“ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
Parallel Translations
-
“ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
-
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
-
For thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, here am I, and I will search for My sheep, and seek them out.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 34:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 10:16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
- Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
- Isaiah 40:10-11 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
- Jeremiah 23:3 “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they will be fruitful and multiply.
- Jeremiah 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company.
- Psalms 80:1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.
- Isaiah 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens. I have commanded all their army.
- Isaiah 56:8 The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “I will yet gather others to him, in addition to his own who are gathered.”
- Psalms 23:1-3 Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
- Isaiah 51:12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass?
- Matthew 13:11-12 He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.
- Deuteronomy 32:39 “See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.
- Psalms 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.
- Isaiah 48:15 I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous.
- Ezekiel 5:8 therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
- Hosea 5:14 For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
- Genesis 6:17 I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.
- Leviticus 26:28 then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you seven times for your sins.
- Ezekiel 6:3 and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! The Lord Yahweh says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: “Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 34:11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold,…
Eze 34:11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, [even] I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
Ver. 11. Behold, I, even I, {a} will both search.] Ego, ego reposcam et anquiram. Rather than the work shall be undone, I will do all myself, and then it is sure to be well done. Aristotle telleth of a certain Persian, who, being asked, What did most of all feed the horse? answered, The master’s eye; and of a certain African, of whom, when it was demanded, What was the best manure or soil for a field? answered, The owner’s footsteps - that is, his presence and perambulation. Praesul ut praesit et prosit suis, ab iis non absit, Shepherds should reside with their flocks; the Arch-shepherd will not fail to do so.
Read full note →
{a} Ego, ego, nominativus absolute positus - OEconom., lib. i.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I, even I: the construction is emphatical in the…
I, even I: the construction is emphatical in the Hebrew and well expressed here; I, the Owner, the Lover, the Maker, the great Shepherd, even I, who committed them to your care, never submitted them to your rapine and cruelty, am as angry with you for devouring them as I am zealous for their welfare.
Search; will demand the them of you. I know how many I delivered to your keeping and I expect an account of so many again; I will see in what state and condition they are too. Seek them out: see Eze 34:5,6; under your hand many are, but under my hand not one shall be lost.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the…
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,.... That is, when they have been scattered, and are got together again; then he goes among them, to see if there are any missing, and in wheat condition they are, and what they want:
so will I seek out my sheep, and deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day; such as, in a literal sense, the time of the captivity was, when the Jews were dispersed in the various provinces of Babylon, and other countries; and which was a time of darkness and affliction to them. The time of Adam's fall was a dark and cloudy day; when all sinned in him, and were made sinners by his disobedience; when the sentence of condemnation and death passed upon all, and they became liable to utter ruin and destruction; when darkness and ignorance seized all human nature; when all mankind were separated from God, and set at a distance from him; in consequence of which the children of God, his sheep, were scattered abroad. A time of unregeneracy is a cloudy and dark day with God's elect; they are in darkness, and walk in darkness, and are darkness itself, till made light in the Lord: and so is a time of desertion; when the Lord's people are laid in darkness, and the deeps, and both sit and walk therein, and see no light; when they can neither see the Lord, nor hear from him, nor have any communion with him; when the sun of righteousness is withdrawn or eclipsed; and they cannot see their interest clear in spiritual and eternal things: as is also a time of persecution with the churches of Christ; when both ministers and people are scattered abroad, and their eyes cannot behold their teachers; and moon and stars are not seen for many days, Gospel ministers and Gospel ordinances: and the same is a time of blasphemy and error; and when it is neither day nor night, as is the present season; but there is no day so cloudy and dark but the shepherd can see his sheep, and will look them out, though they cannot see him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 34:11-16. Behold, I, even I, will search my…
Eze 34:11-16. Behold, I, even I, will search my sheep — I myself will recall them from their wanderings into the right way; and will seek them out — Hebrew, בקדתים, I will seek them early, or, seek them in the morning. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock — With the greatest care and diligence; as he gathers them together, counts them, brings them to the fold, observes what they have suffered, and, if lame or torn, binds up and heals them, and provides pasture for them; so will I seek out my sheep, &c. — Though magistrates and ministers fail in doing their part for the good of the church, yet God will not fail in doing his; he will take his flock into his own hands, rather than it should be deprived of any kindness he had designed for it. The under shepherds may prove careless, but the chief Shepherd neither slumbers nor sleeps. They may be false, but he abides faithful. And deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered — Will bring them home from their several dispersions, whither they have been driven; in the cloudy and dark day — Hebrew, ביום ענן וערפל, in the day of clouds and darkness; in the dark and dismal time of the destruction of their country. And will bring them out from the people — This prophecy primarily respected their restoration from captivity in Babylon, and was in part at least fulfilled when so many thousands of them returned to their own land under the conduct of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others. It seems, however, to look still further, even to the general restoration of the whole Jewish nation from their present wide dispersion over the whole world, which restoration most of the prophets foretel shall be effected in the latter days. But there is no need to confine this promise wholly to the Jews; when those, in any age or nation, that have gone astray from God into the paths of sin are brought back by repentance; when those that erred come to the acknowledgment of the truth; when God’s outcasts are gathered and restored, and religious assemblies that were dispersed are again collected and united upon the ceasing of persecution; and when the churches have rest and liberty, then this prediction has a true accomplishment. I will feed them in a good pasture — I will supply all their wants, and make ample provision for the support both of their natural and spiritual life. Upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be —
There shall they have fixed habitations upon their return, and there shall they rest in safety. There shall they lie in a good fold, &c. — These expressions denote both plenty and security. But I will destroy the fat and the strong — Those who oppress and tyrannise over the weak. I will feed them with judgment — I will judge, chastise, and punish them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Yahweh is the shepherd of His people. He will…
Yahweh is the shepherd of His people. He will do all which the shepherds should have done and did not. These promises - partially fulfilled in the return from Babylon, and in the subsequent prosperity under the Maccabees - point to the ingathering of all nations in the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd. Compare Mat 18:11 : John 10:1-18; Rom 9:25-33.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain I . . . will . . . search--doing…
I . . . will . . . search--doing that which the so-called shepherds had failed to do, I being the rightful owner of the flock.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11-16. Jehovah himself is the Good Shepherd (compare Psalms…
11-16. Jehovah himself is the Good Shepherd (compare Psalms 23; Mat_9:36; Joh_10:1-16) who will feed his flock and make them lie down in good pastures, and will care tenderly for the sick and those whose bones have been broken, and “will keep the fat and the strong” (Eze_34:16, LXX.), and bring them all back to the home land in peace — excepting such as have fattened upon their brothers’ calamity; these he will feed “in judgment.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. search my sheep] i.e. search for, or, search…
11. search my sheep] i.e. search for, or, search out.
11–16. Jehovah himself will undertake the care of his flock
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) Behold, I, even I.—The rich promises of the…
(11) Behold, I, even I.—The rich promises of the following verses are all essentially contained in this, that Jehovah Himself will be the Shepherd of His flock. It is the same assurance as that given by the Saviour in John 10, and here, as there, must necessarily be understood spiritually. In the following verses many promises are given of an earthly and temporary character, and these were fulfilled partly in the. restoration from exile, partly in the glorious deliverance of the Church from its foes under the Maccabees. But these deliverances themselves were but types of the more glorious Messianic deliverance of the future, and necessary means whereby it was secured. The promise of that deliverance could only be brought at all within the comprehension of the people by setting it forth in earthly language, just as even now it is impossible for us to understand the glories of the Church triumphant, except by the aid of the sensible images in which Scripture has portrayed them. Far less was it possible to this people, so much behind us in spiritual education and enlightenment.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Behold, I, even I, etc. The words, as the…
Behold, I, even I, etc. The words, as the last reference shows, and as we find in vers. 23-31, do not exclude, rather they imply, human instrumentality, just us our Lord"s do in Mat_18:12 and Luk_15:4-7; but they reveal the truth that Jehovah is the true Shepherd of his people. Not the sweet psalmist of Israel only, but the lowest outcast, might use the language of Psalm 23., and say, "The Lord is my Shepherd." He will gather the sheep that have been scattered in the "cloudy and dark day," the day of the Lord"s judgment. (Eze_30:3) For the prophet the words pointed to that vision of a restored Israel, which was dominant in the expectations both of Isaiah (or the Deutero-Isaiah) in Ezekiel 40-48., and in Jeremiah, (Jer_33:12-18) which floated before the minds of the apostles, (Act_1:6) and to which even St. Paul looked forward as the solution of the great problems of the world"s history (Romans 9-11.).
Vers. 11-13. Seeking lost sheep.
Read full note →
I THE SHEEP ARE LOST. Israel was scattered among the nations like sheep that have wandered from the fold and are lost in the wilderness. Souls have been scattered from their shelter and have wandered into distant places. Note some of the characteristics of the lost sheep.
1. They were originally in the fold. This refers to Jews rather than to heathen, to backsliding Christians, to children of Christian homes; but also in a general way to all, because all men begin life in innocent childhood not far from the besom of God.
2. They have gone into distant places. Israel was driven abroad locally; souls depart from their homes spiritually,
(1) in thought, when the old beliefs are abandoned for the wilderness of doubt;
(2) in life, when the old ways are left, and God and duty are neglected. Heaven then recedes into the background.
1. They were scattered. No bond of union remains. The flock, which was a unit, becomes broken, and there are now only separate sheep. Error and sin disintegrate society.
2. They were lost in darkness. The disaster happened "in the cloudy and dark day." The time of doubt, trouble, or temptation is one of danger. Then souls may be cast adrift for want of wise and tender shepherding.
3. They suffered through the neglect of the shepherds. The great sin is that of the faithless leaders.
II THEY ARE SOUGHT. The shepherds lost them; God seeks them. God himself desires that the lost should be restored. For he values them as the farmer values his flock. It is not a matter of indifference to God that souls should perish. He does not leave the sheep to come home, prepared to welcome them on their return; he seeks them. He does not only hold himself ready to welcome the returning penitent. He goes forth to seek him. The housewife sweeps the house to find her lost piece of silver. (Luk_15:8) The father goes to meet the prodigal son. (Luk_15:20)
1. God seeks by his providence. The movements of life should bring us back to God.
2. He seeks by his prophets. Ezekiel was seeking the lost sheep. The Bible is sent forth as God"s means of seeking the lost. So is all true preaching of the gospel.
3. He seeks by his Son. Christ came first to seek "the lost sheep of the house of Israel", (Mat_15:24) and then all lost sheep. Christianity is a search for the lost.
III THEY ARE FOUND. "I will bring them out from the peoples," etc. When God finds a soul, he restores it. He may find it in the wilderness; if so, he will not leave it there. The shepherd may find his sheep buried in the snow; it may be hard to dig them out; he may even have to carry them home on his shoulders. If he is strong enough he will do this. God not only finds; he restores.
1. He brings the sheep home. Israel is restored to her own land. Souls are restored to their home in God.
2. He feeds them. They must be hungry in the wilderness, far from the green pastures. So "he feeds them upon the mountains of IsraeL" The father kills the fatted calf for his restored son. Christ gives his body as bread of life for his people.
3. He refreshes them. The sheep are led "by the rivers." They thirsted in the wilderness; now they can drink and live. God gives new life and peace to his restored children. Christ gives "living water". (Joh_4:10) When God finds a lost soul, that soul is safe restored, fed, refreshed by his grace.
Vers. 11-16. The Divine Shepherd of the flock.
What a marvelous contrast is here presented between the hireling and unfaithful shepherds who have presumptuously undertaken the care of God"s people, and the Lord God, who in his condescension assumes the pastoral office, and fulfils it with Divine qualifications and completeness! According to the beautiful and touching representation of this passage
I THE LORD SEEKS HIS SHEEP WHEN LOST. They have gone astray, through willfulness on their part and through negligence on the part of the pretended shepherds. Bat the Divine Shepherd seeks and saves that which was lost, and, distant though they be, and in dangerous places, finds them out and lays his gracious hand upon them.
II THE LORD DELIVERS HIS SHEEP FROM THE POWER OF THEIR ENEMIES. They have their enemies, and they have fallen into their enemies" hands. From such peril One only can save; and the Lord rescues them and, in the exercise of his pity and his power, sets them free from bondage and oppression.
III THE LORD RESTORES THEM TO THE FOLD OF SAFETY AND OF PEACE. Even as Jehovah brought back the exiles from the East into the land of their fathers, so does the good Shepherd and Bishop of souls ever restore the penitent and believing to the welcome of his gracious heart, and to the fellowship of his rejoicing Church, to go no more out.
IV THE LORD FEEDS THEM IN THE PASTURES OF HIS GRACE. The language of this passage is upon this point very full, rich, and reassuring. The good Shepherd declares, "I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the water-courses; I will feed them upon good pasture, and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel." We may understand by this all the provision which the wisdom and loving-kindness of God have made for the wants and the welfare of his redeemed the truth of his Word, the blessings of his sacraments, the fellowship ofhis saints.
V THE LORD HEALS THEM FROM ALL THEIR WEAKNESSES AND SUFFERINGS. "I will bind up that which was broken, and strengthen that which was sick." He healeth all our diseases. His hand applies the remedy, administers the medicine, restores the broken health of the soul. No necessity is uncared for; no ill fails to meet his sympathy; no weakly, tender lamb of his flock shall perish through neglect. "He shall gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that give suck.
APPLICATION. These representations of Divine pity and tenderness are amply fulfilled in the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In his own discourses he set forth his mission under the similitude of the faithful, devoted shepherd. He laid down his life for the sheep. The apostles felt the justice and the beauty of the similitude. And upon the early Christians generally it made a profound impression; in their works of art they delighted to picture Jesus as the good shepherd. T.
Vers. 11, 12. God"s interest in men.
We learn of the interest God takes in us that he is
I UNAFFECTED BY OUR SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS. The great ones of the land regarded those who were at the bottom of society as beneath their consideration. What mattered it if they lived in privation and in ignorance, so long as the royal palace, so long as the costly castle, was well furnished? But this distinction between the worth of men on the ground of social rank or of circumstance finds no place at all in the mind and heart of God. He cares for men as they are; possessed as they are with a nature that is capable of great things great sufferings, sorrows, degradation, iniquities, on the one hand, and great joys, hopes, nobilities, achievements, on the other hand. Not where we stand or what we hold, but what we are and what we may become, is the Divine consideration.
II DRAWN TOWARDS THE NEGLECTED. It is the guilty neglect of the flock by the selfish shepherds that drives the sheep to the notice of the Divine Shepherd, and that draws out his pitiful pastoral affection (vers. 811). And we may infer that the neglected, because they are such, are the objects of the Divine sympathy. The neglected child in the home, member of the Church, pupil in the school, student or toiler in the world of art and industry, citizen in social circle or the broader sphere of the nation, is the object of the pitiful regard of One who never overlooks, who understands how that heart feels which is wounded by the disregard of men, who "lifteth up the meek," who "hath respect unto the lowly.
III CONCERNED FOR THE LOST AND SCATTERED. Those who are far away from Zion and from all its sacred and hallowing influences are still "my sheep" (ver. 11); and the strain of the twelfth verse is one of tender sympathy and earnest solicitude for those who "in the day of clouds and thick darkness" have been "scattered on the wild." We have wandered away from the home of the Father; some of us into a very "far country;" it may be that of almost entire forgetfulness; or of an utter shameless indifference; or of a deliberate disobedience of his known will; or of an absolute denial of his existence; or of a wanton endeavor to corrupt and destroy the character of his children. And yet, however far we have gone astray, in all the emptiness and spiritual poverty of our distance from home, in all our misery and aching of heart, in all our hopelessness, our Divine Father follows us and pities us; his heart is filled with a parental solicitude for us.
For though deceived and led astray, We"ve traveled far and wandered long, Our God hath seen us all the way, And all the turns that led us wrong.
IV ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THEIR REDEMPTION. "I will seek out my sheep, and deliver them.
1. The restoration of the exiled Jews may be one part of the fulfillment of this promise.
2. The coming of the Son of man "to seek and to save that which was lost" was a later and better fulfillment. And we find a further, a perpetual Divine redemption of this ancient word of promise in:
3. The putting forth by the Church of Christ of all its redeeming energies. Whenever and however any one that, filled with the spirit of his Savior, seeks to raise the fallen, to bring back to truth and piety those that have gone away in the darkness, to heal the stricken and suffering spirit and to enrobe it with "the garment of praise," there God is himself "searching out his sheep," and "delivering them from the places whither they have wandered." How excellent is the portion of those who are his agents in this gracious work! C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain I, even I, will both search My sheep, and…
Eze_34:11-19
I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out.
Read full note →
The flock sought and found
Is the Great Shepherd to leave the stray sheep to wander and perish? or is He to pity and reclaim them? In the Crimean War there were two ways, very different from each other, in which heroic deed manifested itself. One was, by our soldiers indomitable courage in the field,--when brave men stood manfully to their guns, and poured the iron hail against fearful odds. That was the stern glory of carnage and destruction. The other unfolds a picture in strange and startling contrast with this. At midnight, in stiffed hospital wards, amid the light of dim lamps and moans of sufferers, a gentle form of pity flitted from couch to couch, with words and looks and deeds of mercy;--pale lips kissing the shadow on their pillows as it passed. On which of the two does the mind love most to dwell? On that field of stern desperate valour; or on these hushed corridors, away from the roar of battle, with the one hero-heart moving like a ministering angel amid the congregated crowd of wounded and dying? Gods way regarding man (with reverence we say it) was the latter. We may look to this truth, first, in its simplest aspect. The soul, as we have already noted, is ever and anon manifesting some undefined longing after its lost portion in God. But it has in itself a hopeless moral inability to return. It cannot retrace its lost way. Alas! often there is rather the plunging deeper and deeper amid the pathless wilds of ruin, till, in addition to inability, there is added disinclination to be restored to the long lost fold. The sheep, rather than return to the Shepherd, will go roaming in search of other pastures--increasing its mournful distance from the fold, and bringing it only into more perilous vicinity to the lions dens and the mountains of the leopards. How, then, can the sinner be reclaimed? It is manifest that by no self-originated effort can he return. If saved, it must be by another. Himself he cannot,--himself he will not save. Omnipotence alone can bring it back. It is easy enough to take the tiara of priceless diamonds, or the necklace of gold, and plunge it down in mid ocean; but it is not so easy to descend through that untraversed barrier, that liquid rampart which rolls defiant between, and get them up again. The soul, the true casket of lost treasures, by reason of its own sad principle of moral gravitation, sinks easily downward. But it is He alone who taketh up the waters in the hollow of His hand that cart rescue it from the depths of ruin and despair. Here, then, is the Gospels glorious history of the restoration of the wanderers. Marvellous condescension--unspeakable grace! He speaks in one of the verses which precede this chapter as if it were something wondrous,--something well-nigh incredible: Behold I, even I. The spot is still pointed out with pride, amid the rocky wilds of Dauphine, where nil eagle bore in its talons the infant which had been left smiling in fearless innocence in its cradle by the cottage door. One stalwart form after another tried to climb that giddy height for the rescue, but had to abandon it in despair. At last a fleet and nimble foot spurns all difficulties. Up she climbs, from crag to crag, until, reaching the dizzy eminence, she buries the yet living child in her bosom, saying, as a mothers tongue in such an hour alone could say, This my child was dead, and is alive again--was lost, and is found! But that was a mothers speechless affection for her offspring. As she brought her loved and lost back to her cottage home, and replaced it in the empty cradle, we would think it strange to hear her saying, Behold I, even I, have done this. Who could have done it but she? But what does the Infinite Jehovah see in us?--What claim have these sheep on this Shepherd of the universe--these sinners on their God?--None! The natural heart is a den of pollution, a haunt of evil, the nurturing home of rebellion. Not only, however, are we called to note and admire Gods grace and condescension; but to admire the sovereignty of that grace as shown in the selection of its objects. Mankind were not the only fallen family in the universe. Other sheep, not of the earthly fold, had also strayed from the Shepherd. Might we not have expected that, in resolving on the ransom and recovery of any lost ones, he would have made choice rather of a different race of wanderers? Fallen angels (the aborigines of heaven) were greater than man. Well may we pause and ponder this wondrous manifestation of sovereign grace in the salvation of sinners of the dust! Truly, indeed, this salvation of man is a story of grace. Turn the moral kaleidoscope as we may, the gleaming words still stand radiant before our eyes, By the grace of God we are what we are. Once more. Gods grace and compassion are further manifested in His untiring love and patience in the pursuit of the lost, till restoration and safety be ensured. In other words, we have to admire, not only His free grace and His sovereign grace, but what the old writers call His irresistible grace. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek them out. He will not only search for them, but He will search till He discover them. He goeth after that which was lost until He find it. The Saviours love is bounded by no distance, is cooled by no difficulties, is repulsed by no obstacles. One of the noblest records of true heroism in Englands annals is of comparatively recent date; when a gallant vessel, manned with gallant hearts, vent forth amid the frowning icebergs of the Northern Seas, to search for a band of missing explorers. They sailed thither, buoyed with the faint, feeble hope that the object of their search might still be found, battling bravely with eternal winter. Alas! they went after the lost until they found them; but they found them with the stiffened snow and ice as their winding sheet! They brought not back the living, but only some sad mementoes and memorials of the dead. Not so is the journey, not so the pursuit, of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. His omniscient eye follows every wanderer. Those whom He has marked for His own He will, without fail, bring home. Not one can elude His pursuit, nor evade His loving scrutiny. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
The Divine Shepherd
I. The simile of Christ to a shepherd.
1. His character: a shepherd (Joh_10:14).
2. His employment: seeketh out (Eze_34:11).
3. The objects of His care: His flock (Isa_40:11).
4. Their condition: scattered (Joh_11:52).
5. Then the time of gathering: the day (Zec_13:1).
6. His situation: among them (Psa_132:13-14).
II. The important declaration. I will seek out.
1. By the word written (2Ti_3:15).
2. The word preached (1Co_1:23-24).
3. But always by the Spirit (Zec_4:6).
III. Why they are called His sheep.
IV. The deliverance of the sheep.
1. This implies determination: I will (Eze_13:21).
2. It denotes contest: deliver (Isa_49:25).
3. It signifies power: I will deliver them (Isa_40:29). All places.
(1) From all parts of the world.
(2) From all sinful practices.
(3) From all opposing powers (Rev_7:9).
4. It also denotes great wisdom in searching and distinguishing them; simply because--
(1) They are separated one from another.
(2) They mingle with the wicked. (T. B. Baker.)
In the cloudy and dark day.
The Shepherd seeking the flock in the cloudy and dark day
I. The lost. We may regard the figure as descriptive of those who (by imperceptible degrees) have erred and strayed from the Shepherds fold and presence. Once their landscape was bathed in sunshine;--the mountain tops of Gods faithfulness were clear;--the summits of the heavenly hills sparkled gloriously;--theirs were the green pastures and still waters,--the Shepherds voice to cheer them, and the Shepherds steps to guide them. But all is gloomy now;--the storm clouds have gathered in their once serene sky. It may arise from their own sluggish unconcern;--a drowsy, sleepy, callous frame,--the result of a gradual, but ever-deepening insensibility to Divine things;--a trifling with their spiritual interests;--languor in prayer--conformity with the world--tampering with sins of omission--venturing on forbidden or debatable ground.
II. Those who are driven away. Some overt act has been the cause of their scattering. Look at David as an illustration. His own iniquities separated between him and his God. He never after was the joyous believer he once was. He was indeed restored, pardoned, loved;--but the memory of that sad day followed him to the grave, and mantled Iris whole moral landscape with clouds, even to the very entrance of the dark valley. And how many among the true flock of the Shepherd have to tell a similar mournful tale! Some one guilty deed has laid the foundation of weeks and months--ay, years, of spiritual alienation and distance from the fold.
III. The broken. How numerous are these! Some are broken by calamity;--penury scattering them in its cloudy and dark day. Some are broken by bitter disappointment; an aching heart wound too sacred to be revealed has left them bleeding and desolate, refusing to be comforted. Some are broken by bereavement.
IV. The sick. We might take this in a figurative sense; as descriptive of those who are sick at heart,--sad and disconsolate with the trials and sins and sorrows of death, and with the corruptions of their own natures. But why not regard it literally, an applied to those laid on beds of sickness? Many among us who inadequately appreciate the talent of health are apt also to forget and overlook this large section in Gods world;--the poor afflicted ones, the maimed members of the flock.
V. To one and all of these scattered ones the Great Shepherd comes. He has a special word of comfort for each separate case.
1. Lost! He seeks you. Though you have forgotten Him, He has not forgotten you.
2. Ye who have been driven away, He will bring you again. Ye who, like the Psalmist of Israel, have unwarily left the pastures of peace and security, and entangled yourselves in the midnight forest of danger and sin; the grace of Him who first brought you to the fold is able to bring you back again, and restore to you the joys of His salvation.
3. Broken ones! Ye who are crushed and mutilated by the thousand ills of suffering and sorrow: rejoice! That Shepherd came to bind up breaking hearts; His name is The Healer of the broken hearted.
4. Sick! Ye pining sufferers in earths great hospital! Ye bleating sheep, lying languid and helpless in the fold--He, the Great Shepherd, comes to strengthen you. A sick bed--where the noisy world is shut out--where its cares and anxieties and aspirations and ambitions are no longer present to hamper and harass--what a blessed season for converse with the Infinite.
VI. The gracious adaptation of Christs dealings to the different wants and trials and necessities of His people.
1. He seeks the lost; and on finding them a look of love suffices to bring the conscience-stricken wanderers back.
2. He brings again the driven away. Those cowering in terror at their own wilful blindness and apostasy, their deep ingratitude and heinous guilt, need help, encouragement, guidance;--they need being carried in the Shepherds arms.
3. He binds up the broken; He stanches the bleeding wound with the application of tender restoratives--the balm words of His own exceeding great and precious promises. He, the Brother born for adversity, teaches the wounded spirit, and He alone can, how to bear in this dark and cloudy day; He turns the shadow of death into the morning.
4. He strengthens the sick--those who for years on years have been laid on couches of languishing--secluded from the gladsome light of day, on whose ears the tones of the Sabbath bell fall only to tell of forfeited privileges. They can best bear attestation how a mysterious, sustaining strength, not their own, is imparted to them, which makes them wonders to themselves.
Let us close with two practical reflections.
1. The all-sufficiency of the Shepherds power and love. There is no case He cannot meet. Lost ones, driven ones, broken ones, sick ones. It seems to exhaust the circle of human wants and necessities. He seems to anticipate every supposable case, so that none dare say that Shepherd-love does not include me.
2. This precious passage, so full of tenderness and love to the erring, the backsliding, the suffering, ends with a brief but most solemn utterance of judgment on the impenitent, the self-righteous, and unbelieving. He that has rest for disquieted saints, says Matthew Henry, has terror to speak to presumptuous sinners. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Shadows of religious life
Night and morning are familiar types of human life in its alternation of shadow and sunshine, its chequered history of grief and joy. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. It is the law of nature and of humanity. Is it not also the law of the higher spiritual life? No doubt there are moments of rare enjoyment in the experience of a godly man; moments of special communion with the Unseen. But there are seasons, too, of a widely different complexion, when the firmament above him darkens into a hemisphere without a star, and the heart within him grows sick of the weary struggle, and he is sorely tempted, like Elijah, to fold his head in his mantle, and lie down in despair to die.
1. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in physical disease. Very wonderful is the sympathy between body and soul. Many a life might be comparatively blithesome, but that chronic dyspepsia fills it with morbid fears and feelings. Trifling with the delicate mechanism of the human frame has brought upon many excellent people a settled melancholy, an impression that they have committed some unpardonable sin, and are absolute outcasts from Gods covenant of mercy. Let the organ be out of tune, and Handel himself could not bring good music out of it; and when the nervous organism is unstrung, it is not surprising if the secret harmonies of the soul be turned into jars and discord. Temperance, chastity, and godliness,--the mens sana in corpore sano,--are a wellspring of perennial cheerfulness; but without them, the fountains of real pleasure are poisoned, life loses its zest and buoyancy, and becomes little better than a funeral march to death and judgment.
2. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in personal wrong-doing. Misconduct is the ruin of tranquillity, and may cast a pall and blight over lifes fairest prospects. He who can do a deliberate wrong without a pang of regret is more demon than man. Peters backsliding cost him bitter tears. Davids double crime made his children a scourge and his conscience an accusing hell. Sauls transgression caused an evil spirit to enter into him, so that he sat in his palace, javelin in hand, silent, moody, and downcast. And the sin of Gods people, in like manner, may still rob them of solid peace, and make them acquainted, otherwise than by book, with Bunyans Slough of Despond, Doubting Castle, and Giant Despair.
3. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in providential trials. Saint or sinner, if you are pricked you bleed; with this difference, that in the one case you possess a balm for the wound, in the other not. Insensibility would render Divine discipline a nullity. It is right to feel appropriately towards all things as they really are; nay more, such inflexion of feeling is a necessary condition of human amendment; Christianity is a nobler science of life than stoicism, for it teaches how sable and gold may both be woven into a robe of immortal radiance--how adversity, even more than prosperity, may come laden with the richest blessings.
4. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in spiritual conflicts. No fortress on earth is so often beleaguered as the citadel of the human heart. No din of contending hosts is there--no anxious nations look on in breathless suspense--no change of temporal dynasty or statecraft or dominion is imminent; but the doom of an immortal soul is involved, and heaven and hell hang upon the final issue. The stake is tremendous, and all trifling is simply insane. The ground has to be won inch by inch, and, maybe, lost and won again. Shield of faith, helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, girdle of truth, sword of the Spirit, greaves of love and peace, all bear marks of the severity of the strife. Protracted to the end of life, the battle is as arduous as it is honourable, and its wavering fortunes not unfrequently make one pensive, careworn, and disheartened. Thank God! though he fall, he shall rise again--he shall not be utterly cast down. An invincible Captain leads us on.
5. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in doctrinal perplexities. It has been said that the Bible has shallows in which a lamb may wade, and deeps in which an elephant may swim. Unhappily, some who are not elephants venture to leave the terra firma of revealed truth, and to plunge into the bottomless sea of metaphysical divinity; and, as they cannot swim, they sink in deep waters, or flounder about like a log in a tempest, and the waves and billows go over them. Without putting a veto on legitimate inquiry, it is well to remember that secret things belong unto the Lord--that His eternal wisdom and kindness will manage them without human meddling--that no prying curiosity of ours can ever modify them in the least degree; and that for us the only possible solution of them is the testimony of individual character and life.
6. These shadows of religious life sometimes originate in the enigmas of Divine government. God in history, subordinating everything to His supreme will, and accomplishing through secondary agencies or otherwise His own sovereign purposes, is the basis of a good mans creed, and the sole pledge of humanitys regeneration. But, to mans thinking, how often do the ways of God seem a mystery, an anomaly, or even a contradiction! Everywhere the old Titanic forces of good and evil wrestle with each other in mortal combat, and the wonder is how the strife will end. And, standing face to face with facts like these, after some six thousand years of credible history, and some nineteen centuries of Christian teaching, many a heart cries out in fearfulness and pain: How long, O Lord, how long? Why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot? Oh, when shall the wickedness of the wicked come to a perpetual end? Pilgrims of the night! amid all this darkness, turmoil, and misery, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. (L. B. Brown.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Jehovah as Israel’s true Shepherd
Jehovah as Israel’s true Shepherd
v. 11. For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek them out, giving them the solicitous attention which their condition demanded and which their earthly rulers failed to give them.
Read full note →
v. 12. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock, inspecting them with careful solicitude, in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, earnestly concerned about ways and means to bring them together again after a severe storm or after a raid by wild beasts, so will I seek out My sheep, going after them with His divine care, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day, at the time when Judah was led away into captivity.
v. 13. And I will bring them out from the people, from the nations into whose lands they had been deported, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, in full abundance, and in all the inhabited places of the country, the land of Israel here representing the Spiritual country of the Church of God.
v. 14. I will feed them in a good pasture, Psa 23:2, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be, where the rich meadows of the uplands offered food in luscious abundance; there shall they lie in a good fold, in safe dwelling-places, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel, where the Lord Himself provided the richest of food.
v. 15. I will feed My flock, taking charge of this important function himself, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God, so that they will be secure under His protection.
v. 16. I will, by way of contrast to the selfish behavior of the false shepherds, seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, crippled by some misfortune or accident, and will strengthen that which was sick, thereby faithfully discharging the several duties neglected by the rulers of Israel; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, the wealthy and mighty oppressors of the poor; I will feed them with judgment, with justice and equity instead of the arbitrary manner and cruel selfishness of the false shepherds.
v. 17. And as for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord God, in announcing His policy over against the entire nation, Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, literally, "between sheep and sheep," or the small cattle, lamb and kids, between the rams and the he-goats, so that the fat sheep with the rams and he-goats would occupy a place for themselves, where the Lord could readily judge them.
v. 18. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, as the rich and powerful did in oppressing the poor, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? thereby preventing the poorer members of the nation from obtaining what the rich and mighty, for some cause or other, could not use at just that moment, and to have drunk of the deep waters, getting their fill, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? spoiling it so that others would have no benefit from its use.
v. 19. And as for My flock, consisting of the poor, weak, and helpless, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, being compelled to be satisfied with the food discarded and spoiled by the mighty; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet, for want of anything cleaner.
v. 20. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God unto them, Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle, between the powerful with their presumption and pride and the weak and oppressed, who were practically at the mercy of the former.
v. 21. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, like cattle fighting their way to the trough or feeding-rack, and pushed all the diseased with your horns till ye have scattered them abroad,
v. 22. therefore will I save My flock, delivering the poor and helpless from the power of the oppressors, and they shall no more be a prey, at the mercy of unscrupulous rulers, and I will judge between cattle and cattle, so that justice would be done. The Virgin Mary was right in saying that God hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. Luk 1:52.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to the leaders of Israel.
Read full note →
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking of the people of Israel as if they were a flock of sheep. Here he speaks of himself as if he were their shepherd and will take care of them. (See: Metaphor)
For the Lord Yahweh says this
This can be stated in first person. AT: "For this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
Behold!
The word "Behold" here alerts the shepherds to pay attention to the surprising information that follows.
will seek out
"will look for"
within the midst of his scattered flock
"with his scattered flock"
they were scattered
It is is implied that the animals in the flock scattered because they did not have a shepherd to care for them or protect them. This can be stated in active form. AT: "they scattered because they did not have a shepherd to care for them" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)
on the day of clouds and darkness
"on the cloudy and dark day." Disasters are spoken of as if they were a day of darkness. AT: "when terrible disasters happened to them" (See: Metaphor)
bring them
"bring my sheep and my goats" or "bring my flock"
from among the peoples
"from the places where they lived with other peoples"
I will put them in pastures ... every settlement in the land
Yahweh bringing his people back from exile to their land so that he can care for them and keep them safe is spoken of as if he were their shepherd who puts his flock in a place where there is plenty of land, food, and water. (See: Metaphor)
pastures
land that has grass and small plants that sheep and goats can eat
settlement
This is a place where people live. Usually they live in houses in a settlement.
translationWords
flocks
shepherd
darkness
people group
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.