Amen. And let us turn then to Ezekiel chapter 34 and we'll read the entire chapter. So we have a lengthier scripture reading tonight, the 31 verses of Ezekiel 34. But certainly a unit which all goes together. Page 915 in most of the Blue ESV Bibles. Ezekiel 34, beginning at verse 1. The word of the Lord came to me, 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? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 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. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered. 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. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 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. Therefore you shepherds hear the word of the Lord. 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. For thus says the Lord God, behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and I will seek them out. 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. 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. 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. 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. As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God, behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats, It is 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? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet and drink what you have muddied with your feet? Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder and thrust at all the weak with your horns till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock. They shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 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. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord. I have spoken. I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing. And I will send down the showers in their season and they shall be showers of blessing, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land, and they shall know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations, so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God. Grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the ancient world and the centuries surrounding these days, And not just in Israel, but in that whole world of what's sometimes called the ancient Near East. It was common to associate kings with shepherds. And to associate, in the nations around Israel, false gods with shepherds. And so this image of shepherd kings and of divine shepherds is taken by the prophets of God and it is baptized is a way to say it. And so Horace Hummel, the Lutheran commentator, said it this way. The Old Testament prophets baptized this image of kings as shepherds, quote, in order that the whole world can understand its message, end of quote. And we do not have shepherds in our congregation. Many of us have likely never seen a wolf or perhaps like me you saw a wolf from a long distance off when you were at Yellowstone National Park and you really had to be told that it was a wolf by the person with the big telescope and that was really the only reason I even know that I saw a wolf. We don't really see wolves in our day-to-day experience anymore. We're not shepherds but it's an image which has a beautiful simplicity to it. The image of shepherd and sheep and of wolf against sheep is still an image, even if we have no lived experience of it, which is easy for us to grab hold of, is easy for us to make sense of and be comforted by, to be challenged by. And so this image, which was baptized so that the whole world could understand the message of the Old Testament, of the Old Testament is the image which is still useful for us this very night. And we have the image of the shepherd. We have a chapter which Christ used in his preaching while on this earth. And we have this theme tonight. God delivers his people through the promised Shepherd King of Peace, the one promised Shepherd King of Peace. And we begin with the abusive shepherds condemned, and then we move to the one shepherd promised. And then if you're looking at your notes in the bulletin, just add one letter to the third point. We'll make it a plural, the one shepherds promises, the one shepherds promises. Well, we begin with the first 10 verses and the abusive shepherds, uh, condemned. Now the image of shepherd, it relates especially to Kings and, uh, there is, there is, uh, therefore an emphasis on the Kings in this chapter and on the need for a King. But Ezekiel does speak in the plural, and Shepherds does speak to leaders in general to some degree as well. And so this also comes against the false prophets, the false priests of the day. The false prophets and priests who said things like, we have the historical record of Jeremiah who tells us this more than once, the false prophets and priests who said things like, peace, peace, when there is no peace. And so Ezekiel, following his older contemporary Jeremiah, is with the Lord God, standing against such false prophets. And to this day, one of the forms of abusive shepherding is the failure to condemn sin. The standing up and saying, peace, peace, where there is no peace. And again, There is a plurality of false shepherds in view here, and so it applies to false prophets, to false priests, to all the false leaders, even as kings are especially in view. And now as we think of the kings, many of the kings of Israel, we have the record, and we read through the list, and it's one unrighteous king after another. And that was true also, there are many unrighteous kings without any repentance, full of wickedness, in the house of David, and certainly that was true of the last kings of Judah. They played a part in the scattering of the sheep, in the taking advantage of absolute monarchial power in a sense. The king had the last say in the land, and they abused that power for their own ends. And so all of this leads to the suffering of the sheep, The sheep are ruled harshly. See the end of verse 4. They are scattered and the shepherds did not seek out those whom they had scattered with their own cruelty. They do not make any effort to heal or to strengthen. No, they leave the sheep to the wild beasts in verse 8. Wild beasts such as wolves while they use their power in self-interest. And so at this point, let us note that abusive leadership has both a passive way that it can be expressed and an active way in which it can be expressed. And Ezekiel is very clearly condemning both of those errors. The passive way, such as Again, the record that Jeremiah gives us of the prophets shouting, peace, peace, when there is no peace. Well, that's condemned in the start of verse 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. All of those things are related to what is our primary weakness? What is our primary Injury, it's the injury of our own sin and our own weakness in sin It is this passive abuse of failing to address sin and Ezekiel by the Word of God calls that out, but there is also active abuse and this also is condemned so look at the very end of verse 4 and with force and Harshness you have ruled them or look back on In verse 3, consider this language, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. Both of these are forms of abuse and they are both called that and they are both condemned. Now, sometimes we will only hear one of those two condemned, but they are both forms of abuse. And God, in both cases, stands against false shepherds. And so that's the language in the conclusion in verse 10. God says, I am against the false shepherds. And certainly people of God, as I said, the kings are especially in view, so are prophets and priests. And this language of shepherd leaders It goes into the New Testament as well, and we must consider the language of 1 Peter chapter 5. And Peter may have even been thinking of the detailed descriptions in Ezekiel 34 when he wrote these words in 1 Peter 5 beginning at verse 1. So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, 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, And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. And so the image of shepherd comes directly to the New Testament church as well. Be wary of wolves. Be wary of being a wolf. And may we all be Christ's sheep. And may all those in positions of leadership know they are the under shepherds of the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ. Indeed, God's people, God's flock are God's own. They are my sheep. And we see that repeatedly throughout the shepherd. God speaks of my sheep, my sheep, my sheep, my flock. And so that leads us into the fact that the solution to false shepherds is not to have no shepherd at all. To have no shepherd at all is just as dangerous in a different way as having abusive shepherds. No, the solution is to have a true shepherd. We are still called to be God's flock, and we are called to look to the true shepherd. And there is truly one. perfect shepherd. So we're coming now to our second point. Now there were kings in the line of David who had a righteousness, a repentance, a leading the people in reformation and revival, but even the righteous kings like the Davids and the Hezekiahs had many faults. And so who do we finally need? We need not just a God-honoring king, We need God himself as shepherd king. And that is exactly what God does. Look at the language of our text. The false shepherds have been condemned and now we move into what do we need? Verse 11, for thus says the Lord God, behold, I myself will search for my sheep. And God clearly designates himself as the shepherd, look especially at verse 15, I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, or the language of verse 22, I will rescue my flock. It is finally God's own actions. Everything from the seeking and the rescuing, verse 12, to the gathering and feeding, verses 13 and 14. God Himself does it because finally God Himself is the Shepherd. Now, you have all that language, verses 11 to 22, and this repeated, I, I myself, I am the Shepherd, And then we get to verses 23 and 24. And what is going on in verses 23 and 24? God just spent all this time saying, you need a true shepherd. I'm going to be that shepherd. And then in verses 23 and 24, he says, David will be your shepherd. What is going on? Well, there's one reason why this would be expected, and then there's a reason why this is difficult. And the solution to both is the same. And you may already know that solution. The reason why we would expect this language is because in the promises that God made to King David long ago, there was an unconditional aspect to the promise. God used language of, if you disobey me, then you will be removed. But God also used unconditional language. And so consider how God's covenant with King David in 2 Samuel 7 ends. Just listen to one verse. This is the end of that covenant. 2 Samuel 7, verse 16, and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. your throne shall be established forever. So, there's a reason why we might expect God to all of a sudden start talking about David as his king in verses 23 and 24. But then there's a reason why this is difficult. God has just been saying that he will be the shepherd king. I, I myself will do it. And so how is David the king and God the king? And how is this all true at the same time? Well, I said you may know the answer. And as I like to tell my high school catechism class, sometimes the Sunday school answer is still the answer. The answer is Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, both what we expect because of the ancient promise is seen and what is difficult that this king is both David and God himself is seen. Who is the God man? Who is the son of David while at the same time the eternal co-equal son of God? It is only Jesus Christ. It is only Jesus Christ. And so the very language of the angel when speaking to Mary was this, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great. and be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, who is Mary. Mary was a descendant, direct descendant of King David. And he will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1, 30 to 33. And then the shepherd king, the shepherd deliverer, Jesus Christ would use this as part of the very language of his preaching ministry on earth. Please turn to John chapter 10. As you're turning to the familiar passage of John 10, I'm going to point something out. At the end of John 10 verses 1 to 18, And Jesus is teaching about being a good shepherd, of which we're about to read a handful of verses. At the end of that teaching, the Jews, in verse 19, have a division among them. And some of them, in verse 20, say that he is insane, he has a demon. You know, if Jesus was just saying I'm gonna be a good shepherd who picks up the lambs and carries them in my arms, then why would they accuse him of being insane and having a demon? The reason why they make that accusation, and it becomes clear if you read all of John 10 later, and that would be a fruitful thing to do, it becomes clear, it's because they think he's blaspheming, they think he's claiming to be God, and that's because Jesus is claiming to be God. The Good Shepherd is divine. It is I, I myself, the Lord God. And so, with that in our minds, let's hear words which may be familiar from John 10, verses 10 to 15, and listen to also the contrast between false shepherds and Jesus. The thief, verse 10, comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as my Father knows me. And I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep." And Jesus is saying, I am the fulfillment of Ezekiel 34 and other less detailed prophecies like Jeremiah 23 all pointing to this same reality. We need the divine Shepherd King who is also the Davidic Shepherd King. And it all finds the answer in Jesus Christ who lays down his life for us, his sheep. Well, Brothers and sisters, what promises then does the one shepherd make? This is our third point. There are a number of promises related to the work of the coming shepherd king. And for our first two, we're going to go back to verses 16 and 17, and then we'll pick out a number from verses 25 to 31. We're going to pick out seven. There's different ways we could count it. We could count up more, but we're going to pick out seven promises. First, the one shepherd promises to bring healing. Look at verse 16 of chapter 34. 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." All of the healing from the weakness of our own sin and all of the wrongs that we suffer on this earth. Jesus the Good Shepherd will right all wrongs and He will heal our own weakness and sin. The one shepherd promises to bring healing. Second, the one shepherd promises to bring right judgment. So look at the, the end of verse 16 and the fat and the strong, I will destroy, I will feed them injustice. And then, uh, that language continues into verse 17. And verse 20 and 21 all continue. There's a rather lengthy description of the one shepherd bringing right judgment. Now, there is a passage which is more familiar to many of us from Matthew chapter 25, where Jesus Christ is describing the last judgment and says that I will separate A good shepherd is how Jesus says in Matthew 25 separates the sheep from the goats. And the image there is that God's sheep are the saved and the goats are those who will be cast away and judged. And some will have eternal death and some will have eternal life. Well, it's a little bit different how the image is being used here. It was not unusual to have sheep and goats in the same flock. in the ancient world. And in Matthew 25, as we might see the more straightforward image of separating the sheep and the goats, here in Ezekiel 34, it's a little more complex. It's a right judgment between sheep and sheep, verse 17, which is described for us most clearly in verse 20, between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. going into verse 21, because you push with side and shoulder and thrust all the weak with your horns. In other words, the image here is that God will save all the weak goats and all the weak sheep and God will judge all the strong sheep who push and shove to get their way and all the strong It's a little bit different. It's a little more complex than the image of Matthew 25. The end purpose is the same. That God will separate between believer and unbeliever. And that this is God's own work. God is the one who brings right judgment. But it's one which, because it's a little more complex, it makes us think a little more. Do you see yourself as weak? Do you know that you are a weak sinner in need of the Shepherd? That is the flock that the Good Shepherd saves. Not those who are strong in their own might, not those who will push and shove to get their own way. God saves those who are weak and know they are weak and in need. of the saving power of the good shepherd. So we spent a little more time on number two. Now let's come to number three. The one shepherd promises the covenant of peace in verse 25. Now this is another one that could be expanded, but let us cover it more briefly. The One Shepherd promises the covenant of peace. And let us just note that this takes us beyond anything that we'll see completely fulfilled on this earth. The covenant of peace is language which takes us finally to even the new heavens and the new earth. And this is This is part of what's going on in the following promises that we will look at as well. So fourth, the one shepherd promises to bring deliverance and blessings. We see this in verses 26 and 27. We even have this language, showers of blessings, the end of verse 26. Now, sometimes the Lord in his overflowing mercy gives showers of blessings, even on this earth. But finally, the showers of blessings are reserved for the new heavens and the new earth. And this is something that we have in a measure now, sometimes, but it's something which all the sheep will only finally have in the full restoration of all things. And again, that's part of all these remaining promises. Now what is the fifth promise? The one shepherd promises, verse 28, to remove our fears. Specifically the removal of the prey. Let's just focus on the end of verse 28. And none shall make them afraid. Sometimes we We have certain language from Revelation which has become common to us. No more tears, no more pain. Let's add this to our vocabulary of heaven. No more fear. No more anxiety. No more reason to fear. No more reason to be anxious. There's so much that can bring fear on this earth. And the Lord God does already now give us measures of deliverance from fear. But let's also add this to our vocabulary of heaven. No more fear. It's the fifth promise of the one divine shepherd, the good shepherd, Jesus Christ. The sixth in verse 29, the one shepherd promises to provide a home for us. And it's not just any home. It's a renowned plantations is the language of verse 29. Now this is, this is a chapter that takes us so clearly. to Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so does this not take us to the language of John 14, in my father's house, there are many rooms and I go and I prepare a place for you. The good shepherd promises to provide a home for us. And then seventh, the one shepherd promises that fellowship with God will be restored. Verses 30 and 31, one of the ways to paraphrase, summarize those two verses, fellowship with God restored. And for those who were here this morning, that takes us back to our sermon this morning as well, does it not? We are those who were made for fellowship with God and we will be restored in fellowship with God through the work of the one good shepherd, Jesus Christ. And so may we indeed be members of God's flock, his human sheep, the sheep of his pasture led through all the mountains and valleys of this earth and brought to all the promises This is the divine King. These promises are sure as we trust in the Good Shepherd who laid down his very life for us. Brothers and sisters, there is rich Christology. There's even verses 23 and 24 are even giving us hints of the Trinity. There's so much going on and let us seeing Christ clearly here, be comforted by His promises for us, His sheep. Amen. Let us pray. Great Shepherd who leads us, who dies to protect us,