“I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them” (Ezek. 34:23-24).

Have you ever thought about the difference between cowboys and shepherds? Both have herds to move, but while cowboys “drive” cattle, shepherds “lead” their sheep. Both stay alert to dangers, but good shepherds and their sheep know each other in a way most cowboys would never imagine (John 10:4-5). A cowboy prods and hollers at cattle, while the shepherd’s rod and staff bring comfort (Ps. 23:4). No wonder God describes himself as a shepherd! Shepherds are the Bible’s defining picture of leadership. It’s a metaphor Israelites could relate to, coming from the family of Jacob, a successful shepherd (Gen. 30:43). And like Moses, David was out shepherding when God called him to shepherd his people. “He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance” (Ps. 78:70-71). David becomes a symbol of the Great Shepherd in this chapter, because the shepherds of Israel were failing in Ezekiel’s day. Today, we’ll appoint a new elder to shepherd us, but before we do, let’s study God’s oracle to Ezekiel about his sheep and their leaders.

We are Like Sheep

In my generation, calling someone a “sheep” meant they couldn’t think for themselves —just mindlessly follow the herd. But really, all people (even those supposed individualists) wander and drift through life’s dangers like sheep. We’re all lost without God’s guidance, prey for a prowling “lion” (1 Pet. 5:8). As Isaiah said, “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isa. 53:6). We’re sheep, and that means we need shepherded. God gave his people shepherds to guide them in his ways, to protect and care for them. In Ezekiel’s time, God watched his sheep dying. Israel’s shepherds didn’t just neglect to protect them; they were the predators (Ezek. 34:2-3,8)! No wonder Peter (maybe with this passage in mind) told elders to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 Pet. 5:3-4). That was the same Peter that Jesus commanded to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep” (John 21:15-16). So who were Israel’s shepherds? When God called Israel’s elders, priests, rulers, and prophets, God knew they weren’t supermen. His expectations were not impossibly high. He wanted them to lead people — not take advantage of those under their guidance or ignore them. When Jesus “saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:35-38). This is the plight of sheep — we are needy and vulnerable. A good way to understand the job of a shepherd is by reversing God’s charges against Israel’s shepherds: They should strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the straying, seek the lost, and rule them with gentleness (Ezek. 34:4). Protect them from becoming prey (Ezek. 34:8) and feed them (Ezek. 34:3)!

We Are HIS Sheep

In response to the wicked shepherds of Israel, God takes matters into his own hands. He judges the self-serving shepherds, and he judges between the sheep that turn on one another (Ezek. 34:17-22). “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice” (Ezek. 34:15–16). He refuses to stand by and watch his people get lost and destroyed. Instead, he claims us as his own sheep and involves himself in our care (Ezek. 34:11-16; 20-22; 30-31). The world’s most famous poem about the relationship between sheep and shepherds is David’s song of confidence in God’s comforting presence — the 23rd Psalm. At a recent Meetup study, I asked people to choose one line from that Psalm that helps them. One sister smiled at the truth that her “cup overflows” (Ps. 23:5). A brother appreciated how God has led him “in paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3). What line would you highlight? The “green pastures” he leads you to lie down in by the “still waters” (Ps. 23:2)? Or how he “restores” your soul and his rod and staff comfort you even “in the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps. 23:4-5)? Ezekiel’s words echo David’s, about a God who “will feed them with good pasture … make them lie down … I will seek the lost … and I will strengthen” (Ezek. 34:14-16). He will give his sheep peace, safety, and “feed them in justice” (Ezek. 34:17).

Jesus, our shepherd is a warrior protecting us, a leader courageously risking and sacrificing life and limb for his sheep.

We Have One Perfect Shepherd

God saw his people’s need for a savior king who could turn around all the twisted ethics, hopeless suffering, broken relationships, and spiritual confusion. Centuries before Christ came, God promised to give us a perfect shepherd to guide, protect, and care for us (Ezek. 34:23-29). He called him the “one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them” (Ezek. 34:23). Jesus is the promised Messiah from the line of David (Luke 18:38; Rom. 1:3-4). We can count on him to faithfully lead us. We may imagine shepherds in idyllic fields enjoying easy days, but shepherding wasn’t for the faint of heart. And Jesus, our shepherd is a warrior protecting us, a leader courageously risking and sacrificing life and limb for his sheep. God sent his Son, the “good shepherd” who “lays down his life” to offer us life “abundantly” (John 10:10-11) seeking and saving his lost sheep (Luke 19:10). We’re so blessed in the church to have reliable, loving, human shepherds, but they’re still sheep like us, looking to the One Shepherd. After telling elders to shepherd the church, Peter said, “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4). What a gift to live under Jesus’ leadership, as one of his sheep!

Today, as we appoint a new elder to watch over us, we praise God who gives shepherds to his sheep. May our elders shepherd us under the rule of the One Chief Shepherd, looking to him for help and guidance.