| ONE SHEEP AND ONE SHEPHERD |
|---|
| Before Ezekiel’s message of the salvation of Israel, the Spirit of Christ prophesies that there will be one sheep and one shepherd. This is the message of John 10 and 17. Its fulfillment is in the end days, when all believers, are united and sanctified by the truth (John 17:17-20). The end times will see the physical restoration of Israel, and their salvation into the body of Christ, both of these events come together in this one prophecy. This message of the shepherds is also found in Jer 23:3. |
| 10 Thus says Adonai Yihvah: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them. |
| Ezek 34:10 Thus says Adonai Yihvah – the phrase Adonai Yihvah appears 217 times in Ezekiel, and 203 times, in this exact expression, “thus says Adonai Yihvah.” There is no place in the Bible that we can specifically identify this expression as referring to Christ, but it clearly refers to the Father, in Judg 6:22; Isa 28:16; Isa 48:16; and Isa 61:1. Indeed, their seems to be a kind of play of expressions in Ezekiel; with the phrase “Adonai (Master) Yihvah” used for the invisible God, and “Son of Man,” used 93 times for His prophet, Ezekiel, as representing Jesus Christ, the future prophet (Deut 18:15). I will deliver My flock from their mouth – from the false teachers. |
| 11 For thus says Adonai YHVH : Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. |
| Ezek 34:11 I Myself will search for My sheep – this is the spiritual kingdom of heaven, explained by John Chapters 10 and 17. |
| 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. |
| Ezek 34:12 from all the places to which they were scattered – again this is the restoration of the spiritual kingdom, although the double meaning is clear. The Israelites will be brought back to their land in the end times. in the cloudy and dark day – the meaning of the holocaust that precipitated bringing back the Israelites to their land is clear here. |
| 13 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 watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. |
| Ezek 34:13 gather them from the countries – the double meaning of this prophecy is clear. God will literally restore the people of Israel when He restores His church. |
| 14 I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says Adonai Yihvah. |
| Ezek 34:14 feed in rich pastures in the mountains of Israel – the end times restoration of physical Israel is the primary meaning, the spiritual meaning is that the Sheep of Christ will be grafted into the Spiritual Israel. |
| 16 I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice. |
| Ezek 34:16 the fat and the strong I will destroy – this is the judgment spoken of in Rev 19:15, and Rev 19:18, “the sharp sword that strikes down the nations – the flesh of commanders…and mighty men.” with judgment – in Rev 14:7, we read “the hour of judgment has come,” the judgment of the lawlessness in the kingdom of heaven, which must occur to bring the saints in unity in the truth. |
| 17 As for you, O my flock, thus says Adonai Yihvah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.18 Seems it a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? 19 As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. 20 Therefore thus says Adonai Yihvah to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. |
| Ezek 34:17 between the ram and the male goats – the separation of the wheat and the chaff, the good fish and the bad (Matt 13:40-49). Ezek 34:20 between the fat sheep and the lean sheep – those who have grown complacent and do not seek the kingdom of heaven will be cutoff. |
| 22 therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. |
| Ezek 34:22 I will deliver My sheep – from the false teachers. |
| 23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. |
| Ezek 34:23 one shepherd, My servant David – who is the King, Christ, as we can see again in Ezek 37:24. |
| 24 I, Yihvah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Yihvah, have spoken it. |
| Ezek 34:24 I, YHVH, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince – the Temple place for “the Prince” (Christ) will be described in Ezekiel’s temple, in Chapters 40-44. |
| 25 I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. |
| Ezek 34:25 a covenant of peace and eliminate harmful beasts – see Hos 2:18; and Acts 10:12; the new Covenant with the Gentiles, who are the beasts. |
| 26 I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. |
| Ezek 34:26 the places around My hill a blessing – the Mountain of Yihvah, as in Isa 2:2, etc. |
