's and led some to think it had originally been part of Jeremiah's writings, which would help explain why Matthew attributes a quotation from Zechariah 11 to Jeremiah. It stands in a prophecy about the shepherds of Israel, the spiritual leaders entrusted with the flock of God. A shepherd means a feeder who both leads and feeds the flock, and the prophecy exposes the utter unfitness of Israel's teachers for that work of feeding God's flock, in contrast with Jesus the good shepherd who truly leads and feeds.
It foretells destruction in which Lebanon's cedars are devoured by fire and the surrounding forest is brought down, and the following howling over fallen trees and spoiled rulers presents this destruction as part of a figurative picture of a condition among the people. It predicts Jerusalem's destruction by the avenging hand of God through the united forces of the nations, a lot the Jews chose by rejecting their king instead of receiving miraculous preservation of their city, temple, and nation. It is a prophecy of the temple's impending destruction, so that when the temple gate opened by itself the event was taken as a warning that the temple would soon be destroyed, with Lebanon's cedars representing the destruction to come. It belongs to the latter part of Zechariah that looks forward to the final restoration, giving a hopeful outlook for the people of God who truly seek Him and grasp by faith the promises of the Spirit, while foretelling sad judgment that will come upon all those who reject Him.