10 And I take my staff Pleasantness, and cut it apart, to make void my covenant that I had made with all the peoples: 11 and it is broken in that day, and the afflicted of the flock who are observing me know well, that it [is] a word of YHWH.
Zechariah 11:5-11
God has said that He takes His staff called "Pleasantness", and cuts it apart, that He will make void, to break, to render nonexistent, His covenant that He had made with all of the peoples, which includes that flock who were observing Him.
In Zechariah chapter 11, God tells the prophet to
act like a shepherd caring for a flock of sheepthat are headed for destruction. This is a picture of how God had cared for His people, but they no longer wanted Him. They rejected His guidance and leadership. So, God gave them what they wanted—He stepped back and let them go their own way.
Zechariah carried two staffs to show what God was doing.
One staff was called Favor, meaning God’s kindness and protection. The other was called Union, showing the unity between the people. When Zechariah broke the staff called Favor, it meant that God was ending His special protection over the people. They had rejected Him, so He was letting them face the nations without His help.
Zechariah 11:10 says:
"And I took my staff, Favor, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples."
This doesn’t refer to the Ten Commandments covenant given at Sinai. Instead, it points to the kind of covenant seen throughout the Old Testament—where God promised to protect and guide His people if they remained faithful. It is shown clearly in
Deuteronomy 28:1-2:
"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God."
This kind of promise appears many times. In
Exodus 19:5-6, before giving the law, God said:
"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
God also promised personal guidance.
Isaiah 30:21 says:
"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."
Psalm 23 also reflects this care:
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me."
But when the people rejected God,
He withdrew His care. Hosea 4:6 says:
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me."
Later in
Zechariah 11:14, the prophet breaks the second staff, Union. That meant the people would be divided and no longer stand together:
"Then I cut in two my other staff, Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel."
The people didn’t value their shepherd. They paid him thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave.
"So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 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 11:12–13
This was a prophecy pointing to Jesus, the good shepherd He too was rejected and betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, and that same money was thrown into the temple, just like Zechariah did.
God broke that covenant of protection because His people turned away from Him. But He didn’t leave things that way forever. Later,
He made a new covenant through Jesus. At the Last Supper, Jesus said:
"This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." — Luke 22:20
Jesus also said:
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." — John 10:11
Even though the old covenant of protection was broken, God opened a new and better way—through His Son.
Those who follow Jesus, the good shepherd, are brought back under God’s care and become part of His people again.
God did say that
the Ten Commandments are His covenant, and this truth
has not changed. God said:
"So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone." — Deuteronomy 4:13 (NKJV)
This covenant, written by God Himself, remains the foundation of His will for His people JEWS AND GENTILES.
In Zechariah 11, the covenant that was broken was
not the Ten Commandments. It was God’s
protective relationship with His people—His willingness to guard, bless, and guide them as a nation
as long as they listened to Him. When they rejected Him as their Shepherd, He stepped back and let them face the consequences. But this
did not cancel His eternal covenant—the Ten Commandments.
Now, let’s look at Jesus.
He never canceled the Ten Commandments. In fact, He taught them and brought them to their full meaning. Jesus said:
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." — Matthew 5:17–18 (NKJV)
Then Jesus went on to teach how the commandments go even deeper—not just the letter, but the heart. For example, He taught that not only is murder wrong, but
anger without cause is also a sin. Not only is adultery wrong, but
looking with lust is already sin in the heart (
Matthew 5:21–30).
Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments into two great principles:
"‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." —
Matthew 22:37–40 (NKJV)
Jesus was not replacing the Ten Commandments—He was showing that
love is the foundation of all of them. The first four teach us how to love God; the last six teach us how to love others.
So to answer plainly,
No, the Ten Commandments have not changed or been cancelled. God’s covenant still stands. Jesus lived by them, taught them, and showed their full meaning. The new covenant Jesus brought did not erase the commandments—it wrote them on our hearts (see
Jeremiah 31:33). Through Jesus, we receive forgiveness and the power to truly keep God's law—not just outwardly, but from the heart.
