EZEKIEL 34 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

The Lord Will Be Israel’s Shepherd

1 The word of the Lord came to me:

BARNES, "The prophet has yet to pronounce a judgment upon unfaithful rulers, whose punishment will further the good of those whom they have misguided. He shows what the rulers should have been, what they have been, and what in the coming times they shall be when the True King shall reign in the true kingdom. Hence, follows a description of Messiah’s reign.

GILL, "The word of the Lord came unto me,.... The date of this prophecy is not given; however, it seems to have been delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem; the causes of which are mentioned, the sins of the people and their governors, which the prophet is directed to expose:

HENRY 1-6, “The prophecy of this chapter is not dated, nor any of those that follow it, till ch. 40. It is most probable that it was delivered after the completing of Jerusalem's destruction, when it would be very seasonable to enquire into the causes of it.

I. The prophet is ordered to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel - the princes and magistrates, the priests and Levites, the great Sanhedrim or council of state, or whoever they were that had the direction of public affairs in a higher or lower sphere, the kings especially, for there were two of them now captives in Babylon, who, as well as the people, must have their transgressions shown them, that they might repent, as Manasseh in his captivity. God has something to say to the shepherds, for they are but under-shepherds, accountable to him who is the great Shepherd of Israel, Psa_80:1. And that which he says is, Woe to the shepherds of Israel! Though they are shepherds, and shepherds of Israel, yet he must not spare them, must not flatter them. Note, If men's dignity and power do not, as they ought, keep them from sin, they will not serve to 1

exempt them from reproof, to excuse their repentance, or to secure them from the judgments of God if they do not repent. We had a woe to the pastors, Jer_23:1. God will in a particular manner reckon with them if they be false to their trust.II. He is here directed what to charge the shepherds with, in God's name, as the ground of God's controversy with them; for it is not a causeless quarrel. Two things they are charged with: - 1. That all their care was to advance and enrich themselves and to make themselves great. Their business was to take care of those that were committed to their charge: Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? No doubt they should; they betray their trust if they do not. Not that they are to put the meat into their mouths, but to provide it for them and bring them to it. But these shepherds made this the least of their care; they fed themselves, contrived every thing to gratify and indulge their own appetite, and to make themselves rich and great, fat and easy. They made sure of the profits of their places; they did eat the fat, the cream (so some), for he that feeds a flock eats of the milk of it (1Co_9:7), and they made sure of the best of the milk. They made sure of the fleece, and clothed themselves with the wool, getting into their hands as much as they could of the estates of their subjects, yea, and killed those that were well fed, that what they had might be fed upon, as Naboth was put to death for his vineyard. Note, There is a woe to those who are in public trusts, but consult only their own private interest, and are more inquisitive about the benefice than about the office, what money is to be got than what good to be done. It is an old complaint, All seek their own, and too many more than their own. 2. That they took no care for the benefit and welfare of those that were committed to their charge: You feed not the flock. They neither knew how to do it, so ignorant were they, nor would they take any pains to do it, so lazy and slothful were they; nay, they never desired nor designed it, so treacherous and unfaithful were they. (1.) They did not do their duty to those of the flock that were distempered, did not strengthen them, nor heal them, nor bind them up, Eze_34:4. When any of the flock were sick or hurt, worried or wounded, it was all one to them whether they lived or died; they never looked after them. The princes and judges took no care to right those that suffered wrong or to shelter injured innocency. They took no care of the poor to see them provided for; they might starve, for them. The priests took no care to instruct the ignorant, to rectify the mistakes of those that were in error, to warn the unruly, or to comfort the feeble-minded. The ministers of state took no care to check the growing distempers of the kingdom, which threatened the vitals of it. Things were amiss, and out of course, every where, and nothing was done to rectify them. (2.) They did not do their duty to those of the flock that were dispersed, that were driven away by the enemies that invaded the country, and were forced to seek for shelter where they could find a place, or that wandered of choice upon the mountains and hills (Eze_34:6), where they were exposed to the beasts of prey and became meat to them, Eze_34:5. Every one is ready to seize a waif and stray. Some went abroad and begged, some went abroad and traded, and thus the country became thin of inhabitants, and was weakened and impoverished, and wanted hands both in the fields of corn and in the fields of battle, both in harvest and in war: My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, Eze_34:6. And they were never enquired after, were never encouraged to return to their own country: None did search or seek after them. Nay, with force and cruelty they ruled them, which drove more away, and discouraged those that were driven away from all thoughts of returning. Their case is bad who have reason to expect better treatment among strangers than in their own country. It may be meant of those of the flock that went astray from God and their duty; and the priests, that should have taught the good knowledge of the Lord, used no means to convince and reclaim them, so that they became an easy prey to seducers.

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Thus were they scattered because there was no shepherd, Eze_34:5. There were those that called themselves shepherds, but really they were not. Note, Those that do not do the work of shepherds are unworthy of the name. And if those that undertake to be shepherds are foolish shepherds (Zec_11:15), if they are proud and above their business, idle and do not love their business, or faithless and unconcerned about it, the case of the flock is as bad as if it were without a shepherd. Better no shepherd than such shepherds. Christ complains that his flock were as sheep having no shepherd, when yet the scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat, Mat_9:36. It is ill with the patient when his physician is his worst disease, ill with the flock when the shepherds drive them away and disperse them, by ruling them with force.

JAMISON, "Eze_34:1-31. Reproof of the false shepherds; Promise of the True and Good Shepherd.Having in the thirty-third chapter laid down repentance as the necessary preliminary to happier times for the people, He now promises the removal of the false shepherds as preparatory to the raising up of the Good Shepherd.

K&D 1-10, "Woe to the Bad ShepherdsEze_34:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze_34:2. Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who fed themselves; should not the shepherds feed the flock? Eze_34:3. Ye eat the fat, and clothe yourselves whit the wool; ye slay the fattened; the flock ye do not feed. Eze_34:4. The weak ones ye do not strengthen, and that which is sick ye do not cure, the wounded one ye bind not up, the scattered ye bring not back, and the lost one ye do not seek; and ye rule over them with violence and with severity. Eze_34:5. Therefore they were scattered, because without shepherd, and became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. Eze_34:6. My sheep wander about on all the mountains, and on every high hill; and over all the land have my sheep been scattered, and there is no one who asks for them, and no one who seeks them. Eze_34:7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear ye the word of Jehovah: Eze_34:8. As I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, because my sheep become a prey, and my sheep become food to all the beasts of the field, because there is no shepherd, and my shepherds do not inquire after my sheep, and the shepherds feed themselves, but do not feed the sheep, Eze_34:9. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear ye the word of Jehovah, Eze_34:10. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with the shepherds, and will demand my sheep from their hand, and cause them to cease to feed my flock, that they may feed themselves no more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may be food to them no more. - In Eze_

34:2 ָלֹרִעים is an explanatory apposition to ֲאֵליֶהם, and is not to be taken in connection with ֹּכה ָאַמר .in opposition to the constant use of this formula, as Kliefoth maintains ,ייThe reason for the woe pronounced is given in the apposition, who fed themselves, whereas they ought to have fed the flock; and the charge that they only care for

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themselves is still further explained by a description of their conduct (Eze_34:3 and Eze_34:4), and of the dispersion of the flock occasioned thereby (Eze_34:5 and Eze_34:6). Observe the periphrastic preterite ָהיּו they were feeding, which shows that ,ֹרִעיםthe woe had relation chiefly to the former shepherds or rulers of the nation. ָתם א is reflective, se ipsos (cf. Gesen. §124. 1b). The disgracefulness of their feeding themselves is brought out by the question, “Ought not the shepherds to feed the flock?” Eze_34:3shows how they fed themselves, and Eze_34:4 how they neglected the flock. ֵחֶלב, the fat, which Bochart and Hitzig propose to alter into ֶהָחָלב, the milk, after the Septuagint and Vulgate, is not open to any objection. The fat, as the best portion of the flesh, which was laid upon the altar, for example, in the case of the sacrifices, as being the flower of all the flesh, is mentioned here as pars melior pro toto. Hävernick has very properly pointed, in vindication of the reading in the text, to Zec_11:16, where the two clauses, ye eat the fat, and slay the fattened, are joined together in the one clause, “the flesh of the fattened one will he eat.” There is no force in the objection raised by Hitzig, that “the slaughtering of the fat beasts, which ought to be mentioned first, is not introduced till afterwards;” for this clause contains a heightening of the thought that they use the flock to feed themselves: they do not even kill the leaner beasts, but those that are well fattened; and it follows very suitably after the general statement, that they make use of both the flesh and the wool of the sheep for their own advantage. They care nothing for the wellbeing of the flock: this is stated in the last clause of Eze_34:3, which is explained in detail in Eze_34:4. ת ַנְהל is the Niphal participle of ָחָלה, and is a contracted form of ת ַנְחָלה like ,ַנֲחל in Isa_17:11. The distinction between ת ַנְהל and ָלה ח is determined by the respective predicates ִחּזק and ָרָפא. According to these, ַנְחָלה signifies that which is weak in consequence of sickness, and ֹחָלה that which is weak in itself. ִנְׁשֶּבֶרת, literally, that which is broken, an animal with a leg or some other member injured. ִנָּדח, scattered, as in Deu_22:1.

In the last clause of Eze_34:4, the neglect of the flock is summed up in the positive expression, to rule over them with violence and severity. ָרָדה ְבָפֶר is taken from Lev_25:43, Lev_25:46; but there as well as here it points back to Exo_1:13-14, where ְבָפֶר is applied to the tyrannical measures adopted by Pharaoh for the oppression of the Israelites. The result of this (Eze_34:5, Eze_34:6) was, that the sheep were scattered, and became food to the beasts of prey. ִמְּבִלי, on account of there not being a shepherd, i.e., because there was no shepherd worthy of the name. This took place when Israel was carried away into exile, where it became a prey to the heathen nations. When we find this mournful fate of the people described as brought about by the bad shepherds, and attributable to faults of theirs, we must not regard the words as applying merely to the mistaken policy of the kings with regard to external affairs (Hitzig); for this was in itself simply a consequence of their neglect of their theocratic calling, and of their falling away from the Lord into idolatry. It is true that the people had also made themselves guilty of this sin, so that it was obliged to atone not only for the sins of its shepherds, but for its own sin also; but this is passed by here, in accordance with the design of this prophecy. And it could very properly be kept out of sight, inasmuch as the rulers had also occasioned the idolatry of the people, partly by their neglect of their duty, and partly by their bad example. ַוְּתפּוֶציָנה is repeated with emphasis at the close of Eze_34:5; and the thought is still further expanded in Eze_34:6. The wandering upon all the mountains

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and hills must not be understood as signifying the straying of the people to the worship on high places, as Theodoret and Kliefoth suppose. The fallacy of this explanation is clearly shown by the passage on which this figurative description rests (1Ki_22:17), where the people are represented as scattered upon the mountains in consequence of the fall of the king in battle, like a flock that had no shepherd. The words in the next clause, corresponding to the mountains and hills, are ַּכל־ְּפֵני ,the whole face of the land ,ָהָאֶרץnot “of the earth” (Kliefoth). For although the dispersion of the flock actually consisted in the carrying away of the people into heathen lands, the actual meaning of the figure is kept in the background here, as is evident from the fact that Ezekiel constantly uses the expression ת ָהֲאָרצ (plural) when speaking of the dispersion among the heathen (cf. Ezekiel 13). The distinction between ָּדַרׁש and ִּבֵּקׁש is, that דרׁש taht , signifies rather to ask, inquire for a thing, to trouble oneself about it, whereas בקׁש means to seek for that which has strayed or is lost. In Eze_34:7-10, the punishment for their unfaithfulness is announced to the shepherds themselves; but at the same time, as is constantly the case with Ezekiel, their guilt is once more recapitulated as an explanation of the threatening of punishment, and the earnest appeal to listen is repeated in Eze_34:9. The Lord will demand His sheep of them; and because sheep have been lost through their fault, He will dispose them from the office of shepherd, and so deliver the poor flock from their violence. If we compare with this Jer_23:2 : “Behold, I will visit upon you the wickedness of your doings,” the threat in Ezekiel has a much milder sound. There is nothing said about the punishment of the shepherd, but simply that the task of keeping the sheep shall be taken from them, so that they shall feed themselves no more. This distinction is to be explained from the design of our prophecy, which is not so much to foretell the punishment of the shepherds, as the deliverance from destruction of the sheep that have been plunged into misery. The repetition of צֹאִני, my flock (Eze_34:8and Eze_34:10, as before in Eze_34:6), is also connected with this. The rescue of the sheep out of the hand of the bad shepherds had already commenced with the overthrow of the monarchy on the destruction of Jerusalem. If, then it is here described as only to take place in the future, justice is not done to these words by explaining them, as Hitzig does, as signifying that what has already actually taken place is now to be made final, and not to be reversed. For although this is implied, the words clearly affirm that the deliverance of the sheep out of the hand of the shepherds has not yet taken place, but still remains to be effected, so that the people are regarded as being at the time in the power of bad shepherds, and their rescue is predicted as still in the future. How and when it will be accomplished, by the removal of the bad shepherds, is shown in the announcement, commencing with Eze_34:11, of what the Lord will do for His flock.

COFFMAN, “Verse 1

THE SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL; THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM

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(Note: The headings for this chapter were suggested by F. F. Bruce and John Skinner respectively.

In view of what Our Lord Jesus Christ and his inspired apostles and writers have stated in the New Testament, little other comment is needed. The identity of this Good Shepherd who will destroy the evil shepherds and rule over the united Israel (the Northern and Southern Israels, as well as all the Israelites and Gentiles combined in God's New Israel) are fully and dogmatically answered in the sacred New Testament. All of the doubts and quibbles, and all of the picayune allegations and criticisms that one finds in the writings of commentators who apparently have no extensive knowledge whatever of the New Testament are gloriously solved and explained in the New Testament.

"What we have to do with in this chapter is a Messianic prediction in the fullest sense of the term."[1]

The quibble regarding whether a single individual is meant, or if the restoration of the old Davidic dynasty of successive rulers is intended, is forever decided by the Apostle Peter who applied all intimations of some descendent of David "sitting upon his throne," to "the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his elevation to the right hand of God" (Acts 2:30-32), who was universally known by all the Jews of that generation as "The Son of David." Furthermore, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, was the total fulfillment; he would never be succeeded by any other. It was not a "line of Davidic kings," but the one Great and Only King Jesus who is foretold here. Ezekiel himself was also aware of this and said so, although it seems that many have overlooked his message. "David my servant shall be my prince forever." (Ezekiel 37:25). As Paul put it, "He must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet; and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:25,26).

It is impossible to escape the implications of this chapter that the one prophesied here is "the Personal Messiah," even the Son of God Himself.

GOD HIMSELF TO BE THE GOOD SHEPHERD6

As Bunn noted, "We find here a unique emphasis upon the personal pronoun. The word `I' is used no less than fifteen times as Jehovah speaks in the first person. Also `my' and `myself' are used three times, all within the space of six verses."[2] Therefore when God Himself said. "I myself will be the shepherd of the sheep" (Ezekiel 34:15), it means, undeniably, that, in some sense the Coming Messiah will not be a mere human being. These words cannot be applied to any mortal descendent of David who ever lived, except Jesus Christ our Lord.

We have noted that two or three commentators have found what they called "a contradiction" in some of Ezekiel's statements that this coming "Servant David" would be a man. Every Christian knows that Christ was indeed both God and Man. "He was the Son of David and at the same time The Lord of David" (Matthew 22:42-45). The scholars who do not see this today are still working in the same ignorance that blinded those ancient Pharisees who stood speechless before Christ when he probed their minds with this same dilemma of how Jesus Christ is both God and man.

Other alleged objections to the obvious interpretation here will be noted in the text below.

The historical background against which this chapter appears was pitiful indeed. Israel's ancient request for God to allow them to have a king was illegal and sinful to begin with; and Samuel warned them of the kind of kings they would get; and the complete and utter failure of the monarchical system had finally worked its total ruin and destruction upon the Chosen People; and, at this stage, God would begin all over again to teach them the spiritual nature of his kingdom. Not a small part of this chapter rehearses the unprincipled wickedness of Israel's kings. As their history revealed, "The native kings were no better than the heathen despots."[3] All of them were heartless, cruel, greedy, selfish monsters of tyranny and oppression who cared nothing at all for their subjects. They exploited, robbed, murdered, enslaved and abused their subjects in every conceivable manner.

The mystery still exists as to why Israel, even as late as the times of the apostles, 7

desired nothing either in heaven or upon earth as passionately as they desired the restoration to them of their scandalous old monarchy which God finally and irrevocably destroyed in the events of Ezekiel's generation. There would yet be required to pass nearly half a millennium before God would be able to change the hearts of enough of them to allow the Advent of that Glorious Messiah prophesied in this chapter; and even at that late date, there were only a small handful, in the relative sense, who "waited for the kingdom of God," who were "true Israelites," who were entitled to be called "the seed of Abraham," and who would form the nucleus of that higher and better Israel of God.

DENUNCIATION OF THE FALSE SHEPHERDS

Ezekiel 34:1-6

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill the fatlings, but ye feed not the sheep. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought back that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have ye ruled over them. And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill; yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek after them."

This is a graphic picture of an utterly worthless shepherd who had no concern whatever for the flock, except as he might have been able to feed himself and clothe himself from what they provided. No better composite of the whole list of Israel's kings, northern and southern alike, could be written than this.

Some attention should be given to the term "shepherd." This comparison of the evil 8

rulers of God's people is also found in Jeremiah 23ff, and in Zechariah 11:1-11. Also, Jesus' words in John 10 carry the same message.

"The word `shepherd' in the Old Testament, as in Homer's Iliad is always a reference to kings and rulers."[4] Cook stated that, "The first king upon earth wore this title; his name was Aloms. The title was adopted into the Assyrian language as RIU (shepherd) and persisted to the latest times of the Assyrian monarchy."[5] The evil shepherds which had mined Israel were nothing else except the kings who disgraced it, from the first of them to the last. This appears in the truth that even the best of them, namely, "a man after God's own heart," was an adulterer, a murderer, and an innovator who tried to move the ark of the covenant with a new cart!

"On every high hill ..." (Ezekiel 34:6). Despite the fact of Keil's disagreement, we believe that Jamieson was correct in seeing in this statement, "A reference to the sinful idolatrous worship practiced upon 'every high hill' at those shrines and `high places' set up and sponsored by those evil shepherds."[6] Jesus spoke of the `scattering' mentioned here in Mark 6:34.

COKE, “Verse 1

Ezekiel 34:1. Came unto me— "It is probable that this prophesy immediately followed the preceding. At or before the arrival of the news that Jerusalem was conquered, the prophet was to speak of the tyranny and carelessness of the governors, and to promise the return of the people." Michaelis. Ezekiel still continues his prophetic cares and foresight toward those who survived the desolation of Jerusalem, both those who continued in Jerusalem and also the captives elsewhere. Of the former some false hopes seem to have been formed by the captive Jews, that this remnant would be still able to preserve the existence of the Jewish state in Palestine. C. Ezekiel 33:24.

The negligence of the governors being pointed out as a cause of the incredulity of the people, the transition here is natural, and the connexion close between this prophesy and the foregoing one; as also between the beginning of this prophesy and its

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conclusion. For, considering that in part the people suffered for the faults of their shepherds, mercy now urged the prophet to declare from God that he would judge between them—save the flock, and—set up one shepherd over them, who should feed them, even his servant David.

PETT, “Introduction

Chapter 34 The False Shepherds and the True Shepherd.

In this chapter God likens His people to sheep and describes and condemns those who have been false shepherds to His people. He then goes on to promise the restoration of His people, under Himself, and One from the house of David who will be a true shepherd to them.

Verse 1-2

‘And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Should the shepherds not feed the sheep?” ’

We need not doubt that this has a backward reference to the shepherds of the past, the kings, priests and prophets who had failed His people, but it also very much included the present shepherds who now had responsibility for the people’s spiritual life and teaching in exile, as the later warnings make clear. And the charge was serious. They were guilty of looking after themselves, whereas a true shepherd would be looking after the sheep.

The idea of kings and leaders as shepherds to their people is a common one (1 Kings 22:17; Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 63:11; Jeremiah 2:8, linked with the priests and the prophets; Jeremiah 10:21; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Jeremiah 25:34-38 - more general;

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Micah 5:4-5 see also Psalms 78:70-71). Also see more generally Isaiah 56:10-11; Jeremiah 50:6; Nahum 3:18; Zechariah 10:2-3; Zechariah 11:8.

EBC, “THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM

Ezekiel 34:1-31

The term "Messianic" as commonly applied to Old Testament prophecy bears two different senses, a wider and a narrower. In its wider use it is almost equivalent to the modern word "eschatological." It denotes that unquenchable hope of a glorious future for Israel and the world which is an all but omnipresent feature of the prophetic writings, and includes all predictions of the kingdom of God in its final and perfect manifestation. In its stricter sense it is applied only to the promise of the ideal king of the house of David, which, although a very conspicuous element of prophecy, is by no means universal, and perhaps does not bulk quite so largely in the Old Testament as is generally supposed. The later Jews were guided by a true instinct when they seized on this figure of the ideal ruler as the centre of the nation’s hope; and to them we owe this special application of the name "Messiah," the "Anointed," which is never used of the Son of David in the Old Testament itself. To a certain extent we follow in their steps when we enlarge the meaning of the word "Messianic" so as to embrace the whole prophetic delineation of the future glories of the kingdom of God.

This distinction may be illustrated from the prophecies of Ezekiel. If we take the word in its more general sense we may say that all the chapters from the thirty-fourth to the end of the book are Messianic in character. That is to say, they describe under various aspects the final condition of things which is introduced by the restoration of Israel to its own land. Let us glance for a moment at the elements which enter into this general conception of the last things as they are set forth in the section of the book with which we are now dealing. We exclude from view for the present the last nine chapters, because there the prophet’s point of view is somewhat different, and it is better to reserve them for separate treatment.

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The chapters from the thirty-fourth to the thirty-seventh are the necessary complement of the call to repentance in the first part of chapter 33. Ezekiel has enunciated the conditions of entrance to the new kingdom of God, and has urged his hearers to prepare for its appearing. He now proceeds to unfold the nature of that kingdom, and the process by which Jehovah is to bring it to pass. As has been said, the central fact is the restoration of Israel to the land of Canaan. Here the prophet found a point of contact with the natural aspirations of his fellow exiles. There was no prospect to which they had clung with more eager longing than that of a return to national independence in their own land; and the feeling that this was no longer possible was the source of the abject despair from which the prophet sought to rouse them. How was this to be done? Not simply by asserting in the face of all human probability that the restoration would take place, but by presenting it to their minds in its religious aspects as an object worthy of the exercise of almighty power, and an object in which Jehovah was interested for the glory of His great name. Only by being brought round to Ezekiel’s faith in God could the exiles recover their lost hope in the future of the nation. Thus the return to which Ezekiel looks forward has a Messianic significance; it is the establishment of the kingdom of God, a symbol of the final and perfect union between Jehovah and Israel.

Now in the chapters before us this general conception is exhibited in three separate pictures of the Restoration, the leading ideas being the Monarchy (chapter 34), the Land (chapter 35, 36), and the Nation (chapter 37). The order in which they are arranged is not that which might seem most natural. We should have expected the prophet to deal first with the revival of the nation, then with its settlement on the soil of Palestine, and last of all with its political organisation under a Davidic king. Ezekiel follows the reverse order. He begins with the kingdom, as the most complete embodiment of the Messianic salvation, and then falls back on its two presuppositions-the recovery and purification of the land on the one hand, and the restitution of the nation on the other. It is doubtful, indeed, whether any logical connection between the three pictures is intended. It is perhaps better to regard them as expressing three distinct and collateral aspects of the idea of redemption, to each of which a certain permanent religious significance is attached. They are at all events the outstanding elements of Ezekiel’s eschatology so far as it is expounded in this section of his prophecies.

We thus see that the promise of the perfect king-the Messianic idea in its more restricted signification-holds a distinct but not a supreme place in Ezekiel’s vision of

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the future. It appears for the first time in chapter 17 at the end of an oracle denouncing the perfidy of Zedekiah and foretelling the overthrow of his kingdom; and again, in a similar connection, in an obscure verse of chapter 21. [Ezekiel 17:22-24;, Ezekiel 21:26; Ezekiel 21:27] Both these prophecies belong to the time before the fall of the state, when the prophet’s thoughts were not continuously occupied with the hope of the future. The former is remarkable, nevertheless, for the glowing terms in which the greatness of the future kingdom is depicted. From the top of the lofty cedar which the great eagle had carried away to Babylon Jehovah will take a tender shoot and plant it in the mountain height of Israel. There it will strike root and grow up into a lordly cedar, under whose branches all the birds of the air find refuge. The terms of the allegory have been explained in the proper place. {See Ezekiel 20:24-25 ff.} The great cedar is the house of David; the topmost bough which was taken to Babylon is the family of Jehoiachin, the direct heirs to the throne. The planting of the tender shoot in the land of Israel represents the founding of the Messiah’s kingdom, which is thus proclaimed to be of transcendent earthly magnificence, overshadowing all the other kingdoms of the world, and convincing the nations that its foundation is the work of Jehovah Himself. In this short passage we have the Messianic idea in its simplest and most characteristic expression. The hope of the future is bound up with the destiny of the house of David; and the re-establishment of the kingdom in more than its ancient splendour is the great divine act to which all the blessings of the final dispensation are attached.

But it is in the thirty-fourth chapter that we find the most comprehensive exposition of Ezekiel’s teaching on the subject of the monarchy and the Messianic kingdom. It is perhaps the most political of all his prophecies. It is pervaded by a spirit of genuine sympathy with the sufferings of the common people, and indignation against the tyranny practised and tolerated by the ruling classes. The disasters that have befallen the nation down to its final dispersion among the heathen are all traced to the misgovernment and anarchy for which the monarchy was primarily responsible. In like manner the blessings of the coming age are summed up in the promise of a perfect king, ruling in the name of Jehovah and maintaining order and righteousness throughout his realm. Nowhere else does Ezekiel approach so nearly to the political ideal foreshadowed by the statesman-prophet Isaiah of a "king reigning in righteousness and princes ruling in judgment" [Isaiah 32:1] securing the enjoyment of universal prosperity and peace to the redeemed people of God. It must be remembered of course that this is only a partial expression of Ezekiel’s conception both of the past condition of the nation and of its future salvation. We

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have had abundant Evidence(cf. especially chapter 22) to show that he considered all classes of the community to be corrupt, and the people as a whole implicated in the guilt of rebellion against Jehovah. The statement that the kings have brought about the dispersion of the nation must not therefore be pressed to the conclusion that civic injustice was the sole cause of Israel’s calamities. Similarly we shall find that the redemption of the people depends on other and more fundamental conditions than the establishment of good government under a righteous king. But that is no reason for minimising the significance of the passage before us as an utterance of Ezekiel’s profound interest in social order and the welfare of the poor. It shows moreover that the prophet at this time attached real importance to the promise of the Messiah as the organ of Jehovah’s rule over His people. If civil wrongs and legalised tyranny were not the only sins which had brought about the destruction of the state, they were at least serious evils, which could not be tolerated in the new Israel; and the chief safeguard against their recurrence is found in the character of the ideal ruler whom Jehovah will raise up from the seed of David. How far this high conception of the functions of the monarchy was modified in Ezekiel’s subsequent teaching we shall see when we come to consider the position assigned to the prince in the great vision at the end of the book.

In the meantime let us examine somewhat more closely the contents of chapter 34. Its leading ideas seem to have been suggested by a Messianic prophecy of Jeremiah’s with which Ezekiel was no doubt acquainted: "Woe to the shepherds that destroy and scatter the flock of My pasture! saith Jehovah. Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, against the shepherds that tend My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and dispersed them, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah. And I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands whither I have dispersed them, and will restore them to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. And I will set shepherds over them who shall feed them: and they shall not fear any more, nor be frightened, nor be lacking, saith Jehovah". [Jeremiah 23:1-4] Here we have the simple image of the flock and its shepherds, which Ezekiel, as his manner is, expands into an allegory of the past history and future prospects of the nation. How closely he follows the guidance of his predecessor will be seen from the analysis of the chapter. It may be divided into four parts.

1. The first ten verses are a strongly worded denunciation of the misgovernment to which the people of Jehovah had been subjected in the past. The prophet goes

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straight to the root of the evil when he indignantly asks, "Should not the shepherds feed the flock?" (Ezekiel 34:2). The first principle of all true government is that it must be in the interest of the governed. But the universal vice of Oriental despotism, as we see in the case of the Turkish empire at the present day, or Egypt before the English occupation, is that the rulers rule for their own advantage, and treat the people as their lawful spoil. So it had been in Israel: the shepherds had fed themselves, and not the flock. Instead of carefully tending the sick and the maimed, and searching out the strayed and the lost, they had been concerned only to eat the milk and clothe themselves with the wool and slaughter the fat; they had ruled with "violence and rigour." That is to say, instead of healing the sores of the body politic, they had sought to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. Such misconduct in the name of government always brings its own penalty; it kills the goose that lays the golden eggs. The flock which is spoiled by its own shepherds is scattered on the mountain and becomes the prey of wild beasts; and so the nation that is weakened by internal misrule loses its powers of defence and succumbs to the attacks of some foreign invader. But the shepherds of Israel have to reckon with Him who is the owner of the flock, whose affection still watches over them, and whose compassion is stirred by the hapless condition of His people. "Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand; and I will make them to cease from feeding [My] flock, that they who feed themselves may no longer shepherd them; and I will deliver My flock from their mouth that they be not food for them" (Ezekiel 34:9-10).

2. But Jehovah not only removes the unworthy shepherds; He Himself takes on Him the office of shepherd to the flock that has been so mishandled (Ezekiel 34:11-16). As the shepherd goes out after the thunderstorm to call in his frightened sheep, so will Jehovah after the storm of judgment is over go forth to "gather together the outcasts of Israel". [Psalms 147:2] He will seek them out and deliver them from all places whither they were scattered in the day of clouds and darkness; then He will lead them back to the mountain height of Israel, where they shall enjoy abundant prosperity and security under His just and beneficent rule. By what agencies this deliverance is to be accomplished is nowhere indicated. It is the unanimous teaching of the prophets that the final salvation of Israel will be effected in a "day of Jehovah"-i.e., a day in which Jehovah’s own power will be specially manifested. Hence there is no need to describe the process by which the Almighty works out His purpose of salvation; it is indescribable: the results are certain, but the intermediate agencies are supernatural, and the precise method of Jehovah’s intervention is, as a rule, left indefinite. It is particularly to be noted that the Messiah plays no part in

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the actual work of deliverance. He is not the hero of a national struggle for independence, but comes on the scene and assumes the reins of government after Jehovah has gotten the victory and restored peace to Israel.

3. The next six verses (Ezekiel 34:17-22) add a feature to the allegory which is not found in the corresponding passage in Jeremiah. Jehovah will judge between one sheep and another, especially between the rams and he-goats on the one hand and the weaker animals on the other. The strong cattle had monopolised the fat meadows and clear settled waters, and as if this were not enough, they had trampled down the residue of the pastures and fouled the waters with their feet. Those addressed are the wealthy and powerful upper class, whose luxury and wanton extravagance had consumed the resources of the country, and left no sustenance for the poorer members of the community. Allusions to this kind of selfish tyranny are frequent in the older prophets. Amos speaks of the nobles as panting after the dust on the head of the poor, and of the luxurious dames of Samaria as oppressing the poor and crushing the needy, and saying to their lords, "Bring us to drink." [Amos 2:7; Amos 4:1] Micah says of the same class in the southern kingdom that they cast out the women of Jehovah’s people from their pleasant houses, and robbed their children of His glory for ever. [Micah 2:9] And Isaiah, to take one other example, denounces those who "take away the right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the orphans". [Isaiah 10:2] Under the corrupt administration of justice which the kings had tolerated for their own convenience litigation had been a farce; the rich man had always the ear of the judge, and the poor found no redress. But in Israel the true fountain of justice could not be polluted; it was only its channels that were obstructed. For Jehovah Himself was the supreme judge of His people; and in the restored commonwealth to which Ezekiel looks forward all civil relations will be regulated by a regard to His righteous will. He will "save His flock that they be no more a prey, and will judge between cattle and cattle."

4. Then follows in the last section (Ezekiel 34:23-31) the promise of the Messianic king, and a description of the blessings that accompany his reign: "I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them-My servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I Jehovah will be their God, and My servant David shall be a prince in their midst: I Jehovah have spoken it." There are one or two difficulties connected with the interpretation of this passage, the consideration of which may be postponed till we have finished our analysis of the chapter. It is

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sufficient in the meantime to notice that a Davidic kingdom in some sense is to be the foundation of social order in the new Israel. A prince will arise, endowed with the spirit of his exalted office, to discharge perfectly the royal functions in which the former kings had so lamentably failed. Through him the divine government of Israel will become a reality in the national life. The Godhead of Jehovah and the kingship of the Messiah will be inseparably associated in the faith of the people: "Jehovah their God, and David their king" [Hosea 3:5] is the expression of the ground of Israel’s confidence in the latter days. And this kingdom is the pledge of the fulness of divine blessing descending on the land and the people. The people shall dwell in safety, none making them afraid, because of the covenant of peace which Jehovah will make for them, securing them against the assaults of other nations. The heavens shall pour forth fertilising "showers of blessing"; and the land shall be clothed with a luxuriant vegetation which shall be the admiration of the whole earth. Thus happily situated Israel shall shake off the reproach of the heathen, which they had formerly to endure because of the poverty of their land and their unfortunate history. In the plenitude of material prosperity they shall recognise that Jehovah their God is with them, and they shall know what it is to be His people and the flock of His pasture.

We have now before us the salient features of the Messianic hope, as it is presented in the pages of Ezekiel. We see that the idea is developed in contrast with the abuses that had characterised the historic monarchy in Israel. It represents the ideal of the kingdom as it exists in the mind of Jehovah, an ideal which no actual king had fully realised, and which most of them had shamefully violated. The Messiah is the vice-regent of Jehovah on earth, and the representative of His kingly authority and righteous government over Israel. We see further that the promise is based on the "sure mercies of David," the covenant which secured the throne to David’s descendants for ever. Messianic prophecy is legitimist, the ideal king being regarded as standing in the direct line of succession to the crown. And to these features we may add another which is explicitly developed in Ezekiel 37:22-26, although it is implied in the expression "one shepherd" in the passage with which we have been dealing. The Messianic kingdom represents the unity of all Israel, and particularly the reunion of the two kingdoms under one sceptre. The prophets attach great importance to this idea. (Cf. Amos 9:11 f.; Hosea 2:2; Hosea 3:5, Isaiah 11:13, Micah 2:12 f., Micah 5:3) The existence of two rival monarchies, divided in interest and often at war with each other, although it had never effaced the consciousness of the original unity of the nation, was felt by the prophets to be an anomalous state of things, and seriously detrimental to the national religion. The ideal relation of

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Jehovah to Israel was as incompatible with two kingdoms as the ideal of marriage is incompatible with two wives to one husband. Hence in the glorious future of the Messianic age the schism must be healed, and the Davidic dynasty restored to its original position at the head of an undivided empire. The prominence given to this thought in the teaching of Hosea shows that even in the northern kingdom devout Israelites cherished the hope of reunion with their brethren under the house of David as the only form in which the redemption of the nation could be achieved. And although, long before Ezekiel’s day, the kingdom of Samaria had disappeared from history, he too looks forward to a restoration of the ten tribes as an essential element of the Messianic salvation.

In these respects the teaching of Ezekiel reflects the general tenor of the Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament. There are just two questions on which some obscurity and uncertainty must be felt to rest. In the first place, what is the precise meaning of the expression "My servant David"? It will not be supposed that the prophet expected David, the founder of the Hebrew monarchy, to reappear in person and inaugurate the new dispensation. Such an interpretation would be utterly false to Eastern modes of thought and expression, besides being opposed to every indication we have of the prophetic conception of the Messiah. Even in popular language the name of David was current, after he had been long dead, as the name of the dynasty which he had founded. When the ten tribes revolted from Rehoboam they said, exactly as they had said in David’s lifetime, "What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel; now see to thine own house, David." If the name of David could thus be invoked in popular speech at a time of great political excitement, we need not be surprised to find it used in a similar sense in the figurative style of the prophets. All that the word means is that the Messiah will be one who comes in the spirit and power of David, a representative of the ancient family who carries to completion the work so nobly begun by his great ancestor.

The real difficulty is whether the title "David" denotes a unique individual or a line of Davidic kings. To that question it is hardly possible to return a decided answer. That the idea of a succession of sovereigns is a possible form of the Messianic hope is shown by a passage in the thirty-third chapter of Jeremiah. There the promise of the righteous sprout of the house of David is supplemented by the assurance that David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of Israel: [Jeremiah 33:15-17] the allusion therefore appears to be to the dynasty, and not to a single person. And this

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view finds some support in the case of Ezekiel from the fact that in the later vision of chapters 40-48, the prophet undoubtedly anticipates a perpetuation of the dynasty through successive generations. {Cf Ezekiel 43:7;, Ezekiel 45:8;, Ezekiel 46:16 ff.} On the other hand it is difficult to reconcile this view with the expressions used in this. and the thirty-seventh chapters. When we read that "My servant David shall be their prince for ever," [Ezekiel 37:25] we can scarcely escape the impression that the prophet is thinking of a personal Messiah reigning eternally. If it were necessary to decide between these two alternatives, it might be safest to adhere to the idea of a personal Messiah, as conveying the fullest rendering of the prophet’s thought. There is reason to think that in the interval between this prophecy and his final vision Ezekiel’s conception of the Messiah underwent a certain modification, and therefore the teaching of the later passage cannot be used to control the explanation of this. But the obscurity is of such a nature that we cannot hope to remove it. In the prophet’s delineations of the future there are many points on which the light of revelation had not been fully cast; for they, like the Christian apostle, "knew in part and prophesied in part." And the question of the way in which the Messiah’s office is to be prolonged is precisely one of those which did not greatly occupy the mind of the prophets. There is no perspective in Messianic prophecy: the future kingdom of God is seen, as it were, in one plane, and how it is to be transmitted from one age to another is never thought of. Thus it may become difficult to say whether a particular prophet, in speaking of the Messiah, has a single individual in view or whether he is thinking of a dynasty or a succession. To Ezekiel the Messiah was a divinely revealed ideal, which was to be fulfilled in a person; whether the prophet himself distinctly understood this is a matter of inferior importance.

The second question is one that perhaps would not readily occur to a plain man. It relates to the meaning of the word "prince" as applied to the Messiah. It has been thought by some critics that Ezekiel had a special reason for avoiding the title "king"; and from this supposed reason a somewhat sweeping conclusion has been deduced. We are asked to believe that Ezekiel had in principle abandoned the Messianic hope of his earlier prophecies-i.e., the hope of a restoration of the Davidic kingdom in its ancient splendour. What he really contemplates is the abolition of the Hebrew monarchy, and the institution of a new political system entirely different from anything that had existed in the past. Although the Davidic prince will hold the first place in the restored community, his dignity will be less than royal; he will only be a titular monarch, his power being overshadowed by the presence of Jehovah, the true king of Israel. Now so far as this view is suggested by the use of the word "prince" (literally "leader" or "president") in preference to "king," it is

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sufficiently answered by pointing to the Messianic passage in chapter 37, where the name "king" is used three times and in a peculiarly emphatic manner of the Messianic prince. [Ezekiel 37:22-24] There is no reason to suppose that Ezekiel drew a distinction between "princely" and "kingly" rank, and deliberately withheld the higher dignity from the Messiah. Whatever may be the exact relation of the Messiah to Jehovah, there is no doubt that he is conceived as a king in the full sense of the term, possessed of all regal qualities, and shepherding his people with the authority which belonged to a true son of David.

But there is another consideration which weighs more seriously with the writers referred to. There is reason to believe that Ezekiel’s conception of the final kingdom of God underwent a change which might not unfairly be described as an abandonment of the Messianic expectation in its more restricted sense. In his latest vision the functions of the prince are defined in such a way that his position is shorn of the ideal significance which properly invests the office of the Messiah. The change does not indeed affect his merely political status. He is still the son of David and the king of Israel, and all that is here said about his duty towards his subjects is there presupposed. But his character seems to be no longer regarded as thoroughly reliable, or equal to all the temptations that arise wherever absolute power is lodged in human hands. The possibility that the king may abuse his authority for his private advantage is distinctly contemplated, and provision is made against it in the statutory constitution to which the king himself is subject. Such precautions are obviously inconsistent with the ideal of the Messianic kingdom which we find, for example, in the prophecy of Isaiah. The important question therefore comes to be, whether this lower view of the monarchy is anticipated in the thirty-fourth and thirty-seventh chapters. This does not appear to be the case. The prophet still occupies the same standpoint as in chapter 17, regarding the Davidic monarchy as the central religious institution of the restored state. The Messiah of these chapters is a perfect king, endowed with the spirit of God for the discharge of his great office, one whose personal character affords an absolute security for the maintenance of public righteousness, and who is the medium of communication between God and the nation. In other words, what we have to do with is a Messianic prediction in the fullest sense of the term.

In concluding our study of Ezekiel’s Messianic teaching, we may make one remark bearing on its typological interpretation. The attempt is sometimes made to trace a gradual development and enrichment of the Messianic idea in the hands of

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successive prophets. From that point of view Ezekiel’s contribution to the doctrine of the Messiah must be felt to be disappointing. No one can imagine that his portrait of the coming king possesses anything like the suggestiveness and religious meaning conveyed by the ideal which stands out so clearly from the pages of Isaiah. And, indeed, no subsequent prophet excels or even equals Isaiah in the clearness and profundity of his directly Messianic conceptions. This fact shows us that the endeavour to find in the Old Testament a regular progress along one particular line proceeds on too narrow a view of the scope of prophecy. The truth is that the figure of the king is only one of many types of the Christian dispensation which the religious institutions of Israel supplied to the prophets. It is the most perfect of all types, partly because it is personal, and partly because the idea of kingship is the most comprehensive of the offices which Christ executes as our Redeemer. But, after all, it expresses only one aspect of the glorious future of the kingdom of God towards which prophecy steadily points. We must remember also that the order in which these types emerge is determined not altogether by their intrinsic importance, but partly by their adaptation to the needs of the age in which the prophet lived. The main function of prophecy was to furnish present and practical direction to the people of God; and the form under which the ideal was presented to any particular generation was always that best fitted to help it onwards, one stage nearer to the great consummation. Thus while Isaiah idealises the figure of the king, Jeremiah grasps the conception of a new religion under the form of a covenant, the second Isaiah unfolds the idea of the prophetic servant of Jehovah, Zechariah and the writer of the 110th Psalm idealise the priesthood. All these are Messianic prophecies, if we take the word in its widest acceptations; but they are not all cast in one mould, and the attempt to arrange them in a single series is obviously misleading. So with regard to Ezekiel we may say that his chief Messianic ideal (still using the expression in a general sense) is the sanctuary, the symbol of Jehovah’s presence in the midst of His people. At the end of chapter 37, the kingdom and the sanctuary are mentioned together as pledges of the glory of the latter days. But while the idea of the Messianic monarchy was a legacy inherited from his prophetic precursors, the Temple was an institution whose typical significance Ezekiel was the first to unfold. It was moreover the one that met the religious requirements of the age in which Ezekiel lived. Ultimately the hope of the personal Messiah loses the importance which it still has in the present section of the book; and the prophet’s vision of the future concentrates itself on the sanctuary as the centre of the restored theocracy, and the source from which the regenerating influences of the divine grace flow forth to Israel and the world.

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PARKER, “ Rulers Reproved

Ezekiel 34

This chapter contains a divine reproof of "the shepherds." It will be necessary first of all to understand the meaning of that word as it occurs in this connection. We think of pastors, bishops, Christian overseers, and the like. There is no reference to them whatsoever in this tremendous indictment In this case the meaning of "shepherd" is ruler. It may be king, or magistrate, or prince; but the idea is magisterial, governmental, and not of necessity priestly or pastoral. Here is God, if we may so say without irreverence, standing up for the people. When did he ever do otherwise? Verily this is a People"s Bible. The Lord has never been kindly to kings and rulers and merely nominal and official magistrates; they have done their utmost to disestablish the theocracy. Every king is by so much an enemy of Heaven. He cannot be otherwise. From the beginning the history is a history of protest on the part of God. We forget the introductory arrangement; we have obliterated from our minds the practically atheistic prayer which said, Give us a king, that we may be like the other nations of the earth. God often answers prayers that he may plague people with the effect of their own supplication. God knows how to conduct the school; we are in a place of education and of discipline; he knows that it is better to answer some prayers than to neglect them, and he knows that every answer means disappointment, humiliation, chagrin, and possibly ultimate confession, penitence, and restoration. The Lord is condemning shepherds who feed themselves and neglect the flocks. Is not God the God of classes, aristocracies, west-ends, and official personages generally? Is he not for the popes and kaisers and czars and men who head and lead the armies? Never. They are conducting as far as they can a process of disestablishment of the Church; they are trying to disestablish the theocracy, the rule of God. The whole tendency of their personality and government is towards materialism, force, spectacular display, military pomp and grandeur. Give them guns, and they want no other church or altar; multiply their horses, and they ask not for your missionaries, teachers, and instructors in moral sentiments: whereas God is all on the side of the invisible, the moral, the spiritual, the metaphysical. His kingdom cometh not with observation: the sun never rises noisily, when he wakes the whole heaven knows it, but not by any noise or tumult he has made—knows it by the quiet ministry of all-blessing light.

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Here then is the Lord God of heaven and earth leading the cause of the "flock"—the mean, the weak, the neglected, the despised. What is God"s policy towards the peoples of the world? By these words let us stand as Christian Churches for ever. Here is our charter; this we learn from a negative point of view is what God would have the nations be and do:—

"The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost" ( Ezekiel 34:4).

What! is God interested in the sick, the broken, the outcast, the lost? Why do we not then one and all fall down and worship him, and say, The Lord he is God? He would defend us, espouse our cause, break in upon our solitude with heaven"s own companionship. Why should there be any atheist? Even ideally this is the grandest conception in the whole universe with which we are acquainted; as an ideal representation of shepherdliness there is nothing in all poetry to compare with this domestic, tender music. He does not complain that no battles have been fought, no victories won, no renown acquired. His list is worth reading again—"sick," "broken," "driven away," "lost" That is God"s record. He wants vouchers on all these points. What about the sick? he says. What is our answer? Lord, we had a theory about the sick and the broken—we thought the weak ought to go to the wall; we assembled and discussed the matter, and we all voted for the survival of the fittest Is that an answer to Eternal Righteousness? You left the sick man behind because he was sick. Will that do in any day of judgment that is governed by the spirit of right? What then did the shepherds or rulers do to the people? What they are doing today: "with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them." There is nothing modern in coercion, there is nothing startlingly original in cruelty. God will not have it so; he will have a ministry of light, intelligence, persuasion, reason. Is God then opposed to law and judgment and penalty? By no means: but he prefers to administer them himself—"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." He will balance all things; he himself will make all things right in the end. It is a dangerous thing for any man to ascend the judgment seat; it is an infinite peril for any man to say, This is right, and that is wrong, in relation to disputed or controverted questions. All such exercise of right or office leads to the accession of vanity and self-trust on the part of the administrators and judges. We are all men—poor, frail, fallible men. "To err is human; to forgive, divine." "Blessed are the merciful: for

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they shall obtain mercy."

Can rulers misbehave themselves without the people feeling their misbehaviour either directly or indirectly? It would appear not: the indictment reads, "And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd." It is the place of the ruler to be a pastor, a father, a pater in Deo. Beautiful even up to the point of sweetest music is the title "father in God"—the great broad-hearted father, skilled in excusing things that other people would turn into grounds of accusation and condemnation and expulsion; that fatherliness which keeps all doors open, so that if there be any return on the part of the wanderer there shall be no difficulty in getting into the house softly, stealthily, and to be found there next morning as if the place had never been vacated. There is a music of love; there is a skill of affection; there is a masterliness in redemption. We cannot amend the ways of God. What will the Lord do to the shepherds? He says: "Behold, I am against the shepherds." What a challenge is that! Omnipotence speaks, Almightiness marks the battlefield and sounds the battle bugle. But will he not visit the flock with tremendous indignation? A beautiful answer is given to this inquiry in pronouns: "My sheep," "my flock"; and again, in Ezekiel 34:11, "my sheep," and in Ezekiel 34:12, "my sheep,"—"my," "mine," though so neglected, bruised, desolated, orphaned; still mine. His mercy endureth for ever: when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up; never so much the Lord as when my poor heart needs him most. He comes for you to the public-house, to the den of iniquity, to the place consecrated to blasphemy, and he says, You are still mine: I want you, I have come for you: let us go home together, as if our companionship had never been interrupted. Oh skilled love, masterly pity!

When God gathers all the sheep together again what will he do with them?

"I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God" ( Ezekiel 34:14-15).

There is joy in the shepherd"s heart when he brings back that which was lost. The

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parable says the shepherd has more joy over the sheep found than over the ninety-and-nine that went not astray, and likewise there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, more than over the ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance. We are to look upon this people not so much in the light of moral aliens from God as of people who have been unjustly treated or basely neglected; we make all the distinction between the one class and the other when we speak of outcast Israel and outcast nations, and people who have voluntarily and shamelessly left the kingdom of heaven. Yet it is wondrous to observe how even in the latter case mercy prevails against judgment, softens judgment by the sheer force of tears.

There is one class described which is most noteworthy. It is described repeatedly, notably in Ezekiel 34:16 : "That which was driven away." Some people go away, some people are driven away; we must make a distinction between the two. Are we driving away men from churches? That is quite a possible mischief. We may be so hard, so unreasonable, so pharisaic, so wanting in all the tenderness of practical sympathy, that people will be simply driven away. I would not present myself before any harsh ministry; I would never sit to listen to any man who simply and exclusively denounced the judgment of God against my life; I can do that myself: I want a great shepherd-brother, a great pastor-king, who will assure me over and over again—for such repetition will never be tedious—that God really does love and wants me to go home again at once. Some may condemn this as sentimental, but I do not take the cue of my life from such foolish persons. I am so weak, frail, self-helpless that I want a thousand ministers to tell me at the rising of every sun that today I may be a better man than I was yesterday. We need ministries of comfort, encouragement; and in such ministries we shall often find skilfully introduced the element of fear; but when it is introduced by men who talk thus the music of life, it will be introduced with a thousandfold force: it will come upon us with such unexpectedness, and it will be associated with such an atmosphere of pathos, that we shall no longer rebel, but rather say, "The judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether." Are we driving people away? Are we driving people away from the family? I have known children driven away because their fathers were fools in discipline. When children have to go out from the fireside to seek their innocent recreations and amusements; when they have to steal away to these, and come back in the guise of hypocrites and liars, I do not expect them to turn out Christian men. The home should be the brightest place on earth; then the Church: the Church should be the larger home.

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How one evil leads to another, and how iniquity gathers as it rolls, is strikingly illustrated in this chapter:—

"Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet" ( Ezekiel 34:18-19).

To live at such a table, who can do it? We do get some little things, but they are all bespattered, they are all fouled; they do not come to us like virgin snow from heaven: we get them at secondhand, after they have been mauled and crushed, after the bloom has been rubbed off them; or if they be streams they have been fouled by other feet. What do many of us ever get but something that has been thrown to us, or something that other people else could not themselves devour? If they could have devoured it we should have never seen it. I owe all I have in the world to the people. I owe nothing to the upper classes; in so far as they are the upper classes in mere name, I hate them. I take up the indictment of history against them. What then? Are they all personally bad? Nothing of the kind: some of the choicest souls the Lord ever made have been found amongst them. I am not speaking of all persons, I am speaking of official designations, functions, appointments; and I am speaking not of them only, but of them as they are misconceived, abused, and administered, in malfeasance or in selfishness. There are good men in all classes; there may have been good kings. We must take care how we drive people away from law. The driving away policy is always a bad policy, if it be possible to substitute for it the policy of reason, persuasion, sympathy, and love. Let us be just to all men.

The Lord is against all monopoly and tyranny, against all heedlessness of the flock, against every form of neglect; he will never sympathise with the few against the many, with the strong against the weak, with the mighty against the frail. I know a family at this time who have been a hundred years on the land, and they dare not ask my lord god the duke to put a little annexe to their house that they might be able by some arrangements to mitigate the pressure of their rent. Is God with the duke or with the tenant? If he is with the duke he has belied the revelation of his providence.

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We must live quietly, without rebelliousness or revolutionariness, merely for their own sake. "God"s mills grind slow." The ages are to us a long time in coming, and a long time in going; but God must not be judged by today, yesterday, or tomorrow, but by the whole scope and purpose of his throne. So judged, my faith is that one day we shall say, "God is love," and we shall hail one another in the language of true companionship and brotherhood, saying, After all, we are the stronger and the tenderer for our conflicts and sufferings below.

Then God says he will make all his flock and the places round about his hill a blessing; he will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing: and God will raise up for his flock "a plant of renown,"—rather, a plantation renowned for plentifulness: the fruit of it shall be heard of; the fruit of it shall be free; the fruit of it shall satisfy the hunger of the world.

The concluding words are very sweet, "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture" ( Ezekiel 34:31). This seems to be an individual and direct address; princes and rulers are no longer within the purview of God; but turning to the flock itself he says, "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men." The meaning Isaiah , You are only men, made yesterday, and very frail. "And I am your God": here is a great and necessary contrast. God"s condescensions are never any abdications of his majesty. When he stoops it is with the stoop of a King; he is never less than King, never less than God. He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust; he knoweth that we are of yesterday and know nothing; he describes us as "a wind that cometh for a little time, and then passeth away," but he pledges his Godhead that manhood is precious and shall not be lost if love can save it. Here is the gospel before the incoming of the historical Christ. But Christ was always in the world. Christ is the God of the Old Testament, according to Christian interpretation. He was in the world, and the world knew him not. Abraham, he says, rejoiced to see his day; he said, "Abraham saw my day, and was glad," and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to two auditors in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. When therefore we preach an Old Testament gospel, we are in reality preaching a New Testament gospel. There is only one Testament—old as God, new as the present day.

PULPIT, “And the word of the Lord, etc. As no date is given, we may infer that what follows came as an almost immediate sequel to that which precedes it. The

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kernel of the chapter is found in the Messianic prophecies of Ezekiel 34:23, Ezekiel 34:24, as the first stage in the restoration of Israel which is beginning to open to the prophet's gaze. We can hardly avoid seeing in it the deliberate expression of words that had been spoken by Ezekiel's master (Jeremiah 23:1-4), and which in his case also were followed by a directly Messianic announcement. In Matthew 9:36, still more in John 10:1-16, we can scarcely avoid recognizing the distinct appropriation of the words to himself by him of whom they both had spoken. So far as we may venture to speculate on the influence, so to speak, of the words of the prophets of the Old Testament on our Lord's human soul, we may think of these as having marked out for him the work which he was to do, just as we may think of Psalms 22:1-31. and Isaiah 53:1-12. as having pointed out to him the path of suffering which he was to tread.

BI 1-10, "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?The unfaithful shepherdsI. 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 (Gen_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 (Joh_2:25).2. A willingness to endure hardship for those whom they shepherd (Gen_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 (Luk_6:12) and to be consumed with labour during the day, in order to be “the Good Shepherd.”3. Affection for the flock (1Sa_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 (Joh_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

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to gather in the scattered flock.1. The name given to this divinely appointed shepherd—David. The Messiah is called by this name in Isa_55:3-4; Jer_30:9; Hos_3:5.2. His two-fold office. His Father’s servant and His people’s king (verse 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.)

Gospel ministers shepherdsI. Christian ministers as shepherds have devolving upon them the care of Christ’s flock. Believers are exposed to many evils, surrounded by numerous enemies, liable to many wants and diseases. To promote their comfort and safety, God sends His servants to take the oversight, and care for them as shepherd for flock.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.Hospital Sunday

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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.)

2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should

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not shepherds take care of the flock?

BARNES, "Shepherds - Not priests or prophets, but rulers and kings (see the Jer_2:8 note). The most ancient title for “ruler” is a monogram which occurs on the oldest monuments discovered in the cuneiform character. In the Assyrian language it became riu (compare Hebrew רעה râ‛âh =shepherd). In the traditions of Berosus we find that Alorus, the first king in the world, received from the Divinity the title of Shepherd. The title, as well as the monogram, was preserved to the latest times of the Assyrian monarchy. While the distress and misery of the people daily in creased, the last kings of Judah exacted more and more from their subjects and lavished more and more on personal luxury and show.

CLARKE, "Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel - The shepherds include, first, the priests and Levites; secondly, the kings, princes, and magistrates. The flock means the whole of the people. The fat and the wool, the tithes and offerings, the taxes and imposts. The reprehensible feeding and clothing with these, as to the priests and Levites, the using these tithes and offerings, not to enable them the better to fulfill the work of the ministry, but to pamper their own bodies, and support them in an idle voluptuous life; and in reference to the state, the employing the taxes and imposts, not for the support and administration of justice and good government, but to subsidize heathen powers, and maintain their own luxury and idolatrous prodigality.

GILL, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,.... Or, "concerning" (p) them; the governors of them, as the Targum and Jarchi; their political governors, their kings, princes, and civil magistrates of every order and degree; so Kimchi interprets it of kings; and it was common with the eastern nations, and with the Greeks, to call kings shepherds; and one and the same word; in the Greek language, signifies to feed sheep, and to govern people; see Psa_78:72, also their ecclesiastical governors are intended, prophets, priests, Levites, scribes, and Pharisees; these were bad shepherds, or they would not have been prophesied against; and though they were shepherds of Israel, this must be done: prophesy, and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds: that the message to them might be the more regarded, it is ordered to be delivered in the name of the Lord; otherwise they would have been apt to have despised it, and charged the prophet with impertinence and rudeness:

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woe be to the shepherds of Israel, that do feed themselves! that is, themselves only, and not the flock: had they fed the flock, as well as themselves, they would not have been blamed; but they took no care of the people over whom they were set only minded their own affairs, to get riches and honour, but neglected the good of the people, yea, cruelly oppressed them: should not the shepherds feed the flocks? undoubtedly they should; it is their duty, the business of their office, so to do; kings to rule over their subjects, defend their persons and property, and secure their privileges and liberties to them; and ecclesiastical rulers, ministers of the word, should feed the flock or church of God committed to them with knowledge and understanding; see Jer_3:15.

JAMISON, "Jer_23:1 and Zec_11:17 similarly make the removal of the false shepherds the preliminary to the interposition of Messiah the Good Shepherd in behalf of His people Israel. The “shepherds” are not prophets or priests, but rulers who sought in their government their own selfish ends, not the good of the people ruled. The term was appropriate, as David, the first king and the type of the true David (Eze_34:23, Eze_34:24), was taken from being a shepherd (2Sa_5:2; Psa_78:70, Psa_78:71); and the office, like that of a shepherd for his flock, is to guard and provide for his people. The choice of a shepherd for the first king was therefore designed to suggest this thought, just as Jesus’ selection of fishermen for apostles was designed to remind them of their spiritual office of catching men (compare Isa_44:28; Jer_2:8; Jer_3:15; Jer_10:21; Jer_23:1, Jer_23:2).

COKE, “Verse 2Ezekiel 34:2. Against the shepherds of Israel— Hereby are meant the priests, the Levites, and teachers of the law; the kings, princes, magistrates, and judges; the prophet gives them here excellent instructions; shewing them, under the parable of the shepherds, what was their duty, and wherein they had fallen short. The metaphorical expressions are all plain, and easily applicable to the shepherds of the people above-mentioned. TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe [be] to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Ver. 2. Prophesy against the shepherds.] Good shepherds they should have been, but they were naught, [Jeremiah 23:1-4] and naught would come of them, for their maladministration.

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Woe be to the shepherds of Israel.] Both to princes and priests, by whose evil government the people were so bad, as in the former chapter is fully set forth. Qualis rex, talis grex; the sheep will follow the shepherd; the common people are like a flock of cranes - as the first fly, all follow.

Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?] Such flocks especially as have golden fleeces, precious souls. Oh feed, feed, feed, saith our Saviour to Peter! [John 21:15] feed them for my sake, as the Syriac there hath it, rule them well, teach them well, go before them in good example, do all the offices of a faithful shepherd to them, and be instant, or stand close to the work; [2 Timothy 4:2] Dominus prope, the Arch-shepherd is at hand.

POOLE, “ The shepherds; the rulers of the people, both political, as kings, magicians, and princes, and also ecclesiastical, priests and prophets.

Israel; the two tribes, and the few that out of the ten did adhere to the house of David.

Prophesy; the command is repeated to encourage and engage the prophet to his work.

Thus saith the Lord God: Ezekiel speaks, but these rulers must know it is God that speaks by him.

Woe be to the shepherds! they have been principal causes of many sins, and exemplary actors in other sins, for which many woes were threatened; many already are come, and the rest will come, in which woes these rulers shall have more than ordinary share.

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Feed themselves; contrive their own ease, advantage, honour, and ambitious projects. Let the consciences of these rulers, ecclesiastical and political, speak, ought they not, as shepherds, to take care of the sheep committed to their care?

The flocks; the sheep, both whole flocks and the single sheep, whole societies and particular members of them.

PULPIT, “Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, etc. Our modern associations with the words, our use of terms like" the pastoral office," "the pastoral Epistles," lead us to think of the priests and prophets, the spiritual guides of the people, as being those whom the prophet has in view. In the language of the Old Testament, however, as in that of Homer, the shepherds of the people are always its kings and other civil rulers (1 Kings 22:17; Psalms 77:20; Psalms 78:71; Jeremiah 23:1-6), and those whom Ezekiel had in his thoughts were the tyrannous rulers of the house of David, like Jehoiakim and Zedekiah and their satellites. Our Christian thoughts of the word are the outcome of the leading of John 10:1-16; John 21:15-17; 1 Peter 5:2-4; Acts 20:28; but it is probably true that even there the original thought is still dominant. Christ is the "good Shepherd," because he is the true King. His ministers are shepherds as being officers in his kingdom. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? The question is an appeal to the universal conscience of Israel and of mankind. No shepherd was worthy of his name who did not do that which the very name implied. He that neglects that duty is simply as a hireling or a robber (John 10:10, John 10:12).

3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.

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CLARKE, "Ye eat the fat - I think החלב hacheleb should be translated the milk, and so most of the Versions understand it. Or they lived on the fat sheep, and took the wool of all.

“The priests,” says Calmet, “ate the tithes, the first-fruits, and the offerings of the people; the princes received the tributes and imposts and instead of instructing and protecting them, the latter took away their lives by the cruelties they practiced against them: the former destroyed their souls by the poison of their doctrine, and by their bad example. The fat sheep point out the rich to whom these pastors often disguised the truth, by a cruel condescension and complaisance.”

GILL, "Ye eat the fat,.... The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "the milk"; the words for fat and milk differ only in the points; and this was not unlawful, for who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? 1Co_9:7, provided it was done with moderation, that they ate some, but not all; but these rulers milked their subjects too much, oppressed them with heavy taxes, and got their substance into their own hands. The Targum is, "ye eat the good;'' they got possessed of the best of their substance; as did also their ecclesiastical rulers, who were greedy shepherds, that could never have enough; they looked for their gain from their quarter, and even devoured widows' houses, Isa_56:11, ye clothe you with the wool: the pure wool, as the Targum, the finest of it; they fleeced the flock, and stripped the people of their riches; and minded nothing but their own backs and bellies: ye kill them that are fed; or, that "are fat" (q); the richest of the people they brought accusations and charges against for capital crimes; and so put them to death under a colour of justice, that they, might get their estates into their hands: but ye feed not the flock; did not govern the people well, by doing justice and judgment among men, as became civil magistrates; did not deliver out words of faith and sound doctrine, to feed the souls of men with, which is the duty of those that preside in the church of God.

JAMISON, "fat — or, by differently pointing the Hebrew, “milk” [Septuagint]. Thus the repetition “fat” and “fed” is avoided: also the eating of “fat” would not probably be put before the “killing” of the sheep. The eating of sheep’s or goats’ milk as food (Deu_

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32:14; Pro_27:27) was unobjectionable, had not these shepherds milked them too often, and that without duly “feeding” them [Bochart], (Isa_56:11). The rulers levied exorbitant tributes.kill ... fed — kill the rich by false accusation so as to get possession of their property.feed not ... flock — take no care of the people (Joh_10:12).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: [but] ye feed not the flock.

Ver. 3. Ye eat the fat.] Ecce, lac et lanam recipitis. This ye might do, if in measure, for the workman is worthy of his wages, {see 1 Corinthians 9:7} but ye gorge yourselves with the best of the best. Et si ventri bene, si lateri, as Epicurus in Horace, If the belly may be filled, the back fitted, that is all you take care for. In parabola ovis capras quaeritis, et vestrum maxime compendium spectatis; ye are all for your own ends, nourishing your hearts as in a day of slaughter, or of good cheer. [James 5:5]

Ye kill them that are fed.] Heb., Ye sacrifice them; so ye pretend, but mind your own fat paunches. See Proverbs 7:14.

But ye feed not the flock.] As being falsi et ficti imo picti pastores, mock shepherds.

POOLE, “ The fat; rather the milk, which insatiably and without measure you devour; you exhaust their purses and weaken their estates by tributes, exacted by extortions: so the temporal rulers and the spiritual rulers had their methods and arts to milk them dry, these lived on the sins of the people.

With the wool; with best and finest, as best suiting with your pride and luxury, on which you force the people to bestow so much that they have not to clothe themselves and theirs; this was mighty oppression.

Ye kill them; contrive methods for a seeming legal course to forfeit first the life, and 36

next the estate, of the well-fed, the rich, and wealthy, and then make merry and feast, as voluptuous, unfaithful shepherds feast on the fattest of the sheep in their masters’ fold. Ye feed not the flock; take no care to lead, protect, provide for, and watch over them, but, as idle shepherds feasted with the fattest, let the rest starve for any thing they care.

PETT, “Verse 3-4

“You eat the fat and you clothe yourselves with the wool. You kill the fatlings. But you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the diseased, nor have you healed those who are sick, nor have you bound up what is broken, nor have you restored the ones who were driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost. But you have lorded it over them with force and with rigour.”

The charge is expanded on, a failure to look after the sheep in their many needs, while themselves obtaining as much advantage from them as they could. They were squeezing the flock dry but they gave them little in return. The general approach demonstrates that more than just past kings were in mind.

Thus they overlooked the basic necessities of those under their care. They did not help the weak, they did not restore those who were failing, they did not go after any who strayed or were snatched away. They left them to themselves except for when they wanted to benefit from them. And then they pursued their object diligently and with vigour.

It is a sad thing when pastors and preachers have a high opinion of themselves, and even sadder when their main aim is their own good and their own advancement rather than genuine concern for their people.

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4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.

CLARKE, "The diseased have ye not strengthened - No person is fit for the office of a shepherd, who does not well understand the diseases to which sheep are incident, and the mode of cure. And is any man fit for the pastoral office, or to be a shepherd of souls, who is not well acquainted with the disease of sin in all its varieties, and the remedy for this disease, and the proper mode of administering it, in those various cases? He who does not know Jesus Christ as his own Savior, never can recommend him to others. He who is not saved, will not save.

Neither have ye healed that which was sick - The prophet first speaks of the general disease; next, of the different kinds of spiritual infirmity.Neither have ye bound up that which was broken - If a sheep have broken a leg, a proper shepherd knows how to set the bones, and splint and bind it till the bones knit and become strong. And the skillful spiritual pastor knows, if one of the flock be overtaken in a fault, how to restore such. Those sudden falls, where there was not a strong propensity to sin, are, to the soul, as a broken bone to the body.Neither have ye brought again - A proper shepherd loves his sheep: he feels interested for their welfare; he acquaints himself with them all, so that he knows and can distinguish each. He knows also their number, and frequently counts to see that none is missing; if one be lost or strayed, he goes immediately and seeks it; and as he is constantly on the watch, it cannot have strayed far before he is apprised of its absence from the flock; and the less it has strayed, the sooner it is found and brought back to the fold.The shepherds of Israel knew nothing about their flock; they might have been diseased, infirm, bruised, maimed, their limbs broken, strayed, and lost; for they watched not over them. When they got fat sheep and wool for their table and their clothing, they regarded nothing else; as they considered the flock given them for their own use, and scarcely ever supposed that they were to give any thing in return for the milk and the wool.But with force and with cruelty - Exacting tithes and dues by the strong arm of the law, with the most ungodly feeling; and with a cruelty of disposition that proved it was the fat and the wool they sought, and not the safety or comfort of the flock.

GILL, "The diseased have ye not strengthened,.... Such, in the civil polity, who were poor, and in necessitous circumstances, were not relieved; such who were injured

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and oppressed by others were not vindicated; and such as were forced to flee to other countries, or were carried captive, no care was taken, or methods used, to ransom them, and, bring them back; all which may be meant by this and the following metaphors, taken from the evil things that befall a flock of sheep: and such who were weak through spiritual diseases, their prophets and teachers took no care to cure them of their diseases, and to strengthen these feeble minded ones with divine cordials and spiritual food, and confirm them in the faith: neither have ye healed that which was sick; by directing them to the great Physician of souls, and to his precious blood for healing and pardon of sin: neither have ye bound up that which was broken; whose consciences were wounded, and hearts broken, with a sense of sin; or who had fallen to the breaking of their bones, and should be restored in a spirit of meekness and dealt gently with, as surgeons do in setting and binding up broken bones: neither have ye brought again that which was driven away; or, "was gone astray" (r); being seduced by false teachers; and yet, though it was known they were, no care nor pains were taken to reclaim and restore them: neither have ye sought that which was lost; that wandered of their own accord, and perished for want of knowledge, and were lost for lack of a guide to direct them, and no one would do this good office to them: but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them; in an arbitrary and tyrannical way, lording it over God, s heritage, 1Pe_5:3.

JAMISON, "The diseased — rather, those weak from the effects of “disease,” as “strengthened” (that is, with due nourishment) requires [Grotius].

broken — that is, fractures from wounds inflicted by the wolf.brought again ... driven away — (Exo_23:4). Those “driven away” by the enemy into foreign lands through God’s judgments are meant (Jer_23:3). A spiritual reformation of the state by the rulers would have turned away God’s wrath, and “brought again” the exiles. The rulers are censured as chiefly guilty (though the people, too, were guilty), because they, who ought to have been foremost in checking the evil, promoted it.neither ... sought ... lost — Contrast the Good Shepherd’s love (Luk_15:4).with force ... ruled — (Exo_1:13, Exo_1:14). With an Egyptian bondage. The very thing forbidden by the law they did (Lev_25:43; compare 1Pe_5:3).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up [that which was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

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Ver. 4. The diseased have ye not strengthened.] Five sorts of sheep are here reckoned up that needed the shepherd’s best care and cure, but nothing was done; or, if anything, it was overdone, for with force and cruelty they ruled over them. See 1 Peter 5:3.

POOLE, “The weak and languishing, ( such there are in the church and state,) with your hand, countenance, and counsel; so these metaphorical shepherds should as the other strengthen their sheep, with carrying them into good and quiet pastures. The sheep in our pastures are subject to many sicknesses, the sheep in church and state to more, and shepherds in both should be as physicians to heal them; but here these did not so. Sometimes violent and ravenous beasts break their bones, sometimes the stronger and fatter sheep bruise or break them, these should the shepherds bind up; violent oppressors in the state and in the church broke many of them, but these shepherds bound them not up. Sheep are often driven out of the pasture, frighted, hunted, and pursued by dogs, or other mischievous creatures; these the shepherd should find out, and bring back: in church and state there were many such, frighted and driven by fierce men like dogs running upon them, but the Jewish rulers took no care to inquire for them, or to bring them back to their own. country. Sheep wander and lose themselves, shepherds should seek such and bring them home; many political sheep among the Jews wandered from their country, their king, religion, and God, and these careless rulers never sought them, but ruled them with hard hand, that held fast all that should look like royal power and privilege, and rigorously executed all their grievous laws and edicts. With cruelty, such as the Egyptians used toward the Jews, Exodus 1:13,14; instead of acting like shepherds, these tyrants in the Jewish polity acted like merciless butchers in church and state.

PULPIT, “The diseased have ye not strengthened. The verbs indicate the difference between the "diseased," i.e. the weak sheep (comp. Isaiah 40:11; Psalms 78:71) and the sick, that were suffering from more definite maladies. So the broken are the sheep that have fallen from a rock and thus maimed themselves. Each case required its appropriate treatment, and none had met with it.

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5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.

CLARKE, "And they were scattered - There was no discipline kept up; and the flock, the Church, became disorganized, and separated from each other, both in affection and fellowship. And the consequence was, the grievous wolves, false and worldly interested teachers, seized on and made a prey of them. Of the communion of saints such shepherds know nothing, farther than that it makes a part of the common creed.

GILL, "And they were scattered because there is no shepherd,.... No good one; there were shepherds, but they were idol shepherds, good for nothing, and it was all one as if there were none: so, in Christ's time, there were the Scribes and Pharisees; yet, since these did not feed the people with wholesome doctrine, they are said to be as sheep without a shepherd, and scattered abroad, as here from the fold, and from one another; dispersed here and there, seeking food, and none, which moved his compassion, Mat_9:36, in the political sense it may refer to their captivity, and their dispersion among the nations, having no king: So the Targum,

JAMISON, "scattered, because ... no shepherd — that is, none worthy of the name, though there were some called shepherds (1Ki_22:17; Mat_9:36). Compare Mat_26:31, where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd was smitten. God calls them “My sheep”; for they were not, as the shepherds treated them, their patrimony whereby to “feed themselves.”

meat to all ... beasts — They became a prey to the Syrians, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:5 And they were scattered, because [there is] no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

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Ver. 5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd.] None but an idol shepherd, [Zechariah 11:17] a foolish shepherd; [Ezekiel 34:1-5] and the sheep, being a foolish creature, even to a proverb, (a) and apt to wander into harm’s way, will never return to the fold, if not fetched back, but stick in the thorns, or die in a ditch, or run into the wolf’s mouth.

POOLE, “ They, my neglected sheep, were scattered, by the inroads and invasions of their enemies, that broke in like devouring beasts.

No shepherd; no vigilant, faithful, good shepherd that loved the flock, and of love studied its welfare.

Became meat; were made a prey of, and devoured by Syrians, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, &c., all their neighbours might the devour them.

The beasts, signify men, troops of robbers, and spoilers.

When they were scattered; as sheep scattered are easily devoured by every hungry wolf or fox.

PETT, “Verse 5

“And they were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became meat to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.”

This has definite reference to the past. They had had no true and worthy shepherd. That is why they were now scattered. Their kings, their official leaders, their official teachers and their official watchmen, had failed them and thus they had become meat for the hunters and scavengers round about. But not only had they been failed

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in the past, their shepherds were still failing them.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:5

And they were scattered. The words are an echo of 1 Kings 22:17, and are, in their turn, echoed by Matthew 9:36. The words that follow paint the sufferings of the exiles who left their homes and were scattered among the heathen in the days of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. Of these the kings took no heed, and shut themselves up in the luxurious seclusion of their palace.

6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

CLARKE, "My sheep wandered through all the mountains - They all became idolaters, and lost the knowledge of the true God. And could it be otherwise while they had such pastors?

“Himself a wanderer from the narrow way;His silly sheep, no wonder that they stray!”Reader, if thou be a minister, a preacher, or a person in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, or art one pretending to holy orders, look at the qualifications of a good shepherd as laid down by the prophet.1. He professes to be a shepherd, and to be qualified for the office.2. In consequence he undertakes the care of a flock. This supposes that he believes the great Bishop of souls has called him to the pastoral office; and that office

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implies that he is to give all diligence to save the souls of them that hear him.His Qualifications

1. He is skillful; he knows the disease of sin and its consequences; for the Eternal Spirit, by whom he is called, has convinced him of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.2. He knows well the great remedy for this disease, the passion and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ.3. He is skillful, and knows how to apply this remedy.4. The flock over which he watches is, in its individuals, either, -

1. Healthy and sound.2. Or, in a state of convalescence, returning to health.3. Or, still under the whole power of the general disease.4. Or, some are dying in a state of spiritual weakness.5. Or, some are fallen into sin, and sorely bruised and broken in their souls by that fall.6. Or, some have been driven away by some sore temptation or cruel usage.7. Or, some have wandered from the flock, are got into strange pastures, and are perverted by erroneous doctrines. Or,8. Some wolf has got among them, and scattered the whole flock. Now, the true shepherd, the pastor of God’s choosing, knows: -

1. How to keep the healthy in health; and cause them to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.2. How to nourish, feed, and care for the convalescent, that they may be brought into a state of spiritual soundness.3. How to reprove, instruct, and awaken those who are still under the full power of the disease of sin.4. How to find out and remove the cause of all that spiritual weakness of which he sees some slowly dying.5. How to deal with those who have fallen into some scandalous sin, and restore them from their fall.6. How to find out and turn aside the sore temptation or cruel usage by which some have been driven away.7. How to seek and bring back to the fold those who have strayed into strange pastures, and have had their souls perverted by erroneous doctrines; and knows also how, by a godly discipline, to preserve him in the flock, and keep the flock honourably together.8. How to oppose, confound, and expel the grievous wolf, who has got among the flock, and is scattering them from each other, and from God. He knows how to preach, explain, and defend the truth. He is well acquainted with the weapons he is to use, and the spirit in which he is to employ them.

In a word, the true shepherd gives up his life to the sheep; spends and is spent for the glory of God; and gives up his life for the sheep, in defense of them, and in laboring for their welfare. And while he is thus employed, it is the duty of the flock to feed and clothe 44

him; and see that neither he nor his family lack the necessaries and conveniencies of life. The laborer is worthy of his meat. He who does not labor, or, because of his ignorance of God and salvation, cannot labor, in the word and doctrine, deserves neither meat nor drink; and if he exact that by law, which he has not honestly earned by a proper discharge of the pastoral function, let him read this chapter, and learn from it what a fearful account he shall have to give to the chief Shepherd at the great day; and what a dreadful punishment shall be inflicted on him, when the blood of the souls lost through his neglect or inefficiency is visited upon him! See the notes on Eze_3:17, etc.

GILL, "My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill,.... As sheep do, when gone astray, go from mountain to hill; so the people of Israel fled from place to place, through the cruelty of their rulers, or through the force of the enemy, being carried captive into many kingdoms and nations, signified by mountains; and perhaps there is some allusion, to their worshipping of idols on hills and mountains, being drawn into it by the false prophets: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth; so great and general was the dispersion by the several captivities: the Lord has sheep, or some of his elect, some that belong to his flock, in all parts of the world: and none did search or seek after them; but he will himself, as in Eze_34:11, for he will lose none of them; but this does not excuse the shepherds.

JAMISON, "every high hill — the scene of their idolatries sanctioned by the rulers.search ... seek — rather, “seek ... search.” The former is the part of the superior rulers to inquire after: to search out is the duty of the subordinate rulers [Junius].

COKE, “Ezekiel 34:6. My sheep wandered, &c.— In following idols, and by making to themselves a religion after their own imagination, full of superstition and impiety. The priests and the princes of the people were so far from calling them back from these wanderings, that they were the first to follow them; nay, and even to go before, and set them the example. There was none to search after, or bring them back.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek [after them].

Ver. 6. My sheep wandered.] Through the shepherd’s supine negligence, or bloody 45

truculence. Surely, as the herd of deer forsake and push away the wounded deer from them, so did these cruel shepherds, being non pastores sed impostores, non episcopi sed aposcopi, non praelati sed Pilati, as Bernard wittily; sheep biters rather than shepherds; "greedy dogs"; [Isaiah 56:10-11] "grievous wolves." [Acts 20:29]

And none did search or seek after them.] Nec erat qui quaereret aut requireret.

POOLE, “ My sheep: these shepherds forgot the flock was not their property, but God will not lose his property in them, nor shall shepherds find at last they were more than God’s stewards, and accountable.

Through all the mountains; when endangered, affrighted, pursued, they got upon the mountains by their own choice, or carried away by enemies; or it may refer to their wandering after idols worshipped in high places, or perhaps to kingdoms and states and great cities, compared to mountains, that there they might find what they could not at home, quiet and safety.

Upon every high hill; the same thing in like words.

My flock; they were, if any among the Jews could be called so, my flock that were so used; not the swine, and goats, and unclean beasts, that by whole herds rested undisturbed. It was Baruch and Jeremiah were fain to hide.

Scattered upon all the face of the earth; they were dispersed through maladministration to all parts of the known world; it is a hyperbole that speaks a mighty scattering.

None did search; the shepherds were contented, nay, glad they were rid of them, neither principal officers searched nor inferior sought after them.

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PETT, “Verse 6

“My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the face of the earth and there was no one who searched for them and sought after them.”

The scattered sheep, His people, now wandered without guidance. No one cared, no one sought them out to help them. They were left to wander aimlessly without proper assistance because those appointed to be their shepherds were failing them.

7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

CLARKE, "Therefore, ye shepherds, (ye bad and wicked shepherds), hear the word of the Lord - In the preceding character of the good shepherd the reader will find, by reversing the particulars, the character of a bad shepherd; and therefore I may be excused from entering into farther detail.

GILL, "Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Or, "ye governors", as the Targum, both civil and ecclesiastical; ye kings, princes, and magistrates; ye prophets and teachers of the people, who ought to have attended to the word of grace, to the doctrines of the Scriptures, and fed the people with them; but, since you have not, hear the word of threatening from the Lord, and the just punishment that shall be inflicted on you.

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HENRY, "Upon reading the foregoing articles of impeachment drawn up, in God's name, against the shepherds of Israel, we cannot but look upon the shepherds with a just indignation, and upon the flock with a tender compassion. God, by the prophet, here expresses both in a high degree; and the shepherds are called upon (Eze_34:7, Eze_34:9) to hear the word of the Lord, to hear this word. Let them hear how little he regards them, who made much of themselves, and how much he regards the flock, which they made nothing of; both will be humbling to them. Those that will not hear the word of the Lord giving them their direction shall be made to hear the word of the Lord reading them their doom. Now see here,

COFFMAN, “Verse 7"Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my sheep; therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah. Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them."

THE PROMISED DELIVERY FROM THE FALSE SHEPHERDS (Ezekiel 34:7-10)

This promise was fulfilled to the letter throughout the entire Inter-testamental period of Jewish history. No person whomsoever was ever recognized as a shepherd (king) over Israel during that approximately half a millennium of time. The evil shepherds who replaced them were the three political parties, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Herodians of the times of Zechariah. The powers which they had contrived to exercise over God's people during that period leading up to the Advent of Christ fully justified Zechariah's designation of them as those evil shepherds, "Which feed the flock of slaughter, whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty" (Zechariah 11:4). The promise of this prophecy is that the evil shepherds would be removed; the prophecy of Zechariah regarding that later batch of evil shepherds was that "the sword would be upon them" and that, "they would be cut off in one month" (Zechariah 11:8,17), a prophecy that was fulfilled in the

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destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian and Titus in the year 70 A.D. See our Commentary on Zechariah (Vol. 4 in our Series on the Minor Prophets). Plumptre agreed that Zechariah 11th chapter should be studied in connection with this chapter.[7]

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD

Ver. 7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.] And oh that this word might ever sound aloud in the ears of all shepherds as the voice of heaven’s trumpet!

PETT, “Verse 7-8

“Therefore you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh. As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became meat to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves and not the sheep.’

The verdict is now given beginning with the accusatory facts. The sheep had not had proper guidance, they had not had protection, and no one had sought them out when they went wrong, and thus they had given way to false teaching and had been physically misused. And all because the shepherds were looking after their own interests and not those of the sheep. They were too busy making themselves well-to-do and advancing their own status.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:7-10

As I live, saith the Lord God, etc. The sentence of the Supreme Judge, of the "chief Shepherd" (1 Peter 5:4), that follows, is naturally preceded by a recapitulation of the guilt of the tyrannous rulers—the "idol" or sham shepherds of Zechariah 11:17 (comp. also Zechariah 10:3). Both chapters should be studied as throwing light on the teaching of the earlier prophet. It may be noted also how the thought enters into

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Ezekiel's vision of the restored Israel (Ezekiel 45:8-10).

8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,

GILL, "As I live, saith the Lord,.... It is an oath, and which he swore in his wrath, being provoked with the shepherds for their misadministration: surely, because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd; a prey to all the kingdoms of the people, being without a governor, as the Targum; or to false teachers, there being no spiritual pastors to take care of them: neither did my shepherds search for my flock; that was scattered, and carried captive, and became a prey to others; even those that were of God's appointing, as the kings of Israel, their priests and prophets; for both their civil polity and ecclesiastical hierarchy were of God, though the ends thereof were not answered, or the persons put into office did not do their duty: but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock: See Gill on Eze_34:2, Eze_34:3.

HENRY 8-10, " How much displeased God is at the shepherds. Their crimes are repeated, Eze_34:8. God's flock became a prey to the deceivers first that drew them to idolatry, and then to the destroyers that carried them into captivity; and these shepherds took no care to prevent either the one or the other, but were as if there had been no shepherds; and therefore God says (Eze_34:10), and confirms it with an oath (Eze_

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34:8), I am against the shepherds. They had a commission from God to feed the flock, and made use of this name in what they did, expecting he would stand by them. “No,” says God, “so far from that, I am against them.” Note, It is not our having the name and authority of shepherds that will engage God for us, if we do not the work enjoined us, and be not faithful to the trust reposed in us. God is against them, and they shall know it; for, 1. They shall be made to account for the manner in which they have discharged their trust: “I will require my flock at their hands, and charge it upon them that so many of them are missing.” Note, Those will have a great deal to answer for in the judgment-day who take upon them the care of souls and yet take no care of them. Ministers must watch and work as those that must give account, Heb_13:17. 2. They shall be deprived officio et beneficio - both of the work and of the wages. They shall cease from feeding the flock, that is, from pretending to feed it. Note, It is just with God to take out of men's hands that power which they have abused and that trust which they have betrayed. But, if this were all their punishment, they could bear it well enough; therefore it is added, “Neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, which, instead of protecting, they had made a prey of.” Note, Those that are enriching themselves with the spoils of the public cannot expect that they shall always be suffered to do so. Nor will God always permit his people to be trampled upon by those that should support them, but will find a time to deliver them from the shepherds their false friends, as well as from the lions their open enemies.II. How much concerned God is for the flock; he speaks as if he were the more concerned for them because he saw them thus neglected, for with him the fatherless finds mercy. Precious promises are made here upon the occasion, which were to have their accomplishment in the return of the Jews out of their captivity and their re-establishment in their own land. Let the shepherds hear this word of the Lord, and know that they have no part nor lot in the matter. But let the poor sheep hear it and take the comfort of it. Note, Though magistrates and ministers fail in doing their part, for the good of the church, yet God will not fail in doing his; he will take the flock into his own hand rather than the church shall come short of any kindness he has designed for it. The under-shepherds may prove careless, but the chief Shepherd neither slumbers nor sleeps. They may be false, but God abides faithful.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:8 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because [there was] no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

Ver. 8. As I live, saith the Lord, surely because,] (a) God here seemeth to be in a great heat, in a perturbation of spirit, causing a kind of impediment in his speech, so thoroughly was he moved against these lewd shepherds, whose faults he rippeth up again to make better way to their sentence.

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Because my flock became a prey.] To the Chaldees, but especially to that old man slayer.

Because there was no shepherd.] None but a company of nominals, or rather nullities.

NISBET, “CARELESS SHEPHERDS

‘My flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd.’

Ezekiel 34:8

I. I am a shepherd.—Whether I will or no, I am a shepherd; I cannot avoid the solemn responsibility; there are some who are following my leading and obeying my voice. It is a momentous thought.

For it is terribly easy to be a false shepherd. Through carelessness, through the neglect of my duty, through easy-going indifference, as well as by actually doing spiritual harm to others and deliberately leading them into sin, I may be marring and ruining a precious human life. It does not need me to be flagrantly wicked; it simply needs that I should be unthinking and selfish.

Perhaps my Lord has entrusted me to the care of some other souls—the souls of the children in the home or in the school. What a heavenly privilege it is, and what a stupendous responsibility!

II. Above all things I must dread lest I should be a hireling shepherd.—Am I sufficiently alive to the infinite hazards which beset the children, the daily risks they run, the enemies they are ever encountering? Am I impressed profoundly enough

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with the unmeasurable possibilities which lie latent and slumbering in those young hearts, and which it should be my care to educe and develop and guide in the right way? Am I filled as I should be with a wise, patient, overcoming, invincible love—a love which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things? These are questions which pierce deep and demand much. Yet I ought to press them home, and to make sure that I can answer them in God’s way. I would not have Him say to me—‘I will require My sheep at your hand, and will cause you to cease from feeding the sheep.’ There is an intolerable loss, a penetrating anguish, in such a word as that.

Illustration

‘The shepherds of this chapter are not the religious leaders of the people, but rulers, who sought in their government, not the good of the people, but their own selfish ends. But the statements made by the prophet may be rightly applied to rapacious priests, who care more for the fleece than for the flock. Pastors are required to feed the flock of God, not for fifthy lucre, but as ensamples for the sheep (1 Peter 5:2-3). It is their duty also to strengthen the spiritually diseased, heal the sick, bind up the broken in heart, and seek the lost.’

9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

GILL, "Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is repeated, that it might be observed, and for the confirmation of it; it might be depended upon that what follows would be accomplished, unless they changed their conduct and behaviour; and, to leave them inexcusable, they are again called upon to hear what the Lord should say unto them. The Targum is, "therefore, O ye wicked governors, return to the law, and I will have mercy on you;

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hearken to the doctrine of the law, and receive the word of the Lord.''

PETT, “Verses 9-11“Therefore you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. Nor will the shepherds feed themselves any more, and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus says the Lord Yahweh, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep and will seek them out.”

In these remarkable word God lays out His plan for His people. First He will call the shepherds to account (‘require my sheep at their hand’) and remove them from being shepherds to His sheep, so that they cannot any more profit from the sheep. They will no longer be able to ‘eat’ them. Then He Himself will search for them and seek them out.

That He sought them out and brought them back to Palestine and Jerusalem we know from later history. But the calling to account and removal from under the shepherds did not fully take place then or later. Zechariah could still prophesy of the false shepherds over the sheep (chapter 11), and of His good shepherd who was coming (Ezekiel 13:7).

It was only when One came Who could proclaim Himself as the good shepherd (John 10:11; John 10:14), Who came to seek and save the lost (Luke 15:3-6; Luke 19:10), that these leaders were totally replaced and the sheep were put under new shepherds. Thus this total change awaited the coming of the prince of the house of David (Ezekiel 34:23). The so-called ‘church age’ is in mind here with a vengeance, when the new Israel will come under the new shepherds under the Great Shepherd.

10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am 54

against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

CLARKE, "I will - cause them to cease from feeding the flock - God, in this country, unpriested a whole hierarchy who fed not the flock, but ruled them with force and cruelty; and he raised up a new set of shepherds better qualified, both by sound doctrine and learning, to feed the flock. Let these be faithful, lest God cause them to cease, and raise up other feeders.

GILL, "Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds,.... His heart was against them; his hand was against them; his face was against them, to cut them off. The Targum is, "behold, I will send my fury upon the governors;'' and there was good reason for it, they were against him and his glory, against his flock, his people, his cause, and interest; sad it is for any to have God against them, and to be against God; for none ever hardened themselves against him and prospered, Job_9:4, and I will require my flock at their hand; the full tale of them that have been committed to their care, and will punish them for the neglect of them; their blood, their life, and the loss of them, I will require at their hands; thus he punished Zedekiah and his princes, and the priests and prophets: and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; take the kingdom from them, as he did from Zedekiah; abolish the ecclesiastical hierarchy among the Jews; cut off three shepherds in one month, the priests, prophets, and scribes of the people; and put the flock into other hands, the apostles and ministers of the Gospel: neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; enrich themselves with the substance of the people:

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for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them; who, instead of being shepherds to feed the flock, were no other than wolves in sheep's clothing, and ravenous lions and bears, which devoured the flock; but this they should do no longer.

JAMISON, "I will require my flock — (Heb_13:17), rather, “I require,” etc., for God already had begun to do so, punishing Zedekiah and the other princes severely (Jer_52:10).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:10 Thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I [am] against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

Ver. 10. Behold, I am against the shepherds.] Heb., Lo, I against, - by an angry aposiopesis. (a)

And cause them to cease from feeding the flock.] They shall be officiperdae, quondams, laid aside like broken vessels, as have been some kings of this land in their several generations - one of recent remembrance - Popish bishops not a few, Bonner and others, outed and deprived.

POOLE, “ I am against; they have provoked me to displeasure to be their enemy, and I will appear and act so. They are enemies to my sheep, yet pretended to be shepherds, I will be an open enemy to them.

The shepherds; to Zedekiah, his princes, the priests, and prophets, all the ruling part in Jerusalem.

I will require my flock; I will require both account first, and next by severe punishing, as Zedekiah, his children, &c, found. Cause them to cease from feeding the flock; turn them out of my service, that honorable employment; so was the king and princes of Judah turned out of all by the king of Babylon, by whom God made

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good this his word. Feed themselves any more; their profit ceased with the ceasing of their authority, and they could no more milk, fleece, or slay the flock, when it was taken out of their hand.

I will deliver my flock; they should have delivered them out of the hands of violence; since they did not, I will deliver, save, and rescue this flock which is mine.

From their mouth: this speaks that those shepherds had been lions, or bears, or wolves, more than shepherds, and therefore out of their mouths, not hands, God will deliver.

That they may not be meat for them; so the flock shall no more be devoured by them.

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

BARNES, "Yahweh is the shepherd of His people. He will do all which the shepherds should have done and did not. These promises - partially fulfilled in the return from Babylon, and in the subsequent prosperity under the Maccabees - point to the ingathering of all nations in the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd. Compare Mat_18:11 : John 10:1-18; Rom_9:25-33.

GILL, "For thus saith the Lord God,.... Since the shepherds are so negligent, careless, and cruel:

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behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out; as he did the Jews, in all countries where they were, so his elect in all places where they are: he is the omniscient God, and knows them that are his, and can call his own sheep by name; he knows the places where they are; for he has fixed the bounds of their habitation, and was delighting himself in the habitable parts of the earth, where he knew they would be, even before the world was; he knows the time of finding them, which he himself has fixed, and which is a time of love, and a time of life; and he can distinguish them, notwithstanding the filth they have contracted by their sins and transgressions, and from the crowd they are among: and he is the omnipotent God, that can take them out of what hands soever they may be, or in whatsoever state and condition they are; though in the hands of Satan, in the paws of that devouring lion, and in a pit wherein is no water, in a horrible pit, the mire and clay: he that says this is the owner and proprietor of them; and that is the reason why he searches and seeks them out; and which he repeats for the confirmation of it, and to show the vehemence of his affection towards them, and how bent he is upon it, and how eager and resolute in his pursuit after them: he searches for his chosen people among the ruins of Adam's fall, in whom they fell as others; among the men of the world, where they are; among the dust of the earth, where his lost piece of silver and those pearls lie; among the mountains of sin or self-righteousness, where these sheep are wandering; and he never leaves off seeking and searching till he has found them: and what moves him to it is not their nature, for they are no better than others; nor their numbers, for they are few; but his love to them, the relation he stands in to them as their shepherd, his interest and property in them, his covenant on their account, and also his own glory.

HENRY 11-12, "God will gather his sheep together that were scattered, and bring those back to the fold that had wandered from it: “I, even I, who alone can do it, will do it, and will have all the glory of it. I will both search my sheep and find them out (Eze_34:11) as a shepherd does (Eze_34:12), and bring them back as he does the stray-sheep, upon his shoulders, from all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” There are cloudy and dark days, windy and stormy ones, which scatter God's sheep, which send them hither and thither, to divers and distant places, in quest of secresy and safety. But, (1.) Wherever they are the eye of God will find them out; for his eyes run to and fro through the earth, in favour of them. I will seek out my sheep; and not one that belongs to the fold, though driven ever so far off, shall be lost. The Lord knows those that are his; he knows their work and where they dwell (Rev_2:13), and where they are hidden. (2.) When his time shall come his arms will fetch them home(Eze_34:13): I will bring them out from the people. God will both incline their hearts to come by his grace and will by his providence open a door for them and remove every difficulty that lies in the way. They shall not return one by one, clandestinely stealing away, but they shall return in a body: “I will gather them from the countries into which they are dispersed, not only the most considerable families of them, but every particular person. I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away,” Eze_34:16. This was done when so many thousand Jews returned triumphantly out of Babylon, under the conduct of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others. When those that have gone astray from God into the paths of sin are brought back by repentance, when those that erred come to the acknowledgment of the truth, when God's outcasts are gathered and restored, and religious assemblies, that were dispersed, rally again, upon the ceasing of

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persecution, and when the churches have rest and liberty, then this promise has a further accomplishment.

JAMISON, "I ... will ... search — doing that which the so-called shepherds had failed to do, I being the rightful owner of the flock.

K&D 11-22, "Jehovah Himself will seek His flock, gather it together from the dispersion, lead it to good pasture, and sift it by the destruction of the bad sheep. - Eze_34:11. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I myself, I will inquire after my flock, and take charge thereof. Eze_34:12. As a shepherd taketh charge of his flock in the day when he is in the midst of his scattered sheep, so will I take charge of my flock, and deliver them out of all the places whither they have been scattered in the day of cloud and cloudy night. Eze_34:13. And I will bring them out from the nations, and gather them together out of the lands, and bring them into their land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all the dwelling-places of the land. Eze_34:14. I will feed them in a good pasture, and on the high mountains of Israel will their pasture-ground be: there shall they lie down in a good pasture-ground, and have fat pasture on the mountains of Israel. Eze_34:15. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze_34:16. That which is lost will I seek, and that which is driven away will I bring back; that which is wounded will I bind up, and that which is sick will I strengthen: but that which is fat and strong will I destroy, and feed them according to justice. Eze_34:17. And you, my sheep, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will judge between sheep and sheep, and the rams and the he-goats. Eze_34:18. Is it too little for you, that ye eat up the good pasture, and what remains of your pasture ye tread down with your feet? and the clear water ye drink, and render muddy what remains with your feet? Eze_34:19. And are my sheep to have for food that which is trodden down by your feet, and to drink that which is made muddy by your feet? Eze_34:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah to them, Behold, I, I will judge between fat sheep and lean. Eze_34:21. Because ye press with side and shoulder, and thrust all the weak with your horns, till ye have driven them out; Eze_34:22. I will help my sheep, so that they shall no more become a prey; and will judge between sheep and sheep. - All that the Lord will do for His flock is summed up in Eze_34:11, in the words ָּדַרְׁשִּתי ֶאת־צֹאִני which stand in obvious ,ּוִבַּקְרִּתיםantithesis to 'ְוֵאין ֵרׁש ּד וגו in Eze_34:6 - an antithesis sharply accentuated by the emphatic ִהְנִני which stands at the head in an absolute form. The fuller explanation is ,ָאִניgiven in the verses which follow, from Eze_34:12 onwards. Observe here that biqeer is substituted for ִּבֵּקר .ִּבֵּקׁש, to seek and examine minutely, involves the idea of taking affectionate charge. What the Lord does for His people is compared in Eze_34:12 to the care which a shepherd who deserves the name manifests towards sheep when they are scattered (ת ִנְפָרׁש without the article is connected with צֹאנ in the form of apposition); and in Eze_34:12 it is still more particularly explained. In the first place, He will gather them from all the places to which they have been scattered. ִהִּציל implies that in their dispersion they have fallen into a state of oppression and bondage among the nations (cf.

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Exo_6:6). ם ְּבי belongs to the relative clause: whither they have been scattered. The circumstance that these words are taken from Joe_2:2 does not compel us to take them in connection with the principal clause, as Hitzig and Kliefoth propose, and to understand them as relating to the time when God will hold His judgment of the heathen world. The notion that the words in Joel signify “God's day of judgment upon all the heathen” (Kliefoth), is quite erroneous; and even Hitzig does not derive this meaning from Joe_2:2, but from the combination of our verse with Eze_30:3 and Eze_29:21. The deliverance of the sheep out of the places to which they have been scattered, consists in the gathering together of Israel out of the nations, and their restoration to their own land, and their feeding upon the mountains and all the dwelling-places of the land ָׁשב) ;a place suitable for settlement), and that in good and fat pasture (Eze_34:14) ,מand lastly, in the fact that Jehovah bestows the necessary care upon the sheep, strengthens and heals the weak and sick (Eze_34:15 and Eze_34:16) - that is to say, does just what the bad shepherds have omitted (Eze_34:4) - and destroys the fat and strong. In this last clause another side is shown of the pastoral fidelity of Jehovah. ַאְׁשִמיד has been changed by the lxx, Syr., and Vulg. into ,ר φυλάχω; and Luther has followedֶאְׁשמthem in his rendering, “I will watch over them.” But this is evidently a mistake, as it fails to harmonize with ֶאְרֶעָּנה _The fat and strong sheep are characterized in Eze .ְבִמְׁשָּפט34:18 and Eze_34:19 as those which spoil the food and water of the others. The allusion, therefore, is to the rich and strong ones of the nation, who oppress the humble and poor, and treat them with severity. The destruction of these oppressors shows that the loving care of the Lord is associated with righteousness - that He feeds the flock ְּבִמְׁשָּפט.

This thought is carried out still further in Eze_34:17-21, the sheep themselves being directly addressed, and the Lord assuring them that He will judge between sheep and sheep, and put an end to the oppressive conduct of the fat sheep and the strong. ֵּבין ֶׂשהָלֶׂשה .between the one sheep and the other :ָלֶׂשה is extended in the apposition, “the rams and he-goats,” which must not be rendered, “with regard to the rams and he-goats,” as it has been by Kliefoth. The thought is not that Jehovah will divide the rams and he-goats from the sheep, as some have explained it, from an inappropriate comparison with Mat_25:32; but the division is to be effected in such a manner that sheep will be separated from sheep, the fat sheep being placed on one side with the rams and he-goats, and kept apart from the lean (ָרָזה, Eze_34:20) and the sickly sheep (ת Mat_25:21). It is to ,ַנְהלthe last-named sheep, rams, and he-goats that Mat_25:18 and Mat_25:19 are addressed. With regard to the charge brought against them, that they eat up the pasture and tread down the remainder with their feet, etc., Bochart has already correctly observed, that “if the words are not quite applicable to actual sheep, they are perfectly appropriate to the mystical sheep intended here, i.e., to the Israelites, among whom many of the rich, after enjoying an abundant harvest and vintage, grudged the poor their gleaning in either one or the other.” ִמְׁשָקע, a substantive formation, like ִמְרָמס, literally, precipitation of the water, i.e., the water purified by precipitation; for ָׁשַקע, to sink, is the opposite of ָרַפׂש, to stir up or render muddy by treading with the feet (compare Eze_32:14 and Eze_32:2). ִּבְרָיה, Eze_34:20 ְּבִרָאה = or ְּבִרָּיה. Eze_34:22 brings to a close the description of the manner in which God will deliver His flock, and feed it with righteousness. ַׁשְעִּתי ְוהpoints back to ְוִהַּצְלִּתי in Eze_34:12, and ְוָׁשַפְטִּתי to ֶאְרֶעָּנה ְבִמְׁשָּפט in Eze_34:16. - To this there is appended in Eze_34:23. a new train of thought, describing how God will

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still further display to His people His pastoral fidelity.

COFFMAN, “Verse 11

"For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and I will seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture; and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I MYSELF SHALL BE THE SHEPHERD OF MY SHEEP, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah. I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice."

GOD HIMSELF TO BE THE GOOD SHEPHERD (Ezekiel 34:11-16)

The redemption of Israel can happen only upon that occasion when God himself shall become the shepherd of God's people. That means when God in the person of his son Jesus Christ is commissioned with "All authority in heaven and upon earth" (Matthew 28:18-20), upon that first Pentecost after the Resurrection of Christ, the glorious occasion when the first sermon of the Gospel Age was preached, and when the reign of Christ the Messiah was inaugurated upon earth.

It would be difficult indeed to find a more important chapter in the entire Old Testament than this one.

The Lord is the true and only Shepherd of Israel. "The glorious promises here were 61

partially fulfilled in God's returning his people to Palestine and their subsequent prosperity in the times of the Maccabees."[8] However, in no sense whatever were the Maccabees actually shepherds (kings of Israel). "The real fulfillment came in the ingathering of all nations into the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd (Matthew 18:11; John 10:1-18; and Romans 9:25-33).[9]

This whole paragraph (Ezekiel 34:11-16) is made up of "typical messianic imagery"[10] and terminology. All of the good things which will happen to Israel, expressed here in material terms will be fulfilled only in the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant. As Cooke pointed out, "There is no doubt that the dispersion evident in Ezekiel 34:13 suggests a wider dispersion than existed in the times of Ezekiel; and Torrey believed that it points to the circumstances of the Jews that took place in the third century B. C."[11] If such a view is correct, then we have here a prophetic reference to yet a further scattering of God's people centuries after Ezekiel.

THE JUDGMENT BETWEEN SHEEP AND SHEEP (Ezekiel 34:17-24) #Ezekiel 34:17-19

"And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the he-goats. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have fed upon the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my sheep, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet."

The behavior of animals, as described here, is more or less what is expected as a common occurrence; but, although such must be tolerated in the conduct of animals, the conduct condemned here is that of the thoughtless and/or selfish behavior of evil men who knowingly and purposely either destroy or foul whatever they themselves cannot use in order to prevent its benefiting any other besides themselves.

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"This paragraph is an anticipation of Matthew 25:31ff, the great judgment scene in which Christ separates the sheep from the goats."[12] In fact this chapter is loaded with things that lead up to passages in the New Testament. Christ as the Good Shepherd in John 10:18 and Hebrews 13, the parable of the lost sheep, and many other passages are here suggested.

We are disappointed in the lack of discernment on the part of Cooke, who discovered what he called "a contradiction" between Jesus' claim as the "Good Shepherd" in John 10, with Ezekiel 34:15 here, asking, "With Jehovah as the Divine Shepherd, what room is there for a human shepherd?"[13] It seems to us incredible that a man of Cooke's alleged "scholarship" should appear in such an erroneous remark as a man totally unaware of Christ's membership in the Godhead itself, a truly Divine Being, One who is One with the Father, the Only Begotten Son of God, God of very God, in the language of some of the ancient creeds. Christ was actually Jehovah robed in human flesh, the Good Shepherd who was truly both God and man!

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:11 For thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I, [even] I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

Ver. 11. Behold, I, even I, (a) will both search.] Ego, ego reposcam et anquiram. Rather than the work shall be undone, I will do all myself, and then it is sure to be well done. Aristotle telleth of a certain Persian, who, being asked, What did most of all feed the horse? answered, The master’s eye; and of a certain African, of whom, when it was demanded, What was the best manure or soil for a field? answered, The owner’s footsteps - that is, his presence and perambulation. Praesul ut praesit et prosit suis, ab iis non absit, Shepherds should reside with their flocks; the Arch-shepherd will not fail to do so.

POOLE, “ I, even I: the construction is emphatical in the Hebrew and well expressed here; I, the Owner, the Lover, the Maker, the great Shepherd, even I, who committed them to your care, never submitted them to your rapine and cruelty, am as angry with you for devouring them as I am zealous for their welfare.

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Search; will demand the them of you. I know how many I delivered to your keeping and I expect an account of so many again; I will see in what state and condition they are too. Seek them out: see Ezekiel 34:5,6: under your hand many are, but under my hand not one shall be lost.

PULPIT, “Behold, I, even I, etc. The words, as the last reference shows, and as we find in Ezekiel 34:23-31, do not exclude, rather they imply, human instrumentality, just us our Lord's do in Matthew 18:12 and Luke 15:4-7; but they reveal the truth that Jehovah is the true Shepherd of his people. Not the sweet psalmist of Israel only, but the lowest outcast, might use the language of Psalms 23:1-6; and say, "The Lord is my Shepherd." He will gather the sheep that have been scattered in the "cloudy and dark day," the day of the Lord's judgment (Ezekiel 30:3). For the prophet the words pointed to that vision of a restored Israel, which was dominant in the expectations both of Isaiah (or the Deutero-Isaiah) in Ezekiel 40-48; and in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 33:12-18), which floated before the minds of the apostles (Acts 1:6), and to which even St. Paul looked forward as the solution of the great problems of the world's history (Romans 9-11.).

BI 11-19, "I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out.The flock sought and foundIs the Great Shepherd to leave the stray sheep to wander and perish? or is He to pity and reclaim them? In the Crimean War there were two ways, very different from each other, in which heroic deed manifested itself. One was, by our soldiers’ indomitable courage in the field,—when brave men stood manfully to their guns, and poured the iron hail against fearful odds. That was the stern glory of carnage and destruction. The other unfolds a picture in strange and startling contrast with this. At midnight, in stiffed hospital wards, amid the light of dim lamps and moans of sufferers, a gentle form of pity flitted from couch to couch, with words and looks and deeds of mercy;—pale lips kissing the shadow on their pillows as it passed. On which of the two does the mind love most to dwell? On that field of stern desperate valour; or on these hushed corridors, away from the roar of battle, with the one hero-heart moving like a ministering angel amid the congregated crowd of wounded and dying? God’s way regarding man (with reverence we say it) was the latter. We may look to this truth, first, in its simplest aspect. The soul, as we have already noted, is ever and anon manifesting some undefined longing after its lost portion in God. But it has in itself a hopeless moral inability to return. It cannot retrace its lost way. Alas! often there is rather the plunging deeper and deeper amid the pathless wilds of ruin, till, in addition to inability, there is added disinclination to be restored to the long lost fold. The sheep, rather than return to the Shepherd, will go roaming in search of other pastures—increasing its mournful distance from the fold, and

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bringing it only into more perilous vicinity to the lions’ dens and the mountains of the leopards. How, then, can the sinner be reclaimed? It is manifest that by no self-originated effort can he return. If saved, it must be by another. Himself he cannot,—himself he will not save. Omnipotence alone can bring it back. It is easy enough to take the tiara of priceless diamonds, or the necklace of gold, and plunge it down in mid ocean; but it is not so easy to descend through that untraversed barrier, that liquid rampart which rolls defiant between, and get them up again. The soul, the true casket of lost treasures, by reason of its own sad principle of moral gravitation, sinks easily downward. But it is He alone who “taketh up the waters in the hollow of His hand” that cart rescue it from the depths of ruin and despair. Here, then, is the Gospel’s glorious history of the restoration of the wanderers. Marvellous condescension—unspeakable grace! He speaks in one of the verses which precede this chapter as if it were something wondrous,—something well-nigh incredible: “Behold I, even I.” The spot is still pointed out with pride, amid the rocky wilds of Dauphine, where nil eagle bore in its talons the infant which had been left smiling in fearless innocence in its cradle by the cottage door. One stalwart form after another tried to climb that giddy height for the rescue, but had to abandon it in despair. At last a fleet and nimble foot spurns all difficulties. Up she climbs, from crag to crag, until, reaching the dizzy eminence, she buries the yet living child in her bosom, saying, as a mother’s tongue in such an hour alone could say, “This my child was dead, and is alive again—was lost, and is found!” But that was a mother’s speechless affection for her offspring. As she brought her “loved and lost” back to her cottage home, and replaced it in the empty cradle, we would think it strange to hear her saying, “Behold I, even I, have done this.” Who could have done it but she? But what does the Infinite Jehovah see in us?—What claim have these sheep on this Shepherd of the universe—these sinners on their God?—None! The natural heart is a den of pollution, a haunt of evil, the nurturing home of rebellion. Not only, however, are we called to note and admire God’s grace and condescension; but to admire the sovereignty of that grace as shown in the selection of its objects. Mankind were not the only fallen family in the universe. Other sheep, not of the earthly fold, had also strayed from the Shepherd. Might we not have expected that, in resolving on the ransom and recovery of any lost ones, he would have made choice rather of a different race of wanderers? Fallen angels (the aborigines of heaven) were greater than man. Well may we pause and ponder this wondrous manifestation of sovereign grace in the salvation of sinners of the dust! Truly, indeed, this salvation of man is a story of grace. Turn the moral kaleidoscope as we may, the gleaming words still stand radiant before our eyes, “By the grace of God we are what we are.” Once more. God’s grace and compassion are further manifested in His untiring love and patience in the pursuit of the lost, till restoration and safety be ensured. In other words, we have to admire, not only His free grace and His sovereign grace, but what the old writers call His irresistible grace. “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek them out.” He will not only search for them, but He will search till He discover them. “He goeth after that which was lost until He find it.” The Saviour’s love is bounded by no distance, is cooled by no difficulties, is repulsed by no obstacles. One of the noblest records of true heroism in England’s annals is of comparatively recent date; when a gallant vessel, manned with gallant hearts, vent forth amid the frowning icebergs of the Northern Seas, to search for a band of missing explorers. They sailed thither, buoyed with the faint, feeble hope that the object of their search might still be found, battling bravely with eternal winter. Alas! they went after the lost “until they found them”; but they found them with the stiffened snow and ice as their winding sheet! They brought not back the living, but only some sad mementoes and 65

memorials of the dead. Not so is the journey, not so the pursuit, of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. His omniscient eye follows every wanderer. Those whom He has marked for His own He will, without fail, bring home. Not one can elude His pursuit, nor evade His loving scrutiny. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)

The Divine ShepherdI. The simile of Christ to a shepherd.

1. His character: “a shepherd” (Joh_10:14).2. His employment: “seeketh out” (Eze_34:11).3. The objects of His care: “His flock” (Isa_40:11).4. Their condition: “scattered” (Joh_11:52).5. Then the time of gathering: “the day” (Zec_13:1).6. His situation: “among them” (Psa_132:13-14).

II. The important declaration. “I will seek out.”1. By the word written (2Ti_3:15).2. The word preached (1Co_1:23-24).3. But always by the Spirit (Zec_4:6).

III. Why they are called “His sheep.”IV. The deliverance of the sheep.

1. This implies determination: “I will” (Eze_13:21).2. It denotes contest: “deliver” (Isa_49:25).3. It signifies power: “I will deliver them” (Isa_40:29). “All places.”

(1) From all parts of the world.(2) From all sinful practices.(3) From all opposing powers (Rev_7:9).

4. It also denotes great wisdom in searching and distinguishing them; simply because—(1) They are separated one from another.(2) They mingle with the wicked. (T. B. Baker.)

In the cloudy and dark day.The Shepherd seeking the flock in the cloudy and dark dayI. “The lost.” We may regard the figure as descriptive of those who (by imperceptible degrees) have erred and strayed from the Shepherd’s fold and presence. Once their landscape was bathed in sunshine;—the mountain tops of God’s faithfulness were

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clear;—the summits of the heavenly hills sparkled gloriously;—theirs were the green pastures and still waters,—the Shepherd’s voice to cheer them, and the Shepherd’s steps to guide them. But all is gloomy now;—the storm clouds have gathered in their once serene sky. It may arise from their own sluggish unconcern;—a drowsy, sleepy, callous frame,—the result of a gradual, but ever-deepening insensibility to Divine things;—a trifling with their spiritual interests;—languor in prayer—conformity with the world—tampering with sins of omission—venturing on forbidden or debatable ground.II. Those who are “driven away.” Some overt act has been the cause of their scattering. Look at David as an illustration. His own iniquities separated between him and his God. He never after was the joyous believer he once was. He was indeed restored, pardoned, loved;—but the memory of that sad day followed him to the grave, and mantled Iris whole moral landscape with clouds, even to the very entrance of the dark valley. And how many among the true flock of the Shepherd have to tell a similar mournful tale! Some one guilty deed has laid the foundation of weeks and months—ay, years, of spiritual alienation and distance from the fold.III. “The broken.” How numerous are these! Some are “broken” by calamity;—penury scattering them in its cloudy and dark day. Some are “broken” by bitter disappointment; an aching heart wound too sacred to be revealed has left them bleeding and desolate, refusing to be comforted. Some are “broken” by bereavement.IV. The sick. We might take this in a figurative sense; as descriptive of those who are sick at heart,—sad and disconsolate with the trials and sins and sorrows of death, and with the corruptions of their own natures. But why not regard it literally, an applied to those laid on beds of sickness? Many among us who inadequately appreciate the talent of health are apt also to forget and overlook this large section in God’s world;—the “poor afflicted ones,” the maimed members of the flock.V. To one and all of these “scattered ones” the Great Shepherd comes. He has a special word of comfort for each separate case.

1. “Lost!” He “seeks” you. Though you have forgotten Him, He has not forgotten you.2. Ye who have been “driven away,” He will “bring you again.” Ye who, like the Psalmist of Israel, have unwarily left the pastures of peace and security, and entangled yourselves in the midnight forest of danger and sin; the grace of Him who first brought you to the fold is able to bring you back again, and restore to you the joys of His salvation.3. Broken ones! Ye who are crushed and mutilated by the thousand ills of suffering and sorrow: rejoice! That Shepherd came to “bind up” breaking hearts; His name is “The Healer of the broken hearted.”4. “Sick!” Ye pining sufferers in earth’s great hospital! Ye bleating sheep, lying languid and helpless in the fold—He, the Great Shepherd, comes to “strengthen you.” A sick bed—where the noisy world is shut out—where its cares and anxieties and aspirations and ambitions are no longer present to hamper and harass—what a blessed season for converse with the Infinite.

VI. The gracious adaptation of Christ’s dealings to the different wants and trials and necessities of His people.1. He “seeks” the lost; and on finding them a look of love suffices to bring the

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conscience-stricken wanderers back.2. He “brings again” the driven away. Those cowering in terror at their own wilful blindness and apostasy, their deep ingratitude and heinous guilt, need help, encouragement, guidance;—they need being carried in the Shepherd’s arms.3. He “binds up” the broken; He stanches the bleeding wound with the application of tender restoratives—the balm words of His own exceeding great and precious promises. He, the Brother born for adversity, teaches the wounded spirit, and He alone can, how to “bear” in this “dark and cloudy day”; He turns the shadow of death into the morning.4. He “strengthens” the sick—those who for years on years have been laid on couches of languishing—secluded from the gladsome light of day, on whose ears the tones of the Sabbath bell fall only to tell of forfeited privileges. They can best bear attestation how a mysterious, sustaining strength, not their own, is imparted to them, which makes them wonders to themselves.

Let us close with two practical reflections.1. The all-sufficiency of the Shepherd’s power and love. There is no case He cannot meet. Lost ones, driven ones, broken ones, sick ones. It seems to exhaust the circle of human wants and necessities. He seems to anticipate every supposable case, so that none dare say “that Shepherd-love does not include me.”2. This precious passage, so full of tenderness and love to the erring, the backsliding, the suffering, ends with a brief but most solemn utterance of “judgment” on the impenitent, the self-righteous, and unbelieving. “He that has rest for disquieted saints,” says Matthew Henry, “has terror to speak to presumptuous sinners.” (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)

Shadows of religious lifeNight and morning are familiar types of human life in its alternation of shadow and sunshine, its chequered history of grief and joy. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” It is the law of nature and of humanity. Is it not also the law of the higher spiritual life? No doubt there are moments of rare enjoyment in the experience of a godly man; moments of special communion with the Unseen. But there are seasons, too, of a widely different complexion, when the firmament above him darkens into a hemisphere without a star, and the heart within him grows sick of the weary struggle, and he is sorely tempted, like Elijah, to fold his head in his mantle, and lie down in despair to die.

1. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in physical disease. Very wonderful is the sympathy between body and soul. Many a life might be comparatively blithesome, but that chronic dyspepsia fills it with morbid fears and feelings. Trifling with the delicate mechanism of the human frame has brought upon many excellent people a settled melancholy, an impression that they have committed some unpardonable sin, and are absolute outcasts from God’s covenant of mercy. Let the organ be out of tune, and Handel himself could not bring good music out of it; and when the nervous organism is unstrung, it is not surprising if the secret harmonies of the soul be turned into jars and discord. Temperance, chastity, and 68

godliness,—the “mens sana in corpore sano,”—are a wellspring of perennial cheerfulness; but without them, the fountains of real pleasure are poisoned, life loses its zest and buoyancy, and becomes little better than a funeral march to death and judgment.2. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in personal wrong-doing. Misconduct is the ruin of tranquillity, and may cast a pall and blight over life’s fairest prospects. He who can do a deliberate wrong without a pang of regret is more demon than man. Peter’s backsliding cost him bitter tears. David’s double crime made his children a scourge and his conscience an accusing hell. Saul’s transgression caused “an evil spirit” to enter into him, so that he sat in his palace, javelin in hand, silent, moody, and downcast. And the sin of God’s people, in like manner, may still rob them of solid peace, and make them acquainted, otherwise than by book, with Bunyan’s Slough of Despond, Doubting Castle, and Giant Despair.3. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in providential trials. Saint or sinner, if you are pricked you bleed; with this difference, that in the one case you possess a balm for the wound, in the other not. Insensibility would render Divine discipline a nullity. It is right to feel appropriately towards all things as they really are; nay more, such inflexion of feeling is a necessary condition of human amendment; Christianity is a nobler science of life than stoicism, for it teaches how sable and gold may both be woven into a robe of immortal radiance—how adversity, even more than prosperity, may come laden with the richest blessings.4. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in spiritual conflicts. No fortress on earth is so often beleaguered as the citadel of the human heart. No din of contending hosts is there—no anxious nations look on in breathless suspense—no change of temporal dynasty or statecraft or dominion is imminent; but the doom of an immortal soul is involved, and heaven and hell hang upon the final issue. The stake is tremendous, and all trifling is simply insane. The ground has to be won inch by inch, and, maybe, lost and won again. Shield of faith, helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, girdle of truth, sword of the Spirit, greaves of love and peace, all bear marks of the severity of the strife. Protracted to the end of life, the battle is as arduous as it is honourable, and its wavering fortunes not unfrequently make one pensive, careworn, and disheartened. Thank God! “though he fall, he shall rise again—he shall not be utterly cast down.” An invincible Captain leads us on.5. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in doctrinal perplexities. It has been said that “the Bible has shallows in which a lamb may wade, and deeps in which an elephant may swim.” Unhappily, some who are not elephants venture to leave the terra firma of revealed truth, and to plunge into the bottomless sea of metaphysical divinity; and, as they cannot swim, they sink in deep waters, or flounder about like a log in a tempest, and the waves and billows go over them. Without putting a veto on legitimate inquiry, it is well to remember that “secret things belong unto the Lord”—that His eternal wisdom and kindness will manage them without human meddling—that no prying curiosity of ours can ever modify them in the least degree; and that for us the only possible solution of them is the testimony of individual character and life.6. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in the enigmas of Divine government. God in history, subordinating everything to His supreme will, and accomplishing through secondary agencies or otherwise His own sovereign

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purposes, is the basis of a good man’s creed, and the sole pledge of humanity’s regeneration. But, to man’s thinking, how often do the ways of God seem a mystery, an anomaly, or even a contradiction! Everywhere the old Titanic forces of good and evil wrestle with each other in mortal combat, and the wonder is how the strife will end. And, standing face to face with facts like these, after some six thousand years of credible history, and some nineteen centuries of Christian teaching, many a heart cries out in fearfulness and pain: “How long, O Lord, how long? Why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot? Oh, when shall the wickedness of the wicked come to a perpetual end?” Pilgrims of the night! amid all this darkness, turmoil, and misery, “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” (L. B. Brown.)

12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

BARNES, "The cloudy and dark day - Contrasted with the day in which the Lord will be among them like a shepherd to gather them together again.

CLARKE, "Cloudy and dark day - Times of general distress and persecution; in such times the shepherd should be especially watchful.

GILL, "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,.... That is, when they have been scattered, and are got together again; then he goes among them, to see if there are any missing, and in wheat condition they are, and what they want: so will I seek out my sheep, and deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day; such as, in a literal sense, the

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time of the captivity was, when the Jews were dispersed in the various provinces of Babylon, and other countries; and which was a time of darkness and affliction to them. The time of Adam's fall was a dark and cloudy day; when all sinned in him, and were made sinners by his disobedience; when the sentence of condemnation and death passed upon all, and they became liable to utter ruin and destruction; when darkness and ignorance seized all human nature; when all mankind were separated from God, and set at a distance from him; in consequence of which the children of God, his sheep, were scattered abroad. A time of unregeneracy is a cloudy and dark day with God's elect; they are in darkness, and walk in darkness, and are darkness itself, till made light in the Lord: and so is a time of desertion; when the Lord's people are laid in darkness, and the deeps, and both sit and walk therein, and see no light; when they can neither see the Lord, nor hear from him, nor have any communion with him; when the sun of righteousness is withdrawn or eclipsed; and they cannot see their interest clear in spiritual and eternal things: as is also a time of persecution with the churches of Christ; when both ministers and people are scattered abroad, and their eyes cannot behold their teachers; and moon and stars are not seen for many days, Gospel ministers and Gospel ordinances: and the same is a time of blasphemy and error; and when it is neither day nor night, as is the present season; but there is no day so cloudy and dark but the shepherd can see his sheep, and will look them out, though they cannot see him.

JAMISON, "in the day that he is among — in the midst of (Hebrew) His sheep that had been scattered. Referring to Messiah’s second advent, when He shall be “the glory in the midst of Israel” (Zec_2:5).

in the cloudy ... day — the day of the nation’s calamity (Joe_2:2).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep [that are] scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

Ver. 12. As a shepherd.] He prosecuteth the allegory drawn from shepherdy all along, striking still upon the same string with much sweetness.

So will I seek out my sheep.] See Matthew 15:24, Psalms 119:176, Isaiah 40:11.

In the cloudy and dark day,] i.e., In the time of their calamity and captivity. When things are at worst, God himself will set in; he reserveth his holy hand for a dead lift.

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POOLE, “ As a shepherd doth gently gather them together, counteth them, brings them to the fold, views what they have suffered, whether lame or torn, and binds up, and healeth; if any are wanting, he looks till he findeth them, and brings them back; so will I, saith the Lord. If the shepherd find the wolf or lion among them or near them, he will either kill or drive him away; so will God. If under-servants have been careless, they shall be warned or turned away; so here, &c.

Will deliver them; they are wronged in all places where they were scattered, the places in which they are and should not be are part of that danger I will free them from.

The cloudy day; when the storm first began to arise from abroad or at home; here in persecutions, there in warlike preparations.

Dark day; that the land was invaded till the desolation of Jerusalem, the times of maladministration of their own governors, and violent irruption of their enemies.

PETT, “Verses 12-16

“As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep who are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep. And I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day (‘the day of clouds and thick darkness’). And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and their fold will be on the mountains of the house of Israel. There will they lie down in a good fold, and they will feed on fat pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh. I will seek that which was lost, and will restore those who were driven away, and will bind up what is broken, and will strengthen those who were sick. And the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will

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feed them in judgment.”

The prime point here is that because the shepherds failed God Himself would act more directly. He would be their king. In order to carry out His plan the first stage would be to bring His people back to the land of Israel. This He gradually did, and we have no reason to doubt that many from both Israel and Judah returned to the land. There were no lost tribes to Him. The ‘cloudy and dark day’ was past.

And there He promised to feed them lavishly, on the mountains, in the very place where they had regularly sinned against Yahweh, and by the rivers. In other words out in the open everywhere, not limited to sanctuaries. The old leaders had been replaced. Indeed it is significant that there is no reference here to the temple. The very point is that they will no longer be taught by the old shepherds, but by Himself throughout the land, and that their fold will be on the mountains of Israel where they will learn and be blessed.

We can hardly fail to see here the ministry of John the Baptiser and Jesus, literally by the rivers and on the mountains. And we are told by Isaiah that this ministry in Israel was to be an essential preparation for God’s ministry to the whole world through His Servant (Isaiah 42:1-4; Isaiah 49:1-6 see Acts 13:47).

There is nothing more clear than the fact that this abundant sustenance was lacking throughout later centuries prior to the coming of Jesus. There were of course some faithful shepherds, and there were a remnant of those who were faithful to Yahweh, as there had always been. There were pockets of blessing. We must not denigrate or deny the work of godly men. But there was nothing that tied in with this triumphant picture. The Jews themselves admitted that prophecy had failed. All awaited the coming of the great Prophet Who would transform the situation (Isaiah 61:1-2), and the prince of the house of David (Ezekiel 34:23-24; Isaiah 11:1-5), Who would send out his true under-shepherds, first to Israel (Matthew 10:5-15), and then to the world (Matthew 28:18-20).

‘I myself will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord 73

Yahweh. I will seek that which was lost, and will restore those who were driven away, and will bind up what is broken, and will strengthen those who were sick.’ God Himself will care for the sheep. This was also to be the ministry of the great coming Prophet (Isaiah 61:1-2) and Jesus makes clear that it was His ministry and that this was where the other shepherds had failed. They did not seek the lost, but He did (Luke 19:10; Luke 15 all). They did not restore those who were driven away, but He did (John 10:12-14). They did not act as physicians to the sick, but He did (Mark 2:17). They did not bind up the broken-hearted, but He did (Isaiah 61:1). As a whole they mainly restricted themselves to their adherents. So He was fulfilling the task of Yahweh.

‘And the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in judgment (or ‘as is fitting’).’ The sleek and well fed, who had made themselves so at the expense of others, would face their judgment. Judgment would become their food. This is a vivid picture of what would happen to the leaders of Israel in the coming of Jesus and what followed in the destruction of the temple. They received what was their due. And it is also a vivid warning to preachers who make themselves rich at the expense of His people.

13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.

CLARKE, "I will - feed them upon the mountains - When I bring back the people from their captivity, I will raise up to them a holy and diligent priesthood, who shall in all places give them sound instruction. But this, and some of the following

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promises, belong to the Christian Church, as we shall find below.

GILL, "And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land,.... Which was in part fulfilled when the Jews were delivered from the Babylonish captivity; and which may well be ascribed to the Lord, since it was he that stirred up Cyrus, king of Persia, to proclaim their liberty; and which raised the spirit of the people to go up upon it, and build the temple in Jerusalem, Ezr_1:1, though it will have a more full accomplishment in the latter day, when these people shall be gathered out of all countries where they are dispersed, and return to their own land, and embrace the true Messiah, and be all saved; of which there was a pledge and presage in the apostles' time, on the day of Pentecost; when some out of all nations were collected together at Jerusalem, and heard the wonderful things of God in their own language, and were converted; and afterwards, wherever the Gospel came in the Gentile world, it was first preached to the Jews, and was the power of God to salvation first to them; by which means the sheep of Christ, the elect of God among them, in each of the parts of the world, were gathered in: but this need not be confined to the Jews only; since the Lord had other sheep beside them, even among the Gentiles, in all parts of the world; whom he searches for, and effectually calls by his grace, and separates them from the rest of the world, and brings them into his churches, and among his people: and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers: not upon the barren mountains of Sinai and Horeb, or with the works of the law; for there is no righteousness, life, and salvation by them, and so no peace and comfort, or food for faith; but upon the mountains of Israel, the churches of Christ, comparable to mountains for their height, visibility, immovableness, and for their pasturage: here the great Shepherd, the Lamb Christ Jesus, is, even on Mount Zion; here his under shepherds are, who feed the flock with knowledge and understanding; here the word of God is preached, the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus, by which souls are nourished up to everlasting life; in these mountains the feast of fat things is made; here the green pastures are, the sheep are made to lie down in; and here the lilies grow, among whom Christ feeds; and by these mountains run the "rivers" of everlasting love and covenant grace, the streams of Gospel doctrines, and the waters of Gospel ordinances, to the great refreshment of the saints; here the Lord feeds his people: and in all the inhabited places of the country; in the private dwellings of the saints, as well as in public assemblies.

HENRY 13-16, "God will feed his people as the sheep of his pasture, that had been famished. God will bring the returning captives safely to their own land (Eze_34:13), will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, and that is a good pasture, and a fat pasture (Eze_34:14); there shall their feeding be, and there shall be their fold; and it is a good fold. There God will not only feed them, but cause them to lie down (Eze_34:15), which denotes a comfortable rest after they had tired themselves with their wanderings, and a constant continuing residence; they shall not be driven out again from these green pastures, as they have been, nor shall they be disturbed, but shall lie down in a sweet

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repose and there shall be none to make them afraid. Psa_23:2, He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Compare this with the like promise (Jer_23:3, Jer_23:4), when God restored them not only to the milk and honey of their own land, to the enjoyment of its fruits, but to the privileges of his sanctuary on Mount Zion, the chief of the mountains of Israel. When they had an altar and a temple again, and the benefit of a settled priesthood, then they were fed in a good pasture.3. He will succour those that are hurt, will bind up that which was broken and strengthen that which was sick, will comfort those that mourn in Zion and with Zion. If ministers, who should speak peace to those who are of a sorrowful spirit, neglect their duty, yet the Holy Ghost the Comforter will be faithful to his office. But, as it follows, the fat and the strong shall be destroyed. He that has rest for disquieted saints has terror to speak to presumptuous sinners. As every valley shall be filled, so every mountain and hill shall be brought low, Luk_3:5.

JAMISON, "And I will bring them out from the people, etc. — (Eze_28:25; Eze_36:24; Eze_37:21, Eze_37:22; Isa_65:9, Isa_65:10; Jer_23:3).

COKE, “Ezekiel 34:13. I will bring them out— "I will cause them to return from their captivity." In all that follows we may observe two senses; one which respects the Christian church, congregated by the Lord Jesus Christ from all quarters of the world; and the other, which respects the restoration of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity. It is certain, that we cannot understand in the letter all this which is here predicted concerning the flock of the Lord, solely of the synagogue. The following verses evidently point out the office of the Messiah; and, we doubt not, have also respect to the final restoration of the Jews. See Calmet, and the note on Ezekiel 34:23.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

Ver. 13. And I will bring them out from the people.] This they could very hardly believe, therefore he assureth them of it again and again. God will do the like for all his elect, seem it never so impossible.

And fled them upon the mountains of Israel.] Which are very high mountains; but 76

the Church, God’s hill, is higher. [Isaiah 2:2] {See Trapp on "Isaiah 2:2"}

POOLE, “ When Cyrus’s proclamation came forth that the Jews might return, this prophecy was literally fulfilled, God did incline the minds of the Jews to retire from the people amidst whom they had dwelt seventy years: see Ezra 1:5,6 7:13.

Gather them; assemble them together; so they did in a place appointed without the country, where they were, (as appears, Ezra 8:15) in their assembling at Ahava or Diava, near where it falls into Euphrates, in the country Adiabene, which was from the more inward recesses of the Babylonian kingdom onwards of their journey to Jerusalem.

Will bring them; lead, conduct, and as a shepherd go before them, till I have put them into possession again of their own land.

Their own land; Canaan, their own by grant from the crown of heaven, anciently possessed by their fathers, and out of which violence cast them.

Feed them; God will provide, maintain, and nourish them. The mountains of Israel; places proper for sheep, where now they shall once more be kept.

The rivers; water-brooks, as Psalms 42:1; which run down from the spring-heads in the sides and tops of the mountains, with some impetuousness and noise; or if greater rivers, they are those that run by the foot of the mountains, on which these sheep shall feed.

The inhabited places: this may explain the former. On such hills by rivers the returned captives would first settle their habitations, and here these sheep would be safest; thus literally: spiritually, it refers to the gathering the elect by the gospel out of the world, &c.

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PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:13-15

On the mountains of Israel by the rivers. The picture of the pleasant pasture-lands of Judah, almost, as it were, an expansion of Psalms 23:1-6; of the mountains which are not barren and stony, of the streams that flow calmly in the inhabited places of the country, serves as a parable of that which is to follow on the restoration of Israel. The sheep that had been wandering so long in the wilderness should at last lie down in a fat pasture (verse 15), and the tender care of the Shepherd should watch with an individualizing pity over each sheep that had been brought back. Every broken limb should be bound up. Every sickness should be treated with its appropriate means of healing.

14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

GILL, "I will feed them in a good pasture,.... Or with good food, as the Targum: such as the fulness of grace in Christ, where believers go in and out, and find pasture; and where they may feed to the full, have bread enough, and to spare; and may draw water with joy out of the full wells of salvation: this is good food; food indeed, in opposition to that which was typical, or is imaginary; this is spiritual food, suitable to the spirits of men, brought by the Spirit of God, and relished by a spiritual man; this is savoury food, soul satisfying and soul strengthening food; this is nourishing food, and what will endure to everlasting life: and such is the Gospel, the promises and doctrines of it, in which there is a variety of food; milk for babes, and meat for strong men; sweet

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to the taste, and health to the bones; salutary and nourishing, and which makes glad the heart; and of the same kind are the ordinances of the Gospel, the breasts of consolation, the goodness and fatness of the Lord's house; which he makes his people partakers of, and satisfies them with. And upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie in a good fold; of the same nature and use are the churches of Christ as a fold is to the sheep; as that they are separated, divided, and distinguished from others; as into a fold, the sheep of Christ are gathered into churches; where they lie together, are united and knit together in love, and where they have communion with one another, and keep each other warm, and stir up one another to love and good works; whereby the vitals of religion are preserved; here they are kept in the night season, and fed in the winter; these like a fold are a sort of fence unto them, and a preservation of them from wolves and bears; and here they lie down, and have spiritual rest, ease, and safety: and as in a fold there are lambs, and sheep, and goats, so in churches there are different sorts folded together, weaker and stronger Christians; and some only nominal ones, who will be separated at the last day. A fold may be taken down, and removed from place to place, and so may visible congregated churches; the candlestick may be removed out of its place, the word and ordinances; and so a Gospel church state may be carried from place to place; and there is but one fold for Jews and Gentiles, and this is a good one; see Joh_10:16. And in a fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel; on the feast of fat things there, and so become fat and flourishing; See Gill on Eze_34:13.

JAMISON, "good pasture — (Psa_23:2).high mountains of Israel — In Eze_17:23; Eze_20:40, the phrase is “the mountain of the height of Israel” in the singular number. The reason for the difference is: thereEzekiel spoke of the central seat of the kingdom, Mount Zion, where the people met for the worship of Jehovah; here he speaks of the kingdom of Israel at large, all the parts of which are regarded as possessing a moral elevation.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and [in] a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

Ver. 14. I will feed them in a good pasture.] Daily and daintily; feed them among the lilies; [Song of Solomon 2:16 Psalms 23:1-3] feed them with the flesh and blood of my dear Son [John 6:51-58]

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There shall they lie in a good fold.] Having a blessed calm in their consciences, full of spiritual security, and freed from all annoyances [Micah 5:5]

POOLE, “ In a good pasture; in fat, sweet, plentiful pastures.

Their fold be; to rest in there for safety; they shall settle their habitations upon their return: or there my flock, my people, my church shall dwell and rest, where idolaters once had their high places; thus spiritually.

There they shall lie, & c.: this and what follows is a confirmation of what before was promised, and it is assured to them by the Lord, who himself will see all this be done.

15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.

GILL, "I will feed my flock,.... This is repeated for the further confirmation of it, that it might be depended upon that the Lord would feed his people in the manner before promised; and it gives a reason why he would do it, because they were his flock; he had a right unto them, a property in them; they were separated and distinguished from others by him, as the church of God is; and which is also purchased by Christ, and gathered out of the world by his Spirit and grace; and therefore he will feed them, or take care that they shall be fed, Act_20:28, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord; in the good fold provided for them; where they have both rest and safety, and also plenty of suitable food; See Gill on Eze_34:14. The Targum is, "I will govern my people, and will cause them to dwell safely, saith the Lord God;''

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The Septuagint and Arabic versions add, "and they shall know that I am the Lord".

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.

Ver. 15. I will feed my flock.] Doing all the offices of a good shepherd for them, and charging mine undershepherds to do so too.

And I will cause them to lie down.] By giving rest to their souls, [Matthew 11:28] together with many happy halcyons, that they may serve me without fear. [Luke 1:74]

16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

BARNES, "With judgment - It is characteristic of Yahweh as a shepherd that He judges between sheep and sheep, rejecting the proud and accepting the penitent and broken-hearted.

CLARKE, "I will destroy the fat and the strong - I will destroy those cruel and imperious shepherds who abuse their authority, and tyrannize over the flock.

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GILL, "And I will seek that which was lost,.... As all men are in Adam, and through his fall, and by their own actual transgressions; and so the elect of God among the rest; who are lost not with respect to God's knowledge of them, love to them, and care for them; but with respect to their knowledge of him, affection for him, and regard to his will, service, and glory; they are lost to themselves, they know not where they are, what is their state and condition, and how to get out of it; they cannot help themselves, nor can any other creature help them; and they see themselves to be in this lost and undone condition, when they are enlightened by the Spirit of God: but they are not irretrievably lost, for they are preserved in Christ Jesus; and he has been sent to seek and to save them; which he has done by redeeming them from sin, Satan, and the law; and, in the effectual calling, he goes after them, he sends his Gospel to them, and his Spirit unto them, and returns them to himself, the Shepherd and Bishop of souls; and whereas after this they go astray like lost sheep, he seeks and looks them up, and restores their souls, Psa_119:176, and bring again that which was driven away; through the power and prevalence of unbelief, from holding fast to the head Christ, departing at least partially from the living God; from dealing by faith with his precious person, blood, and righteousness; and from the precious promises, as not belonging to them, and refusing to be comforted by them; but the Lord brings back such again, and causes them to believe: Thomas is a notorious instance of this, Joh_20:24, such also who are driven away through the force of Satan's temptations from the throne of grace; from the word and ordinances; and from private conversation with the saints, being hypocrites, as he suggests unto them; these the Lord brings back, by rebuking the tempter, and delivering out of his temptations: likewise such as are driven out of the right way of truth, and carried away with the error of the wicked, through the influence of bad pastors or false teachers, Jer_23:1, these will he restore again; for it is impossible the elect of God should be finally deceived: moreover, such as are driven away by the force of persecution, and scattered abroad, in God's due time have rest, and return to their folds again; see Jer_50:17, and will bind up that which was broken; such who have broken hearts, broken with a sense of sin; made truly contrite by the Spirit and grace of God, through the word; which is a hammer to them, that breaks the rocky heart in pieces; to these the Lord has respect; their broken hearts are acceptable to him; he dwells with them, to revive them; he speaks and restores comforts to them; pours in oil and wine into their wounds, like the good Samaritan, and binds them up; see Psa_147:3 and such who have broken bones, who have fallen into sin to the breaking of their bones, to the destroying of their peace, joy, and comfort, as David, Peter, and others have done; he sets their broken bones, and restores the joys of his salvation; and causes the bones which were broken to rejoice; at the discoveries of his pardoning grace and mercy, Psa_51:8, and will strengthen that which was sick; sick through sin, as all men are; sick of sin, as sensible sinners be; sickly and weak, and ready to die, as fallen professors, backsliders, are; sick of love, through want of the discoveries of it; long after them; cannot be easy without them, as Christ's spouse sometimes is; and sick for want of food, faint and languid for want of spiritual refreshment; as the persons were Christ had compassion on, being as sheep without a shepherd, Mat_9:36 each of these the Lord

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strengthens with the discoveries and applications of pardoning grace; with the flagons of his love, and apples of his promises; with the food of the Gospel, which strengthens men's hearts; and with grace out of his fulness, whereby they are strengthened against sin, snares, and temptations, and to exercise grace, and do the will of God: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; that are full of themselves, lifted up with pride, conceited with their riches or righteousness, and despise others, whom they thrust with side and shoulder, and push with their horns, Eze_34:21. So the Targum interprets it of wicked men, "and I will consume the ungodly and sinners;'' but the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "I will keep the fat and the strong"; in the plight and condition in which they are, and make them still stronger, and more fat and flourishing; so Jerom interprets it of saints and godly persons; and this agrees with the preceding clauses; only the original Hebrew text is against it, which does not admit of a various reading; and this rendering seems to arise in the Septuagint, the others follow, from the mistake of a similar letter: "I will feed them with judgment"; meaning either the whole flock, consisting of fat and lean cattle, making a distinction between them, Eze_34:17, feeding them with discretion, and judging them according to their deserts; or else the fat and the strong ones, by inflicting righteous vengeance on them, feeding them with wormwood and gall; or his own people and sheep only. So the Targum, "I will govern my people with judgment"; in righteousness, goodness, truth, and faithfulness.

JAMISON, "In contrast to the unfaithful shepherds (Eze_34:4). The several duties neglected by them I will faithfully discharge.

fat ... strong — that is, those rendered wanton by prosperity (Deu_32:15; Jer_5:28), who use their strength to oppress the weak. Compare Eze_34:20, “the fat cattle” (Isa_10:16). The image is from fat cattle that wax refractory.with judgment — that is, justice and equity, as contrasted with the “force” and “cruelty” with which the unfaithful shepherds ruled the flock (Eze_34:4).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:16 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.

Ver. 16. I will seek that which was lost, &c.] As he did Peter, Paul, the good thief, Matthew, Zaccheus, the disciples after their shameful flight, Augustine, all us who, like sheep, were gone astray, &c.

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But I will destroy the fat.] Pinguem et petulcam; such as in whom fulness breedeth forgetfulness, as in Jeshurun. [Deuteronomy 32:15] Queen Elizabeth was told, in a sermon by Mr Deering, that once she was tanquam ovis, like a meek sheep, but now tanquam indomita iuvenca, as an untamed heifer; and therefore wished her to meet God by repentance. Here good Oecolampadius complaineth, and cause enough he had, of some of Christ’s fatter sheep who were too too haunty and troublesome to their fellows. The Lutherans of Suevia he might well mean, who, in their Syngramma, used him very coarsely; and Luther himself, in his book of private mass, set forth A.D. 1533, passeth a very uncharitable censure upon his disease and death.

And I will feed them with judgment.] Putting a difference, and dealing with them as it is fit.

POOLE, “ In the former part of the 16th verse, God promiseth to his people that he will do all the offices of a good, watchful, tender, and faithful shepherd, which those shepherds did neglect. See also Ezekiel 34:4.

I will destroy; severely punish; which is threatened, and was fulfilled in the ruin of the rulers of this people.

The fat; the powerful and rich, who by oppressing and devouring my people grew fat, proud, troublesome, and dangerous to the poor sheep.

The strong; by their authority I gave, and by the encroachments they have made to increase their power.

I will feed them with judgment: it is an irony; I will feed them, but with wormwood and gall, my sore but just judgments and displeasure, so some: but others refer judgment here to reason, decency, and fitness, the most convenient, beneficial, and

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safe way; as a wise shepherd will I feed these my sheep. And either may consist with the context.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:16

I will destroy the fat and the strong. What follows introduces another feature into the parable, and is hardly less than an anticipation of the great scene of judgment in Matthew 25:32. The "fat and the strong," as contrasted with the "broken" and the "sick," are, when we interpret the Darable, the noble and wealthy who, under the kings of Judah, had been allowed to work their evil will upon the people. Of these he says that he will feed them with (better, in) judgment, that for them there must be the discipline of punishment. They too are his sheep, but they require a different treatment from the others.

SIMEON, "CHRIST’S EXECUTION OF HIS PASTORAL OFFICE

Ezekiel 34:16. 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.

THERE is no office under heaven so important as that of ministering unto men the Gospel of Christ. But, alas! its importance is but too little felt, and its duties are too negligently performed [Note: See ver. 2–10.]. There is, however, one Shepherd, whose care and vigilance are without intermission. He it is, who, many hundred years before he came into the world, spake by the prophet, and declared the manner in which he would execute his office [Note: ver. 23.].

In the words before us we see,

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I. The different states of Christ’s sheep—

[All are considered as the sheep of Christ, who by name and profession belong to him, as well “the fat and the strong, who shall be destroyed,” as those who shall be saved [Note: John 10:16.].

All without exception, while in their natural state, are “lost,” straying from God, and ignorant of the way in which alone they can return to his fold [Note: Isaiah 53:6.]. Some feel an inclination to enjoy his benefits, and at times resolve that they will turn from their evil ways: but they are “driven away” by the violence of their passions or the fear of man.

Of those that have been brought home to the fold, many, like David, are complaining of griefs and sorrows, more painful than a “broken” bone [Note: Psalms 51:8.]. And all are “sick” of sin, that lothesome malady which pervades all their powers both of body and soul, and incapacitates them for serving God as they would wish to do [Note: Romans 7:18-19; Romans 7:21; Romans 7:23-24. Galatians 5:17.].

There are too many, alas! who are “fat and strong,” in their own conceit [Note: It is in this sense that our Lord speaks of “the whole,” and “the righteous.” Matthew 9:12-13.]. Were they really in good condition, they should not be “destroyed.” But, like the Laodiceans of old [Note: Revelation 3:17.], they deceive themselves; being really destitute of all wisdom, goodness, and strength, in exact proportion as they fancy themselves possessed of these things.]

II. The correspondent dealings of Christ with them—

[Though in many instances our Lord displays his sovereignty in stopping the progress of most grievous sinners, while he suffers persons of more amiable deportment to wander further from him [Note: Acts 9:1-6. Mark 10:21-22.], yet all are to expect that he will deal with them in a perfect correspondence with their

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character.

He came from heaven in human flesh, and still comes in the preaching of his Gospel, to “seek” and save “that which was lost.” And if any, who have been “driven away” by the force of temptation or persecution, are desirous to put themselves under his care, he will gladly bring them to his fold, and protect them from every inward or outward foe [Note: ver. 11–15, with John 10:10-11; John 10:28.].

As for those who are already in his fold, he will administer to all their wants, “binding up” the broken-hearted [Note: Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 61:3.], and “renewing the strength” of those who are ready to faint [Note: Isaiah 40:29-31.]. By the efficacy of his word, and the consolations of his Spirit, he will turn their sorrows into joy [Note: Isaiah 35:1-2; Isaiah 35:10.]: and his grace shall be sufficient for them under all the trials they may be called to endure [Note: 2 Corinthians 12:9.].

Willing as he is to pardon the very chief of sinners on their repentance, he will awfully punish the impenitent. The proud and self-sufficient, who despise his offers of mercy, shall surely feel his awful displeasure. He will “destroy” them as enemies both to himself and his flock: and, in order to their destruction, he will “feed them with judgment,” giving them up to follow their own delusions, till they shall have completed the measure of their iniquities, and fattened themselves for the sword of his indignation [Note: Psalms 81:11-12.]. Yes; to eternity shall they eat of the fruit of their own ways [Note: Proverbs 1:31.], and feel the judgments which they would not deprecate [Note: Isaiah 50:10-11.].]

Application—

1. Let us put ourselves under the care of this good Shepherd—

[The more we consider our state the more shall we see, that we are straying, or, at best, diseased sheep. But here is our comfort, that we have a tender and faithful Shepherd that will forgive our wanderings, and supply our wants [Note: Isaiah

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40:11.]. Let us then return to him, if we are afar off [Note: 1 Peter 2:25.]; or, if he have brought us to his fold, let us rely upon his care and faithfulness [Note: Psalms 23:1-3.].]

2. Let us imitate him to the utmost of our power—

[Doubtless it is in the first place the duty of ministers to follow the steps of this great Shepherd, because his flock is more immediately committed to their care [Note: If this were the subject of a Visitation or Ordination Sermon, this thought should be prosecuted at some length, in reference to the whole preceding part of the chapter.]. But it is also the duty of every one in his place and station to exert himself to the utmost to enlarge and edify the flock of Christ. And, if we were more diligent in our respective spheres, how many might be reduced from their wanderings, or strengthened in their difficulties, or comforted in their troubles! We know not how useful a word in season might prove. “Let us then, as the elect of God, put on bowels of mercies,” and shew our relation to Christ by our conformity to his image.]

COKE, “Ezekiel 34:16. But I will destroy, &c.— Houbigant, after many of the versions, reads, I will preserve the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment: but the following verses, wherein a discrimination is made between the good and the bad, and the faults of the flock are reproved, seem to confirm our version.

17 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.

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CLARKE, "And as for you, O my flock - After having spoken to the shepherds, he now addresses the flock.

I judge between cattle and cattle - Between false and true professors; between them that have only the form and them that have the power of godliness; between the backslider in heart and the upright man.

GILL, "And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God,.... Having done with the shepherds, and the complaint against them, the Lord proceeds to take notice of the flock, or the people themselves, and the evils that were among them; for in the Lord's own flock, in the nation and church of Israel, as now in the visible congregated churches of Christ, there were two sorts of persons, some good, others bad; some that behaved well, and others ill; some were sheep, and others goats: behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats: between the smaller and weaker cattle, the sheep and the lambs; and the larger and stronger cattle, the rams and he goats; by which latter may he meant persons of superior power and authority, of greater wealth and riches, and of more wisdom and knowledge, at least in their own conceits; and who were oppressive and injurious to the poor and common people, and less knowing, at least as they thought; who may be intended by the former: now, the Lord, as he observed a difference between them, he would make this manifest, and take the part of the one against the other; even the part of the weaker against the stronger. The Targum is, "behold, judge between man and man, sinners and the ungodly.''

HENRY 17-21, "The prophet has no more to say to the shepherds, but he has now a message to deliver to the flock. God had ordered him to speak tenderly to them, and to assure them of the mercy he had in store for them. But here he is ordered to make a difference between some and others of them, to separate between the precious and the vile and then to give them a promise of the Messiah, by whom this distinction should be effectually made, partly at his first coming (for for judgment he came into this world,Joh_9:39, to fill the hungry with good things and to send the rich empty away, Luk_1:53), but completely at his second coming, when he shall, as it is here said, judge between cattle and cattle, as a shepherd divides between the sheep and the goats, and shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left (Mat_25:32, Mat_25:33), which seems to have reference to this. We have here,

I. Conviction spoken to those of the flock that were fat and strong, the rams and the he-goats (Eze_34:17), those that, though they had not power, as shepherds and rulers, to oppress with, yet, being rich and wealthy, made use of the opportunity which this gave them to bear hard upon their poor neighbours. Those that have much would have more, and, if they set to it, will have more, so many ways have they of encroaching upon their 89

poor neighbours, and forcing from them the one ewe-lamb, 2Sa_12:4. Do not the rich oppress the poor merely with the help of their riches, and draw them before the judgment-seats? Jam_2:6. Poor servants and tenants are hardly used by their rich lords and masters. The rams and the he-goats not only kept all the good pasture to themselves, ate the fat and drank the sweet, but they would not let the poor of the flock have any comfortable enjoyment of the little that was left them; they trod down the residue of the pastures and fouled the residue of the waters, so that the flock was obliged to eat that which they had trodden into the dirt, and drink that which they had muddied, Eze_34:18, Eze_34:19. This intimates that the great men not only by extortion and oppression made and kept their neighbours poor, and scarcely left them enough to subsist on, but were so vexatious to them that what little coarse fare they had was embittered to them. And this seemed a small thing to them; they thought there was no harm in it, as if it were the privilege of their quality to be injurious to all their neighbours. Note, Many that live in pomp and at ease themselves care not what straits those about them are reduced to, so they may but have every thing to their mind. Those that are at ease, and the proud, grudge that any body should live by them with any comfort. But this as not all; they not only robbed the poor, to make them poorer, but were troublesome to the sick and weak of the flock (Eze_34:21): They thrust with side and shoulder those that were feeble (for the weakest goes to the wall) and pushed the diseased with their horns, because they knew they could be too hard for them, when they durst not meddle with their match. It has been observed concerning sheep that if one of the flock be sick and faint the rest will secure it as well as they can, and shelter it from the scorching heat of the sun; but these, on the contrary, were most injurious to the diseased. Those that they could not serve themselves of they did what they could to rid the country of, and so scattered them abroad, as if the poor, whom, Christ says, we must have always with us, were public nuisances, not to be relieved, but sent far away from us. Note, It is a barbarous thing to add affliction to the afflicted. Perhaps these rams and he-goats are designed to represent the scribes and Pharisees, for they are such troublers of the church as Christ himself must come to deliver it from, Eze_34:23. They devoured widows' houses, took away the key of knowledge, corrupted the pure water of divine truths, and oppressed the consciences of men with the traditions of the elders, besides that they were continually vexatious and injurious to the poor of the flock that waited on the Lord, Zec_11:11. Note, It is no new thing for the flock of God to receive a great deal of damage and mischief from those that are themselves of the flock, and in eminent stations in it, Act_20:30.

JAMISON, "you, ... my flock — passing from the rulers to the people.cattle and cattle — rather, “sheep and sheep”; Margin, “small cattle,” or “flocks of lambs and kids,” that is, I judge between one class of citizens and another, so as to award what is right to each. He then defines the class about to be punitively “judged,” namely, “the rams and he-goats,” or “great he-goats” (compare Isa_14:9, Margin; Zec_10:3; Mat_25:32, Mat_25:33). They answer to “the fat and strong,” as opposed to the “sick” (Eze_34:16). The rich and ungodly of the people are meant, who imitated the bad rulers in oppressing their poorer brethren, as if it enhanced their own joys to trample on others’ rights (Eze_34:18).

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TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:17 And [as for] you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.

Ver. 17. And as for you, O my flock.] I have a saying to you also, such as are unruly especially, as well as to your shepherds.

Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle.] Between sincere Christians and hypocrites, sheep and goats; and can soon shed them, and show them to the world, who are fierce rams, and who are nasty goats. At last day, howsoever, all shall out, and a separation shall be made. The precious shall be taken out from the vile.

POOLE, “ I judge between cattle and cattle; make a different estimate and judgment between men and men, between the smaller and weaker that need more tenderness, and the greater and stronger whose violence is to be restrained; and as becomes me, and their different state requires, I will do.

Rams; the hieroglyphic of rulers in their authority, humours, and carriage towards their subjects, who are also observed and shall be dealt with accordingly, when God makes good all this his word.

PETT, “Verse 17

“But as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold I will judge between cattle and cattle, as well the rams as the he-goats. Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture. And to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my sheep, they eat what you have trodden with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”

The wider under-leadership are likened to the rams and the he-goats, lords of the flock. They fed themselves on good pasture and clear water and then trampled the

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pasture down and muddied the water. They did not care what happened to the remainder of the flock. So God’s people continually received tainted teaching and the harder side of life, while the rich prospered.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:17

Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle. It may be worth while to note, as modern English usage tends to limit the range of the word, that it is commonly used in the Old Testament of sheep rather than of kine (Genesis 30:34-42; Genesis 31:8-12). In Genesis 30:32 we have the same Hebrew word as that which Ezekiel uses. Between the rams and the he-goats. The words, at first, seem to point to a division like that of Matthew 25:32, and may, perhaps, have suggested it. Here, however, the contrast lies, not between the sheep and goats as such, but between the strong and the weak of each class. The "rams" are as much the object of the shepherd's discipline of judgment as the "he-goats." Both stand as the representative of the rapacious self-seeking classes who oppressed the poor and needy, and, not content with being the first to feed on the pastures and to drink of the waters, trampled on the former and defiled the latter. So in the next verse the contrast lies between the "fat cattle," whether sheep or goats, and the "lean."

18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet.

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CLARKE, "Have eaten up the good pasture - Arrogate to yourselves all the promises of God, and will hardly permit the simple believer to claim or possess any token of God’s favor.

Ye must foul the residue with your feet? - Ye abuse God’s mercies; you consume much upon yourselves, and ye spoil more, on which the poor would have been glad to feed. There are some who would rather give food to their sporting dogs than to the poor around them, who are ready to starve, and who would be glad of the crumbs that fall from the table of those masters!

GILL, "Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture,.... This is directed to the rams and he goats, to the people of power and wealth, or who had the key of knowledge and instruction; who, by their conduct, showed as if it was not enough for them to eat and drink the best of things themselves, to enjoy their wealth and riches, and keep their posts of honour and profit, and the revenues of them, in church and state: but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? but they must oppress the poor, by taking away from them that little they have; or by making their lives uncomfortable to them, by their severities and exactions; so that that small pittance they had, they cannot enjoy with any pleasure, The allusion is to beasts in pasture, which tread down and put dung what they do not eat, which makes what is left unfit for others; and to cattle, at ponds of water, which having drank, foul the rest with their feet; as camels particularly are said to do; so that others cannot drink after them, at least not so agreeably: this may be applied to the Scribes and Pharisees, and such as they were, who devoured widows' houses, and made void the word and commandments of God, by their traditions; teaching for doctrines the commandments of men; and so polluted the pure waters of the sanctuary; defiled the Scriptures of truth, and delivered out such doctrines as were not food and drink to the souls of men, and yet were obliged to receive them; and such are heretical persons, who sometimes arise out of the churches, are a part of the flock, that corrupt the word of God, pervert the Scriptures, and handle them deceitfully; and may be said to tread down and trample upon the wholesome truths of the Gospel, and to muddy the clear doctrines of grace; so that the children of God cannot, as they desire, have the pure, unmixed, sincere milk of the word.

JAMISON 18-19, "Not content with appropriating to their own use the goods of others, they from mere wantonness spoiled what they did not use, so as to be of no use to the owners.

deep waters — that is, “limpid,” as deep waters are generally clear. Grotius explains the image as referring to the usuries with which the rich ground the poor (Eze_22:12; Isa_24:2).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:18 [Seemeth it] a small thing unto you to have eaten up the

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good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

Ver. 18. Seemeth it a small thing unto you.] Extenuant hypocritae suam culpam honesto titulo. (a) Hypocrites make the best and the least of their sins, which good men acknowledge with aggravation; but the works of the flesh are manifest. And here we have a lively picture of the Popish clergy, who eat up the best, and tread down the rest, et pro salutaribus aquis suam salivam hominibus obtrudunt, and for wholesome, obtrude brackish waters upon men to quench their thirst,

POOLE, “ God awakens them by this interrogatory to think first, and then speak what this is. When you are full fed, and others hungry and ready to starve, who might live on that you leave if you did not spoil it, do you think such killing is no crime? Is it not a very great cruelty, and a most barbarous inhumanity? You great ones, who have much more than others, partly by the bounty of the Lord of the sheep, and partly by your injustice and rapine, you eat the fat and sweet, and what you cannot eat you waste and spoil; and what would you say, if your proud, fat, and spiteful servants in your houses should do so to their weaker, leaner, and modester servants?

The deep waters; which are clear to the eye and pleasant, which are sweet to their palate, which are wholesome to the drinker.

Ye must foul the residue with your feet; in spite as much as wantonness you stamp in them, raise all the mud from the bottom, that makes the waters unfit to be drunk: is this a trivial thing thus to starve and choke those you should feed and refresh? Such hath been the carriage of you rich, powerful, ruling, and governing part of my people, who have been forced either to live on what you made unwholesome and noxious, or to starve at home, or seek somewhat abroad; this hath destroyed many and dispersed more, but I will not always wink at and bear this.

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19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

GILL, "And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet,.... They are forced to do it, not being able to come at any thing else; being as sheep without a shepherd, or worse: and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet; which, as it cannot be agreeable and relishing, so neither wholesome; as the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees; the traditions of the elders; the false doctrines of false teachers, whose words eat as do a canker. The Targum of the whole verse is, "and my people eat the residue of the food of your ministers, and drink the residue of the drink of your ministers.''

JAMISON, "they eat — scantily.they drink — sorrowfully.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:19 And [as for] my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

Ver. 19. And as for my flock, they eat.] The poor, misled, and muzzled people are glad to eat such as they can catch. They are fed with traditions, legendary fables, indulgences, vowed pilgrimages, penances, &c. If Luther had not come in our way, say they, we could have persuaded the people to have eaten grass.

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20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

BARNES, "Yahweh having promised to be a Ruler of His people, the administration of the divine kingdom is now described, as carried on by One King, the representative of David, whose dominion should fulfill all the promises originally made to the man after God’s own heart. Ezekiel does not so much add to, as explain and develope, the original promise; and as the complete fulfillment of the spiritual blessings, which the prophets were guided to proclaim, was manifestly never realized in any temporal prosperity of the Jews, and never could and never can be realized in any earthly kingdom, we recognize throughout the Sacred Volume the one subject of all prophecy - the Righteous King, the Anointed Prince, the Son and the Lord of David.

CLARKE, "I will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle -Between the rich and the poor; those who fare sumptuously every day and those who have not the necessaries of life.

GILL, "Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them,.... To the rams and he goats of the flock, that use the pastures and defile the waters after this manner, and make them unfit for the lesser cattle; or that use the poor people of God after this sort: behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. The Targum is, "between the rich man and the poor man;'' this is repeated, and in very strong terms, for the confirmation of it: this the Lord promised to do, and he has done it by his son, to whom he committed all judgment; and who, in the days of his flesh, made a difference between those who were full of themselves, self-righteous persons; who were self-sufficient, and needed not repentance, nor any other righteousness but their own; who trusted in themselves, and despised others: and may be meant by the "fat cattle": and between those who were low and mean in their own eyes, humble and meek, weary and heavy laden, hungering and thirsting

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after the righteousness of another: now for judgment did Christ come, that they which see not might see, and those who saw might be made blind; he called the one, and not the other, to repentance; made known the things of the Gospel to babes, and hid them from the wise and prudent; rejected the one, and had compassion on the other; see Joh_5:22, and when he comes a second time, he will judge between these, and separate them; and set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left, Mat_25:31.

JAMISON, "fat ... lean — the rich oppressors ... the humble poor.

COFFMAN, “"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it."

"Ye thrust with side and shoulder ..." (Ezekiel 34:21). The message here is that human beings, some of them, behave exactly like hungry animals shoving and jostling one another in the feed lot.

The reference is to the shameful and outrageous conduct of the upper classes of society in their greedy denial of the rights of the poor and needy. Here Ezekiel takes his place among such prophets as Hosea, Amos, and others who demanded that the principles of social justice be received and practiced among God's people.

"Between sheep and sheep ..." (Ezekiel 34:20). These words reveal that this paragraph, like the one before it, is still speaking of the judgment, not merely of the evil rulers, but of the sheep themselves.

"One shepherd over them ... even my servant David ..." (Ezekiel 34:23). Some commentators still cling to the notion that "a line of rulers," rather than an individual personal Messiah, is suggested by certain Old Testament passages; and such suggestions cannot be completely denied. However, for those who must find

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multiple shepherds (kings) in these ancient prophecies, they like every things else prophesied are to be found in the Church of Jesus Christ alone, and nowhere else.

All Christians are "kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6, KJV). The twelve apostles are upon twelve thrones reigning with Christ throughout the dispensation (Matthew 19:28); and the elders of God's church actually have received that glorious designation, "Shepherds." The word `shepherd,' pastor in the Greek, is one of the New Testament terms for elder; thus all elders are "kings" in the sense of ruling under "The Chief Shepherd" (1 Peter 5:1-4). As Paul expressed it, "If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him."

This fully takes care of the impression that their are multiple kings suggested.

Nevertheless, it is an indisputable fact that absolutely all of the great blessings promised here did not appear under the "kingship" of any human Davidic successor. They were never even partially realized in the temporary prosperity of the Jews, "Nor can they ever be realized in any earthly kingdom. All of these prophecies point to the One Subject of all Prophecy, The Righteous King, the Anointed Prince, the Son of God, the Son of David, and the Lord of David."[14]

It is surprising that a Christian scholar should raise a quibble over the fact of David's being referred to in Ezekiel 34:24 as "prince," stating, that, "The leader of the ideal theocracy would be `a prince' rather than `a king.'"[15] How could he have overlooked the God-given name of the Seed of the Virgin, which includes the designation, "Prince of Peace!" (Isaiah 9:6). It is a truth well known to the scholarship of all mankind that, "'Prince' instead of `king' is Ezekiel's usual designation of the ruler of the future, as in Ezekiel 45; Ezekiel 46."[16] Besides that, the mention of the 'covenant of peace' in the next verse, which is undoubtedly a reference to the New Covenant under Christ, made it extremely appropriate for Ezekiel to use the term `prince' in Ezekiel 34:24. If any further proof of this was needed, it is available in Ezekiel 37, "Where the name `king' is used three times in a peculiarly effective manner as titles of `The Messianic prince.' There is no reason whatever to suppose that Ezekiel saw some kind of a distinction between `prince' and `king.'"[17] Ezekiel used the terms interchangeably.

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"Christ as the Good Shepherd (equivalent to Jehovah) and as `The Son of David' completely fulfills, not merely these prophecies here, but those of 2 Samuel 7:13; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Micah 5:2-4; Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 9:25-26; and many others."[18] In fact, it is no exaggeration at all to affirm that Jesus Christ as the Holy Messiah fulfills every one of the 333 prophecies concerning him in the entire Old Testament.

The two great Types of the Son of God in the Old Testament are Moses and David; and it is hardly a coincidence that both David and Moses were shepherds.

The notion that "The Davidic monarchy will be continued, but the monarch will have a real shepherd's heart,"[19] must be rejected. Jeconiah was the final end of the earthly dynasty of David, and Jeremiah categorically prophesied that no descendent of his should ever again rule in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:30). (See my commentary on this in Volume II of our Major Prophets Series." Not even Christ could have inherited the throne of David if he had been the literal son of Joseph (who was descended from Coniah); but as his adopted son, the ban of Jeconiah's posterity did not affect our Lord.

"One shepherd over them ..." (Ezekiel 34:23). Still another error is founded on this mention of "one shepherd." Feinberg supposed that this meant, "There would be the need of only one shepherd for the united nation."[20] What is indicated here is not the reunion of the Northern and Southern sinful kingdoms of the old racial Israel, but the uniting of all men, Jews and Gentiles alike in Jesus Christ. Of course, that is exactly what Feinberg may have intended, but the erroneous understanding of it prevails with some.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, [even] I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

Ver. 20. I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle.] These are, saith Augustine, those that presume of their own strength, and boast of their own righteousness, being

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proud, insolent, and void of charity.

POOLE, “ I, even I: see Ezekiel 34:11,17. I am judge by office and I will vindicate and right the poor by judgment.

The fat cattle; the rich, voluptuous, and wanton ones.

The lean cattle; the poor and indigent, that are despised, oppressed, and injured; thus the Chaldee paraphrase, between the rich man and the poor man.

21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away,

GILL, "fat ... lean — the rich oppressors ... the humble poor.

JAMISON, "scattered them abroad — down to the time of the carrying away to Babylon [Grotius].

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;

Ver. 21. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder,] (a) i.e., With pretence 100

of law on your side, and with power in your hand to do what you list; for who can withstand you?

And pushed all the diseased with your horns,] i.e., With your excommunications and persecutions. See Isaiah 66:5.

Till ye have scattered them abroad.] For how should they abide it? They drive them out of the fold, flock, pasture, so that they must either fly or die.

22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.

GILL, "Therefore will I save my flock,.... Or redeem my people, as the Targum; that is, by his son, after described, as his shepherd and servant: and they shall no more be a prey: to Satan the roaring lion; nor to such horned cattle, their persecutors; nor to false teachers, who lie in wait to deceive; nor shall they ever perish, being the sheep of Christ, hand, and under the care of him the shepherd, spoken of in the next verse: and I will judge between cattle and cattle; between man and man, as the Targum; that is, between good and bad men, the persecutors and the persecuted. See Gill on Eze_34:17. See Gill on Eze_34:20.

HENRY, ". Comfort spoken to those of the flock that are poor and feeble, and that wait for the consolation of Israel (Eze_34:22): “I will save my flock, and they shall no more be spoiled as they have been by the beasts of prey, by their own shepherds or by the rams and he-goats among themselves.” Upon this occasion, as is usual in the

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prophets, comes in a prediction of the coming of the Messiah, and the setting up of his kingdom, and the exceedingly great and precious benefits which the church should enjoy under the protection and influence of that kingdom. Observe what is here foretold,

JAMISON, "After the restoration from Babylon, the Jews were delivered in some degree from the oppression, not only of foreigners, but also of their own great people (Neh_5:1-19). The full and final fulfillment of this prophecy is future.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

Ver. 22. Therefore will I save my flock,] viz., By Christ the true shepherd, who once found out him whom the Jews had unjustly excommunicated, [John 9:35] and gave him encouragement. He knows all his sheep by name, {as Exodus 33:12; Exodus 33:17} and hath promised them safety here, and salvation hereafter. [John 10:27] It is not with the saints, as Isaiah 31:4, or as Amos 3:12, but as Jeremiah 31:10-12.

POOLE, “In the 21st verse these metaphors and allusions do express the unmercifulness, injustice, pride, cruelty, and wanton tyranny of the rulers in church and state against the meaner people, that as you see the greater cattle run against the lesser, and overturning, or laming, some way or other hurting them, by shouldering against them; or as horned cattle wound and tear the weaker, and make them run for it; so had these rulers used their power to the hurt and scattering of the people. Because I see they destroy who he should defend, I will interpose; they will not, but I will, be kind, just, and faithful to my people and promise; I will save from foreign violence and home oppressions. See Ezekiel 34:2,5,10,17.

23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.

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BARNES, "Eze_34:23One shepherd - One, as ruling over an undivided people, the distinction between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah having been done away.My servant David - David was a fit type of the True King because he was a true and faithful servant of Yahweh. That which David was partially and imperfectly, Christ is in full perfection (compare Mat_12:18; Joh_5:30; Heb_10:7.)

CLARKE, "I will set up one Shepherd - my servant David - David, king of Israel, had been dead upwards of four hundred years; and from that time till now there never was a ruler of any kind, either in the Jewish church or state, of the name of David. This, then, must be some typical person; and from the texts marked in the margin we understand that Jesus Christ alone is meant, as both Old and New Testaments agree in this. And from this one Shepherd all Christian ministers must derive their authority to teach, and their grace to teach effectually.

By the kind providence of God it appears that he has not permitted any apostolic succession to be preserved, lest the members of his Church should seek that in an uninterrupted succession which must be found in the Head alone. The papists or Roman Catholics, who boast of an uninterrupted succession, which is a mere fable that never was and never can be proved, have raised up another head, the Pope. And I appeal to themselves, in the fear of God, whether they do not in heart and in speech trace up all their authority to him, and only compliment Christ as having appointed Peter to be the first bishop of Rome, (which is an utter falsity, for he was never appointed to such an office there, nor ever held such an office in that city, nor, in their sense, any where else); and they hold also that the popes of Rome are not so much Peter’s successors as God’s vicars; and thus both God and Peter are nearly lost sight of in their papal enumerations. With them the authority of the Church is all in all; the authority of Christ is seldom mentioned.

GILL, "And I will set up one shepherd over them,.... Or governor, as the Targum; an excellent one of a thousand, the only one; in comparison of whom others are not to be named; for though there are under shepherds, as magistrates and ministers of the word, he is the principal one; that is, Christ, called the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, and the chief Shepherd, and the only one; and who became so by the constitution and appointment of Jehovah the Father; who chose him, called him, and intrusted him with all his sheep: who sent him to seek and save his lost sheep; for whom he died, rose again, and is accountable: he is more particularly called the one Shepherd, with respect to Jew and Gentile; see Joh_10:16, and he shall feed them; the flock, even the poor of the flock, thrust at and pushed by

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others: he shall feed them by his ministers, as under shepherds in his churches, where his word is preached, and his ordinances are administered; he shall feed them with himself, the bread of life; with his flesh and blood, which are meat and drink indeed; with covenant grace, blessings, and promises; with the Gospel, and the doctrines of it; he feeds his babes with milk, his strong men with meat, and all with the wholesome words of faith and good doctrine, whereby he nourishes them up to everlasting life; and this he shall do, not by force, but willingly: it denotes the certainty of it; it may be depended on: even my servant David; not David himself literally; who though a shepherd, and the servant of the Lord, yet had been dead many years before this prophecy was delivered; nor Zerubbabel, who was of his seed; for though a servant of the Lord, and a prince or governor of Judah, yet not a king, and much less a king or prince for ever; as this person is said to be, Eze_37:24, but the Messiah, as is expressly owned by Kimchi; who says, this is the Messiah that shall arise from his seed in the time of salvation: he is called David because his name agrees with him, which signifies "beloved", he being beloved of God and man; and because the son of David, of his seed according to the flesh; and because David was an eminent type of him, in his person, offices, afflictions, wars, victories, and exaltation; and because he was David's Lord and representative, and in whom his everlasting kingdom is established. The same is called the servant of the Lord, as he often is in Scripture, being so in his office capacity as Mediator; and because he took upon him the form of a servant; did the work of one; and was of the Lord's choosing, calling, supporting, and glorifying: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd; which is repeated for the greater confirmation of it.

HENRY, " Concerning the Messiah himself. (1.) He shall have his commission from God himself: I will set him up (Eze_34:23); I will raise him up, Eze_34:29. He sanctified and sealed him, appointed and anointed him. (2.) He shall be the great Shepherd of the sheep, who shall do that for his flock which no one else could do. He is the one Shepherd, under whom Jews and Gentiles should be one fold. (3.) He is God's servant,employed by him and for him, and doing all in obedience to his will, with an eye to his glory - his servant, to re-establish his kingdom among men and advance the interests of that kingdom. (4.) He is David, one after God's own heart, set as his King upon the holy hill of Zion, made the head of the corner, with whom the covenant of royalty is made, and to whom God would give the throne of his father David. He is both the root and offspring of David. (5.) He is the plant of renown, because a righteous branch (Jer_23:5), a branch of the Lord, that is beautiful and glorious, Isa_4:2. He has a name above every name, a throne above every throne, and may therefore well be called a branch of renown. Some understand it of the church, the planting of the Lord, Isa_61:3. Its name shall be remembered (Psa_45:17) and Christ's in it.

JAMISON, "set up — that is, raise up by divine appointment; alluding to the declaration of God to David, “I will set up thy seed after thee” (2Sa_7:12); and, “Yet have I set My king on My holy hill of Zion” (Psa_2:6; compare Act_2:30; Act_13:23).

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one shepherd — literally, “a Shepherd, one”: singularly and pre-eminently one: the only one of His kind, to whom none is comparable (Son_5:10). The Lord Jesus refers to this prophecy (Joh_10:14), “I am THE Good Shepherd.” Also “one” as uniting in one the heretofore divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and also “gathering together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth” (Eph_1:10); thus healing worse breaches than that between Israel and Judah (Col_1:20). “God by Him reconciling all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or in heaven.”David — the antitypical David, Messiah, of the seed of David, which no other king after the captivity was: who was fully, what David was only in a degree, “the man after God’s own heart.” Also, David means beloved: Messiah was truly God’s beloved Son (Isa_42:1; Mat_3:17). Shepherd means King, rather than religious instructor; in this pre-eminently He was the true David, who was the Shepherd King (Luk_1:32, Luk_1:33). Messiah is called “David” in Isa_55:3, Isa_55:4; Jer_30:9; Hos_3:5.

K&D 23-31, "Appointment of David as Shepherd, and Blessing of the PeopleEze_34:23. And I will raise up one shepherd over them, who shall feed them, my servant David; he will feed them, and he will be to them a shepherd. Eze_34:24. And I, Jehovah, will be God to them, and my servant David prince in the midst of them: I, Jehovah, have spoken it. Eze_34:25. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and destroy the evil beasts out of the land, so that they will dwell safely in the desert and sleep in the forests. Eze_34:26. And I will make them and the places round my hill a blessing, and cause the rain to fall in its season: showers of blessing shall there be. Eze_34:27. The tree of the field will give its fruit, and the land will give its produce, and they will be safe in their land, and will know that I am Jehovah, when I break their yoke-bars in pieces, and deliver them out of the hand of those who made them servants. Eze_34:28. They will be no more a prey to the nations, and the wild beasts will not devour them; but they will dwell safely, and no one will terrify them. Eze_34:29. And I will raise up for them a plantation for a name, so that they will no more be swept away by famine in the land, and shall no longer bear the disgrace of the heathen nations. Eze_34:30. And they shall know that I, Jehovah, their God, am with them, and they are my people, the house of Israel, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze_34:31. And ye are my sheep, the flock of my pasture; ye are men, I am your God, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - God will cause to stand up, raise up, one single shepherd over His flock. ֵהִקים, the standing expression for the rising up of a person in history through the

interposition of God (cf. Deu_18:15; 2Sa_7:12, and other passages). ֹרֶעה, not unicus, singularis, a shepherd unique in his kind, but one shepherd, in contrast not only with the many bad shepherds, but with the former division of the people into two kingdoms, each with its own separate king. Compare Eze_37:24 with Jer_28:6, where it is expressly said that the David to be raised up is to feed Israel and Judah, the two peoples that had been divided before. “My servant David:” Jehovah calls him ַעְבִּדי, not merely with reference to the obedience rendered (Hävernick), but also with regard to his election (Isa_42:1; Hengstenberg). There is no necessity to refute the assertion of Hitzig, David Strauss, and others, that Ezekiel expected the former King David to be raised from the dead. The reference is to the sprout of David (Jer_23:5), already called simply David in Hos_3:5 and Jer_30:9. In Eze_34:24 the relation of Jehovah to this David is more precisely defined: Jehovah will then be God to His people, and David be prince in the

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midst of them. The last words point back to 2Sa_7:8. Through the government of David, Jehovah will become in truth God of His people Israel; for David will feed the people in perfect unity with Jehovah, - will merely carry out the will of Jehovah, and not place himself in opposition to God, like the bad shepherds, because, as is therewith presupposed, he is connected with God by unity of nature.In Eze_34:25. the thought is carried out still further, - how God will become God to His people, and prove Himself to be its covenant God through the pastoral fidelity of the future David. God will fully accomplish the covenant mercies promised to Israel. The making of the covenant of peace need not be restricted, in accordance with Hos_2:20(18), to a covenant which God would make with the beasts in favour of His people. The thought is a more comprehensive one here, and, according to Lev_26:4-6, the passage which Ezekiel had in his mind involves all the salvation which God had included in His promises to His people: viz., (1) the extermination of everything that could injure Israel, of all the wild beasts, so that they would be able to sleep securely in the deserts and the forests (Eze_34:25, compare Lev_26:6); (2) the pouring out of an abundant rain, so that the field and land would yield rich produce (Eze_34:26, Eze_34:27; cf. Lev_26:4-5). “I

make them, the Israelites, and the surroundings of my hill, a blessing.” ִּגְבָעִתי, the hill of Jehovah, is, according to Isa_31:4, Mount Zion, the temple-mountains, including the city of Jerusalem. The surroundings of this hill are the land of Israel, that lay around it. But Zion, with the land around, is not mentioned in the place of the inhabitants; and still less are we to understand by the surroundings of the hill the heathen nations, as Hengstenberg does, in opposition both to the context and the usage of the language. The thought is simply that the Lord will make both the people and the land a blessing (Hävernick, Kliefoth). ְּבָרָכה, a blessing, is stronger than “blessed” (cf. Gen_12:2). The blessing is brought by the rain in its season, which fertilizes the earth. This will take place when the Lord breaks the yokes laid upon His people. These words are from Lev_26:13, where they refer to the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt; and they are transferred by Ezekiel to the future redemption of Israel from the bondage of the heathen. For ֹעְבִדים , compare Exo_1:14. This thought is carried out still further in Eze_34:28; and then, in Eze_34:29, all that has been said is summed up in the thoughts, “I raise up for them a plantation for a name,” etc. ַמָּטע, a plantation, as in Eze_17:7; not a land for planting (Hitzig). ְלֵׁשם, for a name, i.e., not for the glory of God (De Wette); but the plantation, which the Lord will cause to grow by pouring down showers of blessing (Eze_34:26), is to bring renown to the Israelites, namely, among the heathen, who will see from this that Israel is a people blessed by its God. This explanation of the words is supplied by the following clause: they shall no more be swept away by famine in the land, and no more bear the disgrace of the heathen, i.e., the disgrace which the heathen heaped upon Israel when in distress (compare Zep_3:19; Jer_13:11; and the primary passage, Deut. 26:29). From this blessing they will learn that Jehovah their God is with them, and Israel is His people. The promise concludes in Eze_34:31 with these words, which set a seal upon the whole: “Ye are my flock, the flock of my pasture (lit., my pasture-flock; צֹאן , Jer_23:1, the flock fed by God Himself); men are ye, I am your God.” That these last words to not serve merely as an explanation of the figurative expression “flock,” is a fact of which no proof is needed. The figure of a flock was intelligible to every one. The words “call attention to the depth and greatness of the divine condescension, and meet the objection of men of weak faith, that man, who is taken from the earth ָהֲאָדָמה, and returns to it again, is incapable of so intimate a connection with God”

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(Hengstenberg).If we take another survey, in conclusion, of the contents of our prophecy, the following are the three features of the salvation promised to the people of Israel: - (1) The Lord will liberate His people from the hand of the bad shepherds, and He Himself will feed it as His flock; (2) He will gather it together from its dispersion, bring it back to the land of Israel and feed it there, will take charge of the sheep in need of help, and destroy the fat and strong sheep by which the weak ones are oppressed; (3) He will raise up the future David for a shepherd, and under his care He will bestow upon His people the promised covenant blessings in richest measure. These saving acts of God for His people, however, are not depicted according to their several details and historical peculiarities, as Kliefoth has correctly observed, nor are they narrated in the chronological order in which they would follow one another in history; but they are grouped together according to their general design and character, and their essential features. If, then, we seek for the fulfilment, the Lord raised up His servant David as a shepherd to Israel, by sending Jesus Christ, who came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luk_19:10; Mat_18:11), and who calls Himself the Good Shepherd with obvious reference to this and other prophetic declarations of a similar kind (Joh_10:11.). But the sending of Christ was preceded by the gathering of Israel out of the Babylonian exile, by which God had already taken charge of His flock, Yet, inasmuch as only a small portion of Israel received the Messiah, who appeared in Jesus, as its shepherd, there fell upon the unbelieving Israel a new judgment of dispersion among all nations, which continues still, so that a gathering together still awaits the people of Israel at some future time. No distinction is made in the prophecy before us between these two judgments of dispersion, which are associated with the twofold gathering of Israel; but they are grouped together as one, so that although their fulfilment commenced with the deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian captivity and the coming of Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd of the family of David, it was only realized in that portion of Israel, numerically the smallest portion, which was willing to be gathered and fed by Jesus Christ, and the full realization will only be effected when that conversion of Israel shall take place, which the Apostle Paul foretells in Rom_11:25. - For further remarks on the ultimate fulfilment, we refer the reader to a later page.

COKE, “Ezekiel 34:23. And I will set up one shepherd— That is, Jesus Christ, the true shepherd, who has given himself this name both in the Prophets and in the Gospel; and who has perfectly fulfilled all the duties, the characters whereof have been before described. He is called David, because our Saviour sprung from David according to the flesh; because he possessed eminently and really all those qualities which the Scripture gives to David as the type of the Messiah; and because he was the person in whom all the promises made to David were fulfilled. Though this prophesy was, in a great measure, completed, when Christ, by the preaching of the Gospel, gathered into one the children of God, among whom were many of the lost sheep of Israel; yet it will receive a farther completion at the general conversion of the Jews. See Calmet.

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TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, [even] my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

Ver. 23. And I will set up one shepherd.] Who, indeed, is the only shepherd. Magistrates and ministers are shepherds; but Christ is the "good shepherd"; [John 10:11] the "great shepherd and bishop of souls"; [1 Peter 2:25 Hebrews 13:20] the true shepherd, above all for skill, love, and power; above Jacob, above David, of whom he descended, and by whose name he is here called. {so Jeremiah 30:9 Hosea 3:5 Ezekiel 37:24}

Even my servant David,] i.e., Christ, the son and successor of David, not David George as that odious heretic who died at Basil blasphemously applied this text to himself, as if he had been the man here intended. The Jews themselves confess that Messiah is here meant.

He shall feed them.] This is thus repeated, as that which containeth a world of comfort. It showeth also that Christ will do it to the utmost. Jacob was a sedulous shepherd; Christ much more.

SIMEON, "Verse 23-24

DISCOURSE: 1115

DAVID A TYPE OF CHRIST

Ezekiel 34:23-24. I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have

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spoken it.

THERE is nothing so comforting to an afflicted soul, as to contemplate the promises of God: indeed they were given to us for this very purpose, that they might be our support and consolation in the time of trouble. The same may be observed with respect to the prophecies that relate to Christ; they were delivered to the Church in seasons of peculiar trial, as encouragements to the saints to hold fast their profession. It was under circumstances of this nature, that the glorious prophecy before us was revealed. Both the ecclesiastical and civil governors of Israel had greatly oppressed the poor, and especially the godly: but God afforded them seasonable support, by declaring, that he would not only espouse their cause, but would raise up to them a Shepherd, and a Governor of a very different description, even the Messiah himself, who should redress all their wrongs, and bring them into the possession of perfect happiness.

Such being the occasion of the words, we proceed to consider them,

I. As fulfilled at the first coming of our Lord—

It is undoubtedly the Messiah that is here called “David”—

[David himself had been dead many hundred years; nor has there been any other person after him, to whom this appellation was ever given. But Christ is frequently spoken of in the prophets by the name of David [Note: Jeremiah 30:9. Ezekiel 37:24-25.]; and to him the characters, here annexed to that name, most eminently belong. He is called by that name, because David was a very distinguished type of him. David was chosen by God from a very low state, and was anointed to be king over Israel. He was also made a prophet of the Most High God; and, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, often spake as actually personating the Messiah himself. Many parts of his heavenly compositions, though apparently intended respecting himself, have indeed no reference to himself at all, except as he was a type of Christ, in whom the very things predicted were literally fulfilled [Note: Psalms 22:18; Psalms 69:21.]. And so exact was the correspondence between the type and antitype,

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that Christ, springing “from the root of Jesse,” “as a root out of the dry ground [Note: Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 53:2.],” and “anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows [Note: Psalms 45:7.],” was born (according to the predictions) in the very place of David’s nativity [Note: Micah 5:2. with Matthew 2:5-6.], was constituted a prophet like unto him, and was raised to “the throne of his father David [Note: Luke 1:32.].]

He sustains the offices that are here assigned him—

[Like his honoured representative, he was to be a shepherd. David, in his early youth, followed the occupation of a shepherd, and repeatedly exposed his life to most imminent danger in defence of the flock entrusted to him [Note: 1 Samuel 17:34-35.]. And, after he became a king, he still figuratively at least sustained the same office, “feeding his people, according to the integrity of his heart, and guiding them by the skilfulness of his hands [Note: Psalms 78:70-72.].” But he, whom David typified, was in a far more exalted sense, “the great Shepherd of the sheep [Note: Hebrews 13:20.].” He not only exposed, but willingly sacrificed, his life for his sheep [Note: John 10:11.]: nor can a juster description of him be conveyed in words, than that which is given us in the preceding context [Note: Ezekiel 34:11-16.]: He is incessantly “seeking the lost, bringing back that which has been driven away, binding up the broken, strengthening the sick,” and administering to the necessities of all. He is also, like David, a prince. The promises of David’s exaltation were at last fulfilled, and he was seated on the throne, to which he had been appointed. He did indeed meet with innumerable conflicts in his way to it: at one time, we see him encountering Goliath; at another, fleeing from the murderous attacks of Saul: yea, he was even driven from his kingdom by his own nearest relative, and treasonably sacrificed by his most familiar friend; in consequence of which, he fled weeping over that very brook Kidron, over which his Lord passed afterwards to crucifixion. But God preserved him from every danger, and made him “Head over Israel,” and “the heathen” too [Note: Psalms 18:43.]. Thus it was also that Christ was raised to his throne: He had scarcely made his appearance in the world before he became an object of Herod’s jealousy, and was forced to seek an asylum in a heathen land [Note: Matthew 2:14-15.]. On many occasions he escaped only by a miraculous exertion of his own almighty power [Note: Luke 4:29-30.]. When his time was come, he was betrayed by one of his own disciples, who, like David’s treacherous friend, speedily went and hanged himself [Note: Psalms 69:25; Psalms 109:8. with Acts 1:20. shew Ahithophel to be in this a type of Judas.]. But, infinitely beyond David,

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was Christ “a man of sorrows;” “his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” Yet, after all, “the stone which the builders refused, was made the head-stone of the corner.” He was “exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour [Note: Acts 4:11; Acts 5:31.],” “the utmost ends of the earth were given him for his dominion;” and “of his kingdom there shall be no end [Note: Psalms 2:8. Luke 1:33.].”]

For his people also he secures the blessings that are here accorded to them—

[“God is made their God:” and this comprehends all that men or angels can receive. It is not possible for a finite imagination to conceive the full import of such an expression as this. It must certainly imply, that he will protect us from all kinds of evil, and fill us with the richest consolation both in this world, and the world to come: every perfection, which God himself possesses, shall be improved for our present benefit, and all his glory shall be enjoyed for our eternal happiness. Yet shall his most assuredly be our portion, if we be numbered among the flock of Christ. To such indeed it is that the promise in the text must be confined. As for the ungodly world, they have no prospect whatever of such a blessing: there is not one word in all the holy oracles, that warrants such a hope. But to those who believe in Christ the promises are made: to those, who have been brought into his fold, who feed in his pastures, and yield up themselves unfeignedly to his dominion, God has pledged himself to be their God. Nor shall any who seek him in his appointed way, fail to be partakers of it [Note: Ezekiel 37:24-28.].]

But we must view this prophecy,

II. As waiting for a fuller and more glorious accomplishment—

We cannot doubt but it shall be yet more abundantly fulfilled—

[Its completion in the apostolic age was very partial. The Jews themselves yet look for its accomplishment in their Messiah. Nor is the time far distant when it shall be

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fulfilled in all its glorious extent [Note: Isaiah 29:17.] — — — The Lord Jesus will gather his people from every quarter of the globe [Note: Hosea 3:5. Jeremiah 32:37-41.] — — — He will feed them in green pastures, and rule over them in Zion [Note: Isaiah 24:23.] — — — And God will manifest himself to be “their God,” with such displays of his glory, as shall far transcend any which he ever vouchsafed to his people in the days of old [Note: Isaiah 60:19-20.] — — —]

Address—

Receive now the Saviour under the characters in which he is here offered to you—

[Could we obtain mercy with God in any other way, there were the less reason for concerning ourselves about an interest in Christ. But in vain shall we attempt to ingratiate ourselves in the divine favour by any other means: we must obey the voice of that good Shepherd, and follow him: we must submit ourselves to the government of that Prince, and become his faithful subjects: then, and then only, will God acknowledge us as his people, and give himself to us as our God. Let us not then neglect the Saviour any more: let us rather go to him with one accord: let us entreat him to take us under his charge. Then, whatever may be the fate of those who are at a distance from him, we shall be delivered from our spiritual enemies; and, having suffered awhile with him, shall in due time be glorified together [Note: Romans 8:17.]. You may safely trust the promises of God.

Many hundred years before the coming of Christ was this prophecy delivered: and how exactly was it accomplished in every thing that respected Him! He was appointed our Shepherd; he was exalted to be our Prince; and to this very hour has he executed these offices in their fullest extent. Shall we doubt then whether the prophecy shall be fulfilled as it respects us? Will God refuse to be our God, when we desire to be his people? Or will he be only nominally our God, and withhold from us the blessings that are implied in that relation? Has he done what is so infinitely greater, and will he decline to do the less? Has he not “delivered up for us his only Son, and will he not with him also freely give us all things [Note: Romans 8:32.]?” We cannot doubt. He says, “I the Lord have spoken it:” we may be certain, therefore, that he will perform; since “with him is no variableness, neither shadow

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of turning.” Let us trust then, and not be afraid; and in due season we shall enjoy, “according to his covenant, the sure mercies of David [Note: Isaiah 55:3.].”]

POOLE, “ I will set; advance, establish, and make great; thus I will appoint and set up.

One shepherd: formerly their many shepherds destroyed, as Jeremiah 12:10; now this one shall save. Literally and historically Zerubbabel may be somewhat intended, but principally and plenarily, as Christ is intended here, so in him it was accomplished; for he is the great, good, chief, only Shepherd, that laid down his life for his sheep.

Feed them; give them best, most abundant, and most seasonable food, he also shall govern them in righteousness, and with equity.

My servant David; Messiah, (as Kimchi on the place,) of the seed of David, the beloved One, who was typified by David, and in other places called by this name, as Isaiah 37:35 Jeremiah 30:9 Ezekiel 37:24 Hosea 3:5.

He shall do all the office of a good and faithful shepherd, and that for ever. I will trust them in his hands, for he will keep them, that not one of them shall be lost, but shall go in and out under his hand, and find pasture.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:23

And I will set up one Shepherd over them. Here, more than ever, we have an anticipation of our Lord's teaching in John 10:1-18. He claims to be the Fulfiller, as of the prediction of Isaiah 40:11 and Jeremiah 23:1-3, so also of this. He, the "Son of David," is the David that inherits that among other promises. It has to be noted, however, that Ezekiel's words paint, less distinctly than those of the earlier prophets, the picture of an individual Messianic king, and seem rather to point, as

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do those of Zechariah 12:10 (I do not now discuss the date of that prophecy), to a line of true rulers, each faithfully representing the ideal David as the faithful Ruler, the true Shepherd of his people (Psalms 78:71; comp. Ezekiel 37:24; Ezekiel 45:8, Ezekiel 45:9).

24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.

CLARKE, "I the Lord will be their God, and my Servant David a Prince -Here we find God and his Christ are all in all in his Church, and Jesus is still Prince among them; and to him the call and qualifications of all genuine pastors belong, and from him they must be derived. And he has blotted out what is called uninterrupted succession, that every Christian minister may seek and receive credentials from himself. Here is the grand reason why the uninterrupted succession cannot be made out. And here is the proof also that the Church that pretends to it, and builds upon it, must be a false Church; for it is founded on a falsity; an uninterrupted succession which does not exist either in history or in fact.

GILL, "And I the Lord will be their God,.... The God of them Christ is the shepherd of, and whom he feeds; the sheep and poor of the flock: this is the great blessing of the everlasting covenant, and than which there cannot be a greater, to have the Lord, the everlasting and unchangeable Jehovah, to be a covenant God and Father: and my servant David a Prince among them; who should reside among them, dwell with them, by granting them his spiritual presence, and so rule over them, protect and defend them; even he who is the Prince of the kings of the earth, and is exalted, a Prince and a Saviour of his people Israel; he is such a Shepherd as that he is a Prince; and such a Prince as that he is a Saviour and under whose princely government is the greatest safety: I the Lord have spoken it; and therefore it shall assuredly be. The Targum is,

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"I the Lord have decreed it in my word;'' he had determined it within himself, and promised it in covenant, and spoke of it in prophecy, and it should be fulfilled.

HENRY 24-28, "Concerning the great charter by which the kingdom of the Messiah should be incorporated, and upon which it should be founded (Eze_34:25): I will make with them a covenant of peace. The covenant of grace is a covenant of peace. In it God is at peace with us, speaks peace to us, and assures us of peace, of all good, all the good we need to make us happy. The tenour of this covenant is: “I the Lord will be their God, a God all-sufficient to them (Eze_34:24), will own them and will be owned by them; in order to this my servant David shall be a prince among them, to reduce them to their allegiance, to receive their homage, and to reign over them, in them, and for them.” Note, Those, and those only, that have the Lord Jesus for their prince have the Lord Jehovah for their God. And then they, even the house of Israel, shall be my people. If we take God to be our God, he will take us to be his people. From this covenant between God and Israel there results communion: “I the Lord their God am with them, to converse with them; and they shall know it, and have the comfort of it.”

3. Concerning the privileges of those that are the faithful subjects of this kingdom of the Messiah and interested in the covenant of peace. These are here set forth figuratively, as the blessings of the flock. But we have a key to it, Eze_34:31. Those that belong to this flock, though they are spoken of as sheep, are really men, men that have the Lord for their God, and are in covenant with him. Now to them it is promised,(1.) That they shall enjoy a holy security under the divine protection. Christ, our good Shepherd, has caused the evil beasts to cease out of the land (Eze_34:25), having vanquished all our spiritual enemies, broken their power, and triumphed over them; the roaring lion is not a roaring devouring lion to them; they shall no more be a prey to the heathen nor the heathen a terror to them, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them. Sin and Satan, death and hell, are conquered. And then they shall dwell safely, not only in the folds, but in the fields, in the wilderness, in the woods, where the beasts of prey are; they shall not only dwell there, but they shall sleep there, which denotes not only that the beasts being made to cease there shall be no danger, but, their consciences being purified and pacified, they shall be in no apprehension of danger; not only safe from evil, but quiet from the fear of evil. Note, Those may lay down and sleep securely, sleep at ease, that have Christ for their prince; for he will be their protector, and make them to dwell in safety. None shall hurt them, nay, none shall make them afraid. If God be for us, who can be against us? Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed. Through Christ, God delivers his people not only from the things they have reason to fear, but from their fear even of death itself, from all that fear that has torment. This safety from evil is promised (Eze_34:27): They shall be safe in their land, in no danger of being invaded and enslaved, though their great plenty be a temptation to their neighbours to desire their land; and that which shall make them think themselves safe is their confidence in the wisdom, power, and goodness of God: They shall know that I am the Lord. All our disquieting fears arise from our ignorance of God and mistakes concerning him. Their experience of his particular care concerning them encourages their confidence in him: “I have broken the bands of their yoke, with which they have been brought and held down under oppression, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them, whence they shall argue, He that has delivered

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does and will, therefore will we dwell safely.” This is explained, and applied to our gospel-state, Luk_1:74. That we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, as those may do that serve him in faith.

JAMISON, "my servant — implying fitness for ruling in the name of God, not pursuing a self-chosen course, as other kings, but acting as the faithful administrator of the will of God; Messiah realized fully this character (Psa_40:7, Psa_40:8; Isa_42:1; Isa_49:3, Isa_49:6; Isa_53:11; Phi_2:7), which David typically and partially represented (Act_13:36); so He is the fittest person to wield the world scepter, abused by all the world kings (Dan_2:34, Dan_2:35, Dan_2:44, Dan_2:45).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken [it].

Ver. 24. And I the Lord will be their God.] This is that beehive of heavenly honey we so oft meet with in the Old Testament, which therefore those sectaries have so little reason to reject.

And my servant David a prince among them.] Captain of the Lord’s hosts, [Joshua 6:2] captain also of his people’s salvation, [Hebrews 2:10] Messiah the prince. [Daniel 9:25]

POOLE, “Verse 24

The Lord; the glorious, gracious, eternal One.

Will be their God; I so put them into Christ’s hand, that still I am and will be their God; yea, I will, through this my servant David, be their God.

My servant; Christ was in this great work his Father’s servant, Isaiah 42:1 52:13 Ezekiel 37:24,25. David; as Ezekiel 34:23; Christ, called David there as well as here.

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Prince; so Christ is Prince and Saviour to his church, Acts 5:31.

I the Lord have spoken it; God seals it with this as his oath unchangeable.

25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety.

CLARKE, "I will make with them a covenant of peace - The original is emphatic: וכרתי להם ברית שלום vecharatti lahem berith shalom, “And I will cut with them the peace covenant;” that is, a covenant sacrifice, procuring and establishing peace between God and man, and between man and his fellows. I need not tell the reader that the cutting refers to the ancient mode of making covenants. The blood was poured out; the animal was divided from mouth to tail, exactly in two; the divisions placed opposite to each other; the contracting parties entered into the space, going in at each end, and met in the middle, and there took the covenant oath. He is the Prince of peace, and through him come glory to God in the highest, and peace and good will to men upon earth.

And will cause the evil beasts to cease - These false and ravenous pastors. Christ purges them out of his Church, and destroys that power by which they lorded it over God’s heritage.

GILL, "And I will make with them a covenant of peace,...., Such the covenant of grace is, made with Christ from everlasting; in which Jehovah proposed terms of peace, and which Christ undertook to answer, and became the peacemaker; and from this article concerning the peace and reconciliation of men the covenant is so called; see Isa_

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54:10, this the Lord promises to make known to his people his flock, to show them their interest in it, and to make it good unto them; for otherwise it was made with Christ, and with them in Christ from all eternity. The Septuagint and Arabic versions read, "I will make with David a covenant of peace:'' and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; which was literally fulfilled when the Jews returned from Babylon; during their captivity, the land being uninhabited, evil beasts increased in it, and possessed it; but upon their return these ceased, being either destroyed, or driven away: but figuratively these design wicked men, who, for the malignity of their nature, manners, and conversation, are called evil beasts, as the Cretians were, Tit_1:12, particularly false teachers may be designed; those grievous wolves that spare not, but wrong the flock; but now shall be no more, being either forced to quit their place, or truly converted; so that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid; which will be the peaceable and comfortable state of the church in the latter day; when there will be none to hurt and destroy in the Lord's holy mountain, Isa_11:6, and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods; not only in their houses, but in the fields, and even in the wilderness, and in the woods, where wild beasts used to resort; but now being clear of all, and under the protection of such a Shepherd and Prince as David the servant of the Lord, they shall have no dread upon their mind, no fear of any danger; but dwell in the utmost security, lie down and sleep in peace and safety, the Lord sustaining them; and whom they shall serve without fear of any enemy all their days, in righteousness and holiness, being delivered out of the hands of them all.

JAMISON, "covenant of peace ... evil beasts ... to cease ... dwell safely — The original promise of the law (Lev_26:6) shall be realized for the first time fully under Messiah (Isa_11:6-9; Isa_35:9; Hos_2:18).

COFFMAN, “Verse 25"And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up unto them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame

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of the nations any more. And they shall know that I, Jehovah their God, and they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah. And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Jehovah."

THE COVENANT OF PEACE

"They shall dwell securely in the wilderness ..." (Ezekiel 34:25). Throughout the Bible, the wilderness wanderings of Israel are interpreted as typical of the church in the wilderness of her probation in this dispensation. This is another indication that the New Covenant is in view here.

All of the wonderful blessings of this paragraph are here prophesied to come to pass when that "covenant of peace" becomes effective. And what is that covenant of peace? It can be nothing else except the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-35). Plumptre discerned this; "The same thought underlies both that passage and this."[21] "`The covenant of peace'; the new age is to be marked by a new covenant."[22]

The covenant of peace came from Jesus Christ. He said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful" (John 14:27). There is nothing to compare with this in the Old Testament.

How about all of those blessings, enumerated here in terminology that would have been appreciated and helpful to the generation which received this prophecy? Of course, the racial Israel did no doubt enjoy many physical and temporal blessings upon their return to Palestine; but most of the wonderful things God promised them never happened, due to their unbelief and disobedience (See Jeremiah 18:7-10). Nevertheless, the material and physical benefits here recounted most certainly must be interpreted as symbolical of spiritual blessing in Christ.

And I will raise up unto them a plantation of renown ..." (v. 29). This, of course, is a 119

glimpse of the world-wide renown and glory of Jesus Christ the Messiah and his followers. Oh yes, there are many divisions, aberrations, animosities, and all kinds of other differences to be seen and deplored among those who seek to love and honor the Great Servant David, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ; but over and beyond all of that disfiguration of Jesus' spiritual body, accomplished through the devices of the evil one, there still shines the eternal glory of the Bright and Morning Star, the Sun of Righteousness who is risen with healing in His wings!

More great and beautiful buildings have been constructed in his name and to his honor in the last twenty years than were erected in all of the past history of mankind to all of the kings and tyrants who ever lived on earth. Every Lord's Day throughout the world, people of all races, tongues, and nations gather in millions of places to sing songs unto Him who is the Author and Finisher of our faith, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who is forever and ever Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

COKE, “Ezekiel 34:25. I will make with them a covenant of peace— The Lord Jesus Christ has procured for us a perfect peace. He is the peace predicted by Micah, ch. Ezekiel 5:5. Peace to men was announced at his birth: his Gospel is the Gospel of peace: he himself is the God and King of peace: in short, he it is who pacifieth all things, and who reconciles us to his heavenly Father through his blood. By the evil beasts are meant the persecutors of the church, seducers and seduced; the impious and heretical. See Calmet.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Ver. 25. And I will make with them a covenant of peace.] Pactum pacis, pacis omnimodae [Jeremiah 31:13 Isaiah 11:10 John 14:27]

And will cause the evil beasts.] That were wont to worry the flock. I will set them safe from Satan and his imps, his instruments, such as was Nero the lion, and bloody

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Bonner, the Pope’s slaughter slave here.

POOLE, “Verse 25

Will make; renew and confirm to them.

A covenant of peace; a covenant of promises, which contain and shall bring peace; in the Hebrew dialect,

all good. This, as it refers to the state of this people after their return, comprehends that outward peace and prosperity that God gave them, but it hath a higher and more excellent import, better mercies of this covenant established on better promises, i.e. best, because spiritual and eternal.

Evil beasts: during the Babylonish captivity evil beasts had exceedingly increased, through seventy years’ desolation in Judea, but on the replanting and increasing of men these were diminished, and destroyed at last; thus literally. But mystically, under the bondage of Satan, worse beasts destroyed men; these Christ, who turns back that captivity, will destroy.

Safely; without danger and without fear: see Ezekiel 28:26.

In the wilderness; in which both wild and hurtful beasts, and wilder, more hurtful robbers, did haunt. There is somewhat of an hyperbole here; after the temporal redemption from Babylon, they should have such safety as they should account very great after such long and great troubles; in the spiritual redemption they should have greater safety, when, delivered from the hand of enemies, they serve God in holiness before him all their days.

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In the woods, places where venomous and devouring creatures usually lurk, yet there shall ye venture confidently to sleep, and without much danger. PETT, “Verses 25-27

“And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing, and I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield her increase, and they will be secure in their land.”

‘A covenant of peace.’ That is a situation where they are surrounded with all the blessings of God’s promises in union with Him, because He and they are at one (Ephesians 2:13-15; Colossians 3:15), and they are walking with Him in obedience. There will be peace between man and God.

The picture is one of peace, contentment and blessing. It is Ezekiel’s idea of a perfect life based on an agricultural environment, and presented to people who thought in terms of such an environment. Wild animals will be no more (they were clearly a constant problem in the past), it will be safe to sleep anywhere, whether wilderness or wood, the rains will fall abundantly in due season, and trees and earth will be abundantly fruitful And all this is promised finally to the people of God ‘around My hill’.

‘My hill.’ In view of the fact that Ezekiel never mentions Jerusalem after its destruction and thinks rather in terms of Israel and its mountains we should probably see ‘My hill’ as referring to the whole mountain range which was the backbone of Israel (regularly elsewhere called ‘the mountain’) spoken of in this way to bring out its smallness, almost like a pet name. This is a most unusual use which suggests that the insignificance is intended. The word used here is regularly used in parallel with ‘mountain’, signifying smaller heights, and is only once used of Jerusalem, and then in parallel with ‘Mount’ as a synonym for it (Isaiah 10:32). Mount Zion was not thought of as ‘a hill’, indeed it was exalted above the hills

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(Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1).

Should we however see it as signifying Jerusalem, it is surely in the context to be seen as the new eschatological, everlasting Jerusalem, which in Revelation is in ‘the new earth’. In Ezekiel 37:26-28 this same covenant is put in the context of eternity. (As we shall see later, Ezekiel pointedly ignores Jerusalem by name. It is peripheral to his main theme).

The same picture is presented differently in Revelation 21-22, also symbolically, because the great reality is beyond men’s minds to comprehend. But the basic thought is the same. Redeemed man will have all that he needs, will know a glory beyond telling, and will be at peace and dwell securely in the presence of God. There will be no more tears, no more crying, no more lack, for all these things will be done away (Revelation 21:4). It is a picture of what men think of as ‘Heaven’ (signifying by that the final ideal existence with God) depicted in earthly terms.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:25

I will make with them a servant of peace. The whole verse is an echo of Le Ezekiel 26:6, in part also of Hosea 2:20 [English version, Hosea 2:18]. The words are less definite as to the nature of the covenant than those of Jeremiah 31:31, but probably the same thought underlies both. Sins are pardoned, the capacity for righteousness, righteousness itself, are given. In bright contrast with the picture of a country haunted by the lion, the jackal, and the wolf—the "evil beasts" of Ezekiel 14:15—so that no man could pass through without risk, we have that of a land from which such evil boasts have been cleared out, so that men may sleep safely even in the wilderness and the woods. The language, however, is figurative rather than literal. As the "sheep" are the people of the true Israel, so the evil beasts must, at least, include the enemies, Chaldeans, Edomites, Philistines, and others, that had before made havoc of them.

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26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.[a] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.

BARNES, "Eze_34:26The blessings here foretold are especially those of the old covenant. The wilderness (or, pasture-country) and the woods, the places most exposed to beasts and birds of prey, become places of security. Under the new covenant Sion and the hills around are representative of God’s Church; and temporal blessings are typical of the blessings showered down upon Christ’s Church by Him who has vanquished the powers of evil.

CLARKE, "The shower to come down - The Holy Spirit’s influence.There shall be showers of blessing - Light, life, joy, peace, and power shall be manifest in all the assemblies of Christ’s people.

GILL, "And I will make them, and the places round about my hill, a blessing,.... Alluding either to the city of Jerusalem, and the places adjacent; or to the temple, and the houses about it. So the Targum, "I will cause them to dwell round about the house of my sanctuary;'' and so Kimchi interprets it of the temple. Some Christian interpreters, by the "hill" or mountain, understand Christ; and not amiss; who may be compared to one for height; he being higher than the kings of the earth, or than the heavens and angels there, as man and Mediator; as well as is God over all, blessed for ever; and for fruitfulness, from whom the saints have all theirs, either in grace or good works; and for shade, he being the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; which yields delight and refreshment, and is a protection from the heat of a fiery law, flaming justice, the wrath of God and man, and the fiery darts of Satan; and for shelter and security, there being salvation in him, when none in other hills and mountains; and for duration and immovableness, being the same today, yesterday, and for ever: and now the persons about him are such who are made nigh by his blood; brought to him by his powerful and efficacious grace; are worshippers about the throne where he sits; such as cleave to him, and follow him wherever he goes,

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and shall be with him to all eternity; these he makes a blessing, or most blessed. So the Targum renders it, "and they shall be blessed;'' they are blessed in Christ their head; they are blessed through him as their Redeemer and Saviour, who was made a curse for them; they are blessed through being in him, and by the imputation of blessings to them from him, and through the application of them by his Spirit; their persons are blessed, and so are the places or habitations where they dwell: or rather this may be understood of the church of God, often compared to a hill for its height and eminence; for its fertility and fruitfulness; for its stability and firmness; and in allusion to the hill of Zion for its holiness, and being the place of the divine residence; see Psa_15:1 now, the persons about this hill are those who are come to Mount Zion the church of God; being brought there by the Lord himself, and who take up their abode there; who lie about this hill, as flocks of sheep, in their several folds or congregated churches; see Jer_23:3 and these the Lord makes a blessing to one another, by their spiritual conversation, prayers, and services of love; and to the world, to kingdoms and states, to cities, towns, and neighbourhoods, and to particular families, where they are placed; and even to the world in general; for they are the light, stay, and stability of it; and without which it would be in darkness, corrupt and putrefy, and not continue long: and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; which, in the spiritual sense, may design the Gospel; which, like a shower of rain, comes from God; descends from heaven; is a gift of God; which falls according to divine direction; refreshes, revives, and makes fruitful; brings a plenty of divine blessings with it; and comes in season, at its proper time; and is a word in season to weary souls: there shall be showers of blessings; which the Gospel brings with it; spiritual blessings, blessings of grace; such as peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life: these, like showers, come from God; are free grace gifts of his, of which there is a large abundance; and which descend on Mount Zion the church of God; which is another Gerizim, on which the blessings are pronounced, Psa_133:3.

JAMISON, "them and the places round about my hill — The Jews, and Zion, God’s hill (Psa_2:6), are to be sources of blessing, not merely to themselves, but to the surrounding heathen (Isa_19:24; Isa_56:6, Isa_56:7; Isa_60:3; Mic_5:7; Zec_8:13). The literal fulfillment is, however, the primary one, though the spiritual also is designed. In correspondence with the settled reign of righteousness internally, all is to be prosperity externally, fertilizing showers (according to the promise of the ancient covenant, Lev_26:4; Psa_68:9; Mal_3:10), and productive trees and lands (Eze_34:27). Thus shall they realize the image of Eze_34:14; namely, a flock richly pastured by God Himself.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:26 And 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

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showers of blessing.

Ver. 26. And I will make them a blessing.] By blessing them with all spiritual benedictions in Christ Jesus, [Ephesians 1:3] so that they shall be felices et faecundi, happy and fruitful.

There shall be showers of blessing.] Or, Very large showers [2 Corinthians 9:6] of divine doctrine, [Isaiah 55:9] and of righteousness. [Hosea 10:12]

POOLE, “Verse 26

I will make them, my returned captives, who were looked upon as cursed, reproached, and hated.

The places round about; all the country.

My hill; Jerusalem, or the temple, Zion, which is called holy hill, Psalms 2:6.

A blessing; very prosperous, that men shall report them to be in a blessed condition, or a blessing to others among whom they dwell, or a pattern of blessing others, whom we shall wish like to them, whom we wish greatest good to.

I will cause the shower to come down in his season; their land shall be most fruitful in the products of it, corn, wine, oil, &c., and all these blessed to them; whereas formerly their blessings were so cursed that they were no blessings, now they shall be blessed, and so be double blessings to them.

PULPIT, “Round about my hill. Ezekiel's thoughts, like those of Micah 4:1 and 126

Isaiah 2:2, cluster round the hill of Zion, the mountain of Jehovah, as the center of the restored Israel. In that land, as the prophet saw it here, and still more in the closing vision of his book (Ezekiel 47:12), there were, outwardly as well as spiritually, to be showers of blessing (the phrase is peculiar to Ezekiel), and the land should yield its fruits.

27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.

GILL, "And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit,.... Such as are trees of righteousness, rooted in Christ, and planted in his church, and watered with his grace; these bring forth, bear, and are filled with the fruits of righteousness by him: and the earth shall yield her increase; the fallow ground of men's hearts being broke up, and the seed of the word and of divine grace being sown in them, they bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold; see Psa_67:1, this, and what goes before, may be literally understood of the land of Canaan, and the fruitfulness of it, when the Jews shall again possess it; to which the next clause seems to have some respect: and they shall be safe in their land; no enemy to disturb them, to invade or do any acts of violence to them: this will be when the Jews are converted, and become Christians; and antichrist destroyed; they will have none but Christian powers about them, who will be their protection. This is true, in a spiritual sense, of all the saints, who are under the care and government of Christ their Shepherd and Prince: and shall know that I am the Lord; Jehovah their righteousness, Saviour and Redeemer:

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when I have broken the bands of their yoke; of sin, Satan, and the law, and of all enemies: and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them; or made them their servants, to whom they were subject; literally, the nations of the world, among whom they are dispersed; and figuratively, sin, whose servants men in a state of nature are; and Satan, by whom they are led captive; and the law, under which they are held as transgressors; and all other spiritual enemies; see Luk_1:74.

JAMISON, "served themselves of them — availed themselves of their services, as if the Jews were their slaves (Jer_22:13; Jer_25:14; compare Gen_15:13; Exo_1:14).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

Ver. 27. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit.] There shall be a confluence of all comforts and contentments.

When I have broken the bands of their yoke.] Freed them from the Babylonish bondage, but especially from the tyranny of sin and terror of hell; when I have broke the devil’s yoke from off the necks of their souls.

Out of the hands of those that served themselves of them.] As did the devil, whose drudges they were, and who had them wholly at his beck and check.

POOLE, “ The tree of the field; either those that are planted by man’s industry in the field, or those that grow wild in the field, and yield fruit, as the oak, pine, &c.

The earth, tilled by man. Her increase; great increase, as formerly, when I blessed it.

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Safe: see Ezekiel 34:25, and Ezekiel 28:26.

The bands; the power and tyranny of Babylon. Their yoke, which my people groaned under in captivity.

Served themselves of them; made them slaves, and used them so.

PETT, “Verse 27

-28 “And they will know that I am Yahweh when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them from those who made bondservants of them. And they will no more be a prey to the nations, nor will the beast of the earth devour them, but they will dwell securely and none will make them afraid.”

These words had added meaning to those who had just heard about the final destruction of Jerusalem, and who lived in enforced exile in a foreign land, subject to foreign authorities, and wondered if they would ever know peace and security again. They longed for liberty and freedom. The promise was that God would one day set all this to rights for His own, and that in the end His true restored people would find true and total liberty in the presence of God, safe from all that could harm them.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:27, Ezekiel 34:28

When I have broken the bands of their yoke. The underlying meaning of the figurative language of Ezekiel 34:25 is now utterly explained. Israel is to be delivered from its Chaldean and other oppressors. The "yoke shall be broken." They shall no more be a prey to the heathen. None shall make them afraid.

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BI 27-31, "Shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke.The yoke removed and the Lord revealedBut do not all men know that God is the Lord? They should know it, for He is clearly to be seen in the works of nature. But man by wisdom knows not God. But do not all know God in this land—this land where there is so much Gospel teaching? Alas! no. You know the report of God which you have heard with the hearing of the ear; but that is a small matter unless it leads to something higher. Those who know the Lord know that He is still the I am that I am, unchangeable in all respects; and we know that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, is the same God who revealed himself at Paran, and came with sound of thunder at Sinai. It appears from the text that there is a process by which God’s own people are brought to know the Lord. This process takes place when He breaks the bands of their yoke. Then they know that the Lord is God. It is clear, therefore, that He must, first of all permit His own chosen, for a wise purpose, to come into bondage. I do not commend the bondage; it is a thing to be deplored; but, as Augustine once cried out, “Beata culpa!” “Happy fault!” when he saw how sin had made space for the wonderful display of Divine grace, so I venture to say, “Blessed bondage, which gives an opportunity for our God to come in and set His children free, and by thus breaking the bands of their yoke to teach them that He Himself is the Lord.”I. It is not difficult to show that the lord breaks the bands of the yoke of His people, for the yokes which they wear at different times are many, and, in the breaking of each one of these, they learn that He is the Lord.

1. You cannot forget the first yoke of which you were conscious. It was a yoke of iron; but you had worn it for many years without feeling it. A spark of Divine life dropped into your bosom, and then you began to perceive that a yoke of sin, of guilt, of condemnation under the law, was firmly fixed upon your neck. Happy is the hour when the Lord breaks that yoke. He alone can remove it, but He does it most effectually, and then we know that He is Jehovah our God that brought us out of the house of bondage. To emancipate a soul from the thraldom of sin is a labour worthy of a God, and to His liberating hand be glory forever and ever.2. Then the awakened soul begins to be conscious of a second yoke. More or less, according to temperament and circumstances, and so on, but still in each case somewhat, we feel the yoke of natural corruption and inbred sin. The moment we become Christians an inward battle begins. You may presume that sin is completely dead in you, but it laughs while you are boasting, and before long it will make you weep to think that you were so readily deceived. The Lord can break this yoke also, and tear away each one of its bands. Very joyful is the deliverance, and when it comes the text is abundantly fulfilled.3. Another yoke which the Lord’s people have too often borne is that of a perpetual tendency to unbelief. Many about whose interest in Christ nobody who knows them can have any doubt at all, whose Christian consistency is beyond all question, whose prayerfulness, whose love of the Word of God, whose simple, child-like trust in Jesus Christ is manifested to everybody except themselves, are nevertheless in heaviness through anxiety as to their state. May the Lord bring up such brothers and sisters out of their prison, and then shall they know that He is the Lord when He has broken the bands of their yoke.4. Some Christians are also loaded with a yoke through great trouble. If we knew

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what they have to suffer in business, suffer in body, suffer in the domestic circle—if we knew the weight they have to carry, we should very often communicate to them words of comfort, whereas now, through our not knowing, they are left unheeded, and there is little or no Christian sympathy manifested. Ah, dear brother, it may be that you have been made to carry a very heavy yoke for years, but when the Lord shall break the bands of your yoke then shall you know that He is the Lord.5. many yokes which God’s people bear they cannot break themselves. The Lord often puts His people on purpose into positions where there is an end of the creature, where all carnal hope fails, where you look all around and not a single ray of light gladdens your weary eye till the star of Bethlehem breaks forth, and heralds the morning. But let us recollect that though yokes be very many, and some of them are such that we cannot possibly break them off, yet there is no yoke but what the Lord can readily enough take from His people. One of His saints of old recorded his experience in these words, “Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O God, and Thou heardest me.” His experience is that of all the captives who trust in the Lord.6. We may expect the Lord to break the bands of our yoke. Christian, He is bringing you low, He is stripping, you, He is casting you into the mire, He is beating you small as the dust of the streets, and all because by this means He will make you see your nothingness, and will cause you more fully to appreciate the splendour of His grace, and the all-sufficiency of His power. Knowing this, faith may help us to rejoice in tribulation at the moment it arrives, saying, “Here is my Father’s black horse come to my door to bring me a new token of love from Him.”

II. When He does this then they know Him to be the Lord. Here we come to personal experience. Beloved, when we have great deliverances from bondage then we begin to see the Divine attributes displayed.1. You all believe God to be very powerful, for you have heard His voice in the thunder, and seen His might in the tempest; but when you have been brought into very deep distress, and God has brought you out of it with a high hand and an outstretched arm, then you have said, “Now I see His power. No hand but His could have moved that burden, and He has done it.”2. You must also have seen with wonderful vividness the attribute of wisdom. You have been all in a snarl. You have done your best, and you have made things worse. You have gone for advice, and the advice has perplexed you. You have looked in all directions, and the more you have looked the less hope you have seen; and then, on a sudden, God’s finger has seemed to be put out, and all the knots have been untied, and His Word has been fulfilled,—“I will make the crooked places straight and the rough places plain.”3. The Lord’s love also is clearly revealed in our deliverances.4. When the bands of our yoke have been broken it is often in answer to prayer, and because that liberty has come in answer to prayer, we have exclaimed, “Now I know the Lord.”5. So, again, we know Him from another reason: the special hand of God is often seen in the breaking of the yoke of His people—the special hand. There was a very large sum of money to be paid for the building of the Orphanage, and I was up with certain friends at Regent’s Park—dining at the house of one of our brethren. I there mentioned that I was short of some £2000 to meet an account which would very

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soon be due, but that I was sure that God would graciously give it, for it was His work and He would supply its needs in answer to prayer. We were discussing as to whether it was not rather bold to speak too positively about answers to a prayer of such a kind, and while we were still discoursing there came a telegram from the Tabernacle to me, saying, “A person unknown has called and left £2000 in banknotes for the Orphanage.” I read the telegram to the friends assembled, and their gratitude and astonishment abounded. My dear old friend, Dr. Brock, who is now with God, said, “Put down your knives and forks, and let us bless the name of the Lord”; and he stood up and poured out his heart in a most wonderful manner in devout thankfulness to the Answerer of prayer. We all heartily joined in that act of devotion. The Lord was there; we felt His presence as much as if it had been a sacramental supper, for the Lord had drawn so near to us. If someone had said to us just then, “Well, you know, this is a coincidence, a mere coincidence,” we should have laughed, and I for one should have said, “It is a very blessed coincidence, and I hope it will go on coinciding; for truly it coincides with the promise and with my faith in God.” The devil does not give his followers such coincidences. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The elect produced on men by the displays of kindness from GodI. The import of this exceeding great and precious promise.

1. It ensures deliverance from the grievous oppression of cruel, inveterate, and powerful enemies. As it respects ourselves, we are to regard the promise as having a chief reference to the deliverance obtained, or to be obtained, for us from our spiritual foes. It is, accordingly, thus applied (Luk_1:74-75). All genuine saints have the happiness to enjoy “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Joh_8:36; 2Ti_2:26; Rom_6:14; 1Jn_5:4). To spoil our enemies, to break the bands of their yoke, and thus to deriver us from their wretched dominion, was one grand design of the mission and mediation of the Son of God (Isa_61:1). It is the grand object He has still in view, by the preaching of the everlasting Gospel (Act_26:17-18); and the blessing thus promised is of infinite importance.2. It ensures abundant supplies for our support. Both the bodies and the souls of God’s people have been bought with a price; and both, therefore, shall be supplied with abundance of nourishment. That single promise secures all (Isa_33:16). He who feeds the ravens when they cry, will not surely suffer His redeemed people to be in want of any kind (Psa_34:9-10).3. It ensured to the Israelites great happiness and continued security in their inheritance. Canaan was typical of heaven, which accordingly is, in reference to it, denominated “another and a better country, even an heavenly.” Here, then, it is implicitly promised to all true Israelites, that they shall ultimately have heaven for their inheritance—that is the land in which they are to dwell; and how great is the glory of that land! Surely the people of God shall be safe when there (Rev_21:4). How great, and boundless, and endless, the happiness of the inhabitants! (Rev_7:14-17.)

II. The religious improvement to be made and to which the accomplishment of the promise was to lead. “They shall know that I am the Lord.”132

1. It would lead the Israelites to acknowledge the existence and the providence, the glory and the grace of Jehovah, Jacob’s God.2. It would lead them more and more to admire and love, to worship and obey, the Lord.

Application—1. What think you of promises like these? What would you think of promises from some great man, ensuring temporal abundance, or temporal riches? But if you have any spiritual discernment, will you not much more value promises of infinitely better things, especially as coming from God?2. To whom do you look for the supply of all your wants?3. What improvement do you make of the kindness of God in the dispensations of His providence and grace?4. The enemies of Israel, and of Israel’s God, must perish forever. (A. Thomson, D. D.)

Ezekiel 34:30They, even the house of Israel, are My people.Israel’s privilegesI. The distinctive appellation here given to the persons addressed—“the house of Israel.”

1. They were a people closely connected with each other. They belonged to the same house, or family. As the descendants from the same progenitor, they were, in a peculiar sense, brethren. The same is the case, though in a different sense, with those to whom the promises in the text are now made, in regard to their spiritual import. These persons, as genuine believers, are of the same house, or what the Apostle calls—“the household of faith.” They are brethren; and God Himself is their Father.2. As “the house of Israel,” the persons to whom the promises in the text were originally addressed were a people highly privileged. But the people of God, under the present dispensation, are more highly favoured still. They too have been chosen by Him to be His peculiar people. They have a fuller and a far more glorious revelation of His will, and, both as it respects their present position and their future prospects, they have indeed “a goodly heritage”3. As “the house of Israel,” they were bound to the discharge of peculiar and very important duties. More still has been given to us; and therefore are our obligations to duty, if possible, more imperative. The Israelites were bound to love, to worship, and, in every other view, to serve the Lord; and so unquestionably are we.4. Notwithstanding all this, “the house of Israel” had, previously to the time here referred to, departed grievously from the Lord, and wrought great abominations. Alas! the parallel here in regard to ourselves holds in a way that may and ought to fill us with shame and confusion of face. But where sin abounded, grace is often made much more to abound.

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II. The import of these promises as made to the persons so characterised.1. There is here a promise of the continued presence of the Lord to be with them as their God.2. It is here promised that the Lord will recognise the people addressed as being in reality His own people. The people of God are His peculiar property in consequence of the price paid for their purchase (1Pe_1:18-19). They are further God’s people, in consequence of being closely, vitally, and immutably united to the person of His Son (Joh_17:21). They are His people, besides, in consequence of having been subdued and won to Him by the powerful and gracious operations of His Holy Spirit (Psa_110:3). But, on the other hand, they are characterised and treated as the people of God in consequence of their own voluntary choice and covenant engagement to be “for Him, and not for another.” They are accordingly blessed with all needful blessings as the people of God (Eph_1:3).3. It is here promised, that they shall have a pleasing conviction of their peculiar blessedness in enjoying the presence of the Lord, and being recognised by Him as His people.4. The accomplishment of this promise, implying, as it does, such honour and blessedness, is as certain as the truth of God can make it.

Application—1. Inquire to what description of people we belong.2. Well may the saints of God “be joyful in glory.”3. All must be wretched and miserable who are not the people of God (Isa_57:20-21).4. Those who are not now the people of God may yet have that honour (Hos_1:10). (A. Thompson, D. D.)

28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.

GILL, "And they shall no more be a prey to the Heathen,.... To the Papists, who 134

shall now be perished out of the land, Psa_10:16, neither shall, the beasts of the land devour them; neither that beast which rose up out of the sea, nor that which came up out of the earth, Rev_13:1, the pope, both in his secular and ecclesiastic power, being destroyed. So the Targum, "and the kingdoms of the earth shall not consume them;'' the antichristian kingdoms: but they, shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid; See Gill on Eze_34:25; See Gill on Eze_34:27.

JAMISON, "dwell safely — (Jer_23:6).

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make [them] afraid.

Ver. 28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen.] As the Jews then were, and are to this day, being used by the Papists as sponges. The Christian Hebrews also suffered with joy the spoiling of their goods; but then, for an allay to their grief, they knew within themselves that which did sufficiently support them, and make up their loss. [Hebrews 10:34]

29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.

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BARNES, "Eze_34:29A plant - Equivalent to the “Branch,” under which name Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesy of the Messiah. The contrast in this verse to hunger seems to favor the idea that the “plant” was for food, i. e., spiritual food, and in this sense also, applicable to the Messiah (compare Joh_6:35.)The shame of the pagan - The shameful reproaches with which the pagan assail them.

CLARKE, "I will raise up - a plant of renown - matta leshem, “a מטע לשםplantation to the name;” to the name of Christ. A Christian Church composed of men who are Christians, who have the spirit of Christ in them, and do not bear his name in vain. I believe the words might be applied to the Christian Church; but that Christ may be called a plant or plantation here, - as he is elsewhere called a branch and a rod, Isa_4:2; Isa_11:1; so Jer_23:5; Jer_35:15, - is most probable. He is the Person of name, לשם leshem, Jesus; the Savior, Christ; the Anointer, long spoken of before he was manifested in the flesh, and since the daily theme in the Church militant. It is he who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, no other name being given under heaven among men by which we can be saved; he who has a name above every name, and at whose name every knee shall bow; through whose name, by faith in his name, the diseased are healed; and in whose name all our prayers and supplications must be presented to God to make them acceptable. This is the Person of Name!

They shall be no more consumed with hunger - For this glorious plant of name is the Bread of life; and this is broken in all the assemblies of his people where his name is properly proclaimed.

GILL, "And I will raise up for them a plant of renown,.... Or, "for a name"; or, "of a name" (t); a famous one: this is to be understood, not of the Jewish nation itself, as the Targum, "and I will raise up for them a plantation for standing;'' or which shall continue; but of the Messiah, and not of his incarnation, when he sprung up as a tender plant out of the dry ground, and as a branch out of the roots of Jesse, being on that account often spoken of as a branch; see Isa_11:1, but of him in a more raised and exalted state, as grown up to a stately tree, a goodly cedar, as in Eze_17:23when his interest and kingdom should be great and glorious in the world, as it will be at the time of the conversion of the Jews; and it is spoken of his manifestation to them as a plant of renown, or as a renowned plant, the true vine and tree of life; or as a famous renowned person, one of name; whose glorious names and titles are Shiloh, the Messiah, Immanuel, Jehovah our righteousness, Jesus the Saviour, the Word of God, the King of kings, and Lord of lords: and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land; the Targum is,

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"they shall no more move from place to place through famine in the land;'' and which is to be understood, not of hunger through a famine of bread and water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; which they shall now have, and hear, and believe, and so have food for their souls, and hunger no more; as those do not who believe in Christ, Joh_6:35, for this plant raised up for them, and pointed out to them, the tree of life, Christ Jesus, bears all manner of precious fruit, sweet to the taste, and nourishing to the souls of his people; under his shadow they sit, and his fruit is sweet to them; and with him is bread enough, and to spare; so that there is no want, nor fear of consumption with hunger, where he is: neither bear the shame of the Heathen any more; being called by them Jews, in away of taunt, a proverb, and a curse; and outcasts, whom none seek after; but now they shall no more be termed forsaken, or called desolate, but instead thereof Hephzibah and Beulah; see Jer_30:17.

HENRY 29-31, "That they shall enjoy a spiritual plenty of all good things, the best things, for their comfort and happiness: They shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, Eze_34:29. Famine and scarcity, when Israel was punished with that judgment, turned as much to their reproach among the heathen as any other, because the fruitfulness of Canaan was so much talked of. But now they shall not bear that shame of the heathen any more For the showers shall come down in their season, even showers of blessing, Eze_34:26. Christ is a Shepherd that will feed his people; and they shall go in and out, and find pasture. [1.] They shall not be consumed with hunger; for they shall not be put off with the world for a portion, which is not bread, which satisfies not, and which leaves those that are put off with it to be consumed with hunger. The ordinances of the ceremonial law are called beggarly elements, for there was little in them, compared with the Christian institutes, wherewith the mower fills his hand and he that binds sheaves his bosom. Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall not be consumed with that hunger, for they shall be filled. And he that drinks of the water that Christ gives him, the still waters by which he leads his sheep, shall never thirst. [2.] Showers of blessings shall come upon them, Eze_34:26, Eze_34:27. The heavens shall yield their dews; the trees of the field also shall yield their fruit. The seat of this plenty is God's hill, his holy hill of Zion, for on that mountain, in the gospel church, it is, that God has made to all nations a feast; to that those must join themselves who would partake of gospel benefits. The cause of this plenty is the showers that come down in their season, that descend upon the mountains of Zion, the graces of Christ, his doctrine that drops as the dew, the graces of Christ, and the fruits and comforts of his Spirit, by which we are made fruitful in the fruits of righteousness. The instances of this plenty are the blessings of heaven poured down upon us and the productions of grace brought forth by us, our comfort in God's favour and God's glory in our fruit-bearing. The extent of this plenty is very large, to all the places round about my hill; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, shall go forth light to a dark world, and the river that shall water a dry and desert world; all that are in the neighbourhood of Zion shall fare the better for it; and the nearer the church the nearer its God. And, lastly, The effect of this plenty is, I will make them a blessing, eminently and exemplarily blessed, patterns of happiness, Isa_19:24. Or, They shall be blessings to all about them, diffusively useful. Note, Those that are the blessed of the Lord must study to make themselves blessings to

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the world. He that is good, let him do good; he that has received the gift, the grace, let him minister the same.Now this promise of the Messiah and his kingdom spoke much comfort to those to whom it was then made, for they might be sure that God would not utterly destroy their nation, how low soever it might be brought, as long as that blessing was in the womb of it, Isa_65:8. But it speaks much more comfort to us, to whom it is fulfilled, who are the sheep of this good Shepherd, are fed in his pastures, and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things by him.

JAMISON, "plant of renown — Messiah, the “Rod” and “Branch” (Isa_11:1), the “righteous Branch” (Jer_23:5), who shall obtain for them “renown.” Fairbairn less probably translates, “A plantation for a name,” that is, a flourishing condition, represented as a garden (alluding to Eden, Gen_2:8-11, with its various trees, good for food and pleasant to the sight), the planting of the Lord (Isa_60:21; Isa_61:3), and an object of “renown” among the heathen.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.

Ver. 29. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown,] (a) i.e., Christ the true tree of life. Or the Church planted and rooted in Christ, and much renowned all the world over. Christ mystical is a vine covering the whole earth.

And they shall be no more consumed with hunger.] They shall have enough of all good things, a sufficiency, though not a superfluity; a David’s sat habeo, because the Lord hath heard the voice of my supplications. [Psalms 116:1]

Neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.] God will bring them in credit with those which formerly slighted and reproached them. God fashioneth men’s opinions, ruleth their tongues, promiseth to them who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life, where the saints shall shine as the sun in his strength. [Romans 2:7 Matthew 13:43]

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POOLE, “ Raise; establish and settle.

A plant; or plantation, so the word, so the Chaldee paraphrast, and so it best suits new planters as they now were; however, as we read it, it is a promise of honour and fame to their posterity, as in the Maccabees’ time, and, which is more, it is a promise of the Messiah to be raised for them.

With hunger in the land; by barrenness of a land cursed, or by wastes made by enemies, or by long siege, as formerly.

The shame of the heathen; who reproached them; cast away, rejected of God, and accursed, so that they were a taunt and proverb among the heathen.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:29

A plant of renown. The words at first suggest the thought that Ezekiel was reproducing the ideal picture of the "branch," the "root," the "stem," the "plant." of Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 6:12. Here, however, the word is collective, and is translated "plantation" in Ezekiel 17:7, "planting" in Micah 1:6; Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3. It can hardly be taken as speaking of more than the general fertility of the land. The rendering of the LXX; "a plant of peace," obviously implies a different reading (shalom instead of shem), and this Cornill has adopted in his text. So taken, the words naturally lead on to what follows—the promise that men should no more be consumed with hunger.

SIMEON, "CHRIST THE PLANT OF RENOWN

Ezekiel 34:29. I will raise up for them a plant of renown.

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THE names by which our blessed Lord is designated in the Scriptures are exceeding various. Every one of them illustrates some part of his character, and leads us, as it were, one step towards the knowledge of him; though, as the light of all the stars combined would give but a very faint idea of the sun, so the lustre reflected from every image in the creation conveys a very inadequate notion of the beauty, the excellency, the fulness of Christ.

That the image in the text refers to him, is clear from the whole context. God, having severely reproved the negligence of those whom he had appointed to watch over his flock [Note: ver. 2–10.], promises that he will raise them up a Shepherd, who shall faithfully discharge all his duties, and execute for their good the trust reposed in him [Note: ver. 11–16.]. This, without any further explanation, would have been sufficient to point out to us “that good Shepherd,” the Lord Jesus Christ: but the subsequent verses mark the name and offices of this Shepherd in such plain terms, that there is not a possibility of doubt respecting the person to whom the prophecy immediately and exclusively relates [Note: ver. 23, 24.]. In the text, the same person is spoken of, only under a different metaphor: in considering which we shall notice,

I. The representation that is here given of Christ—

Christ is often spoken of by the prophets under the figure of a branch [Note: Jeremiah 33:15. Zechariah 6:12-13.], or rod, growing out of a stem [Note: Isaiah 11:1.]: and in this view he is represented as contemptible in the eyes of a blind and ungodly world [Note: Isaiah 53:2.]. But he is deservedly called, “A plant of renown,”

1. On account of his mysterious nature—

[Never did such a plant as this exist before. Never could the highest archangel have conceived it possible that such a plant should exist, unless God had expressly revealed it to him. Nothing in the whole creation has any resemblance to it, or could convey the smallest idea of it. This plant has two perfectly distinct natures, and each of those natures complete in all its attributes: it is both divine and human: it unites in itself the fulness of the Godhead with all the sinless infirmities of manhood. In

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short, the Lord Jesus Christ is “God manifest in the flesh:” and a most stupendous mystery it is [Note: 1 Timothy 3:16.]! The manner also in which he assumed our nature was most mysterious. He was not born like other men, but formed in the womb of a pure virgin through the intervention and agency of the Holy Ghost. And in this view, “as a child born, and a son given,” it was expressly declared that “his name should be called, Wonderful [Note: Isaiah 9:6.].”]

2. On account of his transcendent qualities—

[Other trees have one species of fruit, and are useful chiefly, if not entirely, in one view only. But behold, this plant bears twelve manner of fruits; fruit for every season, whether of prosperity or adversity; fruit for every occasion that can possibly arise; and suited to every person who desires to partake of it [Note: Revelation 22:2.]. Moreover, the leaves of this tree are as salubrious as its fruit; and are an infallible remedy for all the maladies to which our souls are exposed. Its virtues have been proved in every age. Its fame has been spread throughout the whole universe: and the more it has been tried, the more, without one single exception, has it been valued. The tree cast into the waters of Marah, was but a faint shadow of this, which, if properly used, would heal the fountains of iniquity that diffuse their deadly poison through the whole world [Note: Exodus 15:23-25.]. This branch is of yet further use to build the temple of the Lord [Note: Zechariah 6:12-13.]: well then might the prophet say of it, that it should be “excellent and glorious [Note: Isaiah 4:2.].”]

3. On account of the estimation in which he is held—

[See in what light he is viewed by his heavenly Father: “Behold my servant whom I uphold: mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth [Note: Isaiah 42:1. Proverbs 8:30. Matthew 3:17.]!” See what the angels think of him: no sooner did they see him planted in the earth, than they came down from heaven to announce the glad tidings, and ascribed “Glory to God in the highest [Note: Luke 2:7-14.].” Shall I need to tell you how he is regarded by man?” By those who know him not, “he is despised and rejected:” but “to them that know him, he is precious [Note: 1 Peter 2:7.].” What joy was excited in Abraham’s heart, when he only got a glimpse of him,

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two thousand years before his incarnation [Note: John 8:56.]! With what ecstatic fervour did the prophets call upon the whole creation to rejoice in the prospect of his advent [Note: Isaiah 44:23.]! When he was come, and his excellencies were more fully known, his disciples “counted all things but dung for the knowledge of him [Note: Philippians 3:8.],” and were ready, at all times, and in any manner, to lay down their lives for him [Note: Acts 20:24.]. There are multitudes also in the present day, in whose eyes he is “chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely [Note: Song of Solomon 5:10; Song of Solomon 5:16.].” But how will they express their admiration of him in the day when “he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe [Note: 2 Thessalonians 1:10.]!” In heaven too, when all that have eaten of his fruits, and felt the healing efficacy of his leaves, shall surround that “tree of life,” and unite in ascribing to it their whole salvation; what “a plant of renown” will it then appear!]

As God has fulfilled to us this gracious promise, and raised up for us this plant of renown, let us consider,

II. Our duty towards him—

In allusion to the metaphor, of which we ought not to lose sight, it may he observed, that we should,

1. Abide under his shadow—

[Many are the storms and tempests to which we are exposed, and from which nothing but this tree can shelter us. It is planted on purpose that it may be “an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land [Note: Isaiah 32:2.].” If we flee to him, we are as safe as the Israelites were in their blood-sprinkled houses, from the sword of the destroying angel [Note: Exodus 12:21-23.]. When “God shall rain down fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest on the wicked [Note: Psalms 11:6.],” we shall have no cause for fear; for “though a thousand shall fall on our side, and ten thousand at our right hand [Note: Psalms 91:1; Psalms 91:4; Psalms

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91:7; Psalms 91:10.],” “no evil whatsoever shall befall us;” “he will cover us with his foliage; and his truth shall be our shield and buckler.” Let us then draw nigh to him; and we shall experience the blessedness of the Church of old, who “sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet unto her taste [Note: Song of Solomon 2:3.].”]

2. Live upon his fruits—

[We have before observed, that every kind of fruit is to be found in him: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, peace, and whatever else we can desire, are to be obtained from him in rich abundance [Note: Ezekiel 34:30.]. And every one may get access to him. We need not go up to heaven, or down to hell, or travel to a remote country: he is nigh to us: he is in the Church; he is in our closet; he is in our very hearts [Note: Romans 10:6-8.]: wherever we go, there he is, ever present with us, ever ready to supply our wants. No fiery sword prohibits our approach to him [Note: Genesis 3:24.]: on the contrary, he invites us to come to him, to cease from “feeding upon ashes,” and to take of his fruits freely [Note: Isaiah 55:2.]. None are shut out from this right. There is no wall about him, no exclusive privilege to those who by national, or even personal, relation may be considered as nigh to him: but “all who are afar off,” whether they be old or young, rich or poor, moral or immoral, are invited to partake of all his benefits [Note: Acts 2:39. with Romans 10:12-13.]. Moreover, there is no price required, as there is for the fruits of other trees: we are told to “eat abundantly [Note: Song of Solomon 5:1.],” and to take it all “without money and without price [Note: Isaiah 55:1.]”

Let us then accept this gracious invitation, and “eat, and live for ever [Note: Isaiah 55:3.].”]

3. Bless God for him—

[What a mercy would the fallen angels account it, if such a plant were to be raised up for them! And how thankful would they be, who are now out of the reach of this tree, if they might return to this world for a single hour with a permission to gather

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its fruits! Surely then we who have liberty of access to it, and especially those of us who are daily eating its fruits, should bless and adore our God for “his unspeakable gift [Note: 2 Corinthians 9:15.].” If, only on the eve of its being planted in this world, the pious Elizabeth, the blessed Virgin, and the divinely inspired Zacharias brake forth into such exalted strains of praise and thanksgiving [Note: Luke 1:68-69.], surely we should not be silent, but should call upon “our souls, and all that is within us, to bless his holy name [Note: Psalms 103:1.].”]

4. Commend him to others—

[The lepers who found abundance in the Syrian camp, could not forbear going to acquaint their famished countrymen with the good tidings [Note: 2 Kings 7:9.]: and shall we be backward to inform our neighbours respecting this tree, whereby all their diseases may be healed, and all their wants supplied? The moment that Andrew and Philip had discovered it, they endeavoured to bring their friends to a participation of their bliss [Note: John 1:40-41; John 1:43; John 1:45.]. Let us do the same. Our enjoyment of its fruits will be enhanced, rather than diminished, by a communication of them to others. Let us, I say, in compliance with the direction given us, exert ourselves to the uttermost, if peradventure we may introduce them to the knowledge of Christ, and be instrumental to the salvation of their souls [Note: Isaiah 12:4-6.].]

PETT, “Verse 29

“And I will raise up for them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, nor bear the shame of the nations any more.”

It would be a time of abundance and plenty. They would have a place for growing fruit and grain which was a wonder to all, and there would be no more famine, nor would the nations be able to mock them for their lack. They would have everything that a man could want. The idea of being in Heaven (in the sense of the ideal existence with God) continues. It is the overflowing abundance of all that a man can want.

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30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord.

GILL, "Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them,.... Granting them his gracious and powerful presence, by all the above instances of his goodness and favour to them: and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God: and not utterly cast off, as they seemed to be; the divine Shechinah now being returned to them, which had departed from them; the "loammi" that was written on them being now wiped off from them.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God [am] with them, and [that] they, [even] the house of Israel, [are] my people, saith the Lord GOD.

Ver. 30. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them.] They shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord; [Psalms 107:43] they shall know the salvation of their God; [Psalms 50:23] they shall have a plerophory of faith. {as Romans 8:38}

POOLE, “ Thus, by these many and great blessings I give them,

shall they know, the very heathen shall be convinced.

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The Lord, who can do what I promise and my people expect.

Their God, by covenant from their forefathers.

With them; present with them, and reconciled to them, and do bless them.

That they, whom they despised and injured, and ere while did make slaves, and used so.

My people; my peculiar people above all people in the world; and that though he seemed to have cast him off, and they feared it, and the enemies boasted he had, yet he owns them for his, and will not break his covenant.

PETT, “Verse 30

“And they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel are my people, says the Lord Yahweh. And you my sheep, the sheep of my pasture are men, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Compare Revelation 21:22-23; Revelation 22:3-5. His people will know the presence of Yahweh. They will know that they are His. And they will know that they are ‘men’, spiritual beings made in His image and likeness, and not brute beasts of the field.

Notice the change of phrase. Not ‘they will know that I am Yahweh’. That could spell judgment. But ‘they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them.’ A guarantee of blessing. The fact of Yahweh being with His people is always central to conceptions of perfection and glory. For the title ‘their God’ compare Ezekiel 34:24.

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It signifies here the Divine King and Lord.

31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

BARNES, "Eze_34:31Translate “Ye are my flock, the flock of my pasture (compare Jer_23:1); ye are men, and I am your God.”

CLARKE, "And ye my flock - That is, under the allegory of a flock of sheep, I point out men; under that of a pasture, my Church, and under that of a shepherd, the Messiah, through whom I am become your God. And he who is your God is אדני יהוה Adonai Jehovah, the self-existent Being; the Governor and Director, as well as the Savior and Judge of men.

GILL, "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men,.... This is observed, to show that all that had been said in this chapter concerning sheep, and a flock of sheep, was to be understood, not in a literal sense, but in a figurative one, of such as were rational and spiritual persons; a set of men whom the Lord had chosen, and separated from others, as his peculiar flock; and whom he took a special care of, and led them to, and fed them in, green pastures of his own providing; they are the souls of men that Christ is the Shepherd and Bishop of, 1Pe_2:25. The Talmudists (u) frequently make use of this text, to prove that Israelites are only called men, and not the Gentiles; see Mat_15:26. and I am your God, saith the Lord God; which is often repeated for the certainty of it, because a blessing of the greatest importance, and which includes all others in it; see Eze_34:24.

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JAMISON, "ye my flock ... are men — not merely an explanation of the image, as Jerome represents. But as God had promised many things which mere “men” could not expect to realize, He shows that it is not from man’s might their realization is to be looked for, but from God, who would perform them for His covenant-people, “His flock” [Rosenmuller]. When we realize most our weakness and God’s power and faithfulness to His covenant, we are in the fittest state for receiving His blessings.COKE, “Ezekiel 34:31. And ye, my flock, &c.— These words at the close of the chapter, explain the metaphor which runs through the whole: that which was said of a flock and its shepherd, is to be understood of men and their governors, and especially of God's people, whom he takes care of as a shepherd does of his flock. We may just observe, that the present is a chapter upon which both magistrates and the rulers of the church ought to meditate very seriously. The complaints which God here makes of false shepherds, and the terrible denunciations threatened against them, shew, that it is the business of pastors, with their utmost diligence, to watch over the sheep with which they are in-trusted, and to provide with care and readiness for all their necessities; and that if they fail herein, they must give a severe account to God. This too lays an obligation upon princes and magistrates to govern faithfully and justly the people committed to their trust. What befel the Jews, who for the unfaithfulness of their teachers and magistrates were utterly destroyed, shews that it is the greater misfortune to a nation to have wicked rulers; and that all who are in any degree concerned for the glory of God, and the edification of his church, have the utmost reason continually to beseech him, that he would always raise up to his people good and faithful pastors. See Ostervald.

REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,

1. A woe denounced against the shepherds of Israel, the princes and magistrates, or the priests and Levites, who were the great authors of Israel's ruin; and though their station was so high, and their profession so respectable, yet neither would screen them from severe rebuke, nor exempt them from God's fearful wrath.

Negligent pastors are the most criminal of all transgressors, and may expect the heaviest judgment.

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2. The sin charged upon them is, enriching themselves at the expence of their neglected flocks; indifferent what became of the people committed to their charge, they never thought of feeding them, but of fattening themselves. The magistrates took no pains to vindicate the oppressed, to relieve the poor, to suppress vice, or encourage religion: the ministers, intent only on their tithes and of offerings, took no pains to seek the lost, to instruct the ignorant, recover the erroneous, warn the unruly, or comfort the feeble-minded; the souls of men seemed in no wise their concern. With force and cruelty, both in church and state, they ruled; and used to the purposes of oppression the power committed to their trust for the protection and edification of God's people; so that they had really no shepherd; yea, worse than none: for those who usurped the office, were in fact ravening wolves. Woe to the poor people that are in such a case!

2nd, The careless shepherds are cited to God's bar. God will punish them, and graciously rescue the flock which they have abused.

1. He will punish the shepherds for their neglect and rapaciousness. God is against them, and his wrath who can abide? He will call them to a severe account for the loss of every sheep of his stock that perished through their negligence. Zedekiah, and the princes who rebelled shall bear the guilt of all the innocent blood which was shed in consequence thereof. And every lost soul shall cry for vengeance against the unfaithful minister who, unconcerned, suffered him to die in his iniquity. God will turn them out of their office, and suffer them no more to fatten on the spoil. The king and princes of Judah shall be hurled from their high estate, and cast into the depths of abject wretchedness, and those priests and Levites who abused their sacred office be degraded. Note; (1.) Ministers can never too often reflect upon the solemn account that they must one day make. (2.) God justly deprives oppressors of the power which they abuse.

2. God will himself take care of his believing people. Though their pastors are unfaithful, and neglect them, he will provide for them. Behold, I, even I the Lord, able and willing to save them; I will [1.] both search my sheep, and seek them out, all who stretch forth their hands unto him; all who mourn for his pardoning love; and all his distressed people, whether under persecution, oppression, temptation, or

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any other affliction. And this was fulfilled primarily in the restoration of the Jews from their captivity; and is spiritually still fulfilling day by day; while by his word and grace the Lord is gathering in all those precious souls who will receive the offers of his love, calling them out of darkness into his marvellous light; till he has accomplished his glorious plan of redemption, and his eternal kingdom come: may my soul in that day be the object of his care! [2.] He will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, and cause them to lie down in peace and safety, in a good fold, and a fat pasture. The Jews, on their return to their own land, enjoyed abundance of blessings, and particularly the privileges of the sanctuary and ordinances of God's worship. And in the church, the mount of God, do all believers find the rich pastures of grace, and the sweet waters of divine consolation: his saints are inclosed as in a fold, under the protection of their Almighty Shepherd, are safe from all the powers of evil, and rest under his shadow with great delight: happy the people that are in such a case! [3.] He will not only recover these penitent souls from their wanderings, but heal those of them that were hurt during their state of departure from him, and strengthen those that were sick. The awakened sinner feels his deadly wounds, his heart is broken with a sense of guilt, and weak he finds himself, and unable to resist his corruptions; but the Saviour who bought him with his own blood, pours in his precious balm to assuage his pains, and rescues him from his state of despair. By his Spirit he renews the minds of such, gives the medicine which heals their sickness, even his divine grace and pardoning love, which can save them from the bondage of corruption; and he strengthens their weakness, that they may be enabled to walk with him and please him.

3. We have a repetition of the determinations of God concerning the impenitent, to mark the certainty and terribleness of their destruction. I will destroy the fat and the strong; for he who glorifies his mercy in the salvation of the faithful will glorify his justice in the damnation of his and their enemies; feeding them with judgment, inflicting the righteous vengeance due to their iniquities.

3rdly, The prophet turns from the shepherds to the flock, for they were of different kinds. The church of professors ever consisted of a mixed multitude, good and bad; but there is a discerning Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, here spoken of, who will shortly separate the precious from the vile.

1. A heavy charge is brought against some of the flock; the fat, the rams and he-150

goats, the wealthy who oppressed their neighbours, and, not content with the gains of extortion, embittered by their ill usage the little which remained to the poor flock, as if they took a pleasure in their distresses. Nay, they not only trod down the pastures, and fouled the waters, but thrust with side and shoulder, and pushed the diseased with their horns, adding affliction to the afflicted. Many apply this to the scribes and Pharisees, who devoured the poor, fouled the waters of truth by their traditions, and oppressed with their anathemas the poor of the flock, who confessed the Lord Jesus: though it may be also generally applied to wicked men in every age, who have copied these destructive ways, and, though in profession the flock of Christ, have shewn themselves the most inveterate enemies of his pious people; but God will judge them, deliver his believing people from them now, and make an eternal separation shortly between the precious and the vile.

2. Rich consolation is spoken to the faithful few. God will save them, nor will he suffer them to become a prey to their enemies; particularly by raising up the promised Messiah, under whose protection his people should dwell in safety.

[1.] His character and office are described. I will set up one shepherd over them: both Jew and Gentile under him shall become one fold; and by the divine appointment he is constituted the head over all things to his church; and he shall feed them by his word, his Spirit, his ordinances, his ministers; even my servant, David, so called as being David's promised seed, and God's servant, as employed by him in the work of the salvation of lost souls: a plant of renown, most transcendently glorious in his person and offices, and exalted in the preaching of his Gospel.

[2.] For his sake God will make with them a covenant of peace. Man is by nature in a state of enmity with God, till Christ, our peace, brings us, who were far off, nigh unto God; then we become interested in the covenant of grace; God engages to be our God; and his servant David, the Lord Jesus, becomes our prince and Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins, and to reign over and protect his faithful people, his Israel, all true believers; for there are his people, who love, serve, and enjoy him.

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[3.] Inestimably great and precious are the privileges to which the flock of God—the faithful, become entitled, in virtue of this covenant of peace. While the Lord their God was with them, their deliverance was sure, and peace and plenty were now their happy portion. They shall be safe under the divine protection; their spiritual enemies, the evil beasts, subdued, and caused to cease out of the land: they shall be delivered from fear of evil; though in the midst of snares, and temptations, God will preserve them; and, having broken the oppressors' yoke, and rescued them from those who served themselves of them, he will make them know he is the Lord, by blessed experience of his almighty power, grace, and love. They shall want no manner of thing that is good; all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus shall surround them. I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; so eminently shall they be distinguished with his favours; and all who see them will call them blessed; yea, they shall themselves also be blessings to other. And I will cause the shower to come down in his season; the graces and consolations of his Spirit, which the Redeemer showers down upon the hearts of his believing people, according to their various necessities. There shall be showers of blessing; the greatest abundance of the richest gifts of God, pardon, adoption, holiness, freely bestowed upon the believing soul: and the tree of the field shall yield her fruit; the fruits of righteousness, which spring from these quickening showers of grace: and the earth shall yield her increase, in an abundance of converts raised up by the preaching of the Gospel. They shall be no more consumed with hunger, but be richly fed with that Bread which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world: neither shall they bear the shame of the heathen any more: God having appeared for them, and made it evident, by the dispensations of his providence and grace, that he is their God, their present portion, and exceeding great reward. The Jews, returned from captivity, enjoyed literally many of these blessings outwardly; but they are most eminently fulfilled to the Israel of God—the faithful, in every age, who in Christ Jesus are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things.

TRAPP, “Ezekiel 34:31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, [are] men, [and] I [am] your God, saith the Lord GOD.

Ver. 31. And ye my flock … are men.] Sheep ye are, but rational sheep, having your spiritual "senses habitually exercised to discern good and evil," [Hebrews 5:14] so that ye "taste and see" my goodness. [Psalms 34:8]

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POOLE, “Now, that neither you nor any else mistake the allegory, note, saith God, this flock of my pasture are not sheep literally, but they are men expressed by this emblem, and these men are those I am a God to, and will be so for ever.

NISBET, “THE STRAY SHEEP

‘And ye My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.’

Ezekiel 34:31

I. I have little doubt that when you read in this book of the shepherds who feed themselves, most of you mentally apply the words to the neglectful clergy.—As a matter of fact Ezekiel, in this passage, is not speaking or thinking of the clergy at all, but of the laity. By ‘shepherds’ he means the rich and the ruling. True is the proverb, ‘Like people, like priest.’ A selfish, sensual, money-loving people will make a similar priesthood. If ever the prophets prophesy falsely it never is unless ‘My people love to have it so.’ If you are all ice, it is hardly likely that we shall be all flame. Let us take to heart the warning of the prophet, which he addresses to all, in whatever station, who, in selfish greed and immoral acquiescence, are like the shepherds who only feed themselves.

II. But if we all are thus members, one of another, if all are responsible for one another, and for the society and nation in the midst of which we are living, how awful are the duties which press upon us!—How small a portion of the flock in these great cities is safely gathered into the fold of God! It is enough to make the heart ache to think how vast a portion of God’s flock in His world are still wandering in the cloudy and dark day. There are the heathen; there are the increasing multitude of unbelievers; there are those who forsake the Guide of their youth, and forget the covenant of their God; there are those who call themselves Christians, who turn their very religion into lies and hatred; there are those whose God is their belly, who glory in their shame. There are the lapsed masses in our crowded centres. Do not say, ‘We can do but little.’ Well, do that little. The righteous thought in the soul of

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one ordinary gentleman, Thomas Clarkson, crushed the slave trade. If tempted to despair in this warfare, in which there is no discharge, we have God’s promise to help us: ‘I will deliver My sheep out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.’ Horrible, indeed, and heartrending is the condition of a large portion of the flock; but may not these promises be the comfort of all those who love God? ‘Ye, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE FLOCK OF GOD’S PASTURE

The two points which stand out the most salient, and the most beautiful, in this verse are these. First, the wonder that God should make ‘His flock’ out of such materials as ‘men.’ And next, the comfort, that He should pledge Himself to that ‘flock’ that He would be theirs for ever, and to feed them.

‘Flock’ is always a word of endearment in the Bible.

I. But the marvel is that when God would choose and make ‘flock,’ He should compose it of ‘men.’—We never read of His making it of angels. So loving a word is never applied to angels. Neither does He make it of saints. But ‘men’ become saints when they are His ‘flock.’ But when they were chosen, when they were drawn, when they were folded, they were not saints, but ‘men,’ only men! And afterwards, admitted, loved, nurtured, yet what are they? ‘Men’; men, with all the weaknesses of manhood—fallen, helpless, wandering, sinful, defiled!

Remember what humanity is. In a state of rebellion against its Creator; in a condition of degradation: the very word ‘humanity’ means fallen.

Every one’s own breast could tell a tale which, for very shame, his cheek would 154

burn if another read! And the history of one soul is one great humiliation.

And yet it is of such a thing as this that God says, ‘Ye, My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men.’

And how God has made His ‘flock,’ the process is more marvellous even than that.

There was a Man, a Man in all the integrity of manhood, a Man with all man’s infirmities, a sinless Man, and God made that Perfect Man a Representative Man; and that Representative Man died, a Substitue for men; and God called that Representative Man, in the gentleness of His being, and the completeness of His sacrifice, ‘the Lamb of God’: and, as ‘the Lamb of God,’ that Man entered the fold; entered into every right; and all who would follow Him enter too. He draws them; He opens the gate; He is the gate: He gives the title; He adds the fitness; and so, through a Man, the fold is filled; and because man is to be partaker of that Man’s nature, and that Man’s privilege, so the possession is through a Man to men. And thus God says, ‘Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men; and I am your God, saith the Lord God.’

And, oh! the change, once inside that fold. God sees us in the Immaculate One; and, for His sake, we are elect; we are loved! we are saved. ‘In Christ,’ we are ‘His own,’ clothed in His beauty, sharers of His holiness, partakers of His joy.

II. And so we come to our second point, what God pledges Himself to be to His ‘flock.’—And it is that which includes everything else, ‘I am your God.’ Simple words! a child can handle them; a child can utter them; a child can understand them. But who can fathom them? What can exhaust them? What an eloquence; what a grandeur! what a safety! what dignity! what rest! what desire unsatisfied! what left beside to want for time and for eternity! ‘I am your God.’

Only let your heart echo it, ‘O Lord, I am Thine!’ and thus inscribing itself, ‘I am

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Thine!’ that man’s peace is sealed for ever, and his heaven sure!

Mark every word, ‘I am your God.’ ‘I.’ The Eternal, The Omnipotent, The Unchanging. ‘I am’—all love. ‘I am’—one constant presence, in cloud and sunshine, ‘yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’ From earliest infancy to hoar hairs: in life, in death, ‘I am.’ The only possession you ever can have, or need to have, inalienable, personal. ‘Your.’ For all that meets your need. ‘Your God.’ All good in one. Father, Saviour, Sanctifier. The author and the end of your being; your Friend, your rest, your joy, your shield, your exceeding great reward. ‘I am your God.’

But who may hear it, and who may say it? ‘Men.’ Poor, weak, impotent ‘men’; because they are ‘men.’ Because Jesus was a Man; made in the likeness of our manhood. We rest our plea upon manhood. For He has said it, ‘And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men; and I am your God, saith the Lord God.’

I go before God, and I say, ‘Lord, save me; for I am a man.’

One of the many undertakings which God makes for His ‘flock’ lies in those loving, shepherd-like words, ‘The flock of My pasture.’ And if it be His pasture, that is enough.

And so God will lead you from place to place; from one providence to another providence; from ministry to ministry; that each may give to your soul something which the other could not give. But be it in our outer life, or the hand that ministers to you what it may, if you are one of God’s sheep, it is ‘God’s pasture,’ whereever you are, to your soul.

And do not doubt that God will feed that life which He has given you. The ‘flock’ is for the glory of the great Proprietor. Shall He not feed it as He will?

For ‘the Man,’ who was once athirst and suffering, but now glorified, ‘the Man,’ 156

Who said, ‘I have meat to eat, that ye know not of,’ knows what a man like us wants!

Your life, your growth, your spiritual strength is secure, for He says it, ‘Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men; and I am your God, saith the Lord God.’

But not only so. There is no religion in anything omitting the body. In Christ’s discourses there are as many promises about the body as about the soul; and His miracles were to the full as much for the body as for the soul.

He has worn this body! He wears it now! He has redeemed this body! It is in the likeness of His own Incarnation! And this body is for ever!

Never forget that you are ‘a man’; that a body is a needful part of ‘a man.’ ‘Ye, My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.’

—Rev. Jas. Vaughan.

PULPIT, “Ezekiel 34:31

And ye my flock. The great utterance, we might call it the "ode of the shepherds," comes round to the point from which its second portion started (Ezekiel 34:11). All blessings were summed up in the thought that, behind every representative of the Father's care, the ideal David and his house, there was the eternal relationship between Jehovah and his people, even that of the Shepherd and his sheep. The LXX. omits the words "are men," and here also is followed by Cornill.

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