Ezekiel 34
The leaders of
When leaders feed God’s sheep, they are thinking about what the people really need. They are willing to live sacrificially in order for the people to learn what they need to know so that the whole family of God can grow in their service of the Lord. The alternative to this is to force the weak sheep to sacrifice their lives for the shepherds. In that case, the leaders are not teaching the people the way of life. Instead of feeding the sheep, they spend their efforts in slaughtering the sheep. The true shepherd of the sheep would have a special regard for those who were in need – those who were sick, injured, or lost. The false shepherd wants to kill the sheep and eat them. They either destroy the sheep or ignore them, leaving them in danger from wild beasts. The end result of Old Testament leaders abusing their role as teachers and servants is that God’s flock had badly wandered far away from the Lord and were scattered everywhere.
God was against these false shepherds, and He was determined to punish them. God loves His sheep, and if His shepherds are going to slaughter the sheep, God will defend His sheep by coming against the shepherds. God will seek out His scattered flock, and He will rescue them. He will bring them back into the land so that they can dwell there in safety. God Himself will feed them the Word if His leaders refuse to feed His sheep. God will take care of the weak among them, and do the job of shepherd that the leaders have refused to perform.
The problem of the Old Testament covenant community was not merely poor leadership. When God spoke of taking over that role more directly and shepherding His own flock, He warned His people that He would judge between the sheep. He knew well that some of them were polluting the waters of God’s land with the sin of their lives. They showed a lack of concern for the weak in their midst. Some got fat while others starved. There was an inadequate appreciation for their oneness in the Lord’s house. God would change this through His shepherding of the flock. Even today, we should always remember that the Lord will not allow the strong to abuse the weak in His house. He will step in and save.
The way that God will save is through His promise to send One Great Shepherd of the sheep who He calls here “my servant David.” The actual David was long gone from under the sun. When God speaks of “David” here, He is referring to a descendant of David who will be the long-expected Messiah King. When Jesus, the greatest Son of David, is the Good Shepherd over the Lord’s people, then God will be their God. Christ is called the Prince among God’s people. In the provision of His Son for His church, the Lord has given us the greatest display of Himself, for Jesus is the visible representation of the invisible God.
Because this One Great Shepherd not only gave His life for the sheep, but now lives forever as our great Leader, we have a secure hope of an age of perfect covenant peace. We now experience this hope by faith. When our Shepherd returns we will know this peace without any of the stain of sin or any of the weight of misery. Now we face some of the challenges that come with living in an old world with the effect of the common curse upon mankind. The trees do not always yield fruit. We sometimes face the oppression of wicked and abusive governments. Foreign invaders and enemies can make life difficult for us. Hunger and disease take their toll upon the lives of Your people. Even beyond this, we have the shame of our own sin. We feel the Lord’s hand of disciplinary love and the sting of necessary correction, or simply the reminder that we need to stay alert to God’s goodness and His presence among us. Sometimes it feels like we are all alone, though we know that this is not the case. At certain times even the church and our own families give us surprising cause for sadness.
Yet when our great Shepherd returns, the new kingdom will come in its fullness. We long for the return of this great Savior who has displayed His covenant faithfulness at the cost of His own blood. Until that day of His return, may God help us to continue to hear the voice of the One who speaks to us through His Word. He has loved us with the best love ever known. Even now there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM
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