Devotions

20221205

the one shepherd

Ezekiel 34:20-24 (JDV)

Ezekiel 34:20 ” ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says to them: Notice, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
Ezekiel 34:21 Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over,
Ezekiel 34:22 I will save my flock. They will no longer be prey, and I will judge between one sheep and another.
Ezekiel 34:23 I will establish over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.
Ezekiel 34:24 I, Yahveh, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among them. I, Yahveh, have spoken.

the one shepherd

This section of Ezekiel should be read in conjunction with John 10 and Psalm 23 and Matthew 25:31-46. The good shepherd is Christ the son of David. He is called David here — the one shepherd.

All of us who lead God’s people have the responsibility to first be led by Christ. That is why Jesus referred to himself as the door in John 10.

Leader, have you come through the door?

20221202

I will rescue my flock

Ezekiel 34:7-10 (JDV)

Ezekiel 34:7 ” ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahveh.
Ezekiel 34:8 As I live – this is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh – because my flock, lacking a shepherd, has become prey and food for every wild animal, and because my shepherds do not search for my flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock,
Ezekiel 34:9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahveh!
Ezekiel 34:10 ” ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: Notice, I am against the shepherds. I will demand my flock from them and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves because I will rescue my flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.

I will rescue my flock

As this passage is about the responsibility of leaders to take care of those they lead, my thoughts today go to the church’s responsibility to train children. Here is an excerpt from Isabelle Horton’s book, “The Burden of the City.”

“But though the church were able to train the child physically, intellectually, and ethically to the limit of his powers, it would fail of the most important part of its mission if he were not brought into vital contact with the Saviour of souls. All training in what is good and useful may be means to this end, and yet all means may fail of the end unless in every way Christ be lifted up. ” 1

Horton argued for the church’s involvement in education, and that it would fail its goal if it did not include evangelization.

I fear that the evangelical church has so neglected this tool that education has become a tool of the enemy, but it does not have to be so. Our educators can be shepherds of the lambs among us.

In Ezekiel 34, God promises to rescue the sheep from the false shepherds. Many of the children among us need such a rescue.

1 Horton, Isabelle. The Burden of the City. New York: F.H. Revell Co, 1904. p. 186.

20221201

shepherd or owner?

Ezekiel 34:1-6 (JDV)

Ezekiel 34:1 The word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said:
Ezekiel 34:2 “Son of Adam, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says to the shepherds: Tragedy to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?
Ezekiel 34:3 You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock.
Ezekiel 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.
Ezekiel 34:5 They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered.
Ezekiel 34:6 My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. My flock was scattered over the whole face of the land, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.

shepherd or owner?

The prophet predicted tragedy to the shepherds of Israel — but when the news of our Lord’s birth came in Bethlehem, it was to shepherds. Of course, the shepherds who hear the angelic proclamation were literal shepherds. But the shepherds to whom Ezekiel is preaching are not. They are rulers, prominent men — big shots.

The big shots had spent all their time using the sheep, eating their meat, wearing their wool — anything but tending to their needs. This is not what shepherds do. It is what the owners do — the shepherds’ employers. As a result, the flock went astray and was scattered.

God’s word to those of us today is to choose to act like a real shepherd, not like an owner. It is the only way to spare the flock from the tragedy to come.