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  1. Tue: Isaiah 46-48
  2. Wed: 2 Samuel 1-6
  3. Thu: Galatians 4-6
Friday · Week 18
The Later Prophets

Ezekiel 34-35

Week 18 · about 9 min
  1. Sat: Psalms 37-41
  2. Sun: Exodus 29-30
  3. Mon: Mark 14-16

God condemns Israel’s leaders and promises to shepherd his people himself. Then he speaks against Edom.

God Fires the Bad Shepherds

I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

Ezekiel 34:16 (KJV)

Israel’s leaders were supposed to be shepherds. Instead they ate the sheep, wore the wool, and ignored the sick and the lost. The flock scattered, and no one went looking. So God says, “I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.” He’ll also judge between the fat sheep and the thin ones, the strong ones who push the weak aside with shoulder and side. Then he promises “my servant David” as their shepherd, even though David had been dead for centuries. That points to a coming son of David. In John 10, Jesus calls himself the good shepherd.

Reflect: Who has God put in your care, and are you feeding them or yourself?

Ezekiel 34

1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2Son of man, be a prophet against the keepers of the flock of Israel, and say to them, O keepers of the sheep! this is the word of the Lord: A curse is on the keepers of the flock of Israel who take the food for themselves! is it not right for the keepers to give the food to the sheep?

3You take the milk and are clothed with the wool, you put the fat beasts to death, but you give the sheep no food.

4You have not made the diseased ones strong or made well that which was ill; you have not put bands on the broken or got back that which had been sent away or made search for the wandering ones; and the strong you have been ruling cruelly.

5And they were wandering in every direction because there was no keeper: and they became food for all the beasts of the field.

6And my sheep went out of the way, wandering through all the mountains and on every high hill: my sheep went here and there over all the face of the earth; and no one was troubled about them or went in search of them.

7For this cause, O keepers of the flock, give ear to the word of the Lord:

8By my life, says the Lord, truly, because my sheep have been taken away, and my sheep became food for all the beasts of the field, because there was no keeper, and my keepers did not go in search of the sheep, but the keepers took food for themselves and gave my sheep no food;

9For this reason, O you keepers of the flock, give ear to the word of the Lord;

10This is what the Lord has said: See I am against the keepers of the flock, and I will make search and see what they have done with my sheep, and will let them be keepers of my sheep no longer; and the keepers will no longer get food for themselves; I will take my sheep out of their mouths so that they may not be food for them.

11For this is what the Lord has said: Truly, I, even I, will go searching and looking for my sheep.

12As the keeper goes looking for his flock when he is among his wandering sheep, so I will go looking for my sheep, and will get them safely out of all the places where they have been sent wandering in the day of clouds and black night.

13And I will take them out from among the peoples, and get them together from the countries, and will take them into their land; and I will give them food on the mountains of Israel by the water-streams and wherever men are living in the country.

14I will give them good grass-land for their food, and their safe place will be the mountains of the high place of Israel: there they will take their rest in a good place, and on fat grass-land they will take their food on the mountains of Israel.

15I myself will give food to my flock, and I will give them rest, says the Lord.

16I will go in search of that which had gone wandering from the way, and will get back that which had been sent in flight, and will put bands on that which was broken, and give strength to that which was ill: but the fat and the strong I will give up to destruction; I will give them for their food the punishment which is theirs by right.

17And as for you, O my flock, says the Lord, truly, I will be judge between sheep and sheep, the he-sheep and the he-goats.

18Does it seem a small thing to you to have taken your food on good grass-land while the rest of your grass-land is stamped down under your feet? and that after drinking from clear waters you make the rest of the waters dirty with your feet?

19And as for my sheep, their food is the grass which has been stamped on by your feet, and their drink the water which has been made dirty by your feet.

20For this reason the Lord has said to them, Truly, I, even I, will be judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

21Because you have been pushing with side and leg, pushing the diseased with your horns till they were sent away in every direction;

22I will make my flock safe, and they will no longer be taken away, and I will be judge between sheep and sheep.

23And I will put over them one keeper, and he will give them food, even my servant David; he will give them food and be their keeper.

24And I the Lord will be their God and my servant David their ruler; I the Lord have said it.

25And I will make with them an agreement of peace, and will put an end to evil beasts through all the land: and they will be living safely in the waste land, sleeping in the woods.

26And I will give the rain at the right time, and I will make the shower come down at the right time; there will be showers of blessing.

27And the tree of the field will give its fruit and the earth will give its increase, and they will be safe in their land; and they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have had their yoke broken and have given them salvation from the hands of those who made them servants.

28And their goods will no longer be taken by the nations, and they will not again be food for the beasts of the earth; but they will be living safely and no one will be a cause of fear to them.

29And I will give them planting-places of peace, and they will no longer be wasted from need of food or put to shame by the nations.

30And they will be certain that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, the children of Israel, are my people, says the Lord.

31And you are my sheep, the sheep of my grass-lands, and I am your God, says the Lord.

Ezekiel 35

1Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2Son of man, let your face be turned to Mount Seir, and be a prophet against it,

3And say to it, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am against you, O Mount Seir, and my hand will be stretched out against you, and I will make you a waste and a cause for wonder.

4I will make your towns unpeopled and you will be a waste; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

5Because yours has been a hate without end, and you have given up the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their trouble, in the time of the punishment of the end:

6For this cause, by my life, says the Lord, because you have been sinning through blood, blood will come after you.

7And I will make Mount Seir a cause for wonder and a waste, cutting off from it all comings and goings.

8I will make his mountains full of those who have been put to death; in your valleys and in all your water-streams men will be falling by the sword.

9I will make you waste for ever, and your towns will be unpeopled: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

10Because you have said, The two nations and the two countries are to be mine, and we will take them for our heritage; though the Lord was there:

11For this cause, by my life, says the Lord, I will do to you as you have done in your wrath and in your envy, which you have made clear in your hate for them; and I will make clear to you who I am when you are judged by me.

12And you will see that I the Lord have had knowledge of all the bitter things which you have said against the mountains of Israel, saying, They have been made waste, they are given to us to take for our heritage.

13And you have made yourselves great against me with your mouths, increasing your words against me; and it has come to my ears.

14This is what the Lord has said: Because you were glad over my land when it was a waste, so will I do to you:

15You will become a waste, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

Bible in Basic English (BBE). Bible in Basic English (BBE), public domain in the United States.