The Lord has a prophesy for the shepherds of Israel.
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? Ezekiel 34:2
I've been really hurt by the pastor at my previous church. This indictment really speaks to why it hurts so much. He didn't steal money to enrich himself, but he used members of the church to meet his emotional needs. He basically set up a sub-set of the church to his cult of personality. And he punished anyone who made him feel bad about himself. Not church discipline, but personal acts of petty vengeance if he did like what you said or did. I believe it came out of a deep sense of brokenness and hurt that he hasn't identified in himself, so I try to see him as a wounded animal and not a narcissist, but it's an ongoing hurt because I'm now separated from the own church body.
As a former teacher, I know that some of us, teachers, judges, and ministers, are held to a higher standard with God. It's worth remembering that. He knows our mitigating circumstances, but He also gives us the Holy Spirit to help us walk worthy of the extra responsibility we've been privileged to have.
Well, that was a little rabbit trail, but it's important to remember that God doesn't change. Even though we can find forgiveness, it doesn't change what enrages him.
Verse 3 starts the list of God's charges against these shepherds. They...
- slaughter the sheep without feeding the people
- ate the fat
- clothed themselves with the wool
- no care for the sickly, diseased, or broken
- no care for those who became scattered
- not seeking the lost
- used force and severity to dominate them
At least three of those, if not more, applies to my previous pastor, even in the modern age. God expects the pastors to shepherd. Even if you have strengths of things you like doing; you also have a flock to shepherd, whether you're particularly good at it or not.
I guess I am still processing righteous anger from someone who claims to be a representative of God; but I have a responsibility to be angry without sinning. It surprises me that someone not close to me could have this kind lingering hurt and anger; but it makes me feel better to see that God has these claims against shepherds who intentionally make selfish choices. It's affirming. But I have to be so careful that my internal processes doesn't festered into judgement.
Here's more about why God holds them to account:
- the people ended up scattered without a shepherd
- these people became food for the beasts because they were scattered
And this:
My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’” Ezekiel 34:6
Notice that the Lord repeatedly uses the term "My". Even though the shepherd has been given a flock, it is the Lord's flock. He is watching very closely.
I've watched as at least half of the church had to leave under the previous pastor I was speaking of. Some landed at other churches, a little raw; but continuing to grow in Christ. But some of the newer believers just left with a bad taste in their mouth about church in general. And some left and are now walking wounded, not worthy. They have lashed out in belligerent anger and turned their lives and the lives of their children upside down in rage and hurt. This pastor may have been assigned a flock; but it belonged to God. And those scattered sheep did not go unnoticed by their heavenly Shepherd.
He gives Ezekiel a message to deliver directly to the shepherds:
... therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’” Ezekiel 34:8–10
He's watching and I can leave the situation in His hands.
Glory to God. Even when we hurt one another.
Here's the good news. Because there is ALWAYS good news from our Sovereign Father:
For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. Ezekiel 34:11–12
Even if an early shepherd scatters us, He will call and deliver us.
Verse 13 explains that the heavenly Shepherd will bring Israel out from where their shepherds scattered them among the nations. They will come back to their own land and they will have food and water there. They will find good grazing grounds in the mountains and pastures. The Lord is our heavenly Shepherd, we will not want.
Of course this happens at the end of their 70 year exile; but also for all of us in the end times. In Jesus' millennial Kingdom.
I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God. “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment. Ezekiel 34: 15–16
It makes me feel better to read that God will feed us with judgment. Of course, I hope my former pastor come around to the severe sin he has committed and find God's full grace and forgiveness. But in the short term, it feels like he's being rewarded while so many of us hurt. It's just good to remember God is the judge and He is watching. It's going to be alright.
Here's the next thing to really meditate on:
“As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!’”
Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another. Ezekiel 34: 17–22
It's so easy to see the sins of the guy standing on the stage; but a church is a whole body. We are accountable to all of the other body parts affected by our own actions. We all better be reflecting on what we might have done to foul the water for others. And we may have let the early shepherd scatter us; but how did we act when we were cut loose. If we're all going to be accountable for even stray words coming from our mouths (Matthew 12:36), how much more for actions that were sinful and harmful to others.
The news just keeps getting better and better:
“Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken. Ezekiel 34:23–24
And not just David, who made some pretty severe mistakes himself; but David's greatest (and perfect) descendant, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what that brings:
- a (new) covenant of peace
- elimination of harmful beasts
- so we can live securely in the wilderness and woods
- the places around His hill will be blessed
- showers to come down in their season
- showers of blessings
- trees will yield fruit
- the earth will yield increase
- we will be secure on the land
- We will know that He is God.
- our yoke will be broken
- we will be delivered from those who enslave us
- no longer prey to the nations or beasts of the earth
- we will live securely and will not be afraid
- a renowned planting place with no more famines
- no more insults from the nations
It ends with this beautiful promise:
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 Lord God. “As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God. Ezekiel 34:30–31
Glory be. What a wonderful vision of life.
Fear and anxiety gone. Provision and protect. Life as our heart longs for it now.
Homesick for heaven.
I'm surprised how relived I feel thinking about everyone knowing who God is and no more humiliation from the majority being convinced they are right while denigrating out Lord. I'm surprised to discover in myself such a burden for being unable to persuade those around me of right, wrong, good, evil, reality, lies, and who God really is.
I long for the knowledge of God to be universal. He tells us it is written on our hearts. And I think that's why those opposed to Him are so violent and nasty. They know the truth in their hearts and are in rebellion against it. But it makes for an oppressive atmosphere to live in. I'll be relieved when it is gone and every tear has been wiped away.
Homesick for heaven. Glory to God. Amen.