Ezekiel 34:23–24

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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?