Friday, April 15, 2005
Ezekiel 34:11-12a "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep...'"
THE LORD SEARCHES FOR HIS SHEEP
There had been many evil and corrupt shepherds over the people of Israel. In the verses prior to these verses the LORD had told Ezekiel to proclaim judgment to those shepherds who had been the cause of Israel's captivity. Very few of the political and spiritual leaders of Israel had been good, god-fearing shepherds. Most of their leaders had not only set a bad example for the people and encouraged them to worship false gods of the heathen nations, but many had even made it impossible for the people to worship the LORD!
But now the LORD sent Ezekiel to His people with the promise that the LORD would be their Shepherd. No longer would God's people be led by an earthly king. The priesthood also would be eliminated in due time. Instead, the LORD would be the Shepherd of His people. The LORD would do what the other shepherds of Israel had not done - He would search for His sheep. The LORD says, "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out."
The LORD cares about His sheep. Unlike the other shepherds of the people the LORD loves each one of His sheep and doesn't want to loose a single one of them. In the Gospels Jesus gives us a similar picture in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15). The LORD doesn't just shrug it off when one of His sheep stray from the fold. He is genuinely concerned for eternal well being of every one of the sheep, and so He searches for those sheep and seeks them out.
The LORD continues, "As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep." Like the people of Ezekiel's day, God's flock today is also scattered. We are isolated believers living in a wicked, evil, and sin-filled world. Thanks be to the LORD our shepherd who continues still today to seek out His flock and bring us back into His fold!
