Ezekiel 34:23

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.