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Lessons in Shepherding 2: Jeremiah and Ezekiel [Editors note: In the interest of providing pastors with good resources, or at least of pointing them toward good ideas, we are grateful to present Pastor Paul Alexanders elder training seminars for new elders. Alexander himself says that this study is dependent on and adapted from Timothy S. Laniak, Shepherds After My Own Heart (IVP, 2006), and A.D. Clarke, "Leadership," in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (IVP, 2000). This issue of the 9Marks eJournal presents the first half of Alexanders curriculum (classes 1 to 4), which exclusively focuses on the metaphor of shepherding in Scripture. In a future issue, we hope to present the latter half of his curriculum, which moves to the more practical aspects of eldering.] Were studying the leadership metaphor of "shepherding" in the Old Testament, in part because Paul counsels the Ephesian elders to "shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28, NAS used throughout). Peter likewise counsels elders to "shepherd the flock of God among you" (1 Pet. 5:2). In the former class on biblical shepherding, we studied the model shepherds of the Old Testament. God is the ultimate shepherd of his people, as we discovered in texts like Psalm 23 and Isaiah 40:11. Moses was the first paradigmatic human shepherd, through whom God shepherded his people. And David is said to be a shepherd as well. In this class, were going to look at a few critiques of bad shepherds from Jeremiah and Ezekiel. JEREMIAHThe SettingChapter 2 Lets start in Jeremiah by reading a few passages that describe the situation of Israel in Jeremiahs day and which use the shepherd metaphor.
Why did the nation of Israel wander away from God and forget his great works of redemption in the past? Because their priests, rulers, and prophets had been negligent. The word for "rulers" here is "shepherds" and refers to the kings. The shepherds were partly to blame for the apostasy of the people and for the defilement of the land by their transgression of the law. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 had stipulated that the king must write out for himself a copy of the law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests, and that he should read it all the days of his life. He was to do this in order to learn how to fear the Lord and obey his statutes, and "so that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel" (Deut. 17:19b-20). Through writing out Gods law, the king was supposed to learn humility, because the moment in which he became prideful, he would in the same moment disregard Gods authority over him and act as if his royal authority was inherent in himself rather than derived from God. The application for us today is pretty clear: theres a direct relationship between our humility and how much we tie ourselves to Gods Word in fulfilling our roles as elders. Our authority is wholly tied to what can be taught from Gods Word, and not one inch beyond it. A PromiseChapter 3 Unfortunately, this is exactly what was happening in the days of Jeremiah. The shepherd-kings were transgressing Gods law and overstepping the bounds of their own authority. In response, God promised to give his people new shepherds:
Whats true of these new shepherds?
Stupid ShepherdsChapter 10 Shepherds who do not rely on Gods Word, on the other hand, are just plain stupid.
In the verses of chapter 10 leading up to this condemnation, Jeremiah contrasts the impotence of idols and the stupidity of their worshippers with the living creator God. The wise men of the pagan nations are stupid and foolish (Jer. 10:8) and "every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols" (Jer. 10:14). Then in verse 21, he says the shepherds of Israel are just as stupid as the pagan "wise men" because they have ignored the Word of the living God and begun to worship idols. Theyve become just like what theyve worshipped. Instead of beholding God and become godly, theyve looked at the pagan idols of the culture around them and become stupid. Its worth pausing long enough to consider, what would such mimicking of culture look like today, especially among those who call themselves evangelical pastors? Bad, Good, and Very Good23:1-8 In the first verses of Jeremiah 23, God promises woe upon these unfaithful shepherds, and then promises to gather his flock himself with good shepherds and a Good Shepherd:
What are these bad shepherds doing that makes them bad shepherds? They destroy the sheep (v. 1), scatter them (vv. 1, 2), let sheep go missing, expose them to danger, and generally neglect them (v.2"have not attended to them"). Why is neglecting and exposing sheep to danger so bad? Because sheep are dumb and careless. They need guidance. How does God characterize this kind of neglect? Its evil (v.2). What is God going to do to address the situation? Hes going to bring the sheep back to their pasture and raise up better shepherds to tend them. What will these better shepherds do for the sheep?
These are categories for us to associate with the work of shepherding the flock nourishing them so that they can be spiritually fruitful and multiply themselves; gathering them together into a flock; keeping track of each one of them so that none go missing; keeping them within the security of the flock with no reason for fear from wolves who would promote false teaching. Yet what is Gods ultimate solution for his people according to verse 5? God will raise up a righteous Branch from the house of David to reign as king, act wisely, and do righteousness. The righteous obedience and saving activity of this king is what will save the Lords people from their sins and make them dwell securely with him as they follow his voice back to their own pasture lands. So God will raise up multiple human shepherds to lead and feed his people. But ultimately it will be this righteous Branch of David who reigns over both the sheep and over the under-shepherds in order to establish his people in righteousness, salvation, and security. This Branch of David, of course, is Jesus Christ, the ultimate Good Shepherd in John 10, who we will look at in the next class. Jeremiahs Lamentation23:9-15 In the verses that follow, we hear Jeremiahs reaction to his nations leaders. Jeremiah writes,
What is Jeremiah doing in verses 9 and 10? Hes lamenting the state of the people and the land. Why? Because God has brought the covenant curse of famine as a result of the prophets disobedience ("For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up."). The famine here may be literal, but it may also be spiritual its a famine of the Word of the Lord among the prophets and priests. God says the prophets and priests are both polluted (v.11), and he promises to judge them (v.12). In verse 13, God brings back shepherding imagery with the idea of leading Gods people astray. How are the Samarian prophets leading Gods people astray in verse 13? By prophesying according to Baal. How are the Jerusalem prophets leading them astray in verse 14? By walking in immorality (adultery) and falsehood (heterodoxy), and by not calling the people to repentance ("so that no one has turned back from his wickedness"). Calling people to repent of wickedness is part of biblical, spiritual shepherding. So how does God judge these prophets in verse 15? Since the prophets and priests are polluted in verse 11 by immorality and heterodoxy, God will pollute them by feeding them on the wormwood and poisonous water of his judgment. This is an example of lex talionis, the law of retribution in which the punishment fits the crime. "My Words to My People"23:16-22 Whats ultimately the problem with these false prophets? They do not stand with God, which is evidenced by the fact that they do not speak his Word. Instead they speak according to their own imaginings.
How might we sum up the problem expressed in these verses? The prophets are speaking out of their own imaginations rather than out of Gods Word. They speak without first being spoken to and listening (v. 18 "But who has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should see and hear his word? Who has given heed to his word and listened?"; v.21 "I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied.") What would the prophets have said to Gods people if they had listened to God before speaking to them? They would have announced Gods words to Gods people (v.22). And they would have called them to turn back "from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds." In other words, they would have called the people to repentance. What a dire warning this presents to evangelical elders today! Commenting on an earlier chapter of Jeremiah, Tenth Presbyterian pastor Philip Ryken meditates on what will be the outcome of church members whose pastors preach "Peace, peace" where there is no peace. Ryken writes,
Elders, do you want to put the members of your church in this position? Lost Sheep50:6-7 When Gods shepherds forsake, or overlook, or simply take for granted, Gods Word, Gods people will be led astray. As the Lord himself says through Jeremiah,
What failures does God highlight among his shepherds in these verses? First, the shepherds have led the sheep astray. They have turned aside from the path, away from the green pastures, and along the dangerous cliffs of the mountains and from the mountains to the hills. The hills in Jeremiah are associated with the worship of Baal, the storm God (see 2:20committing adultery on every high hill; also, 3:2harlotry on the barren heights). The shepherds are probably not just the kings, but the priests as well, and likely the prophets too. All of them are leading the people into idolatry and away from the true worship of the true God. Second, theyve caused the sheep to forget their resting place. Third, theyve failed to protect them from the wild animals that would devour them. What effect does this have on outsiders, that is, those who are not Gods people? The outsiders begin to assume that they are not guilty of attacking the people of God, since the people of God are clearly compromised ("We are not guilty, inasmuch as they have sinned.")! As we saw in our prior study, being a responsible shepherd means knowing where you are going with the sheep, knowing how to get there, doing your best to ensure that all the sheep actually get there, and making sure that your destination is a safe place where the sheep would have plenty of food and water and be protected by wild animals. Bad shepherds neglect all these responsibilities. They are more impressed with their own wisdom than with Gods. They are more ambitious for their own fame than Gods. As shepherds of Gods flock, we are responsible to God the Father, under Jesus Christ, by the power of his Spirit, to lead the congregation into the green pastures of Gods Word and true worship of him. We are responsible to protect them from those who would teach false doctrine (or no doctrine) to them. And we are responsible to lead them to enter into the rest of God by ensuring their salvation through the right teaching and application of the Scriptures according to 1 Timothy 4:12-16. Hope in God as the true Shepherd50:17-20
Who are the lions here? The kings of Assyria and Babylon. And again, Israel is scattered, which is a bad thing. God wants his sheep together. What is God going to do for Israel in verse 19? Hes going to bring Israel back to his pasture. Why? So he can graze and be satisfied. So the goal of God for his sheepthe reason hes bringing them back to their own pastureis to let them graze and be satisfied with eating from the good grass. He will pardon their iniquity, and grant them their desires for knowing and truly worshipping him. May our work contribute to, and not hinder, Gods re-gathering. EZEKIELPerhaps more than any prophet in the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel is known for his incisive condemnation of the shepherds of Israel. Leading the Sheep to SinEzekiel 22 In chapter 22, he points to how the shepherds negligence results in bad behavior among the sheep.
What particular failures of the prophets and priests are highlighted here? Instead of protecting the sheep, the prophets are preying on them. Theyre enriching themselves, and theyre failing to teach Gods holiness and model that holiness in their own lives. The princes are also acting like wolves instead of shepherds in order to enrich themselves with money that doesnt rightly belong to them. They are speaking from their own imagination instead of waiting for God to speak and saying what he says. What results from these failures (in verses 29 and 30)? Sinfulness among the people. And its a particular kind of sinfulness: the sheep are sinning against each other, oppressing each other, robbing each other, wronging the poor. Bad shepherdingfailure to protect the sheep, failure to teach them about Gods holiness, failure to model that holiness in our own livescorrupts the behavior of the flock. As the shepherds go, so go the sheep. Prophesy Against the Shepherds34:1-10 Ezekiel 34 presents what may be the most famous denunciation of bad shepherds in the Bible.
What are the shepherds doing wrong here? First, they are failing to feed the sheep and feeding themselves instead. They are acting as if they own the sheep, able to treat them as they please, rather than as God has instructed them to treat the sheeplike owners, not stewards. Second, theyre not binding up the broken or healing the diseased. Third, theyre not gathering or bringing back the sheep that have been scattered. According to verse 5, this scattering happened because there was no shepherd. Fourth, they ruled the sheep harshly (v.4 "with force and with severity you have dominated them"). Fifth, because they were scattered, the sheep were exposed to the danger of wild animals who would devour them. In verse 6, were given an extended description of this scattering: "My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them." God laments the situation in which his sheep are scattered and wandering off alone. How does God then react to such negligence? He says that hes against those shepherds, and he demands his sheep from them. He calls those shepherds to account. He sets himself in opposition to them. Hes not going to allow his sheep to endure that kind of treatment from negligent and domineering under-shepherds. A Great Salvation34:11-17 In the verses that follow this denunciation of the bad shepherds, God promises a great salvation for his sheep.
What is Gods solution to the failure of his under-shepherds? He is going to shepherd the flock himself. And notice how he will do this. In verse 11, he will search for the sheep when they are scattered. In verse 12, he delivers them from all the dangers of the places where they were scattered. In verse 13, he brings them back and gathers them together and brings them to their own land, and he does this in order to feed them. Feeding Notice the repetition and detailed description in these verses of the feeding idea: "I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest." This feeding and leading to rest is the goal of the searching and delivering and gathering. Everything leads up to the feeding and the rest. Skipping down a few more verses, we read, "Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd" (Ezek. 34:23). Whats the principle activity of this one shepherd God places over the people? God will set his servant David over his people to feed them. Again, the feeding function stands by metonymy for everything a shepherd does. Feeding is the primary work of the shepherd. The reason the shepherd guides and guards the sheep, the reason he searches for the strays and binds up the wounded, is so that they can get to the green pastures and feed. CONCLUSIONThe composite sketch of shepherding we get from Jeremiah and Ezekiel is one of recognizing that the sheep are Gods and not ours, which keeps us from using the flock for our own ends.
Footnote: 1. Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, from Preaching the Word series, ed. R. Kent Hughes (Crossway, 2001), 158. Paul Alexander is the pastor of Fox Valley Bible Church in St. Charles, Illinois and the co-author (with Mark Dever) of The Deliberate Church (Crossway, 2005). March 2007 Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by 9Marks. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: ©9Marks. Website: www.9Mark.org. |
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