Ezekiel 34
Date: September 17th, 2023
Speaker: Samuel Crites
Scripture: Ezekiel 34
Exegetical Outline
Main Idea of the Text: God will remove the false shepherds and he will be their shepherd; and he will set over his sheep the Good Shepherd, David, and he will be their God and they will be his people.
34:1-10: God condemns the false shepherd of the house of Israel and holds them to account for their mistreatment of the sheep.
34:1-6: The list of charges against the false shepherds.
They feed themselves and do not feed the sheep, but use the sheep for their own benefit.
They have not strengthened the weak.
They have not healed the sick.
They have not bound up the injured.
They have not brought back the stray.
They have not sought the lost.
They have ruled with force and harshness.
They did not protect the sheep, so the sheep were scattered and became food for wild beasts.
34:7-10: God will hold the shepherds accountable.
34:11-16: God will be the shepherd of his people.
34:17-22: God will not only judge the shepherds, but he will judge between sheep and sheep.
34:23-24: God will set over his sheep his servant, David, and the Shepherd will care for the sheep and God will be their God.
Homiletical Outline
Main Idea of Sermon: Elders shepherd by following God’s example of shepherding.
God, himself, is the shepherd of his people.
He holds all elders accountable. (7-10)
He personally cares for his people. (11-16)
He hold all sheep accountable. (17-22)
He has given his people the Great Shepherd his servant, David, to be their shepherd. (23-24)
The job description of the elders.
Feed the sheep. (2)
Strengthen the weak. (4)
Heal the sick. (4)
Bind the wounds of the injured. (4)
Bring back those that wander off. (4)
Seek the lost. (4)
Rule with gentleness and justice. (4;16)
Protect the sheep from predators. (5-6)
Protect the sheep from each other. (22)
Introduction
We are taking a break this week from our study of the book of Titus to consider what is the job description of an elder. Last week, Paul taught us the qualifications of an elder. This week, Ezekiel will help us consider the job description of an elder. Let’s read Ezekiel 34:1-24 together.
Ezekiel 34:1-24
34 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.
7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10 Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
11 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 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.
17 “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? 19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22 I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.
Sermon in Brief
The last two week, we have been studying the beginning of the book of Titus. Paul sent Titus to Crete to accomplish three things: appoint elders, set things in order, and encourage the church towards greater Gospel ministry. Paul focuses Titus on the first task by training him up to be a pastor and explaining the qualifications that one should look for in an elder. I thought it would be appropriate, given that we are a young church looking forward to the day when we will have a plurality of elders, that we take a break from Titus to think not only about the qualifications of an elder, but what is the job description of an elder? What do they actually do on a daily basis? The main idea of our sermon today is this: Elders shepherd by following God’s example of shepherding.
Our sermon will have two points. First, I want to look at our sermon text as a whole. Before we focus on what an elder in the local Church can learn about being a good shepherd, we must first see that God, himself, is the shepherd of his people. The reason that elders follow God’s example in shepherding is because God is the true and only shepherd of his people. The sheep do not belong to anyone but to God alone, especially not the elders. In Ezekiel 34, Ezekiel is prophesying against the false shepherds of the house of Israel. God holds them to account because they are abusing his sheep. So God take the sheep away and cares for them himself. He not only holds the shepherds accountable, but he also holds the sheep accountable, preventing them from injuring and abusing each other. He deals justice to all and sets his servant David over the sheep as the Great Shepherd. The text ends with the Messianic hope of a shepherd that is to come, one of the house of David, that will be the true shepherd of Gods people.
After we get a sense of the whole of the text, I want to come back and consider how we might learn from the mistakes of the false shepherds of Israel. When we ask the question, what does a shepherd actually do, we can see that this text gives us a clear answer. We can look at the negatives and turn them to positives to better understand all that an elder should be doing for God’s people. In our second point, we are going to learn the job description of an elder. We are going to see nine lessons from this passage what an elder should be doing for God’s people.
We do not need CEO in the Church or a board of directors. We do not need life coaches or motivational speakers. We need elders that look to God and his servant, the Son of David, as the example for how to be shepherds. Elders shepherd by following God’s example of shepherding.
God, himself, is the shepherd of his people.
The first, and most important thing to see in this text is that God, himself, is the shepherd of his people. This really is the main point of the text. The whole reason that Ezekiel is prophesying to the false shepherds of Israel is because they have lost sight of this fundamental reality. They are not actually the shepherds of God’s people. They have no ownership over the flock. The people belong to God. He is their owner and shepherd. The shepherds of Israel are merely abusive stewards that are about to be held accountable for the selfishness.
To see this point, that God, himself, is the shepherd of his people, we are going to consider the text as a whole. We are going to skip over the individual accusations against the false shepherds and come back to those in the second point. In this first point, we are going to learn four things about what it means that God, himself, is the true shepherd of his people.
First, God holds all elders accountable. As the true shepherd, all lesser shepherds are beholden and accountable to God. As we have discussed in Titus, the elders do not own the Church nor the church members. The members of the Church belong to God.
We can particularly see this in verses 7-10. Listen to verse 10 one more time.
Ezekiel 34:10
Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
God is not idle when it comes to the defense of his people. They are his possession and no one else’s. These false shepherds have unwisely fed themselves at the expense of God’s sheep. They have selfishly used their authority and power, delegated by God, to enrich themselves at the expense of the ones they were to be caring for. They have led the people away from God. God will not stand for this. He has sent Ezekiel to these leaders to deal with their self-centered abuse.
To all those that aspire to the office of elder, let this be a sobering warning. The accountability of the Lord is real. If you assume the office of elder, with all the authority that bears, know that one day you will stand before God and be required to give a report of how you handled yourself. In those moments when you feel the temptation to unilaterally wield your authority, let this be a reminder; let it be a cooling ice cube in the heat of your frustration that sobers your judgment and slows your impetuousness. These people do not belong to you. This is not your kingdom. You are merely a steward awaiting the return of the true king.
But this truth is not merely a warning to elders, it is a cause for sympathetic obedience among God’s people. The author of Hebrews explains this in Hebrews 13:17:
Hebrews 13:17
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The fact that your elders have to give an account to God should make you sympathetic and obedient. It is a heavy burden that they carry, meaning it is heavy enough without you making it harder on them.
I once had a friend tell me about a time, he heard a group of older church members ask an older pastor what they could do to keep their young pastor humble. The older pastor looked right at these members and said that it was not their job to keep their young pastor humble. God and the ministry itself would do that. Their job was not to humble him, but to love and encourage him so that his labors were made lighter by their kindness and support.
I’ll never forget that interaction because I remember thinking, as my friend was recounting the story to me, that it was a legitimate question. This older pastor did not. He thought it was highly presumptuous of the people to think that they had a duty to humble their pastor. He said if you cannot trust him enough to follow him and you cannot trust God to deal with his pride, then he shouldn’t be your pastor. He also said that they had a fundamental misunderstanding of what it meant to be a pastor and how difficult it was. He said that the ministry will naturally humble any man that is worthy of the title of elder, they could be certain of that. God is the true shepherd of his people. He will hold all elders to account for the way that they care for his people.
Second, that God is the true shepherd of his people means that he personally cares for his sheep. Consider verse 15 and 16 of Ezekiel 34:
Ezekiel 34:15-16
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 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.
As the true Shepherd, God himself cares for his sheep. In this instance, it is because he has removed the false shepherds that he must care for them directly, but notice that the personal care of his sheep does not end. He doesn’t temporarily take over the care of his people in the interim until he can find some good workers that will care for his sheep the right way. No. He permanently takes over the superintention of his people, because there is no mere man that can actually steward them as he would. He is the only one able to meet their needs and lead them into peace and prosperity. The old system of priests and kings in the Old Covenant was always insufficient.
This is actually one of the great promise of the New Covenant. In Jeremiah 31, God lays out some of the promises of the New Covenant. This is not the only place, in fact, you turn a couple pages to the right in your Bible and read Ezekiel 36. But Jeremiah 31:34 speaks specifically to this point. The Lord says this through the prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 31:34
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
In the New Covenant, the problem of sin will be so completely dealt with that the priesthood will be obsolete. No longer will one brother of Israel need to encourage another to know God. They will all know God because God will be within them. Through the power of his Holy Spirit, he will indwell all of his people and personally care for their souls.
So you might ask the question, why does God need shepherds that are men when he, the great Shepherd, has chosen to give us his Spirit? The answer is, he doesn’t. He doesn’t need any of us. This is never more clear than when the Apostle Paul was overcome by his own frailties. Whatever it was, Paul was plagued by a thorn in his flesh. Three times, Paul asked the Lord to remove this affliction from him and this is what Christ said to him in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
It is in our frailty and weakness that the glory of Christ shines all the brighter. That God could care for us each individually so perfectly, and yet chooses to use sinful men demonstrates the greatness of his power. The great English Baptist pastor, Benjamin Keach, in his book A Golden Mine Opened once said:
Benjamin Keach, A Golden Mine Opened, 1694
“God, as one observes, can strike a strait Blow with a crooked Stick; ’tis not for the worthiness of the Instruments, that he doth work, but for his own Glory.”
The third lesson that we can learn from the fact that God is the true shepherd of his people is that he not only holds the shepherds accountable, but he also holds the sheep accountable. Let’s reread verses 17-22, because I think we could easily overlook this point:
Ezekiel 34:17-22
17 “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? 19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22 I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.
The shepherds are not the only source of problems among God’s people. In fact, this problem that Ezekiel now addresses is made worse by the fact that the shepherds have not cared for the sheep well. The problem is that stronger sheep are abusing weaker sheep. They push and prod at the weaker sheep. They are so self-centered that they eat at the greenest pastures and trample down what is left. They push their way to the clearest waters and in the haste to meet their own needs, they leave the water dirty and ruined for the weaker sheep behind them. They are so aggressively self-centered, that they drive other sheep away from the sheep fold and scatter them in the wilderness.
Does that sound like a Church that you have ever been a part of? Have you ever attended a Church or heard of a Church that was so territorial that they drove away anyone that was visiting? I know I have. Self-serving elders is a colossal problem among God’s Church, but what about self-serving sheep? Have you ever considered that selfish congregations make the Shepherd angry? Brothers and sisters, in the same way that God promises to deal with selfish shepherds, he promises to deal with selfish sheep. He promises, as the Good Shepherd, to bring justice to his flock. He will rescue his flock from itself and deal with the bullies in the Church.
The fourth and final point is found in the last verses of our sermon text. God, as the Great Shepherd, the only true shepherd capable of caring for his people, will give his people a shepherd. Isn’t that amazing? The whole point of this passage is that only God can actually shepherd his people. He is the only one that owns the sheep, cares for the sheep, knows the sheep, will sacrifice for the sheep. And yet, it ends with a decree from the Lord that he will set over his people a Good Shepherd, his servant, David.
Notice the formality and finality of the decree in verses 23-24:
Ezekiel 34:23-24
23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.
Can you think of a more bizarre ending to this sermon text? Men have failed God in their duty to care for his people, so in response he will assume the duty himself and entrust it to a man. And not just any man, but a man that has been dead for approximately 450 years. What could God possibly mean?
Ezekiel is not prophesying about the first David. He is referencing David’s greater son that was promised in 2 Samuel 7. David sings about this promise in Psalm 89:3-4:
Psalm 89:3-4
3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
What we learn in Ezekiel 34 is that that son will be more like his father, David, than Israel was expecting. He will not only take after him as king, which we see in Isaiah 9:7, but in Ezekiel, we learn that he will take after David like a shepherd. Not just any shepherd, but the final shepherd. Consider what Ezekiel is saying about the Messiah. God has just demonstrated that he alone has the right and the ability to shepherd his people, that only God has the power, foresight, and patience to deal justice to his people, to care for each of their needs personally. If any other mere man can do what God is doing in this passage, the entire argument that Ezekiel is building is undone. Conclusion: the Son of David is no mere man, but God himself. Able and worthy to care for the people of God. He is the Good Shepherd, as he claims in John 10, because God, himself, is the Great Shepherd of his people in Ezekiel 34.
In our first point, we have seen that God, himself, is the shepherd of his people. He holds elders accountable, personally cares for his sheep, holds the sheep accountable, and gives his people the Good Shepherd, his servant, the Son of David. Which means, as we think about the job description of an elder, what better case study can we have than God, himself?
The job description of an elder.
Which brings us to our second point, what is the job description of an elder? If we could make a list of all the things that an elder should be doing for God’s people, what would make the list? Let me briefly give you nine duties of an elder. We draw these duties from Ezekiel 34 by observing what the false shepherds are condemned for and what God models in response. Let’s quickly go back through the text and draw out these nine duties that make up the job description of an elder.
Feed God’s sheep.
First, an elder is to feed God’s sheep. We see this in verses 2 and 3. Should not shepherds feed the sheep? The clear answer is yes. The shepherds have a duty to feed God’s sheep. This means that elders have a responsibility to preach God’s word to God’s people.
Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5:
2 Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Sadly, what is called preaching in many churches in the US would not meet this standard, because it is not centered on God’s word. God’s word must drive our preaching. This is the essence of expository preaching. That the main point of our sermon is the main point of the text. It is not the elder’s job to be clever or invent what he thinks the people need, rather it is his job to take God’s word and deliver it to God’s people, because the power in the mouth of the preacher is not his words, but God’s.
Strengthen the weak.
Second, an elder should strengthen the weak. All Christians are commanded by Paul in Romans 14 to bear with their weaker brother, but an elder has a special responsibility to nurse God’s lambs and care for the sheep that are weak.
This means that pastors are to use the wisdom and knowledge that God has given them to pastorally care for God’s sheep. When a weaker brother is discouraged, the elder is to offer sustaining encouragement. When the weaker brother is paralyzed by indecision, the elder is to be there to offer wise guidance. When the weaker sister is separated from other members, the elder is to gently bring her towards reconciliation. All with the hope that the members will not remain in their weakness, that as they are lovingly counseled and corrected, they will become stronger in their faith, that one day, they will grow out of their adolescence and be the older, more mature sibling that is able to strengthen others.
For the elder to be successful in the duty to strengthen the weak requires two things. It requires elders that are among the sheep on a regular basis making pastoral visits with their people, and it takes sheep that seek their elders when they come to moments in their life when they need pastoral care. It should be a normal thing for elders to be involved in member’s lives, and it should be a normal thing for the members to seek the guidance of their elders. Both parties should seek out the other.
Heal the sick.
The third duty of an elder is to heal the sick. Again, this comes directly out of verse four, and we should ask ourselves, what makes God’s people spiritually sick? Paul tells us in Romans 8 that the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. In that same passage, Paul encourages the Romans to put off the flesh and walk in the Spirit. The illness that afflicts God’s people is the temptation to walk in the flesh, to return to the life of death that we were rescued from.
This is an ever-present temptation for the people of God, because although we have been set free from the penalty of sin, we still live in its presence. It is all around us and still corrupts all of creation. It is the job of the shepherd to be conscious of the sins that afflict his people and to heal them with the purifying power of God’s Word.
Which means that there are times that you might have to have a difficult conversation with an elder, the same way that you might have to have a difficult conversation with a doctor. They are the physicians of your soul. They are to be equipped to diagnose and treat the sins that afflict us.
Bind up the injured.
The fourth duty of an elder is to bind up the injured. Meaning, when you come in from the battle, the elder is the medic that patches you up to send you back into the fight. He is the Mickey Goldmill that patches you up in the corner of the ring for the next round of boxing.
But this task is as much on the member as the elder. The elder can patch you up for a fight that you are not fighting. Many people have never known an elder skilled at being a battle medic, because they are not out there fighting any battles. The ministers of the Church are not the elders, they are the members that are sent out every Sunday to do the work of ministry, to push back the borders of Enemy territory and conquer new territory for the kingdom of God.
Paul teaches us this in Ephesians 4:11-16. He says:
Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
The elder is to train you and equip you for battles, he is supposed to tend to your injuries when you come back from the fight, but the member has to be in the fight.
Bring back those that wander off.
The fifth duty of an elder is that he is to bring back those that have wandered off. This duty is different than the next duty in that the idea is that these sheep have already been in the flock. The sad truth is that we are going to have members that join our Church, and for whatever reason, they wander away from our family. It is the elder’s job to pursue them and attempt to bring them back.
It is in sheep’s nature to wander. As you look at the Old Testament, when Israel did not have good shepherds, they naturally wandered from God. It is like it was their predisposition. When Christ steps off the boat in Galilee and sees the wandering crowd in Mark 6, it says that he had compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd.
It is not natural for the Church to have a gravitational pull toward unity. Our sinfulness and humanity will naturally push us away from each other. It is the supernatural work of the Spirit, through the shepherds, to herd the Church into unity, seeking out all those that slowly wander off.
Seek the lost.
Which is slightly different than the sixth duty, seeking the lost. I take this to be what Paul meant in 2 Timothy 4:5 when he commanded Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:5
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
The elder is to be the primary evangelist in the Church. Not the only evangelist, but a primary example. He is to lead out in seeking out those that are lost.
He does this, because Jesus says in John 10:16:
John 10:16
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Meaning, there are those out there in the world that have been chosen to be sheep, that will listen to the voice of the shepherd when they hear, but they are not in the fold at this moment. We evangelize because we are guaranteed of success. Those that are sheep will hear the voice of the shepherd calling to them through the Gospel when it is preached to them. So the elder is to be out their looking for sheep that are not sheep yet that will come into the fold when they are called to repentance.
Rule with gentleness and justice.
The seventh duty is the last duty that comes out of verse 4, namely, that shepherds are to rule with gentleness and justice. Ezekiel says that these false shepherds have ruled with force and harshness. The opposite of ruling with force and harshness is not to cease ruling. There is a real sense in which the elders carry an authority in the lives of their people, but that authority is to be exercised with gentleness and justice.
We do not just see this in verse 4, but we also see this in the example that God sets in verse 14-16. He says,
Ezekiel 34:16
I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 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.
God does not rule in a domineering way over his people. He cares for their needs. He provides the greenest and richest pastures to them where he makes them lie down in unity and peace.
In the same way, the pastor works among his people for peace and justice. Always seeking the good of the people and attempting to draw them into unity and peace. It is not hard to submit to authority when you know and trust that that authority is being used for your good.
Protect the sheep from predators.
The eighth duty of a pastor is to protect the sheep from predators. We see this in verses 5 and 6. Church, we have a very real Enemy that is constantly trying to destroy God’s sheep. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5 that the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour you.
He attacks the Church in two primary ways. First, by enticing your own evil desires. James 1:14 says that God tempts no one, but each person is lured into temptation by their own evil desires. The great tempter cannot make you sin, but he is an expert at stoking your evil desires, which, when desires are allowed to go unchecked give birth to sin and sin to death.
The other way that the Enemy attacks the Church is through false teaching. 1 Timothy 4:1 makes it clear that people will be led astray by deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons. The elders job is to guard the truth of the Gospel and be vigilantly aware of false teaching that might be influencing his people.
Protect the sheep from each other.
Finally, the ninth duty of the pastor is not only to protect the sheep from wolves, but also to protect the sheep from each other. Sheep can be mean and selfish. Left unchecked, some sheep can run roughshod over other sheep. We see this in verses 17-19. God will judge between sheep and goats, between the fat and strong and the weak. It is the job of the elders to be aware of sheep that are bullying other sheep and to keep the unity and peace between God’s people.
The fact of the matter is that whenever you get a group of people together, there will eventually be conflicts. It is natural because we are all human. The elders are to be peacemakers amongst God’s people. Seeking to correct those that are bullying those that are weaker, and fighting for unity among the body of Christ.
These nine duties of the pastor are not meant to be a comprehensive list of all that a pastor could possibly do, but they are a the most helpful list I have found in Scripture. It is helpful for those that aspire to the office of the elder to consider the weight of the role they hope to assume in the service of God and his people. Your elders are not always going to get it right, but if we have elders that are seeking to selflessly do the things that God models for us in Ezekiel 34, are Church will grow.
Conclusion
Everything we have seen in Ezekiel 34 this week begins with the reality that God is the true shepherd of his people and that any man that aspires to the office of elder should seek to follow God as their example.
This week, I was listening to a Pastor’s Talk with Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever. Leeman has a new book coming out about authority. He traces a lot of the problems we have in society to a misunderstanding or a mistrust in authority. So he wrote a book to work out a biblical theology of authority.
One of the problems a lot of Christians have with the Bible’s teaching on elders is a fundamental distrust of authority. One of the things that Leeman said on the podcast was that what you think of when you think about authority says a lot about what you think about God. Ultimately, all authority comes from God. He is the ultimate authority.
That is particularly true when we consider the authority that elders have over God’s people and the fact that God is the true shepherd of his sheep. God has delegated his pastoral authority to Christ and Christ to the elders. That does not mean that Christ is not the chief shepherd of the Church, or that God has abrogated his role to care for us. Rather, it means that he has ordained that his pastoral attention and divine care for his people should come through flawed and weak men.
In the mystery of his sovereign plan, he chooses to use broken and flawed men to carry out his personal care of his people. As a pastor, that is an incredibly humbling truth. I aspire to be a pastor like God models in Ezekiel 34 because I feel the weight of the authority that God has given me over his people, and my hope is that God is even now working in the hearts of other men in our body to follow the same example of Christ as both vocational and lay elders. We need a plurality of men with a diversity of gifts to care for God’s people like he has modeled for us in our sermon text this week.
Let’s pray.