Shepherds false and true
Text Ezekiel 34 Time 16 09 07 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
Ezekiel Chapter 34 is about shepherds and about sheep – chiefly the shepherds - about what the shepherds should have been, what they were and what God will do and how one day by God's grace the Good Shepherd will come. Most of you have seen sheep I'm sure and you know that they are looked after by shepherds. Perhaps you've seen them in Wales or Yorkshire or elsewhere. As you know, many of the people we read about in the Bible, unlike most of us, were very familiar with sheep and with shepherds and that whole world and so from time to time God speaks in his Word in such terms. We are familiar with verses like Isaiah 53:6, 7 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. ... he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Psalm 23 is even more well known, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, etc. The Lord Jesus himself is both the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world and the Great and Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
When we read about shepherds and sheep in this chapter then what should we chiefly be thinking of? In the first place, we should be thinking of leaders and people. The leaders in those days were the King and the High Priest and also the priests and the prophets. When we come into the New Testament era it is the Apostles and prophets at first and then particularly pastors and teachers. The people are throughout presented as sheep – valuable but vulnerable and easily exploited. They are prone to wander and easily get lost. So with those few words in mind let's consider this chapter – once again the word of the LORD as it came through Ezekiel, a prophecy. I want to say four things.
1. Consider this word of woe against wicked shepherds
First of all Ezekiel is told (2) Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORD says. He is to pronounce a woe upon them from God because of their failure and he is to pronounce God's punishment on them.
1. Note their failure and what happens today
God says through Ezekiel Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. There is a selfishness about these men. Instead of taking care of the flock they are only concerned with looking after number one. They are happy to eat the curds from the ewes' milk, and clothe themselves with wool from the sheep and eat the choice animals when they are slaughtered but they don't care about the sheep. Ezekiel itemises, using pictures from the work of shepherding.
1 Weak sheep – sheep that couldn't keep up with the flock. You have not strengthened the weak. Some of the people were weak – they found it hard going and needed strengthening but that did not happen.
2 Sick or injured sheep. Or healed the sick or bound up the injured. Others were actually sick with diseases but they were neglected and still others were injured but again they were neglected.
3 Straying and lost sheep. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. There was a tendency to wander away from the truth but the shepherds were not concerned for these strays.
4 Harsh and brutal shepherding. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. In general there was a tendency to be rather brutal with the flock. There was a distasteful harshness about these men.
Now obviously when we come to a passage like this one I have to look at myself first. I'm called pastor (shepherd) but am I doing the work of a pastor? I am happy to take the money you provide me with and other benefits but am I strengthening the weak? Am I healing and helping the sick and the injured? Am I endeavouring to bring back the strays and searching for the lost? Is there a gentleness and care about my approach? I have to confess before you that such a list causes me shame and reminds me that there are certain areas where I'm falling down and where there needs to be change.
But then to go wider, what is it like among ministers today more generally? I think we would have to say that although there are many faithful men there is also a great deal of neglect and one fears that some are in the ministry simply for what they can get out of it. The weak are not strengthened from God's Word, the spiritually sick and the injured are not cared for as they should be. There is a general failing to really go after the backslider and to reach out to the unbeliever. Generally speaking people are happier to receive sheep from others than go find them for themselves. There is also evidence of harshness even brutality in some cases.
Such facts should make us mourn before God and pray that he will forgive his ministers and change them so that they may begin to be the sort of people that they ought to be. Pray for us that we may better resemble the ideals set out here.
2. Note the problems this caused and what happens today
The result of all this we read about in verses 5 and 6 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. What a tragic picture – sheep wandering on the hills without a shepherd. This is an oblique reference to the idolatry that went on up on the hills in Ezekiel's day. The people were divided and they were in danger. They were turning to false gods in their ignorance and neglect.
And don't we see the same sort of thing today? Division, confusion, all sorts of false worship. Now it can't all be blamed on ministers but that is where a great deal of the problem springs from.
3. Note their punishment and what God might do today
In verses 7-9 God says Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says. God speaks first about his attitude and then what he will do.
1 Note God's attitude. I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. Such people may claim to be the leaders of God's people and technically they were, but the truth is that God is against the shepherds. He is determined to hold them accountable for his flock.
You cannot just act as you please with God's people, with those he has under his care. To fail here is to be in great trouble indeed.
2 Note God's action. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. Such false shepherds will be removed. They cannot last. God has his ways of removing them.
Ezekiel Chapter 34 is about shepherds and about sheep – chiefly the shepherds - about what the shepherds should have been, what they were and what God will do and how one day by God's grace the Good Shepherd will come. Most of you have seen sheep I'm sure and you know that they are looked after by shepherds. Perhaps you've seen them in Wales or Yorkshire or elsewhere. As you know, many of the people we read about in the Bible, unlike most of us, were very familiar with sheep and with shepherds and that whole world and so from time to time God speaks in his Word in such terms. We are familiar with verses like Isaiah 53:6, 7 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. ... he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Psalm 23 is even more well known, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, etc. The Lord Jesus himself is both the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world and the Great and Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
When we read about shepherds and sheep in this chapter then what should we chiefly be thinking of? In the first place, we should be thinking of leaders and people. The leaders in those days were the King and the High Priest and also the priests and the prophets. When we come into the New Testament era it is the Apostles and prophets at first and then particularly pastors and teachers. The people are throughout presented as sheep – valuable but vulnerable and easily exploited. They are prone to wander and easily get lost. So with those few words in mind let's consider this chapter – once again the word of the LORD as it came through Ezekiel, a prophecy. I want to say four things.
1. Consider this word of woe against wicked shepherds
First of all Ezekiel is told (2) Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORD says. He is to pronounce a woe upon them from God because of their failure and he is to pronounce God's punishment on them.
1. Note their failure and what happens today
God says through Ezekiel Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. There is a selfishness about these men. Instead of taking care of the flock they are only concerned with looking after number one. They are happy to eat the curds from the ewes' milk, and clothe themselves with wool from the sheep and eat the choice animals when they are slaughtered but they don't care about the sheep. Ezekiel itemises, using pictures from the work of shepherding.
1 Weak sheep – sheep that couldn't keep up with the flock. You have not strengthened the weak. Some of the people were weak – they found it hard going and needed strengthening but that did not happen.
2 Sick or injured sheep. Or healed the sick or bound up the injured. Others were actually sick with diseases but they were neglected and still others were injured but again they were neglected.
3 Straying and lost sheep. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. There was a tendency to wander away from the truth but the shepherds were not concerned for these strays.
4 Harsh and brutal shepherding. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. In general there was a tendency to be rather brutal with the flock. There was a distasteful harshness about these men.
Now obviously when we come to a passage like this one I have to look at myself first. I'm called pastor (shepherd) but am I doing the work of a pastor? I am happy to take the money you provide me with and other benefits but am I strengthening the weak? Am I healing and helping the sick and the injured? Am I endeavouring to bring back the strays and searching for the lost? Is there a gentleness and care about my approach? I have to confess before you that such a list causes me shame and reminds me that there are certain areas where I'm falling down and where there needs to be change.
But then to go wider, what is it like among ministers today more generally? I think we would have to say that although there are many faithful men there is also a great deal of neglect and one fears that some are in the ministry simply for what they can get out of it. The weak are not strengthened from God's Word, the spiritually sick and the injured are not cared for as they should be. There is a general failing to really go after the backslider and to reach out to the unbeliever. Generally speaking people are happier to receive sheep from others than go find them for themselves. There is also evidence of harshness even brutality in some cases.
Such facts should make us mourn before God and pray that he will forgive his ministers and change them so that they may begin to be the sort of people that they ought to be. Pray for us that we may better resemble the ideals set out here.
2. Note the problems this caused and what happens today
The result of all this we read about in verses 5 and 6 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. What a tragic picture – sheep wandering on the hills without a shepherd. This is an oblique reference to the idolatry that went on up on the hills in Ezekiel's day. The people were divided and they were in danger. They were turning to false gods in their ignorance and neglect.
And don't we see the same sort of thing today? Division, confusion, all sorts of false worship. Now it can't all be blamed on ministers but that is where a great deal of the problem springs from.
3. Note their punishment and what God might do today
In verses 7-9 God says Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says. God speaks first about his attitude and then what he will do.
1 Note God's attitude. I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. Such people may claim to be the leaders of God's people and technically they were, but the truth is that God is against the shepherds. He is determined to hold them accountable for his flock.
You cannot just act as you please with God's people, with those he has under his care. To fail here is to be in great trouble indeed.
2 Note God's action. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. Such false shepherds will be removed. They cannot last. God has his ways of removing them.
We see such things happening in our day and it should not surprise us when such people are removed – rarely by being arrested, sometimes by being found in immorality but also through ill health or unpopularity. In the end God will remove all false shepherds.
2. Recognise God's concern for his flock
This is all rather negative but midway through verse 10 we begin on a more positive and encouraging note. God says I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. God will not allow such situations to continue. He goes on to speak of gathering his flock and caring for them.
1. He will gather them
(11, 12) I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.
God is the Great Shepherd. He will protect his people and care for them. He will not neglect them. Specifically he speaks again about what will happen after the exile - I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. Their current leaders were utterly failing but God himself would one day gather the people and bring them into the Promised Land again.
2. Recognise God's concern for his flock
This is all rather negative but midway through verse 10 we begin on a more positive and encouraging note. God says I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. God will not allow such situations to continue. He goes on to speak of gathering his flock and caring for them.
1. He will gather them
(11, 12) I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.
God is the Great Shepherd. He will protect his people and care for them. He will not neglect them. Specifically he speaks again about what will happen after the exile - I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. Their current leaders were utterly failing but God himself would one day gather the people and bring them into the Promised Land again.
This is what God himself does – despite the false shepherds he gathers a people to himself, for himself. In the end all his own will be safely gathered in and there shall be one flock.
2. He will care for them
I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. After the exile, God will bring his people back to the Promised Land again (14) I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
Here are the most encouraging words (15, 16) I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. The very problems that the false shepherds had so neglected – the strays, the injured and weak, he will deal with - I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but, and this is the other side of the coin, the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
2. He will care for them
I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. After the exile, God will bring his people back to the Promised Land again (14) I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
Here are the most encouraging words (15, 16) I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. The very problems that the false shepherds had so neglected – the strays, the injured and weak, he will deal with - I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but, and this is the other side of the coin, the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
God not only gathers his people to himself but he cares for them and provides for them. He is our shepherd and so we lack nothing. He leads us in green pastures and he makes us lie down by quiet waters. He restores our souls. When we stray, he brings us back; when we are injured, he binds up our wounds; when we are weak, he strengthens us.
3. Hear God's judgement between the warring sheep
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales he describe a very attractive poor parson, probably a Lollard or something of that kind. One of his sayings was 'If gold rust what will iron do?' in other words, 'Like pastor like people'. Poor pastors are likely to produce poor congregations. However, it would be very foolish indeed to suppose that all the problems in a church can be put down to its leaders. And so here God makes clear that although Israel's leaders were clearly at fault the people were not without fault themselves. They need to be spoken to as well. Hence verse 17 As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.
1. A word of warning to the strong
18, 19 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
Think of a flock a sheep again. In general sheep are not aggressive animals but rams and goats (kept with the sheep) can be so. Some sheep are bigger than others too and so there is room for problems. Like all animals they can be selfish as well. In that time there was a certain amount of what can only be called bullying – one person taking advantage of another.
3. Hear God's judgement between the warring sheep
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales he describe a very attractive poor parson, probably a Lollard or something of that kind. One of his sayings was 'If gold rust what will iron do?' in other words, 'Like pastor like people'. Poor pastors are likely to produce poor congregations. However, it would be very foolish indeed to suppose that all the problems in a church can be put down to its leaders. And so here God makes clear that although Israel's leaders were clearly at fault the people were not without fault themselves. They need to be spoken to as well. Hence verse 17 As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.
1. A word of warning to the strong
18, 19 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
Think of a flock a sheep again. In general sheep are not aggressive animals but rams and goats (kept with the sheep) can be so. Some sheep are bigger than others too and so there is room for problems. Like all animals they can be selfish as well. In that time there was a certain amount of what can only be called bullying – one person taking advantage of another.
Such things can happen today too; a congregation can become quite self-centred in its thinking. Are you living merely for yourself? Are you forgetting about the needs of others?
2. A word of comfort for the weak
20-22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.
God is not only going to deal with the false shepherds but the warring sheep too and so there is hope for the weak, those who have been mistreated by other members of the flock.
2. A word of comfort for the weak
20-22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.
God is not only going to deal with the false shepherds but the warring sheep too and so there is hope for the weak, those who have been mistreated by other members of the flock.
Sometimes we can get quite discouraged when we think of what happens sometimes in church life – divisions and splits, a lack of care towards people on the fringes or to outsiders – but here God speaks full of tenderness I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. God will have his people. Despite all, he will save them himself.
4. Give thanks for the Good Shepherd and the new covenant
Finally, in 23-31 we come to the most interesting and powerful part of the chapter. Here we are taken forward to the coming New Covenant in Jesus Christ. There are three main things here, things that we ought to give thanks for.
1. Give thanks for the Christ
23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken. This is a clear prophecy of the coming of Messiah Jesus Christ. In the New Testament he reveals himself as the Good Shepherd. Remember how he looked on the people with compassion as sheep without a shepherd. He had a shepherd heart. Eventually he laid down his life for the sheep – he died that his people might be forgiven. John 10 is the chapter to read. Give thanks that the Good and Great Shepherd of the sheep Jesus Christ has come for his people.
2. Give thanks for the new covenant in Christ
God goes on (25) I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. We get these intimations in the Old Testament of a new covenant that is going to be brought in. It is in one sense the same covenant of grace that we read of all through Scripture but the coming of Messiah means that it is brought in now with great freshness and in a new way. The eternal covenant can be summed up as here (30, 31) Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD. It is God being God and those in the covenant being his people. Or if you prefer – God as Shepherd and those who belong to him, his sheep.
3. Give thanks for our covenant privileges in Christ
Several wonderful things are alluded to here but we can put them all under the headings of security and blessing.
1 Security. See verses 27b and 28 the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. They were becoming slaves to the Babylonians and those who succeeded them – they were under a yoke. But God was going to break the bars of that yoke. Sheep in open country can be in danger of attack from wild animals. These sheep had come under attack, if you like but a time was coming, says God, when They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
4. Give thanks for the Good Shepherd and the new covenant
Finally, in 23-31 we come to the most interesting and powerful part of the chapter. Here we are taken forward to the coming New Covenant in Jesus Christ. There are three main things here, things that we ought to give thanks for.
1. Give thanks for the Christ
23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken. This is a clear prophecy of the coming of Messiah Jesus Christ. In the New Testament he reveals himself as the Good Shepherd. Remember how he looked on the people with compassion as sheep without a shepherd. He had a shepherd heart. Eventually he laid down his life for the sheep – he died that his people might be forgiven. John 10 is the chapter to read. Give thanks that the Good and Great Shepherd of the sheep Jesus Christ has come for his people.
2. Give thanks for the new covenant in Christ
God goes on (25) I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. We get these intimations in the Old Testament of a new covenant that is going to be brought in. It is in one sense the same covenant of grace that we read of all through Scripture but the coming of Messiah means that it is brought in now with great freshness and in a new way. The eternal covenant can be summed up as here (30, 31) Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD. It is God being God and those in the covenant being his people. Or if you prefer – God as Shepherd and those who belong to him, his sheep.
3. Give thanks for our covenant privileges in Christ
Several wonderful things are alluded to here but we can put them all under the headings of security and blessing.
1 Security. See verses 27b and 28 the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. They were becoming slaves to the Babylonians and those who succeeded them – they were under a yoke. But God was going to break the bars of that yoke. Sheep in open country can be in danger of attack from wild animals. These sheep had come under attack, if you like but a time was coming, says God, when They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
That time is here now and it can be yours in Christ. Trust in Jesus Christ and you will be safe and secure. He will rescue you from the slavery of sin and from the power of the world and the devil and you will live in safety, and no one will make you afraid.
2 Blessing. Two or three pictures are used to illustrate.
Refreshing showers. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. Think of the soft refreshing rain coming down on a hot day – how refreshing, how good. So it is when God comes to his people and he gives them new strength.
Abundant fruitfulness. 27a The trees of the field will yield their fruit. Think of a tree full of fruit. God works in the lives of believers to make them fruitful – full of good works. It goes on - and the ground will yield its crops. Then verse 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. The abundance of harvest is another way of picturing the blessings that come under the new covenant.
To sum up (30, 31) Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.
2 Blessing. Two or three pictures are used to illustrate.
Refreshing showers. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. Think of the soft refreshing rain coming down on a hot day – how refreshing, how good. So it is when God comes to his people and he gives them new strength.
Abundant fruitfulness. 27a The trees of the field will yield their fruit. Think of a tree full of fruit. God works in the lives of believers to make them fruitful – full of good works. It goes on - and the ground will yield its crops. Then verse 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. The abundance of harvest is another way of picturing the blessings that come under the new covenant.
To sum up (30, 31) Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Do you know the Lord is with you? Do you have a sense of his presence? Do you belong to the Lord? Can you say 'The Lord is my shepherd'? If you turn from your sins and trust in Jesus Christ then you can. Every blessing follows from that.
