They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, 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?
A promise still waiting
The chapter turns at verse 23, from judgment to promise:
J. N. DarbyIn 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:
William KellyThis 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.
From prey to protected
Verse 28 reverses what the flock had suffered. They were prey because the men set over them were no shepherds at all:
J. N. DarbyThe 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.
What the beasts are
Commentators differ on the "beasts of the land." One reads them as the Gentile world powers that ravage it:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinPeace 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:
William KellyThen 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.
Safety that rests on a covenant
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:
Numerical Bible NotesOnly 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:
A J PollockThe 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.
"None shall make them afraid"
The verse promises two things: no more preying on them, and no more fear.
Numerical Bible NotesThey 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:
Numerical Bible NotesFirst, 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.
Summary
- 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.