Day 176 – April 18, 2024: Ezekiel 31-35 and Psalm 64

We continue to transition in themes. For most of the prophecy of Ezekiel it is against the people of God. Then we picked up the theme of the prophet speaking out against the nations that are surrounding the people of God, even though they are carrying out God’s purposes, they still are spoken out against. Now, we see that God speaks out specifically against the leaders of the people. He calls them shepherds, but evil shepherds whose only care is to ensure that they themselves are fed and that their own needs are met. This results in overlooking and disregarding the needs of the sheep, which would be the people of Israel.

The easiest parallel to today would be that the shepherds are the pastors of the church who disregard Scripture and the needs that are put before them for their people. Instead the pastors of the church are focusing on their own needs and how to meet them, as opposed to emphasizing and prioritizing the needs of their own people. I do see this where pastors should know what they signed up for. Our position and our responsibilities are not comporable to what corporate American provides or expects of its workers. We are pastors, we are shepherds, and the sheep, the people of God in this 21st century iteration, are our responsibility.