You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. You have not strengthened the weakThe Hebrew word for "strengthened" is "chazaq," which means to make strong, encourage, or fortify. In the context of shepherding, it implies providing support and reinforcement to those who are frail or lacking in strength. Historically, shepherds were responsible for the well-being of their flock, ensuring that the weak were given special attention. Spiritually, this phrase calls leaders to empower and uplift those who are spiritually or morally weak, reflecting God's compassion and care. healed the sick
The term "healed" comes from the Hebrew "rapha," meaning to restore to health or make whole. In ancient Israel, shepherds would tend to the physical ailments of their sheep, symbolizing the need for spiritual leaders to address the spiritual and emotional wounds of their people. This phrase emphasizes the role of leaders as healers, tasked with bringing restoration and wholeness to those under their care. bound up the injured
"Bound up" translates from the Hebrew "chabash," which means to bandage or wrap up. This action signifies the care and attention required to mend those who are hurt. In a broader sense, it represents the responsibility of leaders to provide comfort and aid to those who are suffering, ensuring that their wounds are tended to with compassion and diligence. brought back the strays
The phrase "brought back" is derived from the Hebrew "shub," meaning to return or restore. Shepherds were expected to seek out and retrieve sheep that had wandered away, symbolizing the duty of spiritual leaders to guide those who have strayed from the path of righteousness back to the fold. This reflects God's desire for repentance and reconciliation, highlighting the importance of seeking out the lost and guiding them back to truth. searched for the lost
"Searched" comes from the Hebrew "baqash," which means to seek or inquire. This implies an active and diligent pursuit of those who are lost. In the biblical context, it underscores the proactive nature of God's love, as He seeks out those who are spiritually lost. Leaders are called to emulate this divine pursuit, demonstrating a relentless commitment to finding and restoring those who have gone astray. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty
The word "ruled" is from the Hebrew "radah," meaning to have dominion or govern. The use of "violence" and "cruelty" (Hebrew "perek" and "achzari") indicates a harsh and oppressive leadership style, contrary to the nurturing role expected of shepherds. This serves as a stern warning against the abuse of power and authority, reminding leaders of their duty to lead with gentleness and justice, reflecting the character of God who is both just and merciful. Persons / Places / Events 1. EzekielA prophet during the Babylonian exile, tasked with delivering God's messages to the Israelites. 2. Shepherds of IsraelMetaphorically refers to the leaders of Israel, including kings, priests, and prophets, who were responsible for the spiritual and physical well-being of the people. 3. The Weak, Sick, Injured, Strays, and LostRepresents the vulnerable and neglected members of the community who were not cared for by their leaders. 4. Babylonian ExileThe historical context in which Ezekiel prophesied, a time when Israel was in captivity due to their disobedience to God. 5. God's JudgmentThe event of God holding the leaders accountable for their failure to care for His people. Teaching Points Responsibility of LeadershipLeaders are accountable to God for the care and well-being of those they lead. This includes spiritual, emotional, and physical support. Compassion for the VulnerableAs followers of Christ, we are called to actively seek out and care for those who are weak, sick, injured, or lost. God's Standard of CareGod's expectation for His people is to reflect His character in their treatment of others, especially the marginalized. Judgment and AccountabilityThere is a divine accountability for how we treat others, particularly those entrusted to our care. Christ as the Model ShepherdJesus exemplifies the perfect shepherd, and we are to emulate His love, care, and sacrifice in our interactions with others. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Ezekiel 34:4 challenge our understanding of leadership within the church and community? 2. In what ways can we, as individuals or a church, strengthen the weak and heal the sick in our context today? 3. Reflect on a time when you felt like one of the "strays" or "lost." How did God or others help bring you back? 4. How can the example of Jesus as the Good Shepherd influence our daily interactions with those around us? 5. What practical steps can we take to ensure we are not ruling with "violence and cruelty" but with love and compassion? Connections to Other Scriptures Psalm 23Contrasts the negligent shepherds with God as the Good Shepherd who provides, guides, and cares for His flock. John 10Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd, fulfilling the role that the leaders of Israel failed to uphold. Matthew 25:31-46The parable of the sheep and the goats emphasizes the importance of caring for the "least of these," reflecting the responsibilities outlined in Ezekiel 34:4. 1 Peter 5:2-3Encourages church leaders to shepherd God's flock willingly and eagerly, not lording over them but being examples to the flock. Jeremiah 23:1-4Similar condemnation of the shepherds of Israel, with a promise of God raising up faithful shepherds. People David, EzekielPlaces JerusalemTopics Bound, Broken, Brutally, Diseased, Driven, Force, Harshly, Haven't, Healed, Injured, Lost, Rigor, Ruled, Searched, Sick, Sought, Strays, Strengthened, WeakDictionary of Bible Themes Ezekiel 34:4 5297 disease
5346 injury
5972 unkindness
8358 weakness, physical
8413 edification
8415 encouragement, examples
8791 oppression, nature of Ezekiel 34:1-6 8783 neglect Ezekiel 34:1-10 7786 shepherd, king and leader
9250 woe Ezekiel 34:2-4 5885 indifference Ezekiel 34:2-6 7735 leaders, political Ezekiel 34:2-7 5220 authority, abuse Ezekiel 34:4-6 8126 guidance, need for Library The Church of Christ
This, 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: 1855That None Should Enter on a Place of Government who Practise not in Life what they have Learnt by Study.
There are some also who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they teach the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn. Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep places, the flock follows to the precipice. Hence it is that the Lord through the prophet complains of the contemptible knowledge …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The closing words which Jesus had spoken to those Pharisees who followed HIm breathe the sadness of expected near judgment, rather than the hopefulness of expostulation. And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. All the topics of the former Discourses are now resumed and applied. They are not in any way softened or modified, but uttered in accents of …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Everlasting Covenant of the Spirit
"They shall be My people, and l will be their God. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me."--JER. xxxii. 38, 40. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants How to Make Use of Christ as the Life when the Soul is Dead as to Duty.
Sometimes the believer will be under such a distemper, as that he will be as unfit and unable for discharging of any commanded duty, as dead men, or one in a swoon, is to work or go a journey. And it were good to know how Christ should be made use of as the Life, to the end the diseased soul may be delivered from this. For this cause we shall consider those four things: 1. See what are the several steps and degrees of this distemper. 2. Consider whence it cometh, or what are the causes or occasions …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Extent of Messiah's Spiritual Kingdom
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever! T he Kingdom of our Lord in the heart, and in the world, is frequently compared to a building or house, of which He Himself is both the Foundation and the Architect (Isaiah 28:16 and 54:11, 12) . A building advances by degrees (I Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:20-22) , and while it is in an unfinished state, a stranger cannot, by viewing its present appearance, form an accurate judgment …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments That the Ruler Should Be, through Humility, a Companion of Good Livers, But, through the Zeal of Righteousness, Rigid against the vices of Evildoers.
The ruler should be, through humility, a companion of good livers, and, through the zeal of righteousness, rigid against the vices of evil-doers; so that in nothing he prefer himself to the good, and yet, when the fault of the bad requires it, he be at once conscious of the power of his priority; to the end that, while among his subordinates who live well he waives his rank and accounts them as his equals, he may not fear to execute the laws of rectitude towards the perverse. For, as I remember to …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Jesus Makes his First Disciples.
(Bethany Beyond Jordan, Spring a.d. 27.) ^D John I. 35-51. ^d 35 Again on the morrow [John's direct testimony bore fruit on the second day] John was standing, and two of his disciples [An audience of two. A small field; but a large harvest]; 36 and he looked [Gazed intently. The word is used at Mark xiv. 67; Luke xxii. 61 Mark x. 21, 27. John looked searchingly at that face, which, so far as any record shows, he was never to see on earth again. The more intently we look upon Jesus, the more powerfully …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Second Great Group of Parables.
(Probably in Peræa.) Subdivision B. Parable of the Lost Sheep. ^C Luke XV. 3-7. ^c 3 And he spake unto them this parable [Jesus had spoken this parable before. See pp. 434, 435.] saying, 4 What man of you [man is emphatic; it is made so to convey the meaning that if man would so act, how much more would God so act], having an hundred sheep [a large flock], and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness [the place of pasture, and hence the proper place to leave …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Ezekiel
To a modern taste, Ezekiel does not appeal anything like so powerfully as Isaiah or Jeremiah. He has neither the majesty of the one nor the tenderness and passion of the other. There is much in him that is fantastic, and much that is ritualistic. His imaginations border sometimes on the grotesque and sometimes on the mechanical. Yet he is a historical figure of the first importance; it was very largely from him that Judaism received the ecclesiastical impulse by which for centuries it was powerfully …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Ezekiel 34:4 NIVEzekiel 34:4 NLTEzekiel 34:4 ESVEzekiel 34:4 NASBEzekiel 34:4 KJV
Ezekiel 34:4 Commentaries
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