Daily Devotions
February 23rd, 2012 by Pastor SolleyEzek 34:1-6
34 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 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?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
God gave Ezekiel a word against the false shepherds of Israel. Israel was scattered in part because the priests and prophets were not following God. They were not speaking the truth of God and the sheep were scattered. The same can and does happen today. But I also see many who claim to be Christians that are scattered today not because of false shepherds but because they simply do not want what the shepherds offer. They decide to walk apart from the flock and cut themselves off from all that God would have for them in the church. Last night on our way home from church we were counting those who were not there. Some may have been sick and some work at night. But many of God’s children were sitting in front of a TV, reading a book, or doing nothing at all. People who never used to miss a service now have something else to do on Wednesday night. The under shepherd is still there to feed but they do not want what is offered any longer. The problem is not confined to the flock, the shepherds of today fall to the same thing. Instead of reading and praying as they should they also find other things to do. Instead of visiting as they should they are busy with other things, instead of taking the gospel to the lost they are doing their own thing. Is it any wonder that the sheep are scattered today. Let us get back to our Good Shepherd and they we will find the showers of blessings that are seen later in this chapter.