My Notes on Ezekiel 34:11-16

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Background~In 597 BC  the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, invaded the small kingdom of Judah and forced its capitulation. The palace and temple were stripped of their furnishings, the king, the royal family and many of the nation’s leading people were taken into exile, including a man named Ezekiel.  A puppet king was put on the throne but he rebelled against his Babylonian overlords who, in response, invaded the land a second time, in 587 BC,  destroying Jerusalem and its Temple, and forcing more people into exile from the land.

It was between these two events, on July 31, 597 BC that Ezekiel was called to his prophetic ministry among the early exiles in Babylon.

In chapters 1-24 of Ezekiel these people are often portrayed as exhibiting a confidence in their future which was very out of touch with the political, moral, and religious situation of their time and their status as exiles. The prophet was called upon to disabuse them of their notions. In Ezekiel 33:1-39:29 the situation is markedly different. What Ezekiel had been warning the exiles of 597 about came to pass, Jerusalem rebelled and was destroyed by the Babylonians. But all was not lost. The prophet who had predicted disaster for the city and temple now is called upon to preach a coming restoration.

11 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.

I, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. This is necessitated by the fact that the leaders of the people-described as shepherds-who were primarily responsible for the debacles of 597 and 587 BC, had been more concerned with pasturing themselves (Ezekiel 34:2). Like cannibalistic parasites they had fed of the flock put in their charge, not helping them, but, rather, helping themselves at their expense. This lack of care for the flock led to its going astray, being scattered, becoming prey (Ezekiel 34:4-6).  God here promises to rectify that situation Himself.

Note the two-fold use of the first-person singular personal pronoun followed by the reflexive: I, I myself. The emphatic nature of the construction was no doubt intended to give comfort and assurance: I and no other.

For the image of God as shepherd see Gen 48:15; Psalm 23; Mark 6:34; John 10:1-18.

12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock…so will I seek out my sheep. As just indicated, this is something the leaders had not done.

On a day of clouds and thick darkness. Probably a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Exile. Possibly an allusion to Ezekiel 10 which narrates the bright cloud of God’s presence abandoning the Temple, indicating its coming destruction.

13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the fountains, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them with good pasture, and upon the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries. A reference to the end of the exile, and the return of the people into their own land.

I will feed them on the mountains of Israel &c.  The mountains of Israel were often the sites of the so-called “high places” where the Israelites worshiped false gods. These mountains and their cultic shrines were specifically condemned by Ezekiel at God’s request: ”Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them” (see Ezekiel 6:1-14). The fact that God will feed them on these mountains indicates the restoration of the land after its destruction and subsequent lack of care (the farms and vineyards would have been overgrown and become wild, and the cities, (inhabited places) desolate (see Jer 9:9-11; Jer 25:11). See Ezekiel’s prophecy of the regeneration of the land in Ezekiel 36:1-15.

15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD.

I will make them lie down. An image of rest, it forms a nice contrast to the image of scattering and straying.

16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.

The exact opposite of those condemned in Ezekiel 34:2-6.