Woe to Negligent Leaders
Living in an agrarian society, the people in Ezekiel’s day would be most familiar with shepherds and their sheep. Yet Ezekiel’s prophecy chastising selfish shepherds isn’t about the people who manage the sheep in their herd.
Instead, it’s about the spiritual shepherds and the people under their care.
God proclaimed woe to the selfish shepherds in Israel. This is because they only took care of themselves. They were selfish. They forgot their job was to take care of the sheep (metaphorically, the people) under their care.
Referring to literal shepherds and their sheep, Ezekiel says they were happy to eat the curds, harvest the wool for clothes, and butcher the sheep for dinner, but they did nothing to care for their flock of sheep.
So, too, with spiritual shepherds. These selfish shepherds don’t bother with the weak, heal the sick, or tend to the injured. They have not looked for strays or searched for the lost. They are harsh and brutal; they are selfish shepherds.
In effect, the sheep had no shepherd. So they scattered. The wild animals attacked them. But their shepherds didn’t care. Their shepherds didn’t go looking for them.
But God will hold these worthless shepherds accountable. He will remove them from their position and rescue his flock from their abuse.
God will look after his sheep. He will rescue them and bring them into their own land. He will provide pasture. And he will search for the lost and bring back the strays. Then he will bandage the injured and care for the weak. He will shepherd the flock with justice.
As the prophecy continues, God promises to place one shepherd over the flock, his servant David. David will tend to the sheep and be their shepherd.
But Ezekiel lived several centuries after David, so he’s not talking about David returning from the dead to become the shepherd of God’s flock. Instead Ezekiel’s prophetically looking forward to Jesus who will come to us as our shepherd—our Good Shepherd.
Jesus is our perfect Shepherd. We can trust him to care for us and never leave.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Ezekiel 34-36, and today’s post is on Ezekiel 34:2.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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