Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them Behold, [it is] I, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
God has just finished His case against the shepherds of Israel, who fed themselves and left the flock scattered. Now He turns to the sheep themselves. He will judge between the fat and the lean Himself.
No human leader was left worth the name. So the Lord takes both the rescue and the reckoning into His own hands. The verse doubles the pronoun — I, I myself — so there is no doubt who acts.
The evil lay in the shepherds — that is, in the kings and princes of Israel, who were not true shepherds (in fact, there were none who were true). The flock was sick, scattered, suffering and badly treated, and their enemies preyed on them. The shepherds devoured them, and neither protected nor cared for them. But the Lord now points this out, so that He can say that He Himself would seek out His poor sheep, judge between sheep and sheep, and rescue them from the mouth of those who devoured them. He would feed them on the mountains of Israel and in rich pastures. He would raise up the true and only shepherd, David — that is, the beloved Messiah.
The guilt does not stop with the leaders. The animals named around this verse are not all of one kind.
The search the Lord makes goes deeper than just certain leaders of the people. "Behold," says the Lord, "I judge between sheep and sheep" — not only between sheep and shepherds. The rams and the he-goats do not seem to stand for the same kind of people under His judgment. The rams belong to the flock itself, but the he-goats are strangers to it. In the Lord's own picture of judgment, the goats stand for those whom the Son of Man puts on His left hand, while He puts the sheep on His right.
Fat and lean are not about size. They mark the strong and the weak, and strength has a right use.
Next the Lord would judge between one animal and another, and between rams and he-goats. It was a question between the strong and the weak. What is the right use of strength, if not to protect the weak?
These sheep used their strength the other way. They took the best and spoiled what was left.
How did they use their strength? Sadly, not only to grab the good pasture for themselves, but to trample what was left and make it unfit to eat — to drink the deep water, and then foul the rest with their feet. Does it end there? No. There is One who judges.
This verse sorts animal from animal, not nation from nation. That sifting marks a shift in how God deals with His people.
That day of rich goodness and mercy will not be without the judgment of the wicked — far from it. Ezekiel 33 teaches us that where each person stands before God will count in Israel as it never counted under the first covenant. So it will be here, when He judges between sheep and sheep.
But the sorting is not the end. What comes next runs past anything the oppressed could have asked for.
But there is more still. There might be judgment on oppression, rescue for the miserable, and blessing for the people brought back to the land of Israel. But grace does not limit its flow to the measure of men.
The lesson reaches past Israel. It asks how we treat those we would call weak or diseased.
Is there not a searching lesson in this for us all? Do we not tend to treat coldly and harshly anyone we can label "diseased" — to keep our distance from those we might call weak and feeble? It is not wise to shut our eyes to the facts. What cruelty and injustice people have done in the name of Christ — perhaps not willingly or on purpose, but often through mistaken ideas of faithfulness!
That day His judgment will cut both ways.
What a day that will be, when the troubles, difficulties and divisions are all judged rightly, once and for all. He will judge the hard spirit. He will also judge the softness that makes no faithful stand for the truth.
- Judge. With no true shepherd left, God takes the case Himself. He seeks out His own sheep and judges between sheep and sheep.
- Deeper. The search goes past the leaders into the flock. Rams belong to it, he-goats are strangers to it, and both come under His eye.
- Strength. Fat and lean means strong and weak. The strong seized the best pasture and spoiled the rest.
- Personally. God weighs each one by its own state, not by the nation. Where a person stands before Him now counts as it never did before.
- Grace. Judgment between the animals is only the doorway. God's goodness does not stop at the measure men would set.
Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the weak ones with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad,
God's charge in Ezekiel 34 starts with the shepherds who failed Israel. Here it turns to the sheep themselves: the strong ones who shoved the weak until the flock broke apart. So what does God do when the harm to His people comes from their fellow sheep, not from their leaders?
God's search does not stop at the top. Commentators note that He draws a line between one sheep and another. The animals named in the chapter are not all of the same kind:
The search the Lord makes goes deeper than dealing only with certain leaders of the people: "Behold," says the Lord, "I judge between sheep and sheep," not merely between sheep and shepherds. "The rams and the he-goats" seem to speak of two unlike objects of His judgment. The rams belong to the flock itself, but the he-goats do not… Among the sheep there are those who have from God a natural place as leaders. When God is working among His people, as in the days to come, these must come to the front. Leaders among the people of God are always recognized. The character of the leading decides what it is before God.
Being strong is not the sin here. The sin is what the strong did with their weight, side, shoulder and horn:
Next the Lord would judge between cattle and cattle… between rams and he-goats. It was a question between the strong and the weak. What is the right use of strength but to protect the weak?
The shoving has no excuse, because there was never a shortage to fight over. One writer draws the contrast with what Christ has spread for His own:
So it is with the pasture that Christ has spread for His flock. It is immense and inexhaustible, as everything Divine is. No member of His flock needs to push or rush ahead, however countless they are. It was the same with His pasture in the promised land on earth, a land flowing with milk and honey, where the Lord had led His people long ago. There was abundance for all… But, sadly, Jeshurun had grown fat and kicked against his Maker. And not only that, but the fat ones of the flock had "pushed with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with their horns, till they had scattered them abroad."
("Jeshurun" is another name for Israel.)
The verse ends with the flock driven apart. That outcome, commentators observe, has a long history beyond Israel:
Times and places differ, of course. But is it not true that the Church's history has repeated the same practices, even at times inside the churches themselves? Harshness and rigor have caused scattering. Sick, wounded, and wandering sheep are the result when no one gives proper care and only "the fat and the strong" matter.
The ESV calls the sheep singled out for the horn "the weak"; older translations call them "the diseased." That detail is where the verse presses on the reader:
Is there not a searching lesson in this for us all? Do we not tend to treat those we can call "diseased" with coldness and severity? Do we not walk apart from those we might call weak and feeble? It is not wise to ignore facts. What cruelty and injustice people have done in the name of Christ! Perhaps not willingly and on purpose, but often through mistaken ideas of faithfulness.
The "because" of verse 21 leads straight to a "therefore" in the next verse. What follows is rescue, not just a sentence:
There might be judgment on oppression, rescue for the wretched, and blessing for the people restored to the land of Israel. But grace does not stop its flow at the measures of men… "therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David."
- Strength — God does not condemn the strong for being strong. He condemns them for turning side, shoulder and horn on the weak. Strength exists to protect them.
- Scattering — the pushing does not just bruise; it breaks the flock apart. Harshness has left the same wandering, wounded sheep long after Israel.
- Searched — God judges between sheep and sheep, not only between sheep and shepherds. He measures leaders who rise from the flock by the character of their leading.
- Surplus — no one ever had cause to shove. The pasture Christ spreads is inexhaustible, with abundance for all.
- Saved — the charge ends in rescue, not just in a sentence: one Shepherd set over the flock, and sheep that will never again be a prey.
-- I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Ezekiel 34 opens with God's charge against Israel's shepherds, who fed themselves while the flock scattered. By verse 22 the strong sheep are on trial too, and God answers their bullying Himself.
God sentenced the shepherds earlier in the chapter. What is new here is who stands trial now. One writer marks the line, and notes that the rams and the goats are not the same kind of creature:
The Lord's search goes deeper than dealing only with certain leaders of the people: "Behold," says the Lord, "I judge between sheep and sheep," not merely between sheep and shepherds. "The rams and the male goats" seem to speak of objects of His judgment that are not alike. The rams belong to the flock themselves, but the male goats are foreign to it.
The "therefore" of the verse points back to thrusting with side and shoulder and goring the weak. The issue is not size but how size was used:
Next the Lord would judge between cattle and cattle (the margin of the Bible says, small cattle of lambs and kids); between rams and male goats (margin, great male goats). It was a question between the strong and the weak. What is the right use of strength but to protect the weak?
Every verb in the verse belongs to God. He acts first Himself, and names a shepherd only afterwards:
But Jehovah now says that He Himself would seek out His poor sheep. He would judge between sheep and sheep. He would deliver them from the mouth of those that devoured them, and feed them on the mountains of Israel, in fat pastures. He would raise up the true and only shepherd, David (that is, the well-beloved Messiah)... Notice 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.
Rescue alone would be a great deal. Grace does not stop there:
There might be judgment on oppression, deliverance for the wretched, and blessing for the people restored to the land of Israel. But grace does not stop flowing at the levels men would set for it.
Saved sheep still need someone to feed them. The next verses name Him, and one writer links this David to the Shepherd of John 10:
The prophetic reference to the true David is touching and beautiful. "And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them." (Ezek. 34:23–24) Our Lord in John 10 presents Himself as the faithful and good Shepherd who loves and cares for His sheep.
The promise that they shall no longer be prey has not yet come true in Israel's history. One writer turns that delay into a guarantee:
In verses 13, 14 He spells this out in language so simple and plain that it is useless here, as in similar passages, to dodge His testimony. He will yet do this work for Israel on earth, when He has finished gathering His assembly for heaven. These words have never yet come true; so they must still come true. Their certainty and security rest on Himself, and on that mercy which endures forever.
Commentators apply the chapter beyond Israel. Scattering and preying still go together:
The leaders failed, so God's people have been scattered. Once scattered, they have fallen prey to the enemy. United, they could have resisted the enemy's attacks. Scattered, they fall an easy prey to every evil.
The same hardness can show up among God's people now:
Is there not a searching lesson in this for us all? Do we not tend to treat those we could class as "diseased" with coldness and severity? Do we not keep our distance from those we might class as weak and feeble?... What cruelty and injustice have been practised in the name of Christ, perhaps not willingly or on purpose, but often through mistaken ideas of faithfulness!
- Cause: the strong sheep shoved and scattered the weak. The right use of strength is to protect the weak, not to crush them.
- Verdict: God judges between sheep and sheep, not only between sheep and shepherds. Bad shepherds never excuse bad sheep.
- Rescue: every act in the verse is God's own — He searches, delivers and saves, and only then hands the flock to a shepherd.
- Shepherd: the David set up next is the Messiah, the same Good Shepherd who speaks in John 10.
- Result: "no longer a prey" has never yet come true, so it must. God Himself and His mercy that endures forever guarantee it.
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.
Israel's leaders had fed themselves and let the flock scatter. So God says He will take the flock into His own hands. Then comes a surprise. He has just promised to seek the sheep Himself, yet here He names another shepherd — one man, called by the name of a king who had been dead for centuries.
God first rescues the sheep Himself. Only then does He hand them to a shepherd.
The evil lay in the shepherds — that is, in the kings and princes of Israel. They were not true shepherds; in fact there were no true ones. And the flock was diseased, scattered, afflicted and ill-treated, easy prey to their enemies... Notice the way Jehovah Himself delivers His sheep, without calling Himself their shepherd. Then He raises up a plant of renown, the true David, as their shepherd.
Two readings have long been offered. Gaebelein sets both aside.
Some have applied this to Zerubbabel, who led Judah home from the Babylonian exile. That is the reading of those who deny a future restoration of Israel. Others take these words in a strict literal sense. They teach that David the king will lead the nation once more, raised from the dead, as the one shepherd over His people. It is not David, but He who is according to the flesh the Son of David and David's Lord as well. The one Shepherd can only be the Messiah... He came once to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and He comes again to save the remnant of His people Israel and to receive the throne of David.
The dating settles it. The prophet is not talking about a man from his own past.
Ezekiel could write, "I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David" (Ezek. 34:23). He is plainly speaking of Christ. David, the king of Israel, had been dead over four centuries when Ezekiel wrote these words.
The number is not incidental. It rules out every rival and every substitute, and the name itself carries meaning.
God has one true Shepherd to set over them. In that sense there is only one; there is not another. He is "my servant David," and "he shall feed them."... He takes up David's place and office in a more glorious way. David's Son is also David's Lord, "the Beloved" — that is what the name David means. Our hearts recognise Him in this: "he shall feed them and be their shepherd." Only so can Jehovah be their God.
Jesus spoke of Himself as the shepherd who enters by the door. Hamilton Smith reads that scene as this verse coming true.
From time to time false prophets and pretended Messiahs had risen. They wanted influence over the sheep for their own profit and glory. Such were only thieves and robbers. They did not enter in by God's appointed way — the door. But at last One came into the Jewish fold by the way that God had foretold... He was born of a virgin, as Isaiah said, and at Bethlehem, as Micah said. So Christ entered by the door, and this marked Him out as the true Shepherd of Israel, the "One Shepherd" Ezekiel foretold.
The promise runs straight through death. The Shepherd was struck down, and that did not cancel it.
Had not the Lord said of Him: "I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David... he shall feed them and be their shepherd"?... And now this Shepherd had to be struck down in death! But He who fell under the judgment will suddenly appear among His own. He is the "great Shepherd of the sheep, brought again from among the dead" (Heb. 13:20). See how He will return to feed them, to lead them to the fountains of living water, never to leave them again.
The verse gives Israel a shepherd. Jesus then spoke of sheep outside that circle.
"I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd" (John 10:16). In such terms the Lord Jesus announces the great change that would follow His death and resurrection. He had sheep that did not belong to the fold of Israel. He was, and is, in a special sense (see Ezek. 34:23; Zech. 13:7) the Shepherd of Israel. But He has other sheep whom He would bring, and they would hear His voice. They follow Him, as the believing remnant of Israel did. So the two would form one flock, owned and cared for by the one Shepherd.
- Failure. Israel's leaders devoured the flock instead of feeding it, so God took the sheep out of their hands.
- Rescue. Jehovah searches out and rescues the sheep Himself. Only then does He appoint a shepherd over them.
- Gift. What He gives is a person: one Shepherd, called "my servant David." Not Zerubbabel, not David raised from the dead, but the Messiah — David's Son and David's Lord.
- Cost. The Shepherd fell under judgment and death, then came back from the dead. He returns to feed His own and never leave them.
- Result. One Shepherd means one flock. Israel's believing remnant and sheep from outside that fold all hear the same voice.
And I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David a prince in their midst I Jehovah have spoken [it].
Earlier in this chapter God condemns Israel's shepherds. They fed themselves while the flock scattered, so He takes the sheep into His own hand. Verse 24 names the one He will set over them: "my servant David." Who is this David, and when can such a promise be kept?
Readers have taken the name three ways: a leader of the return from exile, David himself brought back from the dead, or the Messiah. One writer sets out the options and settles them:
Some have applied this to Zerubbabel, the head of Judah at the return from the Babylonian captivity. Those who deny a future restoration of Israel take that view. Others take these words in a strictly literal sense. They teach that David the king will become head of the nation once more, and that, raised from the dead, he will be the one shepherd over His people. It is not David, but the one who by human descent is the Son of David, and David's Lord as well. The one Shepherd can only be the Messiah. Many passages show that David's name stands as a picture of another.
The verse itself keeps two persons apart: the LORD who speaks, and the prince He sets among the people.
Not Zerubbabel nor Nehemiah, not the Asmonaean kings, still less the Herods are meant. The King is meant, Messiah-Jehovah, as we know from elsewhere. Yet here He is distinguished from Jehovah who speaks and will do it.
God does not call Him king here, but servant — and the title is not a temporary one He outgrows when the throne comes.
So He is the true David. No change of scene or circumstances makes any change in His character as the servant of Jehovah's glory and of His people's joy.
Between this promise and its fulfilment stands the cross:
Did the Lord, then, by death cease to be a Shepherd? With men this would be the case. Not so, however, with Him. Messiah, as Daniel predicted, was cut off, and the hopes of the nation were crushed for a time. Yet we learn that the Lord will still reign over all Israel as God's servant David, and as their Prince and Shepherd (Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:24).
The two halves of the verse hold together. God being their God is not a separate promise running alongside the prince. It depends on Him.
He has one true Shepherd to set over them. In that sense there is only one; there is not another, and "He shall feed them, even my servant David." … He takes up David's place and office in a more glorious way. David's Son is also David's Lord, "the Beloved," as His name means, and our hearts recognise Him in this way. Only in this way can Jehovah be their God. Only in this way will "the covenant of peace" be theirs — peace by a covenant that will never be broken.
The verses that follow speak of wild animals made harmless and land that yields its crop. Commentators say this rules out reading the passage as a picture of the present age:
It is absurd from every point of view to interpret these prophecies of the church or of the gospel. Then the very beasts will have their nature changed, and the earth will yield its increase. It will be the day for which creation waits. Creation groans still and is in pain, but then it will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
The verse does not close with conditions for Israel to meet. It closes with the speaker's own name, and that is where its security lies.
It is the day when God raises up Messiah for them, no longer rejected and despised as He once was. He is a plant of renown. Israel will no longer go hungry in the land or be a reproach to the Gentiles. Jehovah will be with them, their God, and they His people. Has He spoken, and will He not make it all good? Is anything too hard, too good, for the Lord?
- One Shepherd. The "David" here is not Zerubbabel, and not David raised from the dead. He is David's Son who is also David's Lord — the Messiah.
- One servant. He takes David's office in a more glorious way. His servant character never changes, whatever the scene.
- One death passed. Messiah was cut off, yet death did not strip Him of the shepherd's place. He will still reign over Israel as their Prince and Shepherd.
- One channel. Only through Him can the LORD be their God and the covenant of peace be theirs — a peace that will never be broken.
- One guarantee. The promise ends with the speaker, not the hearers: He has spoken, and nothing is too hard or too good for Him to make good.
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 in safety in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
God has just judged the false shepherds and promised one Shepherd over His flock. Now He binds Himself by a covenant — so what is this peace, what are the "wild beasts," and how can a people sleep safely in open country?
The covenant does not stand alone. One writer ties it to the one Shepherd: the peace is theirs only through Him.
He is to take up David's place and office in a more glorious way. David's Son is also David's Lord, "the Beloved," as His name means. Our hearts recognise Him in this way: "He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd." And only in this way can Jehovah be their God. Only in this way will "the covenant of peace" be theirs. It is peace by a covenant that can never be broken. As a result, all nature is at peace with them and the evil beasts are gone: "They shall dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods." Eden, but a better Eden, has come for them.
The verse opens with "I will make." One writer notes how often that phrase repeats in these chapters, and whose voice it is.
No mortal man, political party or decision of nations will ever change Israel's condition, but God can and will. Notice the often repeated expression in chapters 34 and 37, "I will." That is the language of omnipotent deity… God will not chastise His people any more. He will establish a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant, and God will be their God and they will be His people.
What did such a peace cost? One writer names the price, and what God promises along with it.
So the "covenant of peace" shall be made with them — "He has made peace by the blood of His cross." So it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and "I will bless them," says the Lord, "and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore."
Commentators differ here. Some read the beasts as real animals, whose nature God will change. One writer also rules out reading these promises as a picture of the church or the gospel.
It is absurd from every point of view to interpret these prophecies of the church or of the gospel. Then the very beasts will have their nature changed, and the earth will yield its increase. It will be the day for which creation waits. Creation groans still and is in pain, but then God will deliver it from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
Another writer reads the same beasts as world empires. He ties the covenant to the moment Israel accepts the Messiah it long refused.
When the Lord is doing all that He promises here, and the remnant has accepted the long rejected Messiah-King, a covenant of peace and blessing will follow… The evil beasts are the Gentile world powers (Dan. 7). They will no longer devastate the land. All will be peace and safety, so that they can sleep peacefully in the woods.
God does not promise safety behind walls. He names the wilderness and the woods. One writer shows why those places matter.
In the day of our chapter Jehovah will set up one shepherd over His earthly people — His servant David, that is Christ, their Messiah. In that day God will make a covenant of peace with them. Evil beasts will cease out of the land. The sheep of His hand shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods — exactly in the places that would have been dangerous and unsafe in former times.
The promise waits for a coming day. Yet one writer sees it foreshadowed now in God's people, and says that enjoying it depends on a Person.
This covenant of peace for days to come (Ezek. 34:25; 37:26) is, as it were, foreshadowed in God's heavenly people as they live in this world. But this practical realisation depends on the Prince of peace. All comes from Him, all will be for Him.
- Shepherd — The covenant follows the Shepherd. Only when David's Son shepherds the flock can Jehovah be their God and this peace be theirs.
- Promise — The repeated "I will" of these chapters is the language of omnipotent deity. No man, party or nation brings this about.
- Price — The peace is not sentiment. It rests on One who "made peace by the blood of His cross," and so the covenant is everlasting.
- Peace — God removes the danger itself. Commentators differ: are the beasts animals whose nature God changes, or the empires that devoured the land?
- Place — Watch where the sheep sleep: wilderness and woods, the very spots that once meant death. Eden has come back, but a better Eden. God's people already foreshadow that peace, and it depends on the Prince of peace.
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.
Ezekiel 34 is God's answer to Israel's false shepherds: He will shepherd the flock Himself, through one Shepherd He calls "my servant David." Verse 26 belongs to that promise — the rain returns, and God's dwelling-place becomes the source of blessing for everything around it.
The showers have a timing. They come when the nation accepts the Messiah it once refused, and they arrive with a covenant of peace for the land.
When the Lord is doing all that is promised here, and the remnant has accepted the long-rejected Messiah-King, a covenant of peace and blessing will follow... Peace will come to the land and to the whole earth with His coming. The evil beasts, the Gentile world powers (Dan. 7), will no longer devastate the land.
Some have read the "David" of this passage as a leader who had already come and gone in Israel's history. One writer tests that reading against the size of the words.
Not Zerubbabel nor Nehemiah... but the King, Messiah-Jehovah, as we know from elsewhere... Otherwise your reading leads you to hint, or even think, that the word of prophecy is a gross exaggeration. Take it as the Lord reigning over Israel, gathered back in divine mercy and power, and then you feel that the words cannot rise beyond the reality.
The verse names God's hill first, then the places around it, and promises to make them a blessing. That order matters: blessing starts where God dwells and flows outward, and the curse on the ground lifts.
Eden, but a better Eden, has come for them. From the hill of God, His dwelling-place among them, the object of every eye and every heart, blessing will flow out to all the places around. Heaven gives its showers in their season: "they shall be showers of blessing." So the curse goes, and the land yields its increase.
Rain in Israel was never just weather. God promised it on terms, and Israel broke them. So the rain returning here is a gift of grace, not a wage.
It had been the original promise of the Lord to Israel, that if they would "obey my commandments... to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul," then "I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain"... But Israel disobeyed and turned away from their God. They forfeited this promise, and God in chastisement withheld both the early and the later rain... He intended to bless them now out of His own pure grace, for the believing remnant that will live in those days will have no claim on Him. He only wanted them to learn their dependence on Him for the blessing they sought, and so become ready to receive it.
The phrase "showers of blessing" is sung in many hymns. One writer notes what most singers miss.
But how few who sing it know that the promise belongs first of all to Israel. When the Lord comes, the showers of blessing will be poured out on His people and on all nations. It will be "the times of refreshing" (Acts 3:19).
So does the blessing stop at Israel's border? One writer answers from what redemption restored.
Sin had cut off the flow of blessing to the earth. Redemption joins the broken links again... but the land of Israel can no more be the limit of millennial blessing than the Jew could be the sole object of grace after the cross. Of necessity both the grace and the glory must overflow.
The verse looks ahead. Still, one writer draws a lesson from it for believers now, and names why many see no showers.
Worship in the assembly today has a different character. It is a response to the great love of God. Yet the principle stays the same: worship secures the outpouring of showers of blessing. Many seek the showers in the wrong way. Malachi 3:10 confirms the truth — bring in, and He will pour out! ... Let our worship flow to Him, then blessing will flow from Him. There are many withholding the rain, for they are withholding their worship.
- Shepherd first. The rain follows the Shepherd. God sets up His one Shepherd and a covenant of peace, and then the showers come.
- Grace, not wages. God once tied the rain to obedience, and Israel lost it. Here He gives it back to people with no claim on Him.
- A centre. Blessing starts where God dwells and spreads out to "the places all around." It flows from one source outward.
- A reach. It lands first on Israel, then overflows to the nations; the land cannot be its limit.
- A result. The curse lifts, the ground yields, and peace covers the land. The lesson stands: bring your worship in, and He pours blessing out.
And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase; and they shall be in safety in their land, and shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those that kept them in servitude.
Ezekiel 34 ends with God taking His scattered flock back from the shepherds who failed them and setting one Shepherd over them. Verse 27 pictures the world those sheep will live in, and ties it to the moment God breaks their yoke — so who is He speaking to, and when has any of this happened?
The blessings named here are things you can eat, harvest and live on. One writer takes that as the clue to who the passage is for. He sets these promises against the church's blessings:
The blessings of the Church are spiritual blessings in heavenly places — not earthly blessings, as Israel's were. God promised that if they obeyed, He would bless them in their basket and in their store, in the fruit of their body, the fruit of their cattle, and the fruit of the ground. And even in the thousand-year kingdom to come, when they will enjoy spiritual blessings too, having every earthly comfort stands out in what is predicted for them. "And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the LORD." (Ezek. 34:27.) There are no such promises as these to the Church.
One commentator rules out reading this as a picture of the church or the gospel. He takes the yielding ground as a real change in creation:
It is absurd from every point of view to interpret these prophecies of the church or of the gospel. Then the very beasts will have their nature changed, and the earth will yield its increase. It will be the day for which creation waits. Creation groans still and is in pain, but then it is to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
The fruitfulness is not the starting point. It follows from the one Shepherd God sets over the flock and the covenant He makes with them:
He has one true Shepherd who is to be set over them; in that sense, only one; there is not another, and "He shall feed them, even my servant David." He is the true David, of whom the one in history was only a picture... And so alone will "the covenant of peace" be theirs — the peace of a covenant that can never be broken, and as a result, all nature at peace with them, evil beasts gone... Eden, but a better Eden, has come for them. From the hill of God — His dwelling-place among them, the object of every eye and every heart — blessing will flow out to all the places round about. Heaven yields its seasonable showers... So the curse is removed, and the land yields its increase.
The phrase "know that I am the LORD" runs all through Ezekiel. It does not always come the same way. One commentator sets the judgment on Edom beside this verse:
So Edom's knowledge of Jehovah comes by the judgment itself, not by any spiritual knowledge of Him that follows. When all the earth rejoices, Edom will be desolate... We may see the two means of making Jehovah known in the case of Israel (Ezek. 24:24-27; 28:26; 34:27; 36:11). In the other cases it is by judgment.
The verse gives the broken yoke and the rescue to God alone. One writer points to the repeated "I will" running through this chapter:
No mortal man, political party or decision of nations will ever change Israel's condition, but God can and will. Notice the often repeated expression in chapters 34 and 37, "I will." That is the language of omnipotent deity.
The same writer traces the rescue itself back to God, and follows it through to the safety it leaves behind:
In all this they will know that it is Jehovah who has brought them into this blessing. It is Jehovah who has burst the bands of their yoke and delivered them. It is Jehovah who has come in with the deliverance, and it is now eternal. They will never again be a prey, nor will they fear it. There will be no danger and no thought of danger.
- Cause. Every clause hangs on God's own "I will" — no nation, ruler or policy breaks the yoke; He does.
- Gift. The one Shepherd God sets over them brings a covenant of peace that can never be broken. The fruitful land follows from it.
- Reach. The blessing reaches past the people into the ground itself. The curse lifts, the beasts change, and creation goes free.
- Portion. These are earthly promises, made to Israel in their land. Writers set them apart from the church's spiritual, heavenly blessings.
- Result. Israel comes to know the Lord through mercy and rescue. Edom and the nations come to know Him through judgment.
And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beast of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell in safety, and none shall make them afraid.
Ezekiel 34 opens with God's charge against the shepherds of Israel. They fed themselves and let the flock scatter, so God takes the flock into His own hand. Verse 28 closes that picture: a people no nation preys on, and no wild animal attacks. When has that promise ever come true?
The chapter turns at verse 23, from judgment to promise:
In chapter 34 God judges the shepherds. He there declares He will take the flock into His own care (v. 11-22). Then, in verse 23, He drops the symbols and says plainly what He will do in the last days.
Some look for the fulfilment in Israel's later rulers. One writer rules them all out, and refuses to read the promise as exaggeration:
This does not mean Zerubbabel or Nehemiah, nor the Asmonaean house, still less the Herods. It means the King, Messiah-Jehovah... Any other reading leaves you hinting, or thinking, that the word of prophecy is the wildest exaggeration. Read it of the Lord reigning over Israel, gathered back by God's mercy and power, and then you feel that the words cannot rise above the reality.
Verse 28 reverses what the flock had suffered. They were prey because the men set over them were no shepherds at all:
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 true. The flock was diseased, scattered, afflicted and ill-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 raise up the true and only shepherd, David (that is, the well-beloved Messiah)... There should be no more famine in their land, and the nations should no more devour them.
Commentators differ on the "beasts of the land." One reads them as the Gentile world powers that ravage it:
Peace will come to the land and to the whole earth with His coming. The evil beasts, the Gentile world powers (Dan. 7) will no longer devastate the land. All will be peace and safety, so that they can sleep peacefully in the woods.
Another takes them as real animals, and sees a change running through all creation:
Then the very beasts will have their nature changed, and the earth will yield its crops. For it will be the day creation waits for. Creation still groans and suffers as in labour pains. But then God will set it free from the bondage of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
The safety of verse 28 rests on something earlier in the chapter. It follows from a covenant, and it reaches beyond the people to all of nature:
Only in this way can Jehovah be their God. Only in this way will "the covenant of peace" be theirs. It is peace by a covenant that can never be broken. As a result, all nature is at peace with them and the evil beasts are gone: "they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods." Eden has come for them — but a better Eden.
The places named are exactly the ones that used to be unsafe:
The sheep of His hand will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods — in the very places that would have been dangerous and unsafe in earlier times.
The verse promises two things: no more preying on them, and no more fear.
They will be no more a prey, and they will not even fear it. There will be no danger, and no thought of danger.
That safety comes last in an order of events:
First, God gathers the people back and establishes them in favor. Second, God's hand allows the enemy's hatred and power to show itself. The result is that God is glorified, and His people receive full deliverance. From then on "none shall make them afraid" any more, with God in glory dwelling among them.
- Shepherd first. The flock stopped being prey when God set His own Shepherd, David, over them. The promise starts with a Person, not a policy.
- Covenant next. Safety flows from the covenant of peace. One writer calls it peace by a covenant that can never be broken — Eden restored, and bettered.
- Reach outward. The promise reaches past the people to the land. Nations no longer devour, beasts no longer harm, and creation stops groaning.
- Two readings. Commentators differ on the beasts. Some see the Gentile world powers. Others see real animals, with their nature changed.
- Result last. "None shall make them afraid" comes last of all. God judges the final enemy and dwells in glory among them. No return from exile has ever matched that.
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 ignominy of the nations any more.
Ezekiel 34 ends with God's promise to His scattered sheep: something is coming that will end their hunger and their shame for good. The ESV calls that gift "renowned plantations," while older translations read one "plant of renown" — and commentators ask who this plant is and when the promise comes true.
Commentators do not treat this as a promise about crops. They read the plant as Christ Himself, and they tie it back to Isaiah's picture of a tender plant growing out of dry ground.
There is no need to speculate on the meaning of "the plant of renown," which will be raised up. He is none other than the One whom Isaiah describes, in His humiliation, as "a tender plant" and "as a root out of a dry ground" (Isa. 53:2). But now He appears in all His glory, and becomes the plant of renown.
(The ESV of Isaiah 53:2 reads "like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground.")
The word translated "renown" is literally "a name." One writer reads the promise as pointing to the Name in which God reveals Himself.
"A plant for a name" is the literal rendering. It reminds us at once of the Name that holds all of God's revelation to man, the Name in His thought from the beginning. Here revelation comes to its completion, and everything takes shape according to it. For this Immanuel (Jehovah, revealed in Christ) is among them. The bond of His humanity will never break. Those blessed arms hold Israel as His people, and one day they will be seen around the whole creation of God, linking it forever with God.
William Kelly rules out every ruler Israel has already had. Zerubbabel and Nehemiah led Israel after the exile; the Asmonaean family and the Herods ruled later.
This does not mean Zerubbabel or Nehemiah, nor the Asmonaean house, and still less the Herods. It means the King, Messiah-Jehovah, as we know from elsewhere. Here, though, He stands distinct from the Jehovah who speaks and will do it. Any other reading leaves you hinting, or thinking, that the word of prophecy is the wildest exaggeration. Read it of the Lord reigning over Israel, gathered back in divine mercy and power, and then you feel that the words cannot rise above the reality.
The verses around this one promise changed animals and a fruitful land. That detail decides how to read the whole passage.
It is absurd, from every point of view, to apply these prophecies to the church or to the gospel. Then the wild animals will have their nature changed, and the earth will yield its harvest. It will be the day creation is waiting for. Creation still groans and suffers pain, but then God will set it free from its slavery to decay, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
The verse ends two miseries at once: hunger at home and the contempt of the nations. Kelly links both to the day God raises Messiah up.
It is the day when God raises up Messiah for them, no longer rejected and despised as He once was, a plant of renown. Israel will never again waste away with hunger in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Jehovah will be with them, their God, and they His people. Has He spoken, and will He not make it all good? Is anything too hard, or too good, for the Lord?
One writer sets this promise beside the Good Shepherd who feeds His sheep. The Shepherd and the pasture turn out to be the same Person.
Jehovah's special charge against the men who once claimed to be shepherds of Israel was that they fed themselves and not the flock. Not so the Good Shepherd. Now that He had come, His sheep would lack nothing... According to Ezekiel's prophecy He was Himself that "Plant of Renown." God had promised to raise Him up for His sheep, so that they might never again be consumed with hunger in the land (Ezek. 34:29). So the Lord Jesus is Shepherd and Door and Pasture and All.
Another writer applies the plant to a single life: Saul, who became the apostle Paul. Christ did not make the old Saul better; He grew in him as something new.
Saul was not simply improved. A new plant, a Plant of Renown, was now in him, and he keeps this One, and no other, before his eyes... It is impossible to receive Christ and still go on in the world. When you receive Him, everything changes — there is a new plant, a new Person in you. Christ is formed in you. It may be small at first. The largest oak was once very small.
- Person, not produce. The plant of renown is Christ Himself, once the tender plant of Isaiah 53, then appearing in glory.
- A name. Literally "a plant for a name" — God's full revelation of Himself to man, come to completion in Immanuel.
- Not a past ruler. Not Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, or the Herods. No ruler Israel has had matches these words — only Messiah reigning.
- Not the church. Changed animals and a fruitful earth mark this as the day creation still groans for.
- Fed and unashamed. Hunger and the nations' contempt both end, because the Shepherd given to them is Himself their pasture.
And they shall know that I Jehovah their God [am] with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Most of Ezekiel 34 tears down Israel's false shepherds and promises that God will take the flock in hand Himself. Verse 30 gives the result He is after: His people will know He is with them, and that they are His.
The chapter's promises land on a people who had just lost everything. One commentator describes where Israel stood when this promise came:
The fall of the city shows the people now fully under judgment. Their false confidences are exposed. The law has spoken, and by its verdict the people are Lo-ammi — not His people. They have no blood of atonement for their sins. They have no place where alone that blood could be sprinkled before God. God Himself has withdrawn entirely. What is more, there are no true shepherds among the people, only ones who are not just inadequate but false. So God must raise up the only Shepherd who can truly represent Him in His care for the weak and scattered remnant. That Shepherd is found in David — a name meaning "the beloved." He is the true fulfiller of that name, and of the promises God never takes back, the promises tied to "the sure mercies of David."
So "they are my people" does not describe how things stood. It is a reversal.
The nearness promised here is not abstract. It arrives with a person. One writer ties the whole promise to Messiah:
It is the day when God raises up Messiah for them. He is no longer rejected and despised as He once was. He is a plant of renown. Israel will no more go hungry in the land or be a reproach to the nations. Jehovah will be with them, their God, and they His people. Has He spoken, and will He not make it all good? Is anything too hard, too good, for the Lord?
That title, "a plant of renown," reads literally as "a plant for a name." One commentator draws out what the Name means:
This reminds us at once of the Name that holds all the revelation of God for man. That Name has been in His thought from the beginning. In it revelation comes to its completion, and all things take shape according to it. For this Immanuel — Jehovah, revealed in Christ — is among them. The bond of His humanity will never be broken. Those blessed arms surround Israel as His people, and one day they will be seen around the whole creation of God, linking it forever with God. So they need not fear to admit the weakness that belongs to them as creatures.
"They shall know that I am the LORD" runs like a refrain through Ezekiel. Older translations print that name as "Jehovah." One writer points to this verse as the sample case for Israel:
Many verses say, "And they shall know that I am Jehovah." Other passages show the leading thought in those declarations and judgments of God: the display of His government on the earth. That government makes the true character of God in His rule plain. It secures the proof of that character in the world, despite the unfaithfulness of His people — and it does so in grace as well as in holiness (Ezekiel 36:19-23, 36; 39:7, 23, 24, 28). For Israel, see Ezekiel 34:30.
Commentators here say the chapter still waits for its fulfilment in the nation. It is not a picture of the church. One writer is blunt about the promises around it — changed beasts, a fruitful earth:
It is absurd from every point of view to interpret these prophecies of the church or of the gospel. Then the very beasts will have their nature changed, and the earth will yield its increase. For it will be the day creation waits for. Creation still groans and is in pain, but then it will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
That does not put the chapter out of reach. Its rebuke of shepherds who fed themselves still carries weight. One writer applies it: "The special application of Ezekiel 34 is to the shepherds of Israel. Yet it surely carries a solemn and needed lesson for all who take up the work of a pastor among God's people."
- Verdict. Ezekiel speaks to a people under the law's verdict: not God's people, with no shepherd worth the name. The promise starts from nothing on their side.
- Shepherd. God's answer is not better leaders. It is one Shepherd, David the beloved. Through Him God is their God and they are His people.
- Presence. "With them" rests on Immanuel — God revealed in Christ, joined to our humanity by a bond that will never break.
- Knowledge. They know God when He makes His rule plain on earth, showing His true character in grace as well as holiness.
- Reach. Commentators apply the promise to Israel restored in a coming day. Its rebuke of self-serving shepherds still searches anyone who cares for God's people.
And ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men I [am] your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Ezekiel 34 opens with God's charge against Israel's shepherds, who fed themselves while the flock scattered. It closes with God claiming the sheep as His own, and the last verse says two things: the flock is human, and God is theirs.
One writer traces the failure of Israel's shepherds through to God's own rescue, and sees the same pattern in our day.
Ezekiel 34 speaks of the sheep of that day being scattered. But the Lord said, "I will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will feed them. I will save My flock and they shall be no more a prey." … There was no one shepherding them, for those who should have done so "fed themselves and did not feed the flock." Just as in our day, however, some fed themselves and others scattered the flock abroad. The Lord Himself alone could gather the sheep. … He watches over them all, and He never overlooks the feeblest.
The ESV calls them "human sheep of my pasture." Older translations read "the flock of my pasture, are men." One writer digs into that word and finds both a humbling and a glory in it.
What does this mean? — that we are men. The word is "adam": God "called their name Adam, in the day that He created them" — a name which comes from adamah, "the ground." Yes, just to learn that we are men! Have we learnt it? … It is the fitting word to keep us humble. Yet it is also a word of triumph, of God's triumph, for in them He makes the dust of the ground shine with a new glory. … The dust of the ground has become man, and God Himself has met us in Christ, claiming man, even man's flesh as His, of which He is not, and never will be, ashamed.
Hearing that you are only human could crush you. The same writer shows why it should not.
So they need not fear to admit the weakness that must belong to them as creatures. It is the healthy lesson they have taken so long to learn. We are all slow to learn it, though it is a very simple one.
Earlier in the chapter God promises to set one shepherd, His servant David, over the flock. One writer makes that promise the reason God can say "I am your God."
He is to take up David's place and office in a far more glorious way. David's Son is also David's Lord, "the Beloved," which is what His name means. Our hearts recognise Him in these words: "He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd." Only in this way will Jehovah be their God.
Another writer names that shepherd: God "will set up one shepherd over His earthly people, even His servant, David, that is Christ, their Messiah" (A J Pollock).
Jesus called Himself the door, and spoke of sheep going in and finding pasture. One writer hears a deliberate echo of how Ezekiel 34 ends.
He was the door Himself. Every way out of the fold, and every way into the new place of blessing yet to come, must be through Him. … He is still speaking in picture language, as the word "pasture" shows. Yet in saying, "if any man enter in," Jesus showed that He was speaking in line with that great Old Testament chapter which ends, "You My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men" (Ezek. 34:31).
Commentators differ on how far to push that link. Another writer insists the flock here is Israel, and that this limits how we may use John 10:
It is of Israel above all that the Lord says, "You, My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men; and I am your God." So we should not apply the words "entering in by the door into the sheepfold," or "climbing up some other way," to a sinner's coming to Christ. Still more common is to apply them to some supposed entrance into the church. Either use is at the very least a misunderstanding and a misuse of a most important and instructive passage.
The words "you are men" are not God's last word on the subject. One writer sets Ezekiel's line beside what the risen Christ said to Mary.
In Ezekiel's day the Lord said, "And you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men: I am your God, says the Lord Jehovah." Yes, and when Jesus rose from among the dead, He said to Mary, "Go to My brothers and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God." They too were men, and to them He sent this new message of oneness with Himself, in risen life and relationship. So are we today, and He is not ashamed to call us brothers.
- Scattered. Bad shepherds fed themselves and drove the flock apart. Only the Lord could gather the sheep, and He watches over every one, even the feeblest.
- Human. "Men" translates adam, from adamah, the ground — the word that keeps us humble.
- Claimed. That same dust is God's triumph: He met us in Christ and claimed man's flesh as His, and is never ashamed of it.
- Shepherded. God can say "I am your God" because He sets one Shepherd over the flock — David's Son, who is also David's Lord.
- Brought near. Still men, and yet the risen Christ sends word to men as His brothers: "My Father and your Father, My God and your God."