Ezekiel 34 -- Shepherds who only take care of themselves
34 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?
The children who use public schools are the flock, the people in charge of those schools are the shepherds.
3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
The US schools pay about $12,800 per student for public education, the second highest rate in the world, our overall spending of $700 billion a year is far more than any other country in the world. Yet we are rated 38th in the world in math and 24th in science out of 71 other countries. (
https://www.insider.com/how-much-countries-around-the-world-spend-on-education-2019-8)
4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.
American taxpayers have paid for the best school system in the world and yet they get a horrible one. When they go to school board meetings to find out what is going on they get labeled domestic terrorists.
5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.
It isn't just that the children don't learn math or science, they don't keep the children until the parents get home for work and as a result they are left to fend for themselves and become prey to gangs.
6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
In Taiwan school for everyone goes until 6pm. They serve them lunch and dinner, they give them nap time, and as a result the children are not scattered.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
The US school system should be judged. They take care of themselves, they do not teach the children and they do not care for the children. I believe most children would do better in a school run for children up to the 8th grade that is housed in the local church where the parents and few retired teachers could run what would be a "homeschool".
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel Will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
This age is all about seeing that Jesus is Lord. Every other government is a failure, every other leader has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The end of this age will see an end to these corrupt governments, corrupt rulers, corrupt shepherds.
17 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
Although most US public schools are very poor, there are some in wealthy neighborhoods that would rank with the top five or ten. But "No Child Left Behind" which should be understood as "No Child in the Inner City gets ahead". There are onerous requirements which inner city schools can't afford. So "least restrictive" environment for the children who are emotionally disturbed means they are put into the general population classes to disrupt and slow down everyone's education. In the wealthy suburbs they can afford to give these children the attention they need. They pass laws that they don't fund, and if you don't follow them they pull what funding you do get.
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
This is a selfish and evil system set up by those who are abusive to the poor.
25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.
The easiest and least expensive way to rid the cities of gangs is to have public schools that take children in at 7:30 and keep them till 6:30, everyone. If you did this all the gangs would dry up, no new recruits. Ten years later all the gang members are now adults who can be prosecuted as adults. This is how you rid the land of savage beasts.
28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
The system is set up to plunder the tax payers, this will put a stop to that. Children who go through the criminal justice system are far more expensive than children in schools. Criminals are a drain on society while high school graduates become taxpayers.
29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.
There is a famine in the US, despite the obesity epidemic the quality of food in the inner cities is terrible. They are victims of famine, often that is what is causing poor cognitive development in children. The way we take care of our children in this nation is a cause of scorn from the rest of the world.
30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
The end of the age is not the end of the world. The end of the age is the end of the rule of evil and corrupt rulers. It ushers in a new age where Jesus is Lord.