Shepherds must Shepherd God’s Sheep Well Part 2

1. Shepherds must Shepherd God’s Sheep Well Part 2 Mark 6:34and Ezekiel 34:10-23

2. Shepherd/FeedLexicon Results

3. Mark 6:34 • And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd[G4166]

4. Ephesians 4:11 • And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors [G4166] and teachers;

5. God’s Plan The Lord’s Shepherd Christ’s Apostles Under-Shepherds

6. Three Week Game Plan Examine the prophecy in Ezekiel 34 Look for as many NT parallels as possible to prove unity Draw application into the church and the 21st Century

7. Last Week Ezekiel 34:1-10

8. Ezekiel 34:10 • 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.

9. Ezekiel 34:11 When did Yahweh search for his sheep? • For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

10. John 10:27-30 • My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: • And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. • My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. • I and my Father are one.

11. Ezekiel 34:12 • As a shepherd seeketh 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 places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

12. Ezekiel 34:13 • And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

13. Ezekiel 34:14 • I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: • there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

14. John 10:16 • And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: • them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; • and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

15. Ezekiel 34:15 • I will feed my flock, • and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. Mark 6:39 • And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. Compare to Mark 6:39

16. In my view the feeding of 5000 was a partial fulfillment of the promises found in Ezekiel 34

17. Ezekiel 34:16 • I will seek that which was lost, • and bring again that which was driven away, • and will bind up that which was broken, • and will strengthen that which was sick:

18. Let’s Compare Ezekiel 34:16 to Luke 4:17-19

19. Luke 4:17 • And there was delivered unto him [Jesus] the book of the prophet Esaias [Isaiah]. • And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

20. Luke 4:18 • The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

21. Luke 4:19 Let’s look at Isaiah 61 to see where Christ stopped reading. • To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

22. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; • To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

23. Ezekiel 34:16b Jesus stopped short in the synagogue on that day because he was not coming to destroy the fat and the strong and execute judgment. • but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

24. Notice the Change in Vs. 17 Ezekiel is NO longer speaking to the shepherds

25. Ezekiel 34:17 • And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle [sheep] and cattle [sheep], between the rams and the he goats.

26. Matthew 7:15 sheep v. sheep Jesus Said • Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

27. Matthew 25:32 Jesus Said • And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

28. The Lord charges the Shepherds for their neglect of the flock What fault does he find with the sheep?

29. Ezekiel 34:18 • Seemethit 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?

30. and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

31. Ezekiel 34:19 • 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.

32. Romans 9:6 Paul Said • Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. • For they are not all Israel [sheep], • which are of Israel [sheep]

33. What fault does God find with some? They are not obeying Leviticus 19:18b.

34. Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

35. When a sheep tramples on grass that others will eat or muddies the water others will drink he is not loving his fellow sheep as himself.

36. Question Why are the sheep trampling down the grass and running through the water?

37. Answer God’s shepherds are NOT shepherding the sheep (see vs. 1-10)

38. Professor Bart D. Ehrman UNC @ Chapel Hill • I ended up leaving Christianity and becoming an agnostic not because of my scholarship but because I simply couldn’t understand how there could be a good and powerful God who’s in control of this world given all the pain and misery in it.

39. Ezekiel 34:20 • Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle [sheep] and between the lean cattle [sheep].

40. John 5:22-23 Jesus Said • For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: • that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.

41. Ezekiel 34:21 Again Notice the Same Sin • Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;

42. This is a Failure to Love thy Neighbor As Thyself

43. Ezekiel 34:22 What a God—the same God who saves the flock is the judge who judges between sheep and sheep. • Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; • and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

44. Judgment Notice the fact that the shepherds are not shepherding does not eliminate individual accountability before God. • Cattle and cattle • Sheep and sheep • Rams and goats • Fat and lean • Sheep and sheep

45. Conclusion Let’s Look at Hebrews 13:7 & 13