“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 that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” Ezekiel 34:2
Ezekiel’s ministry was not an easy one. Much of the time, God had the prophet warn others to cease from their wrong-doing. God’s eye saw all the weaknesses of all men. None escaped God’s observation, including spiritual leaders — the priests.
The priests were to live holy, separated lives. They were to be an example to all, yet no man is perfect, as were these leaders. Many were committed to obeying God’s commandments, and were good shepherds leading their people in paths of righteousness. Some, however, were not. God saw the sins of those men, and they were going to lose their position of service (Eze. 34:10).
These poor “shepherds” were not:
- Spiritually feeding the flock of believers.
“… ye feed not the flock.” Eze. 34:3 - Helping those that were spiritually weak.
“The diseased have ye not strengthened …” Eze. 34:4 - Helping those that were spiritually hurt.
“… neither have ye healed that was sick …” Eze. 34:4 - Helping those that were spiritually crushed and had their spirits broken.
“… neither have you bound up that which was broken …” Eze. 34:4 - Helping restore to fellowship those that had left the “fold” of believers.
“… neither have ye brought again that which was driven away.” Eze. 34:4 - Seeking those that had left the “fold” and those that had never even come to the House of God.
“… neither have ye sought that which was lost …” Eze. 34:4
They were also guilty of:
- Not giving any godly help to many that needed it. These “shepherds” made sure their own needs were well met. They ate, dressed and lived well.
“Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool …” Eze. 34:3 - Ruling the “flock” with cruelty. (Eze. 34:4)
- Letting the “flock” of believers wander where ever they wanted to go, as they had no real leader giving them direction and doctrine from God’s Word.
“And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd …” Eze. 34:5 - Letting the flock they were responsible for get entangled by wrong doctrine, and become easy game for false religions.
“… and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.” Eze. 34:5
Although we are no longer to have priests directing the flock of believers, we still have “shepherds” that God has raised up to do His bidding, to lead people to salvation, and to spiritually feed and tend to the flock. We call these modern day “shepherds” pastors or ministers.
There are many, many good “shepherds” today. They are doing all that the “bad” priests of Ezekiel’s day would not do. Their priority is on others, obedience to God’s Word, and not on themselves. I would not have grown in the things of the Lord, and learned about them if it were not for good pastors. I would never speak out against these men of God; but the truth be known, there are still some poor pastors today, as there were in Ezekiel’s days.
Since I have mainly only been in good Bible-believing churches where God has directed me, I fortunately have not seen too many poor examples of the pastorate. However, I do not usually watch preaching on the television because many of those TV preachers I have seen on some programs live lives almost identical to the disobedient, selfish priests of the past. They may have knowledge, a nice suit, a fancy stage, and a golden tongue, but they do not have the compassion for their flock they are responsible for. These, and other, self-centered pastors may have six digit salaries and memberships in the thousands, but they never feed their flock with the truths from the Word of God, never go out to visit those in their congregation, never seek those that have strayed from the faith, never make an attempt to reach the lost so they can be saved, and commit many of the other sins of the past priesthood of Ezekiel’s day.
The lack of obedient shepherds to minister to their “flock” is not unseen by God. He loves His sheep and has promised to feed them Himself (vs. 14), seek those that are lost (vs. 16), and He will save the flock (vs. 22). As God took away the position of servitude from many of the past priests, so can He do to the “shepherds” that are not taking care of their “sheep” (Eze. 34:10) today.
Do not be quick to judge your pastor! That is God’s business. I would be afraid to do so, as he is God’s man for the flock in your area. However, there are pastors that are not ministering properly, and it may be time to pray seriously for them, feed yourself with God’s Word rather than rely on someone else to spoon feed you, or it may be time to seek God’s will on finding a leader in another local church that God wants you to be led by.
To those pastors that are slacking in their commitments and responsibilities to feed God’s sheep, please re-dedicate yourself to do as God desires of you, before He has to remove you from your ministry. Also, those that may not be pastors, but are disobedient Christians, heed also the example of the priests of Ezekiel’s day. As He removed them from their office, he can also remove you from a ministry you were called to, if you do not do as He has shown you to do. We all need to be obedient to God’s Word!
Bro Brinkworth, I am glad you wrote this devotion because it gives me a chance to brag on my pastor.
First, he is a man in shoe leather, he is not perfect. However, I know that he is a sold out man of God and a man called by God to our congregation at this hour.
He has been at our church for 16 years, first serving under our previous pastor of 26 years. As a tribute to him, I would like to list some of the excellent qualities he has.
1. He knows me and my family like any shepherd knows their sheep. He knows when something is wrong in my family without me telling him because he has been on his knees praying for us.
2. He prays for us and we for him and his family.
3. He displays excellence with his own family. They come first for him as they should. Our first lady is the very model of a holiness woman and his kids all serve the Lord.
4. He holds me accountable. He expects me to be at church and church functions. He expects me to live right. I respect him and submit to him as the shepherd in my life.
5. He preaches to me. He challenges me.
6. He lives beyond reproach.
7. He believes the Bible is the infallible word of God.
8. We are not “buddies” or close friends, but I am closer to him than any other man. I have the utmost respect for him and the position God has put him in. I know the sacrifices he has made and will willingly make for my sake and that of others. He is selfless.
I am not trying to be cultish. I just want to give honor where honor is due.
I could go on, space will not allow. I hope everyone has the opportunity to serve under the “real thing”. I look forward to going to heaven with my Pastor.
I am tired of folks blaming their not going to church or not serving the Lord on their pastor. There are far more wayward church members, than there are wayward preachers. It is refreshing when the wonderful pastors are honored, as they should be.
Great post I enjoyed it. To anyone reading the comments, please stay patient and read my letter trough.
It’s striking to me since I’m going trough a divorce this last couple of months when I see only now (why do we alsways see when we lose something/somebody) how important it is to feed spiritually. Me and my wife are both saved and baptized into a local Baptist Church, but although love is in us and also chemistry, the things which were not ministered unto for the past 5 years came to a breaking point last year. My pride, my lack of loving my wife as myself, my selfishness, my putting her aside when she wanted to talk things trough…remind me of the pastors of Ezekiel’s day: as they’ve done to the Jews, so have I done to my wife and it pains me that now (although under strong convictions from God), she “wants” to be with someone else, but I truely hope that the Lord will be merciful once more (I’ve gotten her back few years ago on simular basis, but we weren’t saved then and it’s so more painfull for us both now as saved persons). To any Bible believer reading this post, I pray that if it’s possible that you or even your own local Church prays for us that we’ll be returned to a holy union once more. I personaly have a theory that like with OSAS doctirne, the same goes with a marriage of two true Christians and although I acknowledge individual free will I also know that God didn’t let Jonah to stop, he didn’t alow Moses, neither would he allow Paul (if he’d want to stop). Because He had jobs for these people and space lacks me to say why, but circumstances between us( how we got saved, lived Christian lives etc.) are no more less of a miracle that God has done in a foreign country, dead to the true Gospel and I believe He’s not gonna let two saints depart in such ways because He has some further plans I believe for us both. Pray for persons U and P(initials of our names) in the EU.
God bless you all and thank you.
A pastor can also starve his congregation if he’s feeding them a corrupt bible version….
Great devotion!
I forgot about that. Good point!
I was very concerned and almost hesitate about pointing out faults of any pastor. So many blame their pastor for everything, including their not “getting anything out of the service”. Most of the times it is they that have the problem, not the preacher. However, it does happen and God would not let me alone about writing this.