Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, is part of a chapter that has the theme of the shepherd of Israel. The leaders of Israel have acted improperly and need to be replaced. It does not call for the overthrow of the House of David, but it does envision a form of power sharing. The image of shepherd is common in the ancient Near East to portray monarchs. It was common for rulers of agrarian cultures or kingdoms to cast themselves as shepherds of their people. Ezekiel takes up the theme from Jeremiah 23:1-8, where the prophet proclaims woe upon shepherds who scatter the flock, so the Lord will deal with them in judgment and will gather the remnant of the flock so that they can be fruitful and multiply again, and the Lord will bring new shepherds that will arise from David. The shepherds are the kings and lay leaders of the people. The issue for Ezekiel is that much of the blame for exile rests with the Israelite kings for failing to lead their people properly. These shepherds are gone now. He will stress that the Lord is speaking through him. In line with other prophets, he invited his listeners to reflect on the past, understand the present, and anticipate what God might bring in the future. The parable of the lost sheep told by Jesus in Matthew 18:12-14 = Luke 15:4-7 and the allegory of the Good Shepherd in John 10:11-18 find their inspiration in this chapter.
In Ezekiel 34: 11-16, God acts as the ideal shepherd who will return the people who have been scattered. 11 For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep. Such terminology as “my sheep” or “my flock” occurring throughout the chapter, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, However, and significantly, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. They will be destroyed because they neglected the people. We can see, then, that in contrast to shepherding provided by the kings and priests before the exile, God would bring about a new exodus by seeking out the exiled people, rescuing them and bringing them back to "graze" in their own land. Ezekiel places the misfortunes of Israel squarely at the doorstep of bad shepherds. The bad shepherd ravaged and abused the people. The fat sheep got fatter and the skinny ones skinnier. The prophet promises that Yahweh will become the shepherd. We see the image among other prophets in, where the Lord will gather the scattered sheep (Jeremiah 23:1-3), where the Lord will gather scattered sheep (Jeremiah 31:10), where the Lord will gather scattered Jacob/Israel (Micah 2:12), and where the Lord will gather the lambs in his arms and gather them to his bosom (Isaiah 40:11). We see the image in the Psalms, where the Lord is the shepherd of the writer (23), where the prayer is that the Lord will be the shepherd of the people and carry them (28:9), where the Lord led them like sheep and guided them through the wilderness like a flock, leading them in safety (78:52-53a), where the writer appeals to the shepherd of Israel who led Jacob like flock (80:1), where we are the people of the pasture of the Lord and the sheep of his hand (95:7), and where we are his people and the sheep of his pasture (100:3). We see the image in Genesis 48:15, where Joseph testifies that the God of his ancestors has been his shepherd throughout his life, and 49:24, where the tribe of Joseph is strong by the name of the Shepherd. 20 Therefore, thus says the Lord Godto them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide. 22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. The prophet now coming to an important shift in thinking, as the rule of the Lord will be manifested in the establishment of a return of David himself, the earlier and ideal king. 23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, referring to the best human shepherd, of course, a good king from the line of David. Metaphorically, shepherding is what a good leader does in relationship with his or her people. Micah 5:2-5a proclaims that a leader shall arise who will feed his flock in the strength of the Lord. Ezekiel 37:24-28 looks forward to a time when David as the servant of the Lord shall be the one shepherd of Israel, bringing peace and fruitfulness. As already mentioned, Jeremiah 23:1-6 has relevance in its promise that the Lord will raise shepherds who will not cause fear among the people, doing so by a righteous Branch arising out of David. This shepherd shall feed (ra'ah, which one can also translate "tend" or "pasture") the flock properly, he shall feed them and be their shepherd. I, the Lord, have spoken. The idea involves the whole complex of meanings of what a good shepherd does to care for the sheep. David, being a shepherd in his youth, fit the image perfectly. The tribes of Israel acknowledged that the Lord promised David that he would be the shepherd of the people of the Lord (II Samuel 5:1-2). The Lord took David from the pasture where he followed sheep to become a prince over the people of the Lord and the ancestor of the leader of the people of the Lord (II Samuel 7:8-13). The Lord brought David from tending sheep to being shepherd of Jacob/Israel, where he tended to them and guided them with upright heart and skillful hand (Psalm 78:70-72). 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince (nasi’ rather than Melech or king) among them. The prophet proclaims a theocracy. Yahweh will give a shepherd to the people who becomes another David. Ezekiel proclaims the messianic age. This shepherd recognizes the responsibility he has for the sheep. He will act solely on their behalf. He will understand the selfish tendencies of the sheep better than the sheep do. He will not reject them or despise them. He will know what they need better than they do. He will know how he can genuinely help them. He will keep them together. He will know them and call them by name. Each member of the flock will have his or her place. All will be safe in the care of this new shepherd. This shepherd will not encroach upon their freedom. This shepherd will serve them. Many will claim to be shepherds. Some from the flock may follow them. Accepting such false claims will lead the sheep down the path of isolation and confusion. They become desperate enough to make someone their shepherd. Such shepherds will feed only themselves. They say will now offer genuine help to the sheep. Yet, the hopes the sheep place in such shepherds will never materialize.[1]
The New Testament considers Jesus Christ (the anointed Davidic King) to be the ultimate fulfillment of such promises. He is God's Good Shepherd. From Bethlehem will come a ruler to shepherd Israel as the people of the Lord (Matthew 2:6). Jesus taught that the shepherd would search for the one lost sheep and invite others to celebrate with him (Luke 15:1-7), just like the Son of Man, who has come to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). For John, Jesus is the shepherd who enters through the gate and whose voice the sheep know. He is both the gate for the sheep and the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He knows the sheep and the sheep know him, leading to one flock and one shepherd. The sheep hear his voice and follow him (John 10, especially 1-18 and 27-30). The risen Lord is the great shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20-21). We were going astray like sheep but have returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls (I Peter 2:24-25). Revelation 7:17 has a remarkable shift of imagery, where the Lamb of God (the crucified and now risen Jesus Christ) becomes the shepherd of God's people, "and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." The word "pastor" comes from the Latin word for shepherd, as pastors are to be God's good under-shepherds. The Lord promises to give Israel shepherds whose hearts are for the Lord and who will feed them with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15). The risen Lord commissions Peters to feed his sheep (John 21:15-17). Peter encourages the elders to tend the flock God has placed in their charge, exercising proper oversight, by being an example to the flock, so that when the chief shepherd appears they will win a crown of glory (I Peter 5:1-4). Paul urges elders to keep watch over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers to shepherd the church of God (Acts 20:28). Jesus said (Luke 12:48b), "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded."
If the image of exile is appropriate to our situation or as a culture, its cause could be a crisis of leadership in churches, culture, economics, and political life. The lust for sensationalism now defines much of popular culture. Churches are in endless debates about what it means to be church today. Many churches wrestle with the degree and manner to which the Bible remains a valid guide for our lives today. We may depend upon an economic theory, but it will not be enough. We may believe so strongly in a political ideology that it has become our idol. We may allow the easy to come by cynicism of this age to engulf us. Celebrity may enthrall us. Such pursuits may so capture our imagination and fill our lives that we do not even know we are in exile. The message of this passage may well be that God seeks us who languish in our own exile; the Lord invites us to let him lead us tenderly home. In addition, we who are God's people are to treat others the way God treats us. God will seek the weak and vulnerable through the people of God. God holds us accountable for the well-being of all people, especially those who are the most vulnerable.
The image of shepherd has been meaningful in hymns of the church as well.
Isaac Watts (1719) wrote a hymn, “My Shepherd will Supply My Need, a reflection based on Psalm 23. He admits that he has a wandering spirit, but the Shepherd brings him back. Even when the shades of death stalk him, the supporting breath of the Lord drives away his fears. God provides for him. He wants his abode to be the eternal home God provides, where he will find a settled rest, as will others, who will no longer be strangers to him.
Dorothy A. Thrupp (1779-1847) wrote “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” I am thinking of the first two verses. We need the tender care of this Shepherd. We need the pleasant pastures that feed us. We belong to this Shepherd, who is the guardian of our lives. While we pray the Shepherd to defend us from sin, we also ask the Shepherd to seek us when we go astray.
No comments:
Post a Comment