Ezekiel 34:5

The shepherds of Israel were the kings and princes and all who had authority over them. The prophet Jeremiah had received a similar message (Jer. 23:1-2). These shepherds of Israel were responsible for the terrible condition of the flock. They were completely selfish. They did not care for the sheep of His pasture. They did not fear God, and they had no heart for God's people. The flock was scattered and ruined.

This false claim to the shepherd's place, without the shepherd's heart, must come to an end. Such a claim is deeply offensive to Him. His heart is with the sheep. He is afflicted in all the afflictions of His people. And when He rises up to help them, He will do a thorough work.

Like the Gentile kings, they saw the people they governed as their own, not as the flock of God. From this came confusion and every evil work... The shepherds had fed themselves, not the flock... They ruled with harshness and severity, and scattered them, a prey to all the wild beasts, with no shepherd's care.

The sheep are scattered because there is no shepherd to lead them. Once scattered, they become a prey to the beasts of the field... Instead of one flock — one beautiful flock — we have scattered, harassed, wandering sheep, with no one to search or seek after them... United, they could have resisted the attacks of the enemy. Scattered, they fall an easy prey to every evil.

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." And yet there was much religion then — though this was how the Great Shepherd judged them. There were many sects. They kept the feast-days. There was a great stir in everything that might mark a day of public religious decency and devotion... There were plenty of teachers, and plenty of zeal. And yet, in the eyes of Him who saw them as God saw them, Israel was without a shepherd, an unkept, unfed flock.

A hard and legal spirit will never restore such a person. It will only drive him further away. I have watched in deep distress as one of these soul doctors set out to put a fallen brother right. I saw him drive that brother far away. Instead of picking him up, he knocked him further down. More than one fallen person has cried to me with tears: "They drove me away!" I knew it was true and I thought of Ezekiel 34, and the shepherds there... How we need some true shepherds today.

But if God is against the shepherds, He is for the sheep. He says, "I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them." And in the verses that follow we have a magnificent description of how God shepherds His flock.

In the book of Ezekiel, God had a dispute with both the shepherds and the sheep. He exposes their sins and threatens them with judgment. Then, in the most moving way possible, He pours out His compassion for the weak remnant of the flock: "because there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep... therefore I will rescue my flock... And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd." (Ezek. 34:8, 22, 23.)