OF SHEEP AND SHEPHERDS (PART 3)

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“‘As for you, My flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must My flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?’”

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.’”

Ezekiel 34:17-22

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

You can gather together a group of men and they would all hold one thing in common but are they all really the same? Ditto if we’re talking about a group of women or any other group of people who might have a common characteristic.

The point is that no two people are exactly the same, no matter how much we try to match them up. Even if they look exactly alike as we might see with identical twins, the truth of the matter is that each twin is their own person and unique in many ways from their sibling. If anything else, we are different in the ways we think, speak, or act and definitely distinctive in many ways when the Lord looks at us.

This matter of looking similar but being very much distinguished underneath the surface is very much at the center of our scripture passage today as we continue our series on the Lord’s words regarding shepherds and sheep in Ezekiel 34. Look at this passage again here:

“‘As for you, My flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must My flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?’”

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.’” Ezekiel 34:17-22

Now when you think of sheep, I’m pretty sure you don’t spend a lot of time pondering how one sheep might be unlike another. For a majority of us, a sheep is a sheep is a sheep. But to a shepherd, that is far from the case. A shepherd who is doing their shepherding properly is intimately familiar with all the sheep of their flock because they provide the proper level of care and protection. They know each sheep’s needs and understand the sheep’s tendencies.

Now, translate this to the illustration of Ezekiel 34 where God talks about Himself or others He designated as shepherds while comparing His people to the sheep in the flock. The shepherds who were negligent in carrying out their shepherding responsibilities failed because they were more concerned about themselves than the sheep entrusted to their care. To them, a sheep was a sheep was a sheep and they had no distinct concern for them collectively let alone individually.

This certainly wasn’t the case with God who, as we saw yesterday, choose to step into the gap and do what the shepherds weren’t doing. He would care for His people Himself and ensure they got the care they deserved. He made sure they were protected and provided for, mending up the wounds of those sheep who may have been wounded. He dedicated the time necessary to lead and guide His sheep to the places where they would be safe and nourished, to the green pastures David wrote about in the 23rd Psalm.  

But as we look at today’s passage, we find that God, the divine almighty Shepherd of His flock, would also hold His people accountable. He would “judge between one sheep and another” because like the shepherds, the members of the flock were not entirely free of guilt either. After all, He knew His sheep inside and out, definitely seeing that one sheep wasn’t the same as another.

God saw that there were sheep (people) in the flock that were stronger than others and those sheep would act with little consideration for the weaker ones. They would feed upon the green pastures but in the process, trample down anything that the weaker sheep might want to come in and eat. They would be the first ones to the waters and enjoy the clarity of the pools but then muddy the waters for the less fortunate sheep who would come in to drink after them. The stronger sheep definitely cared more for their own well being than the well being of the rest of their mates in the flock and it’s obvious that God, the great Shepherd, would not stand for such behavior and bring His punishment on those who put others at a disadvantage.

Now, of course this was a metaphor for the social environment that God’s people were living in. Injustice had reared its ugly ahead among the Israelites in Judah and Jerusalem, an inequity that angered God as He expected His people to live according to His will and not their own. Unfortunately, sinful self centeredness and selfishness crept into the culture, causing an imbalance between those who had (the stronger sheep) and those who didn’t (the weaker). And so God would judge between one person from another and come to the rescue of members of His flock who needed cared for and protected.

There’s good news in this message for all of us in the world who might experience social injustices of our own. There seems to be an ever widening gap between those who have and those who don’t with those who have showing little to no regard for the lesser circumstances of others. In fact, there are many who would fall under the category of the stronger sheep who actually exploit and take advantage of those who are weaker for their own benefit.

In these times, it’s good to know that the all powerful and knowing Shepherd of the Old Testament Israelites, the Lord God Almighty, is the Shepherd who still watches over His flock today, as we now are the “sheep” of His pasture. Know He still protects and provides, still leads and guides, and still nurses His sheep back to good health when they are wounded or ill but remember as well that He will not stand for someone within the flock to mistreat a fellow sheep because He will judge one sheep against the other.

Tomorrow, we will finish this series by seeing that God cares for His flock so much that He longs for them to be with Him forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com