Visions of the Kingdom: Week 37

Ezekiel 34:1-31: The Great Shepherd

Condemnation of the Shepherds

• 34:2 "the shepherds of Israel" - the politicians, especially kings
• 34:3 "eat the fat" - Israel was warned what would happen with kings 1 Samuel 8:10-18
• 34:4 "ruled them with force and cruelty" - tyranny
• 34:10 "deliver My flock from their mouths" - God will judge the politicians.
• 34:11 "I Myself will search for My flock" - God was their king before, and will again be their Shepherd. Luke 15
• 34:12 "day of clouds and darkness" - suggesting the ultimate fulfillment is the Day of the Lord that ushers in a new age of righteous rule on the Earth. Zephaniah 1:14-18
• 34:13 "gather them from the nations" - while they would return from Babylon and Persia, there is an ultimate fulfilment in view where they return from all the nations.

Condemnation of the Fat Sheep

• 34:17 "I will judge between one sheep and another" - the people were also to blame, and would be judged.
• 34:18 "must you trample the rest of the pasture?" - "Dog in the Manger" behavior. What does God think of being well fed, yet trampling the future prosperity of our children?
• 34:20 "judge between the fat and the lean" - yes, the rich do oppress the poor.

The One Shepherd

• 34:23 "one Shepherd" - the solution is the Righteous King, from the line of David. But there will never again sit on the throne a descendant of Jeconiah, the last of the line of David. How will this be?
• 34:25 "sleep in the forest" - "none shall hurt of destroy in all My holy mountain" Isaiah 11:1-10
• 34:27 "yield its harvest" - Psalm 67:6
• 34:28 "no one will frighten them" - Isaiah 54:14