“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 sermons cite this verse
Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for your word and we confess that we are needy people and we desire that your spirit would enlighten us to the meaning and the things that we behold in your law. Help us to understand and own and apply these things for your glory and our good we pray in christ's name amen so who's ezekiel he's a prophet and he's a priest ministering to god's people at that most awful of times as god's people are going into captivity he is proclaiming god's word to them a word that the holy spirit desires for them to hear that they need to receive because of the position the plight that they're in that they have earned for themselves and so he's called to that he's calling a people to recognize their sinfulness but at the same time he is holding out for them this joyous hope this evening as we cover this particular passage i need to do a couple of things for you i need to first off explain what where did that crazy title come from that's in your bulletin and then to make sense of the culture that that is feeding into it first off what is what is oviculture what what what are we talking about here well there's a particular work that goes on in shepherding and oviculture is a sort of a technical name for it. It describes holistically all that goes on if you are a farmer and rancher …
When God looked at the corruption of His people Israel, He laid the responsibility at the feet of the priests and of the clergy of that day who were charged by God to feed the flock. Go fast forward to the end of this gospel in a discussion between Jesus and Peter. after Peter's denied Jesus and Jesus approaches him after the resurrection and he says to Peter, Simon, do you love me? Simon says, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said, then feed my lambs. Simon, do you love me? Lord, I told you that I love you. You know that I love you. Then feed my sheep. Sheep. Simon. Do you love me? Yes, Lord. Feed my sheep. that is the task that has been given to the church, to care for the flock of God. That's what the people of Israel failed to do in their leadership. That's what the Pharisees failed to do in their leadership. That's what the leaders of the church in our day have failed to do to the people of God. But beloved, let us keep our eyes on the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for us, for we are the sheep of His pasture. …
"The good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." In those countries of the East where our Lord appeared, the office of a shepherd is not only a lowly and simple office, and an office of trust, as it is with us, but, moreover, an office of great hardship and of peril. Our flocks are exposed to no enemies, such as our Lord describes. The Shepherd here has no need to prove his fidelity to the sheep by encounters with fierce beasts of prey. The hireling shepherd is not tried. But where our Lord dwelt in the days of His flesh it was otherwise. There it was true that the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep--"but he that is an hireling, and whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." Our Lord found the sheep scattered; or, as He had said shortly before, "All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers;" and in consequence the sheep had no guide. Such were the priests and rulers of the Jews when Christ came; so that "when He saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." Such, in like manner, were the rulers and prophets of Israel in the days of Ahab, when Micaiah, the Lord's Prophet, "saw all Israel scattered on the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd, and the Lord said, These have no Master, let them return every man to his house in peace." Such, too, were the shepherds in the time of Ezekiel, of whom the Prophet says, "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherd feed the flocks? . . . They were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered:" and in the time of the Prophet Zechariah, who says, "Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth the flock!" …