GOD – OUR ONLY TRUE SHEPHERD – IS ALL WE NEED!
GOD – OUR ONLY TRUE SHEPHERD – IS ALL WE NEED
"I will feed My flock, and I will make
them lie down," says the Lord God. "I will seek what was lost and
bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was
sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment. You
are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God."
(Ezek 34:15-16, 31)
In Ezekiel
34, the leaders of Israel depicted as “shepherds”
received a performance review from God that was not good. The leaders
were spending most of their energies feeding themselves instead of the flock (vv.
2–8), and they were giving them nothing but leftovers (vv. 18–19). Not only
were they neglecting the most vulnerable among the people, the weak, the sick,
the broken, and the refugees, but they were actually taking advantage of them (vv.
4–6, 21). There was only one remedy for this situation—to remove the leaders
from leadership (vv. 9–10).
Instead, God
Himself would heal the hurting, restore the scattered, and feed His flock (vv. 11–16).
He will be their Shepherd and will gather them to the land and rule over them
(during the Millennium). Evangelist D. L. Moody nicely outlines God’s ministry
to His sheep:
Notice the “I will’s” of the Lord God on behalf
of his sheep: I will search them and seek them out (v. 11). I will deliver them (v. 12). I
will bring them out - I will gather them together - I will bring them in (v. 13). I will feed them (v. 14). I will cause them to lie down (v. 15). I will bind up the broken - I will strengthen the sick (v. 16).
John Taylor
also beautifully ties together the revelations of God as Shepherd in both
Testaments for us:
The picture of the shepherd searching
out the wanderer (in verse 12) is a remarkable foreshadowing of the parable of
the lost sheep (Luke 15:4), which our Lord doubtless based on this passage in
Ezekiel. It illustrates as clearly as anything can do, the tender, loving qualities
of the God of the Old Testament, and strikes a death-blow at those who try to
drive a wedge between Yahweh, God of Israel, and the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Nor is this the only passage that speaks of God, the tender
shepherd (Psalms 78:52; 79:13; 80:1; Isaiah 40:11; 49:9; Jer. 31:10).
Thus, this
passage in Ezekiel 34 is a prefiguring of Christ as the Good Shepherd (John
10:1–16), who would bring His sheep back “to
their own land” (vv. 12, 13). It also speaks of the future day of
deliverance when God will seek out His sheep (see 36:16–36). Israel, though
guilty and misguided, would eventually be rescued by the divine Good Shepherd
and restored to the Promised Land.
Today, Jesus
Christ is the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb. 13:20–21), and He cares for His
own. He sends “showers of blessing”
on the dry land and makes it into a garden (vv. 26, 29). What a difference it
makes when our God is in control! He is ALL we need!
"The Lord is my shepherd; I
shall not want."
(Psalms 23:1)
