Pick Your Shepherd Wisely

Ezekiel 34:1-10

When we hire someone to watch over and care for our children or pets we expect them to do a good job and care for those entrusted to them.  We don’t want to come back and find the caregiver has spent all their time with their nose in a smartphone, or our pet not fed or walked, and we especially don’t expect them to do any harm to our children or animals.  If we’ve hired tutors for our children we want them to teach the truth, not nonsense. Similarly, God had placed spiritual shepherds to guide His flock, His people, who were teach them the truth, to watch over them spiritually, to guide and keep them close to Him.  Instead, they failed terribly in this task. Our passage today from the prophet Ezekiel, is God’s response to these irresponsible and false shepherds.

In Old Testament times, the shepherds were the religious and spiritual leaders such as the priests and prophets who were to lead the people in worship and teach them the Word of God and His truth.  Their kings were also supposed to be a godly example and lead in following God’s Word. Instead, what was happening? As God said through His prophet, the shepherds who were supposed to be caring for His people, were instead caring only for themselves (vs. 2-4).  They were fleecing the flock. Instead of caring for the people in their flock they cared only for making a profit off of them.

Not only had these shepherds turned their duties into one of primarily making a financial gain, they were leading the flock down the wrong paths.  The priests, prophets and Levites were not instructing the people in the Scriptures (vs 5-6). As a result, the people were now prone to follow after the false gods of the surrounding countries.  When a shepherd fails to watch over the sheep, they will wander away from the safe fields, and are prone to fall into danger. They can find poisonous food to eat and get sick. They can fall into rivers and drown, fall off of rocky cliffs, and especially fall victim to predatory animals. It’s the shepherd’s duty to watch over them, feed them good and wholesome food, and keep them safe from danger. The religious leaders in the Old Testament times were miserably failing in this duty, and God was pronouncing judgment (vs. 7-10) .

Unfortunately this isn’t just something that happened ages ago in Old Testament times.  We see the same thing in many so-called religious leaders today. We have people who have set themselves up as spiritual leaders, as shepherds of God’s people who are doing the same thing as their Old Testament counterparts.  God’s judgment will fall on them, as well.

What is the first duty of a shepherd?  It should be to feed the flock under his care, feed them good and nourishing food.  Likewise, a spiritual shepherd or pastor should be feeding his flock the food that God gave him to give the sheep, namely straight from the Word of God, the Bible, and not false, or even heretical, doctrines and teachings.  How many shepherds today are neglecting to give their sheep God’s Word, and instead are allowing them to feed in fields with food that is not good, often dangerous and poisonous?

A shepherd is supposed to care for their sheep, not take advantage of them. There are so many pastors today who are primarily or even only concerned with making money off of their flock, whether it is in a church or on TV. Instead, their concern should be in caring for the people under their care, and being sure they are instructed solely in the Word of God.

Another primary concern for shepherds is to keep them safe from predatory animals, especially the lurking wolves.  How many spiritual shepherds or pastors today are allowing their sheep to become victims to the wolves of false teaching, cults, and unbiblical, false religions?  They are allowing the sheep under their care to be torn to pieces by these ravening wolves. In some cases these shepherds who claim to follow God are actually handing the sheep over to these wolves, leading them directly into their jaws.

What does God say?  He is against them and will pronounce judgment on them (vs. 9-10).  We do have some advantages over literal sheep, who have no choice but to remain with whatever shepherd they have.  If we see that our spiritual shepherd or pastor is not feeding us from the Word of God, or is leading us towards the wolves, we need to find one who is faithful to the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus.