Future Shepherd Established
Jerusalem Judged (Ezekiel 33-39)
Ezekiel is then led to prophesy to the false shepherds. He would contrast them with the True Shepherd to come. The shepherds of Israel were the kings, princes, judges, priests, and prophets of the nation, which Yahweh held responsible for the moral destruction of the nation.
The False Shepherds (1-10)
These false shepherds fell under the judgment of God for differing reasons (1).
They used their position and the people they were called to lead for their own personal gain. The shepherds' primary objective should have been to feed the sheep spiritually, not themselves. They did not give time to teaching God’s word; they gave their time to figure out how to turn a business profit off of God’s people (2-3).
Not only did the shepherds neglect feeding the sheep, but they further did not care to strengthen the sheep who were weak. Nor did they heal the sick, bind up the wounded, or search for the lost. They did not care for the morally wounded, the spiritually sick, or the psychologically addicted; they treated them with harsh platitudes of “don't whine” and “grow up.” They bore no sensitivity for the sheep (4).
They were responsible for the sheep’s scattering and looking for food, wandering here and there, seeing if there might be some satisfying pasture.
Those shepherds did not feed but left the sheep hungry and created an environment where sheep were going from church to church, idol to idol, philosophy to philosophy, searching for some scrap of spiritual meaning to satisfy their starving souls. All of this is because the shepherds had not fed them God’s word (5-6).
Ezekiel then warned the shepherds by the word of Yahweh. As surely as His sheep had become prey to the wild beasts of unbridled lust and idolatry, as surely as no shepherd searched for or fed His sheep, Yahweh was holding those shepherds accountable (7-8).
Those shepherds were to hear God's word to them. He was against them. He was requiring from their hand the sheep he had given them. Yahweh was holding the shepherds accountable for what they had done and lost. Yahweh was destroying their nation in a rescue operation to get His flock back. He was taking His sheep back. He would no longer allow those Jewish shepherds to use the sheep for their own gain and profit (9-10).
The Good Shepherd (11-22)
During the exile, there would be no human king over his nation. Yahweh would be taking on the shepherding duties. Yahweh was going to take 12 actions as their shepherd (11):
He would search for and find His lost sheep.
He would rescue them from the captivity of isolation and despair (12).
He would bring them back home safely.
He would feed them again and cause their hearts and spirits to flourish, allowing them to drink again of His river and worship Him on His mountain (13).
He would cause them to graze and again meditate on Yahweh and then feed on His word (14).
He would be their personal Shepherd.
They would come to sense that they belonged to Him.
He would force them to lie down and learn to rest (15).
He would go find the confused who had become lost.
He would heal those injured by abuse.
He would make strong those so weak that they could only live by their feelings.
He would destroy all who were greedy and abusive (16).
As a Good Shepherd, Yahweh would restore justice. Yahweh would judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep, the abusive and greedy sheep, and the defenseless and powerless sheep. He would judge between the ram and those who were not by nature His, those He referred to as goats. God had no more patience for the abusive, greedy “fat” nor the non-covenant, independent “goat-natured” person who would take advantage of His people.
The greedy and abusive always took the best places to live and had no problem destroying what they needed to turn a profit for themselves (17-19).
Yahweh would judge between them and the fat sheep, described not for their size but for their character. They would use intimidating force to move the sheep away from what they greedily wanted (20).
Yahweh had had enough. He was going to rescue His sheep. He would no longer allow the “fat” and the “goat” to prey on the weak. Yahweh was going to rescue His people from the greedy leaders; He was going to restore justice (21-22).
Yahweh’s Shepherd (23-35)
At some point, Yahweh was going to set up one Shepherd over Israel. It would be Someone with the heart of His servant, David—a Shepherd who would feed the flock first and be their Shepherd, not their leader in the traditional sense. A shepherd cares for and feeds a flock. A leader leads others for the cause of his or her own success (23).
When the true Shepherd came, Yahweh would then be their present God and the second David, the One from the line of David. When He came, He would be their Prince. Yahweh had spoken, and it would happen (24).
Jesus would be that “Son of David,” the true Shepherd (John 10).
New Shepherd, New Covenant (25-31)
With the coming of the true Shepherd would also be the giving of a New Covenant. The New Covenant of Peace would eventually give birth to an entirely new world.
There would be amazing safety under this New Covenant of Peace and in this new world. The wild, beastly nature of killing and taking what one is hungry for would be banished (25).
This world would drip with showers of blessing (26).
This world would yield as it was designed to yield—ever more, always increasing, never lacking, creating absolute security and safety. Under the rule of the true Shepherd, all would know Yahweh as God. All prisons and yokes and enslavement would be broken and abolished. No more addiction and no more being chained to sin (27).
No more wars, no more meanness or greed anywhere. Eating and thriving would not be driven like a wild beast, devouring someone else to satisfy an appetite (28).
Famines would be a thing of the past; large plantations would thrive and feed many. There would be no hunger, no suffering from being intimidated by other nations, for all would be under one King (29).
All nations would have become one nation in Israel, and all would know Yahweh personally as their God. All would sense that they belonged to and were known by Yahweh. All would be Yahweh’s human sheep, all delighting in Yahweh’s eternal care, all experiencing Yahweh as God (30-31).
What a world we are headed for, what a New Creation, what a King, and what a God. This, of course, is a sneak preview of the New Heavens and New Earth, where all of history is headed.
Parental Proverbs (1:8-9:18)
Sixth Discourse: “Generational Wisdom” (4:1-27)
Solomon reveals that the chief purpose of every parent is to raise children to be wise. This discourse reveals the key secrets of transferring wisdom from one generation to the next (1-4).
The father's appeal is brimming with urgency: “Sell everything,” “Forage,” “Don’t forget,” “Don’t deviate an inch,” “Write this at the top of your list,” “Throw your arms around,” and ESV adds, “Prize her highly” (wisdom).
Wisdom is paramount; no quality is more important. Thus, wisdom is like a faithful wife to whom a husband is passionately devoted (4-9).
Generational wisdom (10) enables children to discover the right path (11), keeps them from hindrances and haste (12), and makes them morally upright (13).
The path of wicked foolishness is quite different, for it is full of craving and restlessness, and those who are foolish use sin as a narcotic to put them to sleep morally (14-17). They live their lives in the plague of Egyptian darkness, while the life of the wise is open and grows gradually in God's light (18-19).
The plea of a father is: “Listen, pay attention, and cherish wisdom at all cost” (20-22). The heart can become a perverted source for living impulsively (“springs of life”) or living for power, pleasure, or more. The wise must guard their hearts against it with all diligence (23).
To keep the heart from impulsive living is to keep the tongue honest, the eyes fixed on God's direction, and the path taken ever examined in the fear of God (24-27).