Ezekiel 34:2 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?
Years ago, the evangelist Bob Jones said in a nutshell, “Beware of the man who ‘kowtows’ to his superiors and is rude to his inferiors.” In other words, beware of the guy that is falling all over himself to be subservient to some boss he has, but runs roughshod over the people that answer to him. The bottom line is that every relationship you have is subservient to your relationship to God. You may be over a lot of people or you may be over no one, but your relationship to others should be informed by your relationship to God.
Ezekiel 34 it is all about shepherds. The prophet Ezekiel is to give the shepherds a message from God. Verse 2 says, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” He is talking here about civic leaders who were enriching themselves instead of serving their people. A shepherd is to “shep” the herd. He is to watch over the flock, in this case, God’s people, but these shepherds forgot that they also had a leader in Heaven.
I Peter 5:1 talks about the shepherds in the church, “the elders which are among you.” He says of them, “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.”
So, we are to give due deference to those who are in authority over us because of age and responsibility. At the same time, we are not to lord over people simply because they are younger than us or because they are under us. We are to treat both those over us and those who are under us with proper regard due to the fact that we also have a master in Heaven. This applies even to people with animals. Proverbs says, “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.”
Every relationship you have is subservient to your relationship to God. The personal pronouns in this chapter make it quite clear that the sheep of Israel, the people of Israel, were God’s sheep. The shepherds were under the Shepherd. God says, “My flock…my sheep…my shepherds.” Then God says, “I will feed them.” God is saying, “I will care for them. I will bring them back to the land and into good pasture. I will…I will.” He continues, “I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand.”
What we are to remember is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, God’s Messiah, is the ultimate example of what we should be when we have leadership. It ought not to surprise you that this passage to human shepherds, who are inferior to the Shepherd, tells us that God would set the Messiah up as an example. God says, “And I will set up one shepherd over them… and I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them.” He is talking about the Messiah.
There are two things here to think about: selflessness and accountability. First, when I am in the place of leadership, I am not to be enriching or bettering myself, not feeding myself from the flock, but feeding the flock. It is the flock of God. He is the chief Shepherd. Remember what God said about Israel, “Even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.” So, think about selflessness.
Second, think about accountability. Remember that we also have a master in Heaven. That means that when people are older or have more responsibility than I do, I give them deference and due respect. I give my pastor respect because of his responsibility before God.
It means when I am dealing with people who are younger than me or under me in some way in an authority structure, I am not to abuse that power and run roughshod over them. I am to realize that no matter how high or low I feel, no one is Lord except God Almighty. No one is Father but God Almighty. No one is the Shepherd except God Almighty. I am to realize that every relationship I have is a stewardship in deference to Him.