The Bible says in Ezekiel 34:1-6, And the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,[2] 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?[3] Ye eat the fat, and ye
clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the
flock.[4] The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed
that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither
have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that
which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.[5]
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to
all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.[6] My sheep
wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was
scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after
them. God has spiritual shepherds. God had them in the Old
Testament and God has them in the New Testament. In the New Testament the
shepherds are called pastors. Every Christian is called to do something for the
Lord, and that is why there are pastors. It says about Jesus in Ephesians 4:8-15,
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on
high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.[9]
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the
lower parts of the earth?[10] He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)[11]
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers;[12] For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:[13]
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ:[14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;[15] But
speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the
head, even Christ. A pastor (shepherd) is a
teacher. What does he teach? He teaches the Word of God. Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth from the mouth of God. How do
believers get the truth of the Word of God into their minds and hearts? An
important part of doing so is to hear the teachings of a teacher. God gifts and
calls the pastor-teachers. What do the shepherds do? They feed the flock. Jesus
wants the shepherds to feed the flock. That is why Jesus said to Peter, If you love me, feed my sheep. To feed the sheep, you must feed them the Word of God.
If you give them your own ideas, you are not feeding them. In order to feed
them the Word of God, you must know the Word of God. Some supposed pastors feed
the people the traditions of their denomination, or they feed them the points
of their theology that they learned in seminary or from others. But unless you
feed them the Word of God, you are not feeding them. In order to teach the Word
of God, you must know the Word of God. That is one reason that it says in the
New Testament that a pastor should not be a novice. It takes time, sometimes
decades, to learn the Word of God well enough to be able to teach its mysteries
and its marvels.
How were the shepherds in the time of
Ezekiel failing? God said to them in verse 3, Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe
you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The pastors
were taking care of themselves, but in so doing they were neglecting to feed the
flock. It is a terrible thing when a pastor uses a flock for the sake of his
own needs. That is who one of the qualifications for a pastor is: not greedy
of filthy lucre. From a practical standpoint everyone needs a certain amount of
money to take care of themselves and their family and to pay their bills. That
is one of the advantages of being a bi-vocational pastor. Maybe if a pastor had
a job like everyone else in the congregation, such an issue would not arise. And
then the pastor would be living the same life and facing the same challenges
every day that the people of the flock must face. There is nothing in the Bible
that says you must pass an offering plate as a part of the church service.
Would there not be some great advantages if you did not ask for money because
your material needs were met in some other fashion? The temptation that
traditional pastors will have will be to take advantage of the flock to gain
money from them.
Once your priorities are wrong,
everything will be wrong. God said to the corrupt shepherds in verse 4, The diseased
have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither
have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that
which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with
force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. People are diseased and sick from a
spiritual standpoint. They need to be healed in their soul and in their heart. They
need to be gathered into the fold. This is the work of a shepherd: Seeking the
lost souls, so they will know how to give their hearts to Jesus. The lost soul needs
to hear that Jesus died from him or her. The lost soul needs to know that all
that they need to do is call upon the name of Jesus, and Jesus will save them
from hell and from their sins.
Instead of doing the things that they
ought to have done, the end of verse 4 tells us what these good-for-nothing
shepherds actually did: but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. That is the
same thing that the Nicolaitains have done in the age of grace in which we
live. Jesus said in Revelation 2:14-16, But I have a few things against
thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.[15] So hast thou also
them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.[16]
Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with
the sword of my mouth. The word Nicolaitains means those who have taken
control of the people. It is called a doctrine because of the established and
accepted situation of the clergy in the church. In a Biblical church a pastor
is no different than any other believer. Each believer has one or more gifts to
be used in Gods service. To be a pastor-teacher requires being gifted from
Jesus to do that work. And that work is to teach the Word of God in order to
feed the sheep. But the clergy should not be accepted as a group who control or
manipulate the believers. That is what cults do, and that is what many of the
mainline denominations have put into place in their doctrines. God gives
freedom. You are not under law, but under
grace. God does not want a clergy dominating,
controlling, or dictating to His children. They are free moral agents to make
their own choices as they study Gods Word and follow Jesus. God hates the
doctrine of the Nicolaitains.
Because the shepherds were not doing
their duty, in effect they were not shepherds. Without a shepherd the sheep
will perish. They will perish in a sense by falling into false doctrine. It
says in verse 5, And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they
became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. The beasts
here are symbolic of false prophets and false teachers.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 34:7-10, Therefore,
ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;[8] As I live, saith the Lord
GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every
beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds
search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;[9]
Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;[10] Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at
their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the
shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their
mouth, that they may not be meat for them. Notice carefully what
the Lord says that He will do to the shepherds who are not doing their job of
feeding the flock the Word. The Lord says in verse 10 that He will cause them to cease from feeding the flock. It is a great privilege and honor to stand before a group
of people and open up the Word of God, and have God speak through you to
deliver the Gospel of Christ and the truth of His precious Word. Do not take
such a calling and opportunity lightly. You can lose it.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 34:11-15, For thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them
out.[12] As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among
his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver
them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark
day.[13] And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from
the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the
mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the
country.[14] I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high
mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold,
and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.[15] I
will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
In verse 11 God tells us something that He is going to do. He is going to seek
the lost sheep in order to save them. God said, Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. That is the work of God. It is also the most important
need of every human being: to be saved by Jesus Christ. Jesus said, The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost. Jesus told a parable about the ninety
and nine sheep who were safe in the fold, and the shepherd went out to seek the
one that was lost. No wonder the Bible says, He
that winneth souls is wise. If you win souls,
you are doing the work of God that is closest to His heart.
Verse 12 uses the word scattered to tell us
what happened to the sheep. Something bad happened to them, and they find
themselves far off from Gods fold. It was a cloudy and dark day when they
were scattered. Darkness came into their life from some source. Maybe it was
the darkness of sin. The world, the flesh, and the devil have many attractions.
Maybe it was the darkness of false teachings that caused a sheep to get
scattered. Some people are born into a family or a society where the false
teachings have been there for centuries. They are held in that darkness. Maybe
it was the darkness of some terrible tragedy that happened to them like the
loss of a close relative. It does not get much darker then the loss that death
can bring. Maybe it is the darkness of self-will. It will be a very dark path
for your life if you go your own way instead of Gods way. One thing is for
sure: the darkness will be annihilated by the light of Christ. Jesus said, I am the
light of the world.
God makes it very clear that He wants
His sheep to be properly fed. They get fed by giving them the Word of God. In
verse 13 God said that He will feed them upon the mountains of
Israel by the rivers. In verse 14 God said, I will feed them in a good pasture. And at the
end of verse 14 it says, in a fat
pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. And finally
in verse 15 God says, I will feed my flock. God will feed you spiritually from
His Word: not from ceremonies or rituals, but from His precious written Word.
Once you are saved by faith in Christ, the Lord wants you to grow in faith
through His Word. God gives teachers of the Word as a part of this great work. What
a privilege it is to be a part of the work of feeding Gods people. Jesus said
to Peter, If you love me, feed my sheep.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2017 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved