For thus saith the Lord Jehovah Behold I, [even] I, will both search for my sheep, and tend them.
Israel's shepherds had failed the flock completely. Now God turns from their failure and says what He Himself will do: "I, I myself will search." Who are these sheep, and when does He come for them?
The verse is the hinge of the chapter.
The shepherds have failed completely, so the care of the sheep falls on Jehovah Himself. He undertakes not only to hold those set over the sheep to account for them, but to search for them and seek them out wherever they are scattered.
There is a detail in how God says this. He acts as a shepherd here, but never takes the title for Himself. He gives it later in the chapter to another.
The evil lay in the shepherds — that is, in the kings and princes of Israel. They were not true shepherds; indeed there were none true. The flock was diseased, scattered, afflicted and ill-treated, and a prey to their enemies. But Jehovah now points it out to say that He Himself would seek out His poor sheep... Notice here how Jehovah Himself delivers His sheep, without calling Himself their shepherd. Then He raises up a plant of renown, the true David, as their shepherd.
The word "my" carries the whole promise. Scattering did not cancel ownership.
God says, "Behold, I, I myself will... SEARCH for my sheep." They have been scattered, and they have wandered. But they are "mine," says God, and "I will SEARCH for them." May we never forget, whatever the condition of the sheep, they belong to Christ. He thought of them from all eternity, but we can only give them the odd moments of our lives. He left His home of glory to seek His sheep, and can we not leave our poor homes to seek them? He went to the uttermost distance of the cross to find His sheep, but we can hardly go into the next street to seek them.
To "seek out" is more than recovery. It includes looking into how the sheep came to be where they are.
The Lord declares that He will come in and search for His sheep and examine their condition. The language is human language... God speaks as if He did not know, so examining everything comes first... God takes care to expose in full the evil He is dealing with, so that all His creatures may own that His government is right... Their scatterings will cease when they hear the Voice His people know — a Voice that does not scatter, but brings together... Yet at times the scattering may be the very thing that is of God. He permits it to avoid worse evil. Still, He permits it only for a short time. What is in His heart is gathering, not scattering.
Commentators differ over how far this promise reaches, and when it is paid.
Jehovah arises on behalf of His scattered sheep. He will Himself carry out the office of a true shepherd, seeking out His flock... And all this has not yet come to pass. Some apply these words to the return of a remnant from the Babylonian captivity. They see no future fulfilment of these promises. It is clear that the returning remnant did not have these blessings. Others make a spiritual application. They claim it means the Church, and the blessing Gentiles will receive as the sheep of Christ.
Others read the search as already begun in the ministry of Jesus, and as wider than Israel from the start.
In Matthew's Gospel we find the Shepherd-King viewing His poor sheep as they surround Him... "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). The Lord had come to fulfil Ezekiel's prophecy. He came to bring them back to God — not only those who were Jews, but Gentiles also, forming "one flock" with "one Shepherd."
Some translations render the second half of the verse "tend them." Finding the sheep is not the end of it. The way God cares matters as much as the fact that He cares.
Having sought them, He tends them... His sheep are the objects of His tender care... But not only does the Lord tend His sheep, He does it in a very blessed way. It is not as one far removed in some high position giving directions for the care of the sheep, but as a shepherd "among his sheep that are scattered."... If we have driven them away, will He desert them? Never. If we have scattered them, will He forsake them? Never.
- Cause — The shepherds failed the flock completely. That failure puts the sheep into God's own hands.
- Search — He searches because they are still His. Scattering changed their location, not their ownership.
- Examine — The search looks into their whole condition. God exposes the evil in full, so that all can own He is right.
- Gather — God may permit scattering, but only for a short time. His heart is set on gathering.
- Shepherd — He delivers the flock Himself, then raises up one shepherd over them. Commentators differ on the timing: some say it still waits for Israel; others see it begun in the one flock under one Shepherd.
As a shepherd tendeth his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
Ezekiel has just exposed Israel's shepherds — the kings and princes who fed themselves and left the flock scattered and preyed on. Now God answers their failure with a promise about Himself: He will go after His sheep on the day the darkness is thickest.
(These writers use an older translation. It has "the cloudy and dark day" for "a day of clouds and thick darkness," and "tend" for "seek out.")
The problem was never the flock. It was the shepherds — so God takes the sheep into His own hands. Watch how He describes Himself as He does it.
The evil lay in the shepherds — that is, in the kings and princes of Israel. They were not true shepherds; in fact there were none who were true. The flock was diseased, scattered, afflicted and badly treated, and their enemies preyed on them. The shepherds devoured them, and neither protected nor cared for them. But now Jehovah points this out to say that He Himself would seek out His poor sheep. He would judge between sheep and sheep, and would deliver them from the mouth of those that devoured them... Notice here the way in which Jehovah Himself delivers His sheep, without calling Himself their shepherd.
The comparison is with an ordinary shepherd on the day his flock breaks up. Where that shepherd stands tells you how the Lord treats His own.
Having sought them He "tends" them, for that is how the passage should read: "I will both search for My sheep and TEND them as a shepherd tends his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered." His sheep are the objects of His tender care... The Lord not only tends His sheep; He does it in a very blessed way. He is not far away in some high position, sending down orders about the care of the sheep. He is a shepherd "among his sheep that are scattered." We speak of the Lord being present where two or three gather in His name, and that is true and blessed. But we should remember there is also such a thing as the Lord "among His sheep that are scattered." If we have driven them away, will He desert them? Never. If we have scattered them, will He forsake them? Never.
The scattering and the darkness belong together. One writer points to who darkens the sky.
"I will DELIVER them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." While leaders are busy darkening the sky with their arguments, the enemy is busy scattering the sheep. While the shepherds quarrel, the sheep wander. We can scatter, but what little power we have to deliver. But the Lord will deliver. Not one of His sheep will be left behind when He acts in delivering power.
Scattering can be something God allows. It is never what He wants.
Their scatterings will stop when they hear the Voice His people know — a Voice that does not scatter but brings together. It gathers them by removing every cause of scattering. Yet at times scattering may be the very thing that is of God, which He permits to avoid a worse evil. Still, He permits it only for a short time. What is in His heart is gathering, not scattering.
The timing is not accidental. The same pattern shows up in how God deals with one person.
In the coming day, it will be "in the cloudy and dark day" that the Lord will seek out and gather His wandering sheep. In the same way, God's grace recovers each soul when all seems darkest, when the evil is brought out into the light.
One writer refuses to soften this promise into something already past.
The complete failure of the shepherds throws the care of the flock onto Jehovah Himself. He undertakes not only to demand the sheep back from those set over them, but to search for them and seek them out wherever they have been scattered... It is useless here, as in similar passages, to dodge what He says about the work He will yet do for Israel on earth, once He has finished gathering His assembly for heaven. These words have never yet been fulfilled. So they must be. Their certainty and security rest on Himself.
- Failure. The shepherds fed themselves, and the sheep scattered. God names the cause before He promises the cure.
- Presence. The shepherd in the comparison does not stay at a distance. He is among the scattered sheep, and so is the Lord.
- Darkness. The rescue comes on the cloudy and dark day. God works when things look most hopeless — for a nation and for one soul.
- Gathering. Scattering may be permitted for a short time; what is in His heart is gathering, and He will leave none behind.
- Certainty. These words have never yet been fulfilled, so they must be — their security rests on the One who spoke them.