Ezekiel 34:2 Study Bible: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?

◄ Ezekiel 34:2 ►

"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?

Study Bible

Son of man
This phrase is a frequent designation for Ezekiel, emphasizing his humanity and role as a representative of the people. In Hebrew, "ben adam" underscores the prophet's connection to mankind, highlighting the divine message being delivered through a human vessel. It serves as a reminder of the humility and responsibility inherent in being a messenger of God.

Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel
The term "prophesy" (Hebrew: "naba") involves speaking forth the words of God, often with a sense of urgency and divine authority. The "shepherds of Israel" refers to the leaders, both religious and political, who were entrusted with the care and guidance of the people. Historically, shepherds were seen as protectors and providers, and this metaphor underscores the leaders' failure to fulfill their God-given duties.

Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says
The repetition of "prophesy" emphasizes the importance and seriousness of the message. "The Lord GOD" (Hebrew: "Adonai Yahweh") combines the sovereign authority of God with His covenantal relationship with Israel. This phrase assures the audience that the message is not from Ezekiel himself, but from the ultimate authority, God.

Woe to the shepherds of Israel
The word "woe" (Hebrew: "hoy") is an expression of lament and impending judgment. It signals divine displeasure and the serious consequences that will follow. This pronouncement is a call to repentance and a warning of the judgment that awaits those who neglect their responsibilities.

Who only feed themselves
This phrase highlights the selfishness and corruption of the leaders. Instead of caring for the people, they are accused of exploiting their positions for personal gain. The imagery of feeding oneself while neglecting the flock is a powerful indictment of their failure to serve and protect those under their care.

Should not the shepherds feed their flock?
This rhetorical question underscores the natural and expected duty of a shepherd. In biblical times, a shepherd's primary role was to ensure the well-being of the flock, providing nourishment, protection, and guidance. The question challenges the leaders to reflect on their neglect and calls them back to their true purpose. It serves as a reminder of the divine expectation for leaders to prioritize the needs of those they serve over their own interests.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Ezekiel
A prophet called by God to deliver His messages to the Israelites during their Babylonian exile. He is often referred to as "son of man" in the book.

2. Shepherds of Israel
This term metaphorically refers to the leaders of Israel, including kings, priests, and prophets, who were responsible for guiding and caring for the people.

3. Israel
The nation chosen by God, which at this time was in a state of exile and spiritual decline due to the failure of its leaders.

4. The Lord GOD
The sovereign and covenant-keeping God of Israel, who holds the leaders accountable for their actions.

5. Prophecy
A divine message delivered by Ezekiel, calling out the failures of Israel's leaders and warning them of God's judgment.

Teaching Points

Accountability of Leaders
Leaders are accountable to God for the care and guidance of those they lead. They must prioritize the well-being of their people over personal gain.

Selfless Leadership
True leadership in God's eyes involves selflessness and a commitment to serving others, reflecting the heart of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Nourishment
Just as shepherds are to feed their flock, spiritual leaders must ensure their communities are nourished with sound doctrine and spiritual guidance.

Consequences of Neglect
Neglecting the responsibilities of leadership can lead to spiritual decline and judgment, as seen in the history of Israel.

Call to Repentance
Leaders who have failed in their duties are called to repent and realign their priorities with God's will.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does the role of a shepherd in ancient Israel relate to the responsibilities of spiritual leaders today?

2. In what ways can church leaders ensure they are "feeding the flock" rather than serving their own interests?

3. How does Jesus' example as the Good Shepherd challenge and inspire current leaders in the church?

4. What are some practical steps that leaders can take to avoid the pitfalls of neglect and self-interest?

5. How can members of a congregation support and hold their leaders accountable to the biblical standard of shepherding?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Jeremiah 23
This chapter also addresses the failure of Israel's leaders, emphasizing God's displeasure with shepherds who scatter and destroy the sheep.

John 10
Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd, contrasting His care and sacrifice for the sheep with the neglectful shepherds of Israel.

1 Peter 5
Peter exhorts church leaders to shepherd the flock willingly and eagerly, not for personal gain, echoing the call for faithful leadership.

Sermons

Gospel Ministers Shepherds	J. Burns.	Ezekiel 34:1-10
Hospital Sunday	A. G. Maitland.	Ezekiel 34:1-10
The Human Shepherds of the Flock	J.R. Thomson	Ezekiel 34:1-10
The Unfaithful Shepherds	A London Minister	Ezekiel 34:1-10
The Use and the Abuse of Office	W. Clarkson	Ezekiel 34:1-10
God's Verdict Upon Self-Serving Rulers	J.D. Davies	Ezekiel 34:1-16

People

David, Ezekiel

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Care, Feed, Flock, Prophesy, Says, Shepherds, Shouldn't, Sovereign, Themselves, Thus, Woe

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Ezekiel 34:2

     5723   nobles
     8739   evil, examples of
     8749   false teachers

Ezekiel 34:1-6

8783 neglect

Ezekiel 34:1-10

7786 shepherd, king and leader
9250 woe

Ezekiel 34:2-3

5802 care
7130 flock, God's

Ezekiel 34:2-4

5885 indifference

Ezekiel 34:2-6

7735 leaders, political

Ezekiel 34:2-7

5220 authority, abuse

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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