Ezekiel 34:13
I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.
I will bring them out from the peoples
This phrase indicates God's promise to rescue His people from among the nations where they have been scattered. Historically, this refers to the Israelites who were exiled due to their disobedience and idolatry. Theologically, it reflects God's sovereignty and His commitment to His covenant with Israel. This act of gathering is reminiscent of the Exodus, where God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. It also foreshadows the ultimate gathering of believers in Christ, as seen in the New Testament (John 10:16).

gather them from the countries
The gathering from various countries highlights the widespread dispersion of the Israelites during the Babylonian exile. This dispersion is known as the Diaspora. The promise of regathering signifies hope and restoration. It also points to the eschatological gathering of God's people from all nations, as prophesied in Isaiah 11:12 and fulfilled in the church's mission to all nations (Matthew 28:19).

and bring them into their own land
This promise of return to their own land emphasizes the physical and spiritual restoration of Israel. The land of Israel holds significant covenantal importance, as it was promised to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:7). This return is not just a physical relocation but a spiritual renewal, symbolizing God's faithfulness. It also prefigures the ultimate restoration of creation and the establishment of God's kingdom.

I will feed them on the mountains of Israel
Feeding on the mountains of Israel symbolizes provision and care. The mountains represent the high places of blessing and security. This imagery is pastoral, reflecting God's role as the Shepherd of His people, a theme further developed in Ezekiel 34. It points to Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who provides for His flock (John 10:11).

in the ravines
The mention of ravines indicates God's provision even in the low and difficult places. It suggests that God's care is comprehensive, reaching every part of the land and every aspect of life. This reflects the biblical theme of God's presence in both the highs and lows of life, as seen in Psalm 23:4.

and in all the settlements of the land
This phrase underscores the totality of God's provision and restoration. Every settlement, whether large or small, will experience God's blessing. It signifies the complete restoration of the nation and the fulfillment of God's promises. This comprehensive care is a type of the spiritual nourishment provided by Christ to His church, as seen in Ephesians 4:11-16.

Persons / Places / Events
1. God (Yahweh)
The speaker in this verse, promising to gather His people.

2. Israelites
The people whom God promises to gather and bring back to their land.

3. Mountains of Israel
Symbolic of the homeland where God will bring His people.

4. Nations/Countries
Represents the places where the Israelites have been scattered.

5. Pasture
Symbolizes provision, care, and restoration by God.
Teaching Points
God's Faithfulness
God is faithful to His promises. Just as He promised to gather Israel, He is faithful to fulfill His promises to us today.

Divine Restoration
God is in the business of restoration. He not only gathers His people but also restores them to their rightful place.

Shepherd Imagery
The imagery of God as a shepherd highlights His personal care and guidance. We can trust Him to lead us to places of safety and provision.

Hope for the Dispersed
For those who feel lost or scattered, this verse offers hope that God sees them and will bring them back to a place of belonging.

Community and Belonging
God’s gathering of His people emphasizes the importance of community and belonging in the Christian life.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the promise of God gathering His people in Ezekiel 34:13 reflect His character and faithfulness?

2. In what ways can the imagery of God as a shepherd provide comfort in your current life situation?

3. How does the theme of restoration in Ezekiel 34:13 connect with the New Testament understanding of salvation and redemption?

4. What are some practical ways you can contribute to building a sense of community and belonging within your church or local community?

5. Reflect on a time when you felt scattered or lost. How did you experience God's gathering and restoration in that situation?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Jeremiah 23:3
This verse also speaks of God gathering His people from all the lands where they have been scattered, emphasizing His role as a shepherd.

John 10:14-16
Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, who knows His sheep and brings them together, echoing the gathering theme.

Psalm 23
The imagery of God as a shepherd who provides and cares for His flock is a recurring theme throughout Scripture.

Isaiah 40:11
Describes God as a shepherd who gathers the lambs in His arms, further illustrating His care and protection.
God's Verdict Upon Self-Serving RulersJ.D. Davies Ezekiel 34:1-16
The Divine Shepherd of the FlockJ.R. Thomson Ezekiel 34:11-16
Shadows of Religious LifeL. B. Brown.Ezekiel 34:11-19
The Divine ShepherdT. B. Baker.Ezekiel 34:11-19
The Flock Sought and FoundJ. R. Macduff, D. D.Ezekiel 34:11-19
The Shepherd Seeking the Flock in the Cloudy and Dark DayJ. R. Macduff, D. D.Ezekiel 34:11-19
People
David, Ezekiel
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Bring, Countries, Dwellings, Fed, Feed, Fountains, Gather, Gathered, Ground, Habitable, Inhabited, Lands, Mountains, Nations, Pasture, Peoples, Places, Ravines, Rivers, Settlements, Streams, Watercourses, Water-courses, Water-streams, Wherever
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Ezekiel 34:13

     9165   restoration

Ezekiel 34:7-24

     7130   flock, God's

Ezekiel 34:11-13

     4207   land, divine gift

Ezekiel 34:11-16

     5409   metaphor
     7141   people of God, OT

Ezekiel 34:11-17

     4684   sheep

Ezekiel 34:11-24

     1220   God, as shepherd

Ezekiel 34:12-13

     7217   exile, in Babylon
     8129   guidance, examples

Library
The Church of Christ
This, then, is the meaning of the text; that God would make Jerusalem and the places round about his hill a blessing. I shall not, however, use it so this morning, but I shall use it in a more confined sense--or, perhaps, in a more enlarged sense--as it applies to the church of Jesus Christ, and to this particular church with which you and I stand connected. "I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

That None Should Enter on a Place of Government who Practise not in Life what they have Learnt by Study.
There are some also who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they teach the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn. Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep places, the flock follows to the precipice. Hence it is that the Lord through the prophet complains of the contemptible knowledge
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The closing words which Jesus had spoken to those Pharisees who followed HIm breathe the sadness of expected near judgment, rather than the hopefulness of expostulation. And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. All the topics of the former Discourses are now resumed and applied. They are not in any way softened or modified, but uttered in accents of
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Everlasting Covenant of the Spirit
"They shall be My people, and l will be their God. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me."--JER. xxxii. 38, 40. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

How to Make Use of Christ as the Life when the Soul is Dead as to Duty.
Sometimes the believer will be under such a distemper, as that he will be as unfit and unable for discharging of any commanded duty, as dead men, or one in a swoon, is to work or go a journey. And it were good to know how Christ should be made use of as the Life, to the end the diseased soul may be delivered from this. For this cause we shall consider those four things: 1. See what are the several steps and degrees of this distemper. 2. Consider whence it cometh, or what are the causes or occasions
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered."
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Extent of Messiah's Spiritual Kingdom
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever! T he Kingdom of our Lord in the heart, and in the world, is frequently compared to a building or house, of which He Himself is both the Foundation and the Architect (Isaiah 28:16 and 54:11, 12) . A building advances by degrees (I Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:20-22) , and while it is in an unfinished state, a stranger cannot, by viewing its present appearance, form an accurate judgment
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

That the Ruler Should Be, through Humility, a Companion of Good Livers, But, through the Zeal of Righteousness, Rigid against the vices of Evildoers.
The ruler should be, through humility, a companion of good livers, and, through the zeal of righteousness, rigid against the vices of evil-doers; so that in nothing he prefer himself to the good, and yet, when the fault of the bad requires it, he be at once conscious of the power of his priority; to the end that, while among his subordinates who live well he waives his rank and accounts them as his equals, he may not fear to execute the laws of rectitude towards the perverse. For, as I remember to
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Jesus Makes his First Disciples.
(Bethany Beyond Jordan, Spring a.d. 27.) ^D John I. 35-51. ^d 35 Again on the morrow [John's direct testimony bore fruit on the second day] John was standing, and two of his disciples [An audience of two. A small field; but a large harvest]; 36 and he looked [Gazed intently. The word is used at Mark xiv. 67; Luke xxii. 61 Mark x. 21, 27. John looked searchingly at that face, which, so far as any record shows, he was never to see on earth again. The more intently we look upon Jesus, the more powerfully
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Second Great Group of Parables.
(Probably in Peræa.) Subdivision B. Parable of the Lost Sheep. ^C Luke XV. 3-7. ^c 3 And he spake unto them this parable [Jesus had spoken this parable before. See pp. 434, 435.] saying, 4 What man of you [man is emphatic; it is made so to convey the meaning that if man would so act, how much more would God so act], having an hundred sheep [a large flock], and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness [the place of pasture, and hence the proper place to leave
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Ezekiel
To a modern taste, Ezekiel does not appeal anything like so powerfully as Isaiah or Jeremiah. He has neither the majesty of the one nor the tenderness and passion of the other. There is much in him that is fantastic, and much that is ritualistic. His imaginations border sometimes on the grotesque and sometimes on the mechanical. Yet he is a historical figure of the first importance; it was very largely from him that Judaism received the ecclesiastical impulse by which for centuries it was powerfully
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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