I Myself will be the Shepherd
Nathanael and I have been reading Ezekiel. A very important book – but also very heavy – as the sovereign God judges His people, and the nations which have afflicted His people.
So it was such a breath of fresh air to read to read this passage from Ezekiel 34 – so I thought I’d share it with you.
God has been talking about the shepherds of Israel – who weren’t really shepherds, because they were feeding themselves instead of the sheep! His sheep were being preyed upon by “the fat and the strong”.
So God promises to shepherd Israel Himself – revealing Himself as the Good Shepherd. And Jesus would show that He Himself is the same God – who had compassion on the sheep who had no shepherd (Matthew 9:36) – who came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10) – and He would be the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for the sheep (John 10:11).
For thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I,
I myself
will search for my sheep
and will seek them out.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock
when he is among his sheep that have been scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep,
and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered
on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries,
and will bring them into their own land.
And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel,
by the ravines,
and in all the inhabited places of the country.
I will feed them with good pasture,
and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land.
There they shall lie down in good grazing land,
and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,
and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.
I will seek the lost,
and I will bring back the strayed,
and I will bind up the injured,
and I will strengthen the weak,
and the fat and the strong I will destroy.
I will feed them in justice.
(Ezekiel 34:11-16)
1 March 2012 @ 10:42 pm
A breath of fresh air indeed! I’ve been reading Jeremiah, which is also heavy and mostly tragic. And I, too, am so delighted when I come to passages about God promising to bring a remnant back to the Promised Land. And for the wonderful day when His people will finally worship their Messiah and ours.