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34:12-16 The dark and cloudy day, the day of judgment (cp. 32:7-8), was completed. Now God would bring his people back to the mountains of Israel, the center of the land promised to the patriarchs, and tend his sheep (see Ps 23).
34:1-24 This chapter contains declarations of judgment and salvation. There would be judgment on the shepherds (the former kings of Judah) because they failed to care for their flocks (the people of Judah). The Lord would also judge the fat sheep, but he would intervene as a good shepherd to feed the remainder of the flock. The image of the shepherd perfectl...
34:1-24 This chapter contains declarations of judgment and salvation. There would be judgment on the shepherds (the former kings of Judah) because they failed to care for their flocks (the people of Judah). The Lord would also judge the fat sheep, but he would intervene as a good shepherd to feed the remainder of the flock. The image of the shepherd perfectly conveys the toughness and tenderness of God’s dealings with his people. The shepherd was also a common metaphor for a king in the ancient Near East. The earthly king was understood to represent the divine shepherd who had set him over his people. Shepherds had to protect their flocks against beasts, including lions and bears, while also knowing their sheep by name and tenderly leading them to good pasture and quiet waters. They had to endure cold, heat, wind, rain, and snow out on the hills with their charges. Good kings who led their people strongly and wisely resembled shepherds. The same image is used in the New Testament to describe pastors and elders, who are to oversee the flock assigned to their care without lording it over them (1 Pet 5:2-4). Jesus perfectly combines toughness and tenderness as the “great Shepherd of t...
34:1–37:28 These chapters show us the blessings that would flow from the Lord’s return to his people. He would be their shepherd and provide them with better leadership (ch 34); he would restore the fruitfulness of the land and thus vindicate his own honor (chs 35–36); he would restore his people to life and unity (ch 37).
34:17-19 The goats were the powerful, unrighteous members of the community.
Ezekiel
Ezekiel Ezekiel, a priest and prophet, was born around 623 BC. He was probably raised in Jerusalem, and he was married (24:16-18). He went into exile in Babylon with Jehoiachin in 597 BC, where he lived by the Kebar River. He was called to be a prophet in Babylon on July 31, 593 BC (1:1). All that we know of his personal life is from the book named after him. Ezekiel often reinforced his prophetic words with strange actions, such as illustrating his message about the dire lack of food in the final siege of Jerusalem by eating food cooked over dung (4:12). Another time, he lay motionless for 430 days, one day for each year of Israel’s and Judah’s sin (4:4-7). When Ezekiel’s wife died suddenly, he was forbidden to mourn her in public (24:16-18); her death was a solemn warning of what would happen in Judah (24:15-27). Ezekiel’s strange actions were designed to grab people’s attention. At first, Ezekiel’s messages were rejected, but his prophecies were later vindicated as they began to come true and the nation was purged of idolatry. His teaching emphasized holiness, purity, resurrection, and the ritual law. His message of hope encouraged the exiles to remain faithful during t...
exodus 1:13-14
leviticus 26:4-13
leviticus 26:14-35
2 samuel 7:12-16
psalms 23:1-6
ezekiel 32:7-8
ezekiel 34:1-28
ezekiel 34:12