What Shepherds Do

                Ezekiel 34:1-24 is the Lord’s denunciation of the current shepherds of his people Israel, that is, of the prophets, priests, and kings.  However, God promises that one day he will rescue his people from these false shepherds and will tend his flock himself.  No less than God himself will become the great shepherd of his people.

                We know that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy of God becoming the Good Shepherd of his flock (John 10).  What we might pass over in Ezekiel 34, however, is the Lord’s description of how he will care for his sheep.  In Ezekiel 34:16 the Lord gives this glorious promise with respect to his work of shepherding: “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 strong I will destroy.  I will feed them in justice.”

                Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:1-4 teach that the elders who lead local Christian churches are shepherds of the flock of the Lord, serving under the sovereignty of the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ.  Ezekiel 34:16 thus means for local church elders that we too, as shepherds of God’s flock, are to be about the business of seeking the lost, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, strengthening the weak, destroying the fat and strong, and feeding the people of God in justice.  May the Lord grant us the grace we so desperately need to shepherd the flock faithfully!