EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 34:1-31
Ezekiel: “They shall know that I am God”
God’s Plans for *Israel and the Nations
Ezekiel Chapter s 25 to 39
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 34
The false *shepherds of *Israel – Ezekiel 34:1-10
v1 The *LORD spoke to me again. v2 ‘*Son of man, *prophesy against the leaders of *Israel. They lead the *Israelites as *shepherds lead sheep. Say to those leaders, “The *LORD your King says this to you. It will be terrible for you. You have fed yourselves. But *shepherds should feed the sheep. v3 You drink the milk. You wear the clothes that you make from the wool. You kill and you eat the best sheep. But you do not feed the sheep. v4 You have not made the weak sheep strong. You have not made the sick sheep well. You have not put bandages on the sheep that had injuries. You have not brought back the sheep that wandered away. You did not try to find them. But you have ruled the sheep with cruel force. v5 The sheep scattered because they had no *shepherd. There was nobody to look after them. They became food for all the wild animals. v6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and high hills. They scattered all over the earth. And nobody searched for them or tried to find them.
v7 Therefore, you *shepherds, listen to the *LORD’s message. v8 I am the God who lives. I, the *LORD your King say this to you. Wild animals have caught and they have eaten my sheep. This happened because nobody was looking after the sheep. The *shepherds should have searched for them but they did not search. They fed themselves and they did not care about my sheep. v9 Therefore, you *shepherds, listen to the *LORD’s message. v10 This is what the *LORD your King says. I am against the *shepherds who should have led my sheep. I will blame them because of what has happened to my sheep. I will not let them lead my sheep. So, those *shepherds will not feed themselves again. I will save my sheep from them. My sheep will not be food for them.” ’
Verses 1-6 A *shepherd is a person who looks after sheep. It was common to say that a ruler is like a *shepherd. The ruler was called the ‘*shepherd’ of the people in his nation.
The *Lord talks to the leaders of *Israel. They should have looked after the people as a good *shepherd looks after the sheep. They were responsible to the *Lord for his people. They were responsible to the people to lead them in the right manner. But in fact, they were like bad *shepherds because they did not look after the people. All that they cared about was their own profit.
From sheep, we get milk to drink and we get cheese to eat. They grow wool, which we use to make clothes. And sheep provide us with meat to eat. But we have to feed them and we should look after them properly.
The rulers of *Israel were cruel. They took all that they wanted for themselves. They were no help to the people. They did not defend the weak people. They did not care about sick people. They killed the best sheep. The best sheep mean the people who could have been good leaders. But the rulers killed such people because the rulers did not want anyone to oppose them. They killed the strong ones and they did not take care of the weaker ones. So, they were to blame because of the deaths of many people.
Like sheep that have wandered away, the people had *turned away from God. The leaders ought to have encouraged them to stay loyal to God. But the leaders themselves were not loyal to God. They wanted the people to neglect God’s laws. So, these leaders persuaded the people to *turn away from God. The people were responsible for their own *sins, but the leaders were responsible for the wicked state of the nation. They must take the blame for the *exile from Judah.
The *Lord would remove those leaders. He would punish them because they were to blame for the *sin of the people.
Verses 7-10 The *Lord spoke again to the leaders with the same message. The *Babylonians had killed many of the people. They had sent many more to other countries. This happened because the leaders neglected their duty. They did not care about the people over whom they ruled. They were like *shepherds who did not try to find missing sheep. These leaders only wanted to increase their own wealth. Nothing else mattered to them.
The *Lord was against these leaders. They were to blame because of the state of God’s people. The *Lord would punish them because of their wicked attitudes. He would remove all these leaders. He would rescue his people from the rule of such leaders. By means of the *exile, the *Lord would preserve his people.
The *Lord will be the *shepherd – Ezekiel 34:11-16
v11 ‘ “This is what the *LORD your King says: I myself will search for my sheep. And I will look after them. v12 A *shepherd looks for his sheep. And when he has found them, he looks after them. So, I will take care of my sheep. I will save them from all the places where they have gone. They scattered on a cloudy and dark day. v13 I will bring them out from the nations. I will gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own country. I will feed them on the mountains of *Israel and by the streams. I will feed them in all the places where people live in the country. v14 I will lead them to the best fields. They will feed on the high parts of *Israel’s mountains. There they will lie down in fields of grass. And they will eat good food on the mountains of *Israel. v15 I will feed my sheep. I will lead them to rest, says the *LORD your King. v16 I will search for the sheep that have wandered away. I will bring back those sheep that went away. I will put bandages on the sheep that have injuries. I will make the weak sheep strong. But I will *destroy the fat and the strong sheep. I will take care of my sheep fairly.” ’
Verses 11-16 The rulers of the people in Judah did not care about them. So, the *Lord will remove those leaders and he will take their place. The *Lord says that he will take care of his people in *exile. He declares that he will bring them back to the country called *Israel. *Israel is their own country because the *Lord gave it to them. The *Lord will make *Israel a strong nation again. The land will produce good crops for the people to eat. That which was desert will become good fields. The people will farm the land and they will keep their animals.
The *Lord will *destroy those bad rulers of the people. He will rule the people and he will be fair in all his decisions.
The *Lord is the judge of the sheep – Ezekiel 34:17-22
v17 ‘ “This is what I will do for you, my sheep,” says the *LORD your King, “I will decide what is right between one sheep and another sheep. I will decide what is right between male sheep and goats. v18 It should be enough for you to eat grass in the good land. You should not press down the rest of the grass with your feet. It should be enough for you to drink clear water. You should not make the rest of the water muddy with your feet. v19 My sheep should not have to eat the grass that you have pressed down. They should not have to drink water that you have made muddy with your feet.
v20 So, the *LORD your King says to them: I will decide what is right between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. v21 You push with your side and with your shoulder. You knock down all the weak sheep with the *horns on your head. You have forced them to go away. v22 Therefore, I will save my sheep. I will never let anybody hurt them again. I will decide what is right between one sheep and another sheep.” ’
Verses 17-22 Those people who were rich or strong used their situation to make themselves more wealthy. They did not care about other people. They were cruel to the weak people and to the poor people. Those rich people were behaving like strong sheep that make the grass flat. The other sheep have to eat the flat grass. Or, the rich people were like strong sheep that arrive at the water first. They drink all that they want. They make the water muddy so that other sheep cannot drink clean water.
The *Lord will be the judge of his people. He will do what is right. He will punish those people who were cruel. He will give to the poor people and to the weak people what they need.
The good *shepherd – Ezekiel 34:23-31
v23 ‘ “I will put one *shepherd in command of them all. David my servant will feed them. He will take care of them and he will be their *shepherd. v24 Then I, the *LORD, will be their God. My servant David will be a ruler among them. I, the *LORD, have spoken.
v25 I will make an agreement of peace with my sheep. I will remove the wild animals from the land. The sheep will live in the desert and they will sleep in the forests in safety. v26 I will be kind to them. And I will be kind to the places that surround my hill. I will send the rain in its proper season. The rain will be showers that will show my kindness to them. v27 The trees in the fields will yield their fruit. The ground will yield its harvest. My sheep will be safe in their country. I will break the chains that bound them. I will free them from those who made them slaves. Then they will know that I am the *LORD. v28 The nations will never rob them again and wild animals will not eat them. They will live in safety, and nobody will make them afraid. v29 I will give to them a place that is famous because of its good crops. They will never be hungry in the country. They will not suffer any insults from the nations. v30 They will know that I, the *LORD their God, am with them. The nation called *Israel will know that they are my people. The *LORD your King declares that this is so. v31 You people are my sheep. You are the sheep of my fields. I am your God, says the *LORD your King.” ’
Verses 23-24 The *Lord will send a good *shepherd (ruler) for his people. This good *shepherd will take care of them. Here he is called David. David was the second king of Israel. He had been a *shepherd and he looked after his sheep. He became a good king and he was called the ‘shepherd of Israel’. The *Messiah, whom God would send, would be from the family of David. The *Lord used the name David to refer to the *Messiah. The *Messiah will be the ruler of God’s people.
Verses 25-31 The *Lord will make an agreement with *Israel. It will be an agreement of peace for the country called *Israel. God will send the foreign nations out of that country. The wild animals in the text mean these nations. Then there will be peace for the nation called *Israel.
With the rains in their proper seasons, the land will be good for the farms. It had been dry because the rains had failed. But God will cause it to be the good land that it used to be. The people will produce plenty of crops. The harvests will never fail. The people will always have food to eat. They will never be hungry.
The *Lord will free his people from the nations. He will bring them back to their country. They will be safe in the country called *Israel. The nations will not attack them.
God’s people will *turn back to him. They will know the *Lord their God. The *Lord calls them his ‘sheep’ and he will be their ‘*shepherd’. In other words, the *Lord will look after his people as a *shepherd looks after sheep.
We have not yet seen this agreement of peace come into effect. It must happen when Jesus, the *Messiah, returns. Then the *Jews will believe him and they will know God. They will know the benefit of God’s new agreement with people (Jeremiah 31:31-34). And they will know the good things that God gives to them by means of this agreement.
Preparing the country – Ezekiel 35:1-36
This passage contains two messages from the *Lord. The first message is to the nation called Edom, which was one of the worst enemies of *Israel. The second message is to *Israel. The two messages have an unusual form. The *Lord tells Ezekiel to *prophesy as if Ezekiel is speaking to the mountains. Ezekiel must speak to the mountains on behalf of their nations. So, the first message is to *Mount Seir, on behalf of Edom. And the second message is to the many mountains in *Israel, on behalf of *Israel. In the messages, the *Lord explains his future plans for each nation. He will be kind to *Israel, but he will destroy Edom.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
shepherd ~ someone who takes care of sheep.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.
Babylonian ~ a person from the nation called Babylon or anything that has a relationship with Babylon.
destroy ~ to carry out the most severe punishment possible; to cause someone to suffer; to kill everyone in a nation.
horns ~ hard bones on an animal’s head; a thing like a stick, with a point, that grows on the heads of cows and some sheep. On the corners of the altar are things like horns, which are called the ‘horns of the altar’.
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
Messiah ~ The Jews expect a king to come who will save them. That king, called the Messiah, will rule both them and all people.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.