Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezekiel 34:31

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ezekiel 34:31. And ye my flock — That is, under the allegory of a flock of sheep, I point out men; under that of a pasture, my Church, and under that of a shepherd, the Messiah, through whom I am become your God. And he who is your God is אדני יהוה Adonai Jehovah, the self-existent Being; the Governor and Director, as well as the Saviour and Judge of men.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Rulers past and future (34:1-31)

The leaders of Israel, whether of the northern kingdom or the southern, were supposed to be shepherds, but instead of caring for the people they exploited them. Their sole concern was for themselves (34:1-4). Because of their neglect of the flock, the sheep were attacked and scattered. Because of the corruption of its leaders, Israel was destroyed by hostile nations and its people taken captive into foreign countries (5-6).
God will therefore punish the shepherds, but he will rescue the scattered sheep and bring them back to their home (7-10). God himself will be their new shepherd. He will feed them and care for them (11-15). While being sympathetic to those who are afflicted, he will act with strict justice against those who are oppressive (16).
Having taken the flock under his control and care, the true shepherd will remove from it those who, in their greed and selfishness, spoiled the pastures and dirtied the water for others. God will punish those who made themselves rich and powerful by trampling on the rights of their fellow citizens (17-19). When God has removed those who oppressed others for their own advantage, he will set up his Messiah to rule over his people in love and righteousness. The ideal that David wished for but never experienced will then be a reality (20-24).
Ezekiel speaks of the new relationship between God and his people as a covenant of peace. A bond of harmony exists between the good shepherd and his sheep. As the shepherd protects his flock from wild animals and gives his sheep good pastures, so God will protect his people from their enemies and give them agricultural prosperity (25-29). His people will respond with true loyalty. They will be his people, and he will be their God (30-31).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And 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. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up unto them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. And they shall know that I, Jehovah their God, and they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah. And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Jehovah."

THE COVENANT OF PEACE

"They shall dwell securely in the wilderness" Throughout the Bible, the wilderness wanderings of Israel are interpreted as typical of the church in the wilderness of her probation in this dispensation. This is another indication that the New Covenant is in view here.

All of the wonderful blessings of this paragraph are here prophesied to come to pass when that "covenant of peace" becomes effective. And what is that covenant of peace? It can be nothing else except the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-35). Plumptre discerned this; "The same thought underlies both that passage and this."E. H. Plumptre in the Pulpit Commentary, p. 207. "`The covenant of peace'; the new age is to be marked by a new covenant."J. B. Thompson, p. 223.

The covenant of peace came from Jesus Christ. He said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful" (John 14:27). There is nothing to compare with this in the Old Testament.

How about all of those blessings, enumerated here in terminology that would have been appreciated and helpful to the generation which received this prophecy? Of course, the racial Israel did no doubt enjoy many physical and temporal blessings upon their return to Palestine; but most of the wonderful things God promised them never happened, due to their unbelief and disobedience (See Jeremiah 18:7-10). Nevertheless, the material and physical benefits here recounted most certainly must be interpreted as symbolical of spiritual blessing in Christ.

And I will raise up unto them a plantation of renown" This, of course, is a glimpse of the world-wide renown and glory of Jesus Christ the Messiah and his followers. Oh yes, there are many divisions, aberrations, animosities, and all kinds of other differences to be seen and deplored among those who seek to love and honor the Great Servant David, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ; but over and beyond all of that disfiguration of Jesus' spiritual body, accomplished through the devices of the evil one, there still shines the eternal glory of the Bright and Morning Star, the Sun of Righteousness who is risen with healing in His wings!

More great and beautiful buildings have been constructed in his name and to his honor in the last twenty years than were erected in all of the past history of mankind to all of the kings and tyrants who ever lived on earth. Every Lord's Day throughout the world, people of all races, tongues, and nations gather in millions of places to sing songs unto Him who is the Author and Finisher of our faith, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who is forever and ever Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Yahweh having promised to be a Ruler of His people, the administration of the divine kingdom is now described, as carried on by One King, the representative of David, whose dominion should fulfill all the promises originally made to the man after God’s own heart. Ezekiel does not so much add to, as explain and develope, the original promise; and as the complete fulfillment of the spiritual blessings, which the prophets were guided to proclaim, was manifestly never realized in any temporal prosperity of the Jews, and never could and never can be realized in any earthly kingdom, we recognize throughout the Sacred Volume the one subject of all prophecy - the Righteous King, the Anointed Prince, the Son and the Lord of David.

Ezekiel 34:23

One shepherd - One, as ruling over an undivided people, the distinction between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah having been done away.

My servant David - David was a fit type of the True King because he was a true and faithful servant of Yahweh. That which David was partially and imperfectly, Christ is in full perfection (compare Matthew 12:18; John 5:30; Hebrews 10:7.)

Ezekiel 34:26

The blessings here foretold are especially those of the old covenant. The wilderness (or, pasture-country) and the woods, the places most exposed to beasts and birds of prey, become places of security. Under the new covenant Sion and the hills around are representative of God’s Church; and temporal blessings are typical of the blessings showered down upon Christ’s Church by Him who has vanquished the powers of evil.

Ezekiel 34:29

A plant - Equivalent to the “Branch,” under which name Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesy of the Messiah. The contrast in this verse to hunger seems to favor the idea that the “plant” was for food, i. e., spiritual food, and in this sense also, applicable to the Messiah (compare John 6:35.)

The shame of the pagan - The shameful reproaches with which the pagan assail them.

Ezekiel 34:31

Translate “Ye are my flock, the flock of my pasture (compare Jeremiah 23:1); ye are men, and I am your God.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 34

Now in chapter 34, God speaks out against those faithless shepherds of Israel. Those men that were the spiritual leaders, those men to whom the people looked for spiritual guidance, who had left the real concept of the ministry. The Lord said to His disciples, "The heathen or the Gentiles do love to exercise lordship over each other, but it shall not be so among you. For whosoever would be chief among you, let him become the servant of all" ( Mark 10:42-44 ). You remember how when Jesus took a towel and washed His disciples' feet and then He said unto them, "You see what I have done. Now if I being your Lord am a servant, then you also should be servants." And Christ taught the servanthood of the ministry, and that's actually what the word minister means-a servant. And God intends that those who are the ministers are really the servants to the body of Christ, not lords over the body of Christ. But the servants to the body of Christ. But it is easy to get an attitude of lordship or superiority and start abusing your position and seek to exercise lordship over the people rather than to continue in that attitude of servant. Now whenever you do turn and get this lording attitude, and you begin to look at the... you begin to get greedy, really, for gain, for fancy homes and cars, and things of this nature. Then you begin to misuse that position that God has placed you in.

So the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel ( Ezekiel 34:1-2 )

Now whenever God says, "Woe," look out, because you're in trouble.

Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should they not be feeding the flock of God? ( Ezekiel 34:2 )

Men who are using the ministry for their own gain, rather than using the place of a minister to bring gain to the people. It is sad, but it is true that there are many men in the ministry today who are only fulfilling a psychological need in their own lives. They're not really called of God, and do not really have the true aspect of the ministry at heart. Woe unto those shepherds who use the ministry as a means of just feeding themselves, enriching themselves. "Should you not be feeding the flock?"

You eat the fat, you clothe yourself with wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock ( Ezekiel 34:3 ).

Jesus said to Peter, "Feed My flock" ( John 21:15 ). Peter later writing to the elders in the church said, "Feed the flock of God which is among you" ( 1 Peter 5:2 ). The most important need in the church today is that the people be fed. "Feed the flock of God"-the commission of Jesus unto Peter.

Now the shepherds are further indicted by God because they...

The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty you've ruled over them ( Ezekiel 34:4 ).

They were lording over the flock of God. They weren't caring for those that were weak or sick or broken or lost. But they had misused the position, and as the result,

[The sheep have been] scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became a prey to all of the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; As I live, saith the Lord GOD ( Ezekiel 34:5-8 ),

And, again, when God begins to speak like this, you know that it's powerful. "As I live," more or less swearing by Himself because He can swear no higher. "As I live, saith the Lord God,"

surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them ( Ezekiel 34:8-10 ).

The whole religious system, the priesthood and all, was to be abolished. It's interesting, it has been abolished. And abolished because they were feeding themselves rather than the flock of God. Of course, in their history we find how it happened the sons of Eli, you remember, these evil boys. How that when people would bring their offering to the Lord, they'd take their meat hooks in and grab the best part of the meat. Anybody would object, they'd beat them up. Causing people to resent their worship of God by the greedy attitude of these men who were supposed to be God's representatives. Priests standing before God for the people, and yet, so misrepresenting God when they were standing before the people for God. And so God speaks about putting away this whole corrupted system. "They're not gonna feed off My flock anymore. My flock won't be meat to them any longer."

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and I will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all of the places that they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day ( Ezekiel 34:11-12 ).

Here God says, "I will take up the job of the shepherd. I will seek out these sheep that are lost and scattered." Aren't you glad that the Lord is our shepherd? And that He has sought us out, scattered and bruised He found us, and He drew us into His fold, and He put His arms around us and said, "Hey, I love you. You're My sheep; you're My people." Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I lay down My life for the sheep" ( John 10:11 ). The sheep know the shepherd's voice and they do follow him. And you who have heard the call of the Lord, you're part of His flock. You're following Jesus Christ. It's beautiful.

And I will bring them out from the people, I will gather them from the countries, I will bring them into their own land ( Ezekiel 34:13 ),

And, of course, this is a prophecy concerning the nation Israel, but it does have also personal application, as far as that relationship of God to His people, Christ to His church. But this basically is a prophecy of Israel, the prophecy of the scattering of Israel. The scattering of Israel was precipitated by their crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which was the result of the conspiracy of the spiritual leaders of that day. Those spiritual leaders had rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and they had conspired to put Him to death, because all of the common people were hearing Him gladly. And they said, "What are we going to do? If all of the people turn to Him then we're going to lose our jobs. We're going to lose all of this loot that we've been making off the people. The Romans may even come and take away our position. We've got to put Him to death." And the high priest said, "Don't you realize it's expedient that one man should die for the whole nation?" How little did he know what he was saying.

Now, because of these shepherds, false shepherds, who were guilty of greed, who scattered the flock, Jesus speaks of His gathering together that flock. And this we get into, of course, the prophecy and we see it being fulfilled today as God is drawing the Jews back into the land and is preparing to do a work among them there.

I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, I will bring them into their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all of the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: and there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture and they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel. And I will feed my flock ( Ezekiel 34:13-15 ),

Remember that beautiful prophecy concerning Jesus, "He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the young in His arms," and so forth, "and carry them in His bosom. And gently lead those that are with young" ( Isaiah 40:11 ). Beautiful prophecy. "I will feed my flock."

I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and I will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; and I will feed them with judgment. And as for you, O my flock, saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? And to have drunk of the deep waters, but you have to foul up the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye have thrust with the side and with the shoulder, and you've pushed all the diseased with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad ( Ezekiel 34:15-21 );

The way that the rich oppressed the poor. Of course, the religious leaders had become the wealthy and they pushed and scattered the flock.

But 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. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it ( Ezekiel 34:23-24 ).

Now this, of course, is not a reference to king David being resurrected and becoming king again, but even as Jesus promised to David that there should never cease one from him ruling over the people, that prophecy to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So it is a reference to that righteous branch that shall come out of David, even Jesus. And in Jeremiah 23:0 you have Jeremiah giving the same prophecy in Jerusalem to the inhabitants there and he speaks about how the righteous branch out of David shall come and reign as king over them. As he indicts the false shepherds there and speaks of the glorious true Shepherd that shall come.

In Isaiah we read, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, to order it, and to establish it in righteousness and in judgment from henceforth even forever. For the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this" ( Isaiah 9:6-7 ). So Christ, as Paul said in Romans 1 , "Of the seed of David according to the flesh, but declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit," will come and sit upon the throne of David, and as David again shepherding over the people, or ruling over the people with a shepherd's heart.

Now people wonder, how could God say, "Well, David was a man after My own heart"? When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and David was a very violent man in many situations, and he had Uriah put to death. And yet, God says that David was a man after My own heart. How can that be? And that was because David had the heart of a shepherd. And when David ruled the people, he ruled them with a shepherd's heart. And that's what God desires. That those who rule have the heart of a shepherd where their concern and their care is for the sheep, not for themselves. But they are thinking of the sheep. And David had the shepherd's heart, and he ruled with the heart of a shepherd. Saul was lifted up in pride when God put him upon the throne, and that's why Saul was brought down and his family did not follow in the throne. But David, a man after God's own heart.

And so the prophecy concerning Christ and His coming and shepherding.

And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land ( Ezekiel 34:25 ):

The Kingdom Age, the beasts will be tame. The lion will lie down with the lamb, and a little child will lead them. I've always thought what a tremendous pet a lion could make. Wouldn't that be exciting for a kid to have a lion for a pet? Man, to jump on its back, grab hold of the mane and just take off. The Kingdom Age when God restores, then there will be peace, the covenant of peace among the animal kingdom, among men. Beautiful Kingdom Age, the evil beasts will cease out of the land.

and they will dwell safely in the wilderness, and they'll sleep in the woods ( Ezekiel 34:25 ).

There will be no fear.

And 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; and there shall be showers of blessing ( Ezekiel 34:26 ).

Now we sing that in the church, but actually we're only borrowing from what God is declaring is going to happen when Israel is restored.

And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and they shall know that I am the LORD when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that serve themselves of them ( Ezekiel 34:27 ).

And so as God brings His people back again they will know that He is the Lord, when He establishes His reign.

And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen ( Ezekiel 34:28 ),

Look at how the Jews have been persecuted among the nations, wherever they have gone. They've been a persecuted people. They've been a curse and a byword. Anti-Semitism, and it is rising again throughout the world. You read of bombings of Jewish synagogues in Europe. There's again rising in Germany strong sentiment against the Jews, and even here in the United States we're beginning to see more and more anti-Semitism. The unfortunate things that are happening up in the Hollywood area even against the Jewish community. But, "They'll be no more a prey to the heathen."

neither shall the beast of the land devour them ( Ezekiel 34:28 );

The animals will be all docile.

but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown ( Ezekiel 34:28-29 ),

That plant of renown, of course, is none other than Jesus Christ.

and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more ( Ezekiel 34:29 ).

They won't be cursed or bear that shame among the heathen.

We were talking with our Jewish guide who grew up in Argentina. And we were seeking to witness to him about Christianity, and he said, "Do you want to know what my first impression of Christians were?" And we said, "Sure." He said, "Well, every day going home from school I would have to run as fast as I could or else those boys who said they were Christians would beat me up and call me a Jesus killer." And he said, "They would throw rocks at me and they would beat me up every chance they got, calling me a Jesus killer." And he said, "That was my first impression of Christians." And no wonder it's hard to witness to them if that's what has been represented by Christianity to them. And it is indeed sad and tragic that much of the anti-Semitism has had its origins in the church. But we as Christians owe a great debt to Israel, to the Jews. After all, they gave us our Messiah.

Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. And ye are my flock, the flock of my pasture, and you are men, [ye the flock the flock of my pasture are men] and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD ( Ezekiel 34:30-31 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The covenant of peace 34:25-31

"The themes of regathering as sheep and of covenant merge in Ezekiel 34:25-31." [Note: Merrill, p. 377.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The sheep in view, God clarified, were people, not real sheep. He was describing His relationship to them as people in the figure of a shepherd and sheep.

There are basically three views concerning the meaning of literal interpretation that may be helpful to clarify as we proceed in the eschatological portions of Ezekiel (chs. 34-48). First, some who claim to interpret the text literally do so but deny the existence of many figures of speech. In Ezekiel 34, for example, they might not recognize "shepherd" as a figure of speech but might conclude that God was speaking of the literal shepherds of literal sheep in Israel. Obviously there are few who deny all figures of speech, but interpreters of this persuasion do not recognize as figures of speech many that other interpreters do. This is "wooden literalism," "letterism," or "literalistic" interpretation that seeks "a straightforward reading of the text." Most interpreters of this type are premillennial in their understanding of the future.

A second group of interpreters who consider themselves literal try to recognize figures of speech where they occur in the text, the understanding of the original readers, historical perspective, contextual clues, the progress of revelation, the analogy of faith, etc. They seek to discover what the original readers understood when they read the text as a basis for understanding how we should understand it. The interpretations that I have advocated above in my comments on Ezekiel 34 and elsewhere in these notes illustrate this approach. Many interpreters in this group like to use the term "normal" to describe their hermeneutics (principles of interpretation). Most of these interpreters are also premillennial.

A third group interprets most portions of the text literally but believes prophetic material is mainly symbolic and figurative, not to be interpreted in a normal, straightforward manner. They depend heavily on the New Testament to understand the meaning of the Old Testament and read New Testament revelation back into the Old Testament as the Old Testament meaning. They understand, for example, some of the references to God blessing Israel in the future in Ezekiel 34 as fulfilled in His blessing the church. They do not look for an eschatological fulfillment of these promises in the Jews. For example, the promises of God regathering Israel to her land are not taken to mean that God will eventually re-gather the Jews to the Promised Land. Rather He will gather His people (i.e., all the redeemed) to heaven, the land that He has prepared for us. Thus they "spiritualize" the Old Testament prophecies while taking the rest of the Old Testament more or less literally. Most interpreters of this type end up with an amillennial or postmillennial understanding of the future.

Most interpreters who hold the first and third hermeneutical positions also claim to hold the second one and sometimes argue that those who hold the other positions do not.

"Various facets of chapters 33-48 may be used as analogies, illustrations, and object lessons in the NT; but such does not demand that the NT is necessarily giving a ’fulfillment’ of these chapters." [Note: Alexander, "Ezekiel," p. 906. His entire explanation of this subject, on pages 905-8, is well worth reading.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men,.... This is observed, to show that all that had been said in this chapter concerning sheep, and a flock of sheep, was to be understood, not in a literal sense, but in a figurative one, of such as were rational and spiritual persons; a set of men whom the Lord had chosen, and separated from others, as his peculiar flock; and whom he took a special care of, and led them to, and fed them in, green pastures of his own providing; they are the souls of men that Christ is the Shepherd and Bishop of, 1 Peter 2:25. The Talmudists u frequently make use of this text, to prove that Israelites are only called men, and not the Gentiles; see

Matthew 15:26

and I am your God, saith the Lord God; which is often repeated for the certainty of it, because a blessing of the greatest importance, and which includes all others in it; see Ezekiel 34:24.

u T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 61. 1. Bava Metzia, fol. 114. 2. & Ceritot, fol. 6. 2.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.   18 Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?   19 And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.   20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.   21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;   22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.   23 And 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.   24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.   25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.   26 And 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 of blessing.   27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.   28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.   29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.   30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.   31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.

      The prophet has no more to say to the shepherds, but he has now a message to deliver to the flock. God had ordered him to speak tenderly to them, and to assure them of the mercy he had in store for them. But here he is ordered to make a difference between some and others of them, to separate between the precious and the vile and then to give them a promise of the Messiah, by whom this distinction should be effectually made, partly at his first coming (for for judgment he came into this world,John 9:39, to fill the hungry with good things and to send the rich empty away,Luke 1:53), but completely at his second coming, when he shall, as it is here said, judge between cattle and cattle, as a shepherd divides between the sheep and the goats, and shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left (Matthew 25:32; Matthew 25:33), which seems to have reference to this. We have here,

      I. Conviction spoken to those of the flock that were fat and strong, the rams and the he-goats (Ezekiel 34:17; Ezekiel 34:17), those that, though they had not power, as shepherds and rulers, to oppress with, yet, being rich and wealthy, made use of the opportunity which this gave them to bear hard upon their poor neighbours. Those that have much would have more, and, if they set to it, will have more, so many ways have they of encroaching upon their poor neighbours, and forcing from them the one ewe-lamb, 2 Samuel 12:4. Do not the rich oppress the poor merely with the help of their riches, and draw them before the judgment-seats?James 2:6. Poor servants and tenants are hardly used by their rich lords and masters. The rams and the he-goats not only kept all the good pasture to themselves, ate the fat and drank the sweet, but they would not let the poor of the flock have any comfortable enjoyment of the little that was left them; they trod down the residue of the pastures and fouled the residue of the waters, so that the flock was obliged to eat that which they had trodden into the dirt, and drink that which they had muddied, Ezekiel 34:18; Ezekiel 34:19. This intimates that the great men not only by extortion and oppression made and kept their neighbours poor, and scarcely left them enough to subsist on, but were so vexatious to them that what little coarse fare they had was embittered to them. And this seemed a small thing to them; they thought there was no harm in it, as if it were the privilege of their quality to be injurious to all their neighbours. Note, Many that live in pomp and at ease themselves care not what straits those about them are reduced to, so they may but have every thing to their mind. Those that are at ease, and the proud, grudge that any body should live by them with any comfort. But this as not all; they not only robbed the poor, to make them poorer, but were troublesome to the sick and weak of the flock (Ezekiel 34:21; Ezekiel 34:21): They thrust with side and shoulder those that were feeble (for the weakest goes to the wall) and pushed the diseased with their horns, because they knew they could be too hard for them, when they durst not meddle with their match. It has been observed concerning sheep that if one of the flock be sick and faint the rest will secure it as well as they can, and shelter it from the scorching heat of the sun; but these, on the contrary, were most injurious to the diseased. Those that they could not serve themselves of they did what they could to rid the country of, and so scattered them abroad, as if the poor, whom, Christ says, we must have always with us, were public nuisances, not to be relieved, but sent far away from us. Note, It is a barbarous thing to add affliction to the afflicted. Perhaps these rams and he-goats are designed to represent the scribes and Pharisees, for they are such troublers of the church as Christ himself must come to deliver it from, Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 34:23. They devoured widows' houses, took away the key of knowledge, corrupted the pure water of divine truths, and oppressed the consciences of men with the traditions of the elders, besides that they were continually vexatious and injurious to the poor of the flock that waited on the Lord,Zechariah 11:11. Note, It is no new thing for the flock of God to receive a great deal of damage and mischief from those that are themselves of the flock, and in eminent stations in it, Acts 20:30.

      II. Comfort spoken to those of the flock that are poor and feeble, and that wait for the consolation of Israel (Ezekiel 34:22; Ezekiel 34:22): "I will save my flock, and they shall no more be spoiled as they have been by the beasts of prey, by their own shepherds or by the rams and he-goats among themselves." Upon this occasion, as is usual in the prophets, comes in a prediction of the coming of the Messiah, and the setting up of his kingdom, and the exceedingly great and precious benefits which the church should enjoy under the protection and influence of that kingdom. Observe what is here foretold,

      1. Concerning the Messiah himself. (1.) He shall have his commission from God himself: I will set him up (Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 34:23); I will raise him up,Ezekiel 34:29; Ezekiel 34:29. He sanctified and sealed him, appointed and anointed him. (2.) He shall be the great Shepherd of the sheep, who shall do that for his flock which no one else could do. He is the one Shepherd, under whom Jews and Gentiles should be one fold. (3.) He is God's servant, employed by him and for him, and doing all in obedience to his will, with an eye to his glory--his servant, to re-establish his kingdom among men and advance the interests of that kingdom. (4.) He is David, one after God's own heart, set as his King upon the holy hill of Zion, made the head of the corner, with whom the covenant of royalty is made, and to whom God would give the throne of his father David. He is both the root and offspring of David. (5.) He is the plant of renown, because a righteous branch (Jeremiah 23:5), a branch of the Lord, that is beautiful and glorious,Isaiah 4:2. He has a name above every name, a throne above every throne, and may therefore well be called a branch of renown. Some understand it of the church, the planting of the Lord,Isaiah 61:3. Its name shall be remembered (Psalms 45:17) and Christ's in it.

      2. Concerning the great charter by which the kingdom of the Messiah should be incorporated, and upon which it should be founded (Ezekiel 34:25; Ezekiel 34:25): I will make with them a covenant of peace. The covenant of grace is a covenant of peace. In it God is at peace with us, speaks peace to us, and assures us of peace, of all good, all the good we need to make us happy. The tenour of this covenant is: "I the Lord will be their God, a God all-sufficient to them (Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 34:24), will own them and will be owned by them; in order to this my servant David shall be a prince among them, to reduce them to their allegiance, to receive their homage, and to reign over them, in them, and for them." Note, Those, and those only, that have the Lord Jesus for their prince have the Lord Jehovah for their God. And then they, even the house of Israel, shall be my people. If we take God to be our God, he will take us to be his people. From this covenant between God and Israel there results communion: "I the Lord their God am with them, to converse with them; and they shall know it, and have the comfort of it."

      3. Concerning the privileges of those that are the faithful subjects of this kingdom of the Messiah and interested in the covenant of peace. These are here set forth figuratively, as the blessings of the flock. But we have a key to it, Ezekiel 34:31; Ezekiel 34:31. Those that belong to this flock, though they are spoken of as sheep, are really men, men that have the Lord for their God, and are in covenant with him. Now to them it is promised,

      (1.) That they shall enjoy a holy security under the divine protection. Christ, our good Shepherd, has caused the evil beasts to cease out of the land (Ezekiel 34:25; Ezekiel 34:25), having vanquished all our spiritual enemies, broken their power, and triumphed over them; the roaring lion is not a roaring devouring lion to them; they shall no more be a prey to the heathen nor the heathen a terror to them, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them. Sin and Satan, death and hell, are conquered. And then they shall dwell safely, not only in the folds, but in the fields, in the wilderness, in the woods, where the beasts of prey are; they shall not only dwell there, but they shall sleep there, which denotes not only that the beasts being made to cease there shall be no danger, but, their consciences being purified and pacified, they shall be in no apprehension of danger; not only safe from evil, but quiet from the fear of evil. Note, Those may lay down and sleep securely, sleep at ease, that have Christ for their prince; for he will be their protector, and make them to dwell in safety. None shall hurt them, nay, none shall make them afraid. If God be for us, who can be against us? Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed. Through Christ, God delivers his people not only from the things they have reason to fear, but from their fear even of death itself, from all that fear that has torment. This safety from evil is promised (Ezekiel 34:27; Ezekiel 34:27): They shall be safe in their land, in no danger of being invaded and enslaved, though their great plenty be a temptation to their neighbours to desire their land; and that which shall make them think themselves safe is their confidence in the wisdom, power, and goodness of God: They shall know that I am the Lord. All our disquieting fears arise from our ignorance of God and mistakes concerning him. Their experience of his particular care concerning them encourages their confidence in him: "I have broken the bands of their yoke, with which they have been brought and held down under oppression, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them, whence they shall argue, He that has delivered does and will, therefore will we dwell safely." This is explained, and applied to our gospel-state, Luke 1:74. That we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, as those may do that serve him in faith.

      (2.) That they shall enjoy a spiritual plenty of all good things, the best things, for their comfort and happiness: They shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land,Ezekiel 34:29; Ezekiel 34:29. Famine and scarcity, when Israel was punished with that judgment, turned as much to their reproach among the heathen as any other, because the fruitfulness of Canaan was so much talked of. But now they shall not bear that shame of the heathen any more For the showers shall come down in their season, even showers of blessing,Ezekiel 34:26; Ezekiel 34:26. Christ is a Shepherd that will feed his people; and they shall go in and out, and find pasture. [1.] They shall not be consumed with hunger; for they shall not be put off with the world for a portion, which is not bread, which satisfies not, and which leaves those that are put off with it to be consumed with hunger. The ordinances of the ceremonial law are called beggarly elements, for there was little in them, compared with the Christian institutes, wherewith the mower fills his hand and he that binds sheaves his bosom. Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall not be consumed with that hunger, for they shall be filled. And he that drinks of the water that Christ gives him, the still waters by which he leads his sheep, shall never thirst. [2.] Showers of blessings shall come upon them, Ezekiel 34:26; Ezekiel 34:27. The heavens shall yield their dews; the trees of the field also shall yield their fruit. The seat of this plenty is God's hill, his holy hill of Zion, for on that mountain, in the gospel church, it is, that God has made to all nations a feast; to that those must join themselves who would partake of gospel benefits. The cause of this plenty is the showers that come down in their season, that descend upon the mountains of Zion, the graces of Christ, his doctrine that drops as the dew, the graces of Christ, and the fruits and comforts of his Spirit, by which we are made fruitful in the fruits of righteousness. The instances of this plenty are the blessings of heaven poured down upon us and the productions of grace brought forth by us, our comfort in God's favour and God's glory in our fruit-bearing. The extent of this plenty is very large, to all the places round about my hill; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, shall go forth light to a dark world, and the river that shall water a dry and desert world; all that are in the neighbourhood of Zion shall fare the better for it; and the nearer the church the nearer its God. And, lastly, The effect of this plenty is, I will make them a blessing, eminently and exemplarily blessed, patterns of happiness, Isaiah 19:24. Or, They shall be blessings to all about them, diffusively useful. Note, Those that are the blessed of the Lord must study to make themselves blessings to the world. He that is good, let him do good; he that has received the gift, the grace, let him minister the same.

      Now this promise of the Messiah and his kingdom spoke much comfort to those to whom it was then made, for they might be sure that God would not utterly destroy their nation, how low soever it might be brought, as long as that blessing was in the womb of it,Isaiah 65:8. But it speaks much more comfort to us, to whom it is fulfilled, who are the sheep of this good Shepherd, are fed in his pastures, and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things by him.