Ezekiel 34:15

So the complete failure of the shepherds casts their care on Jehovah Himself. He does not only hold those set over the sheep to account for them. He searches for the sheep and seeks them out wherever they are scattered. In verses 13 and 14 He says this so simply and plainly that no one can dodge it, here or in similar passages. He testifies to the work He will yet do for Israel on earth, once He has finished gathering His assembly for heaven. These words have never yet come true; so they must still happen. Their certainty and security rest on Himself, and on that mercy which lasts for ever.

"Behold, I myself, even I, will search for My sheep and will seek them out." Jehovah rises up on behalf of His scattered sheep. He will Himself carry out the work of a true shepherd, seeking out His flock. The cloudy and dark day is gone and another morning breaks, the morning His people have waited for so long… 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.

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 scattering may at times be the very thing that is of God, and He allows it to avoid worse evil. Even so, He allows it only for a brief time. What is in His heart is gathering, not scattering.

A sheep only lies down when it is satisfied. When it says "He makes me," the idea is not force, but the result of satisfaction because of the Shepherd's care.

Finally, in that heavenly land He gives His people "Rest": "I myself will make them lie down" (v. 15)… And when God brings His people to rest it is "on rich pasture" (v. 14). Hungry sheep will not lie down on rich pasture; they will feed. If they lie down it is sure proof they are satisfied. The great Shepherd of the sheep leads them into a region of satisfied desire.

He Himself will both search for and seek out His sheep, gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own land… More than all, He will set up over them one shepherd who will feed them, His servant David, who is no less Jehovah than Himself.

But if God is against the shepherds, He is for the sheep… And in the verses that follow we have a magnificent description of how God shepherds His flock. And as the Chief Shepherd acts, so should the under-shepherds. So in these verses (11–16) we have the perfect example for the true-hearted shepherd, whether in Israel or among God's people today.