Ezekiel -- Lesson Nineteen
Chapters 34 - 35
1. Condemnation and Fate of Corrupt and Delinquent
Shepherds. 34:1-10.
1. Any examination of the history of the Northern Kingdom
begins with Jereboam. 1 Kings 12:25-33.
1. His leadership and apostasy proved to be Israel's ruin.
2. He immediately introduced idolatry by erecting two
golden calves at Dan and Bethel.
3. From this beginning Israel sank lower and lower in
idolatry and immorality until it was destroyed in 722 B.C.
2 Kings 17:5-7.
2. Ezekiel has already announced that Judah failed to learn
from her older harlotrous sister (23:1-49).
1. After Josiah, all the kings of Judah were corrupt.
2. They led the nation in spiritual and political ruin.
3. A prophetic preview of the monarchy's effects on the
life of the nation found in 1 Samuel 8:11-18 is a sobering
prediction of these events.
4. The indictment against Judah's leaders is three-fold:
1. They did not seek to meet the needs of the people but
only used the people for their own selfish ends (vv. 2-3).
2. They did not take special care of those in need, the
helpless members of society; rather, they met weakness and
injury with callous cruelty (v. 4).
3. For lack of positive moral or spiritual leadership the
people wandered from the Lord and became a prey to idolatry
and immorality (vv. 5-6).
5. For their irresponsible and selfish lack of leadership
the Lord counted them guilty of violating his trust and
announced their removal; the Lord himself would come to the
aid of his flock and rescue them out of the mouths of their
corrupt leaders (cf. Matt. 20:25-28). 34:7-10.
1. The condemnation of the shepherds for failure in their
duty is comprehensive and devastating in its scope.
1. They fed themselves well, but not their sheep.
2. Indeed, though they did not lift a finger in fulfilling
their pastoral duties, they knew how to profit from their
position, dining on roast lamb and dressed in sheepskin
jackets.
3. As they relaxed in their privileged position, the state
of their flocks steadily declined.
4. The sick and crippled sheep were not attended to, strays
were left to wander, vulnerable to every beast of prey that
sought a meal.
2. This denunciation of the shepherds is sobering in that
it evokes from all who have such responsibilities an act of
self-examination.
1. To be a pastor is to have responsibilities for other
people; the responsibilities bring both certain rights and
privileges.
2. The pastoral role involves caring for others, not
striving for oneself.
3. The prophetic denunciation reveals the capacity within
each of us to fail as a pastor.
4. It is a failure when one accepts the rights and
privileges, but ignores the responsibilities.
5. It is a failure when one cares for one's self, but
ignores the welfare of those entrusted to his care.
6. As was true with the watchman (ch. 33), failure as a
shepherd leads not only to personal disaster, but results
in terrible grief among the members of the clock.
3. Worst of all is the divine declaration addressed to the
delinquent pastors, "I am against the shepherds" (v. 10).
2. The Action of a New Shepherd. 34:11-16.
1. Ezekiel contrasted the exploitation of the corrupt
shepherds with the diligent care God would exercise on
behalf of his flock.
1. The role of Jehovah as a shepherd was a familiar one in
the O.T.
1. The title "shepherd" was one of the oldest designations
used for God and appeared in Gen. 49:24.
2. The best known example of God's shepherd image is that
of David in Psalm 23.
2. But Ezekiel is saying something new despite the
familiarity of the O.T. with the concept of God as a
shepherd.
1. Throughout Israel's history God had delegated the role
of shepherd to prophets, judges, and kings.
2. They had been privileged to serve as under shepherds
(cf. 1 Pet. 5:4 describing Christ as "chief shepherd."),
responsible to the Good Shepherd.
3. In the failure of the under-shepherds, Ezekiel declares
that God would act once again directly as Israel's
shepherd.
3. Ezekiel 34:11-16 abounds in first person promises.
1. God repeatedly promised "I will."
2. While there is some overlap and repetition, there are
twenty-five such promises in this and the following
paragraphs of the chapter.
3. These promises include elements of judgment as well as
deliverance.
1. Jehovah promised to hold the shepherds accountable for
the sheep, remove them from tending the flock, rescue his
flock from their mouths, search for and look after his
sheep, look after and gather them, rescue them from clouds
and darkness, and gather them from among the nations.
2. He would bring them to their own land, place them on the
mountains of Israel, tend the flock in good pasture so that
they could lie down in safety, search out the lost and the
strayed of the flock, bind up the injured, and destroy the
strong who oppose the flock.
3. He would shepherd the flock with justice, judge between
one sheep and another, judge between the fat and the lean
sheep, save the flock, place over them one shepherd, be
their God, make a covenant of peace with them, bless them,
shed showers in season, and provide for them (vv. 10-29).
4. The verses describing the Good Shepherd also contain the
promise of a new future for the sheep.
1. They had been exploited, deserted, and exposed to
terrible dangers under their former shepherds.
2. In the new situation there would be a total change of
circumstances: "I will feed them in justice," God declares
(v. 16).
3. Indeed, when all is said and done, it is the sheep that
matter more than the shepherds.
1. If there were no sheep, there would be no shepherds; if
there were no people, there could be no rulers.
2. God's most fundamental concern, as expressed by the
prophet, was for the people themselves.
3. The words contain the terrors of judgment (v. 10), but
the judgment of the shepherds is rooted in profound
pastoral concern for the sheep.
4. Thus, the prophet's anticipation of a better future for
his people is not simply a conviction that eventually
justice would be done; it was also an insight into the love
of God.
5. The entire pastoral metaphor presupposed God's care and
love.
6. No shepherd can function without participating in that
love; no sheep can live without experiencing that love.
7. The positive elements in Ezekiel's teaching are
beginning to predominate.
3. The Flock and Its Future. 34:17-31.
1. The Judgment of the Sheep. 34:17-22.
1. Although chapter 34 is dominated by the pastoral
metaphor of the shepherd, Ezekiel's focus swings back and
forth like a pendulum between the immediate crisis through
which he lived, and the more distant future for which he
hoped.
1. Ezekiel began with a declaration of judgment against the
shepherds, or rulers (vv. 1-10), but then turned to a time
when God would act as the Good Shepherd directly (vv.
11-16).
2. Now he turns back to the present, and describes the
judgment of the sheep (vv. 17-22), but then in turn moves
his attention forward to the future and the full
restoration of God's people (vv. 23-31).
2. Here the Lord ceased addressing the corrupt shepherds
and began speaking to his flock.
3. Not only would he rescue and tend, but the coming divine
Shepherd also would be a righteous judge.
1. Former "shepherds" allowed and even participated in the
oppression of the weak of the flock. 34:17-19.
1. The strong animals not only pushed forward to graze on
the best grass but, when they had eather their fill, they
trampled on the rest to render it inedible for the weaker
sheep.
2. They pushed forward to drink the fresh water, but then
stirred up the mud to make it undrinkable for their
companions.
2. The Lord would oppose those who were "greedy for unjust
gain" (33:31) and who took advantage of the weak.
3. Like a shepherd who must judge between sheep to be bred
or sold or butchered, the Lord will judge between people
who need his care and those who deserve his judgment.
4. Jehovah has promised to be a righteous judge who would
save his flock and distinguish between those who were truly
his and those who were not (v. 22; cf. Rom 2:28-29; 9:6-8).
4. Ezekiel brings out starkly the latent perversity of
human nature.
1. First, there is greed -- we push and shove, using all
our strength to thrust aside our fellow human beings in
order to achieve our goal.
2. Having achieved our first goal, the discovery of power
leads to a peculiar twist.
1. We got what we wanted because we were strong, but the
same strength could stop the weak from getting what they
want.
2. So having partaken to the full, we destroy what remains
to deny it to others.
3. However, well cloaked, our greed and perversity cannot
remain hidden forever: "I myself will judge," God says (v.
20).
2. The Future and Full Restoration of God's People.
34:23-31.
1. Vv. 23-24 are transitional to the final section on the
covenant of peace (vv. 25-31).
1. They are clearly unified by the repetition of "my
servant David" in both verses and by the parallelism
between the last clause of v. 23 and the first clause of v.
24 (literally): "And he will be to them for a shepherd and
I Yahweh will be to them for a God."
2. Nevertheless, v. 23 continues the figure of
shepherd/flock, whereas v. 24 abandons it for the literal
"prince/people" in anticipation of the literal message in
vv. 25-31 (which reverts to the figure in v. 31).
2. The coming shepherd will be known as "my servant David"
(v. 23; see 37:22-26 for a parallel passage).
1. He was one from the line of David who was a fulfillment
of the promise made in the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam. 7:16.
2. He will establish an everlasting throne of David.
3. Unlike the corrupt former Davidic rulers who only served
themselves, this new king will be a servant of the Lord
(cf. Matt. 4:10; 6:24; 12:18; 20:28; Luke 1:69; Acts 3:13,
26; 4:25-30).
4. He will also be God's personal representative, who will
reconfirm the Davidic covenant of 2 Sam. 7:12-16.
5. He will tend the Lord's flock, be Jehovah's shepherd
(Ezek. 34:23), and a prince among them (34:24).
3. The promise of a covenant of peace. 34:25-31.
1. Ezekiel concluded this series of messages with the
Lord's promise of a "covenant of peace" with his people (v.
25), referring to what Jeremiah called a "new covenant"
(Jer. 31:31).
1. The designation here indicates that this new covenant
relationship will provide his people with peace (cf. Num.
25:12; Josh. 9:15; 10:1; Psa. 29:11; 85:8; Isa. 54:10).
2. It was peace and rest which humanity lost through sin
(Gen. 3:15; 4:8), and which the Mosaic covenant promised as
a result of obedience (Lev. 26:6).
3. But in spite of Israel's disobedience, the prophets
envisioned a coming restoration of peace and all the other
characteristics of life before the fall (Isa. 9:6-7; 52:7;
53:5; 66:12; Jer. 30:10; 33:6, 9; Hag. 2:9).
4. This will come to pass in the Messianic Age with the
restoration of the ideals of life as it was lived in Eden.
2. This covenant is the same one promised in Ezek. 16:60
which will establish an unbreakable bond between God and
his people.
1. By it he will assure their well-being and personally act
as covenant mediator (v. 25).
2. "I will bless them" (v. 26) begins a list of the
benefits of the covenant of peace.
1. There will be showers at the right season (v. 27a) that
produce bountiful crops.
2. The people will dwell in security and freedom (vv.
27b-28).
3. There will be no famine or threats from enemies (v. 29).
4. The people will know that God, their Shepherd, is with
them and that Israel his flock is his people (v. 30).
4. The central figure of chapter 34 is God's ideal
Shepherd-King who was the antithesis of the corrupt
leadership that resulted in the exile; eight
characteristics of this Shepherd-King may be gleaned from
34:11-31.
1. He has a special relationship with Jehovah.
1. In vv. 11-16 the shepherd is God (v. 16), but in vv.
23-24 he is "my servant David."
2. The use of the personal pronouns "I" more than 30 times
and "my" more than 15 times suggests that this shepherd
would be God in a personal form.
3. The same concept may be found in the good Shepherd
passage in John 10:30 (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5) in which Jesus said
that He and the Father were one.
2. He will feed his sheep (34:13, 26-27, 29).
1. Like the shepherd of Psa. 23, his sheep will not want.
2. Jesus is the Bread of life (John 6:31-35) and the Water
of life (John 4), satisfying the needs of his sheep.
3. He will gather his sheep together (34:12-13).
1. No longer were they to be a scattered flock.
2. In the N.T. the church was unified through Christ (Matt.
12:30; Eph. 4:3-7).
3. Ezekiel envisioned the day when the Messiah would gather
all his sheep in a wonderful union (see Matt. 13:30-31).
4. He will reestablish his people peacefully in their land
(34:14-15).
1. This echoes Psa. 23, which tells of the shepherd's care
for his flock.
2. Under his rule the flock has no want (23:1), no worry
(23:2), no weakness (23:3), no wickedness (23:40, no death
(23:4), no fear (23:4), no defeat (23:5), no deficit
(23:5), no judgment (23:6), and no end (23:6), all
qualities that promote peace and security (see John 1:1-42;
14:27).
5. He will rule with justice and compassion (34:16).
1. Jesus began his public ministry by claiming the role of
the servant of the Lord.
2. (Isa. 61:1,2 -- The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon
me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2to
proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; cp. Luke
4:16-21-- And he came to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17And
there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet
Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where
it was written, 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor:
He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And
recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them
that are bruised, 19To proclaim the acceptable year of the
Lord. 20And he closed the book, and gave it back to the
attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the
synagogue were fastened on him. 21And he began to say unto
them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your
ears.).
6. He will personally judge his people (34:17, 20, 22).
1. Unlike the ruthless kings of Israel and Judah, he will
judge with equity and righteousness.
2. Jesus was presented as a righteous judge of his people
who rendered to each a just reward (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor.
5:10-11; 1 Cor. 3:11-15).
7. He will be the only true shepherd (34:23).
1. There will be no rivals to his ministry.
2. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 10:9,
11-12; 14:6; Acts 4:12).
8. He will mediate a covenant of peace (34:25).
1. When people enter a covenant of peace with the Shepherd,
they also make peace with God (John 10:27-28).
2. This covenant of peace is an everlasting covenant (Ezek.
16:60; Isa 54:10; John 10:29).
5. Perhaps this passage is one of those where the prophets
spoke more than they knew.
1. We can see more than Ezekiel saw.
2. He only saw the promises as a future hope of redemption
to be realized.
3. On the other hand, we can see them both in their
historical setting and in their fulfillment in Christ.
4. Ezekiel 34 is closely related to both Psa. 23 and the
Good Shepherd passage of John 10:1-42
5. The hope of the Messiah soared with God's promise of one
shepherd (v. 23) who would gather the people and reinstate
the line of David to bring people to a knowledge of God.
4. The Desolation of Mount Seir. 35:1-15.
1. The judgment of Edom in 35:1-15 was the basis for the
salvation of the "mountains" of Judah in 36:1-15.
1. These two passages have strong contrasts and comparisons
between Edom and Israel, making the judgement of Edom a
foil for Israel's salvation.
2. For the desolation Edom brought upon Israel, God would
bring desolation upon Edom and fruitfulness to Israel.
2. The message begins with an instruction to Ezekiel to set
his face against Mount Seir. 35:1-2.
3. Two factors suggest the appropriateness and validity of
this message of judgment.
1. The malicious joy of the Edomites over the fall of
Jerusalem marked them for a double portion of judgment; the
message of judgment is given twice to suggest certainty.
2. Edom had taken territorial possession of portions of
Judah, especially in the south; the promise or restoration
would raise the question of the territory taken over by the
Edomites.
4. The message against Edom has two parts.
1. The declaration of judgment against Edom. 35:1-4.
1. The Edomites were descendants of Esau (Gen. 25:25).
2. Genesis chs. 27 and 32 reveal the enmity that existed
between Jacob and Esau.
3. That animosity was perpetuated among their progeny in
spite of their personal reconciliation (Gen. 33:1-20).
4. The Edomites inhabited the region southeast of the Dead
Sea and south of Moab around Mount Seir.
5. Esau's descendants were known as a cruel (Amos 1:11-12),
vengeful (Ezek. 25:12-14), warring (Gen. 27:40), idolatrous
(2 Chron. 25:14, 20), and proud people (Isa. 49:16-17).
6. God was against them because they consistently took
sides with the enemies of his people and even helped them
in attacks against Israel (2 Chron. 20:10).
7. Therefore God promised that Edom would one day be
desolate (see Isa. 34:5-17; Jer. 49:7-22; Obadiah) because
of their implacable thirst for revenge against the Hebrews.
2. The reasons for the judgment of Edom. 35:5-15.
1. Edom was to be judged for its "ancient" enmity against
the Hebrews, still harbored after hundreds of years
following the deception of Esau by Jacob. (v. 5).
2. The Edomites had encouraged Israel's enemies to execute
the Jews by the sword; they missed no opportunities to
endorse and even to participate in attacks against Israel
(v. 5; Obadiah 10-14).
3. Their desire to possess the land of Israel was fueled by
their feelings that the land still belonged to them because
Jacob had obtained it by deception (v. 10; Gen. 27:1-40).
1. Because of these feelings, God said they would be
victims of bloodshed since they perpetrated bloodshed and
violence against Israel (v. 6).
2. So Edom was destroyed (v. 7), and the land, filled with
the slain, would remain a perpetual desolation (v. 8).
3. The cities of Edom would vanish, never to return (v. 9).
4. The accuracy of this prophecy is confirmed by the
absence of Edom from the family of nations and the
desolation of the region they formerly inhabited.
4. The Edomites blasphemed the mountains of Israel by
saying that they had been laid waste and given over to the
Edomites to devour (v. 12); their words were blasphemous
because they disregarded Jehovah's desire for the allotment
of the land to Israel.
5. They had spoken against God without restraint (v. 13).
1. This spirit of defiance was the subject of Malachi's
message and insight into the bitterness of the descendants
of Esau (Mal. 1:1-5).
2. They exhibited an attitude of defiance that ignored
God's will for themselves as well as for the Israelites.
3. God promised judgment for Edom and announced that since
the Edomites rejoiced over Israel's calamity the whole
world would rejoice over its destruction (v. 14).
4. Gloating over Israel and trying to confiscate their
territory caused the the destruction, desolation, and loss
of their land and national identity (v. 15).
5. As is so often the case in the O.T., the description of
evil in the ancient world seems to mirror accurately the
modern world.
1. Mount Seir was a land that had cultivated hatred from
one generation to the next; no doubt it was in part
justified, based on the memories of acts of injustice done
against it in former centuries by its neighbor, Judah.
2. But whatever the reasons, a nation that stores hatred
for another, cultivating it from one generation to another,
is harboring a rot within its soul.
3. Edom has its modern counterparts; there are still
nations whose history is one of hatred for a neighbor.
1. There are always justifications for the hatred,
well-founded on injustices, imagined or real, done to it by
its neighbor.
2. But a history of hatred, taught to children so that it
might flourish in a coming generation, is ultimately a
curse on any nation; like a cancer it spreads through the
body of the nation as a whole, bringing closer the day of
its demise.
3. Nations, no less than individuals, need to learn the art
of forgiveness.
4. There can be no full human life when the forces of evil
remain rampant.
1. At the heart of human living must be the recognition
that we are loved by God and are required to love; we
cannot love if hate abounds.
2. As we learn of the love of God, we discover above all
that it is a self-giving love; love and greed cannot
flourish together.
3. Hatred and love can only be destroyed if love abounds.
4. If they are not destroyed then, like Mount Seir, we
shall hear the terrible divine words: "I am against you"
(v. 3).