Ezekiel 34:1 - Meaning and Application

This prophecy is not dated, and neither are the ones that follow it, until chapter 40. It is most likely that Ezekiel gave it after Jerusalem was fully destroyed. At that point, it would have been the right time to ask what caused such judgment.

The prophet is told to speak against the shepherds of Israel, that is, the rulers and leaders of the nation. This would include princes and judges, priests and Levites, the chief council, and anyone with authority over public life, especially the kings. Two kings were now captives in Babylon, and they, like the people, needed to see their sin so they could repent, as Manasseh did in his captivity. God has a word for the shepherds, because they are only under-shepherds and answer to him, the great Shepherd of Israel (Psalm 80:1). He says, “Woe to the shepherds of Israel!” Their rank does not protect them from rebuke. If power does not keep people from sin, it will not excuse them from correction, from repentance, or from God’s judgment if they refuse to repent.

The charge against them is clear, and God’s complaint is not unfair. Their main concern was to enrich themselves and make themselves important. A shepherd should feed the flock, and if he does not, he fails in his duty. He is not required to put the food into the sheep’s mouths, but he must provide it and lead them to it. These leaders did the opposite. They took care of themselves, made plans to satisfy their own desires, and looked for wealth, comfort, and status. They took the best profits of their office, ate the fat and the cream, as the language here suggests, and clothed themselves with the wool. In other words, they used the people for their own gain, even taking what belonged to subjects. Some even ruined those who were well off so they could live off what they had, as Naboth was killed for his vineyard. There is a woe for anyone in public office who thinks only of private gain, cares more about the salary than the duty, and asks first what money can be made rather than what good can be done. This old complaint is true: all people seek their own, and many seek more than their own.

They also failed to care for the people’s good. God says, “You do not feed the flock.” They did not know how to do it, because they were ignorant, and they would not bother to do it, because they were lazy. Worse still, they did not even want to do it, because they were unfaithful. They did not strengthen the weak, heal the sick, or bind up the injured (Ezekiel 34:4). When people in the nation were hurt, oppressed, or troubled, it made little difference to these leaders whether they lived or died. They did not defend people who had been wronged, and they did not protect innocent people who were suffering. They did not care for the poor, the ignorant, the mistaken, the stubborn, or the discouraged. The rulers and judges ignored injustice. The priests failed to teach those who did not know, correct those who were wrong, warn those who were reckless, or comfort those who were fainthearted. The ministers of state also failed to stop the growing troubles in the kingdom, even when those troubles threatened its very life. Everything was going wrong, and no one was trying to fix it.

They also failed those who were scattered. Some had been driven away by invading enemies and had to look for shelter wherever they could. Others wandered of their own choice among the mountains and hills (Ezekiel 34:6), where wild animals could attack them, and they became food for them (Ezekiel 34:5). People are always ready to take advantage of something lost or unclaimed. Some of the scattered people went abroad to beg, and some went abroad to trade, so the land was left thinly populated. That weakened it and made it poor. It needed workers in the fields and soldiers in war, for harvest and for battle. God says, “My flock was scattered over all the face of the earth” (Ezekiel 34:6). No one searched for them or tried to bring them back. Worse still, the leaders ruled them harshly and cruelly, which drove more people away and kept the others from wanting to return. It is a sad thing when people can expect kinder treatment from strangers than from their own nation.

This may also point to people who wandered away from God and from their duty. The priests should have taught the true knowledge of the Lord, but they used no means to correct or win back the wandering. So those people became easy prey for false teachers. In this way they were scattered because there was no shepherd (Ezekiel 34:5). There were men who called themselves shepherds, but they were not truly shepherds at all. Those who do not do a shepherd’s work do not deserve the name. And if shepherds are foolish (Zechariah 11:15), proud, lazy, or careless, the flock is just as badly off as if it had no shepherd at all. Better no shepherd than such shepherds. Christ said his people were like sheep without a shepherd, even though the scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses’ seat (Matthew 9:36). It is a bad sign for the patient when the doctor is part of the disease, and it is a bad sign for the flock when shepherds drive the sheep away and scatter them by ruling with force.