This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand from them My flock and remove them from tending the flock, so that they can no longer feed themselves. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.' Sermons
I. THEIR CONDUCT. This is very graphically and (after Ezekiel's manner) with outspoken plainness described in these verses. 1. The shepherds' neglect of the flock. They neither feed them upon suitable pastures, nor strengthen the weak, nor heal the sickly, nor recover the lost, nor deliver the defenseless sheep from the wild beasts of the field. On the contrary, they treat them with violence and with rigor. 2. The shepherds' care for themselves. They use the flock merely for their own pleasure and advantage, eating of the flesh of the sheep, and clothing themselves with their wool. 3. The consequent condition of the flock. Neglected by their custodians, they are scattered, they wander upon every high hill, they fall a prey to the beasts of the field. In all these respects there is a parallel between the conduct of careless, hireling shepherds and the conduct of those in Israel who claimed to be the spiritual pastors of the people. These, whether priests or prophets by profession, simply used their position as a means towards their personal wealth, ease, pleasure, and aggrandizement. And no wonder that the sons of Israel, so neglected by those who should have made their highest welfare their care, were abandoned to every enemy, and sank into a state of degeneration, debasement, and hopelessness. II. THEIR CONDEMNATION. That such flagrant neglect, of duty could not pass unnoticed and unpunished may be presumed by the least thoughtful. Under the rule of a Governor of infinite justice, those placed in a position of eminence and of influence, if they neglect to fulfill the duties of their position, must surely be called to an exact account of their trust. The prophet tells us concerning the unfaithful shepherds that: 1. God is against them. He, whose help and countenance would have been vouchsafed had they honestly and earnestly set themselves to do the work which they professed to undertake, now sets himself against the unfaithful. 2. They are held responsible for the flock. "I will require," says God, "my sheep at their hand." 3. The custody of the flock is taken away from them. And at the same time, they are prevented from any more feeding themselves. It cannot be that the flock should be punished for wandering, and that the careless shepherds, through whose neglect they wandered, should be suffered to go free. - T.
Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? A London Minister. I. HUMAN RULERS STAND IN THE SAME RELATION TO THE PEOPLE WHOM THEY RULE AS SHEPHERDS TO THEIR FLOCKS. Therefore the qualifications required are similar.1. A special knowledge (Genesis 46:34). So to rule men successfully requires a knowledge of men. Christ is the preeminent Ruler of men, because He knows them — because He needs not that any should "testify of any man" whom He is shepherding for eternity (John 2:25). 2. A willingness to endure hardship for those whom they shepherd (Genesis 31:40). Shepherds of men must likewise be willing to deny themselves for their flock, even as Christ was willing to spend His nights upon the mountains (Luke 6:12) and to be consumed with labour during the day, in order to be "the Good Shepherd." 3. Affection for the flock (1 Samuel 17:34). It cannot be dispensed with in ruling men. To love men is to understand them. To love them is to be willing to suffer for them, and must beget a correspondent feeling. The Great Shepherd had as much love for His flock as He had knowledge of them (John 10:11). II. THE RULERS OF ISRAEL HAD LACKED THESE QUALIFICATIONS. 1. Their self-indulgence had led them to neglect to feed the flock. 2. They had gone from neglect to positive acts of crime. They had taken the lives of their subjects in order to enjoy their possessions. Sins of omission lead to sins of commission. III. THE EFFECT OF THE NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE TRANSGRESSIONS OF ISRAEL'S RULERS. "My sheep were scattered." They were so widely sundered as to be beyond the recall of any but the Omniscient One, who alone knew the mountains upon which they were wandering. IV. GOD HIMSELF WOULD RAISE UP A SHEPHERD WHO WOULD COMBINE ALL THE QUALITIES NEEDED TO GATHER IN THE SCATTERED FLOCK. 1. The name given to this divinely appointed shepherd — David. The Messiah is called by this name in Isaiah 55:3, 4; Jeremiah 30:9; Hosea 3:5. 2. His two-fold office. His Father's servant and His people's king (ver. 24). V. THAT WHICH IS INTENDED TO BE A GREAT BLESSING TO OURSELVES AND OTHERS, NAMELY, POWER, MAY BECOME THE GREATEST CURSE TO BOTH. (A London Minister.) II. CHRISTIAN MINISTERS AS SHEPHERDS MUST FEED THEIR FLOCKS. 1. They must do this by leading them into green pastures, etc.(1) The pastures of the Divine word. Where there is an exhaustless fulness and variety of refreshing promises.(2) The pastures of Divine ordinances. 2. The shepherd is to render the word instructive and consolatory, and the ordinances refreshing and edifying. III. CHRISTIAN MINISTERS AS SHEPHERDS ARE TO WATCH OVER THEIR FLOCKS. To warn them against danger, — to admonish, to counsel, and to direct them into safe and plain paths. Their dangers are numerous. From the world, from Satan, from false professors, from their own weakness, etc. How necessary, then, is a spirit of holy energy, vigilance, etc. IV. CHRISTIAN MINISTERS AS SHEPHERDS ARE TO REGARD ESPECIALLY THE WEAK AND AFFLICTED OF THE FLOCK. "Who can understand his errors?" How often is spiritual disease evident in the mind, in the heart, in the spirit, in the conversation, in the walk and conduct! Now it is for the shepherd to labour for the healing of these maladies. V. CHRISTIAN MINISTERS AS SHEPHERDS MUST GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR FLOCKS. They are responsible to God. Application — 1. How truly solemn is the office of the Christian shepherd — the charge of souls. 2. How necessary for its right discharge are Divine qualifications and help. 3. Faithful shepherds should have the kind sympathy and aid of all the members of the Church. 4. How glorious the meeting when all the flock of God, with each shepherd, shall appear before Christ to receive His blessing, even life for evermore. (J. Burns.) Neither have ye healed that which was sick The obligation of rulers and Christians generally to care for the sick poor. The government of a great empire embraces many responsibilities — the protection of property and of life, the encouragement of art and science and every form of learning and of commerce, the maintenance of justice, the punishment of crime. We are concerned now with only one aspect of the obligation of rulers — the obligation to consider and to care for the diseased and the bruised poor. Most of the poverty and distress, most of the diseased and broken frames which are to be found amongst us are the results of vice and sin. Intemperance and immorality are fertile soils, producing plentiful harvests of mangled and agonised and loathsome bodies. Hence the necessity for adopting a policy of prevention — for establishing such legislative measures as shall check and, if possible, effectually prevent, the ravages of intemperance and vice. Prevention is better than regulation when a nation's strength and a nation's morals and a nation's life are at stake. Much may be done, and much must be done, in this direction; but meanwhile, our rulers have to regard and to deal with existing miseries which have resulted, for the most part, from transgressions and sins. At this present moment there are in the great metropolis thousands upon thousands of wretched creatures, their bodies consumed by disease, or mangled and broken through accident or self-inflicted suffering. And they are poor and helpless! Unless someone aid them they must wrestle with their agony alone, they must languish and die. But the obligation to care for the sick lies not with the rulers alone. In a special manner does it rest upon the Christian Church generally. Ministers of religion should be the first to welcome a Hospital Sunday. Ah! giving for the sick, caring for the diseased and the bruised, brings its own sweet reward. To spare one pang, to bring one ray of light into a heart environed with darkness — this is worth living for. And now what we have to do is to enlarge our sympathies. Think of the multitudes of agonised mortals in the London hospitals today. Without money, those necessary institutions cannot be supported. Without money, the poor must pine away and perish. In our relation to the afflicted poor we must think of the example and precepts of our Lord. Jesus was not a philosophical theologian. He was a practical Saviour. The blind came to Him, and He gave them sight. The sick were brought to Him, and He healed them. We cannot heal the sick with a word as Christ did. But we can follow Christ in doing good ill the way open to us. What we want is the spirit of Christ — the thoughts of Christ . — the purpose of Christ. In this lies the glory of Christianity.(A. G. Maitland.) People David, EzekielPlaces JerusalemTopics Accountable, Anymore, Behold, Cause, Caused, Cease, Deliver, Delivered, Demand, Feed, Feeding, Flock, Hold, Keepers, Longer, Meat, Mouth, Mouths, Remove, Require, Required, Rescue, Says, Search, Sheep, Shepherds, Stop, Tending, Themselves, ThusOutline 1. A reproof of the shepherds7. God's judgment against them 11. His providence over his flock 20. The kingdom of Christ Dictionary of Bible Themes Ezekiel 34:1-10 7786 shepherd, king and leader Library The Church of ChristThis, then, is the meaning of the text; that God would make Jerusalem and the places round about his hill a blessing. I shall not, however, use it so this morning, but I shall use it in a more confined sense--or, perhaps, in a more enlarged sense--as it applies to the church of Jesus Christ, and to this particular church with which you and I stand connected. "I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers … Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855 That None Should Enter on a Place of Government who Practise not in Life what they have Learnt by Study. Discourse on the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Everlasting Covenant of the Spirit How to Make Use of Christ as the Life when the Soul is Dead as to Duty. The Shepherd of Our Souls. Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy. The Extent of Messiah's Spiritual Kingdom The Eighth Commandment That the Ruler Should Be, through Humility, a Companion of Good Livers, But, through the Zeal of Righteousness, Rigid against the vices of Evildoers. Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant. Jesus Makes his First Disciples. Second Great Group of Parables. 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