The Good ShepherdНамуна

In Ezekiel 34, the LORD condemns the kings of Israel, who are described as terrible shepherds. Instead of feeding the flock, they feed themselves with the flock! Instead of protecting them from the beasts that would consume them, they become those beasts. The kings of Israel have become like Pharaoh, greedily squeezing the people for wealth.

God rescued his people from Pharaoh and he won’t allow them to be enslaved again. Human kings exist because evil needs to be restrained - in Judges no king leads to anarchy and unchecked evil. But what happens when the one who is supposed to restrain evil is using his power to pile up even more evil?

God steps in and says he will shepherd the people himself. He will be our King, and he’ll restrain evil by overthrowing the powers that oppress his world. He will judge between the sheep and remove evil from the world, because he loves it too much to leave it in the hands of tyrants and sin.

There will be One Shepherd. God will take the shepherding role upon himself. And David will be the Shepherd. Since Jeroboam’s rebellion, Israel had two Kings, and the division of the kingdom was a visible symbol of the problem of sin. One King means one people of God, the divided nations reconciled, and sin undone. And that One King who unites the people and undoes sin is both Yahweh and Messiah.

This mystery is unfolded in the person of Jesus - the Son of God made flesh. Jesus is the King who restrains evil perfectly because he is the King that David celebrated in Psalm 23. In his death, he conquers the powers of the world, and he puts to death my evil too. He restrains evil both in the world, and in your heart.

Are you overwhelmed by the powers that oppress the world? Call on God to intervene. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and deliver us from the evil within us and the evil one that hates us.