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 mayor of Chicago has banned protests on her street. She said this is all about protecting her family. She was elected to be the shepherd of the entire city, a city with protests, riots and looting in the streets. A great number of people are being gunned down in the streets of Chicago each year, and all these businesses are suffering. Her job is to take care of the flock and all she is taking care of is herself.
3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
Vladimir Putin is reported to have $200 billion. Xi Jinping is reputed to be worth $1.5 billion. The NY Times ran an article calling the Chinese Parliament a “billionaires club”.
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.
The Black Lives Matter protests are all about how harshly and brutally the leaders have ruled. In Belarus they are protesting their “president” and in Lebanon they are protesting their rulers. The Ukrainian invasion by Russia is certainly harsh and brutal rule.
5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.
The gang violence, the warehouse explosion in Beirut, the deaths from Chernobyl, the people are like sheep being scattered because there is no shepherd. They have become prey for all these wild animals. At this point 2 million have fled the conflict in Ukraine, they are being scattered.
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.
It would be very easy to catch and prosecute perpetrators of gun violence. All you need to do is computerize the database on guns just like we have done with fingerprints. But they refuse to do this, saying it would undermine the right to bear arms since a nationalized database on the computer would be the first step for the government to take the guns away. So then, instead you could require every gun owner have liability insurance just like we require insurance for people who own cars. Then the computerized database could be held by a variety of insurance agencies and when a crime is committed the police would provide the information about the gun, bullet and shell casing to the insurance companies who could do the check and respond back. It would still be much more effective than what we have now.
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.
This is what the defund the police movement is all about. If the police are not protecting and serving the public, then the public needs to stop paying for their services and hire some new shepherd that will. The same is true of the politicians. Corruption is so prevalent that many governments fear rooting it out as it will root the entire government out. This is a promise from the Lord to remove these politicians, Amen Lord as you have promised so do.
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. During the tribulation you will see the Lord Himself gather these sheep, it will be the greatest revival ever, comparable only to Jesus' earthly ministry except worldwide.
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?
This judgement will extend to all of us. These protests have included those who have rioted and looted. They destroy the shops of local businessmen. They are not simply protesting injustice, they are filled with envy and jealousy for their neighbor who is lifting themself out of the pit.
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.
Bernie Madoff was a fat sheep who plundered the “weak sheep”. The gangs prey on the weaker sheep, extorting them. We need a shepherd with the courage of David to take on the Lion and the Bear.
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.
Slavery is alive and well all over the world. The prison system in the US is a form of slavery. People sell themselves as slaves because of indebtedness. The mortgage crisis was a way to put tens of millions of people into indebtedness and enslave them all over again. For all the sins of the US it is far worse in the third world.
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.
I saw a video about Venezuela, a place considered to be one of the most dangerous places in the world. That is a place where the gangs truly do plunder the people and devour the people. Everyone in the poor neighborhoods lives in fear. Inflation plunders the people. Governments printing money based solely on debt plunders the people.
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.
Venezuela is very rich with oil. It is amazing that the country could be so poorly managed that a few people are extremely rich and the rest live in abject poverty terrified by the roving gangs. It provides a vision for what Detroit can become, and what Chicago can become after that. Ukraine is a land renowned for its crops but is now going to be a victim of famine.
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.
