1 October 2002

Text: Ezekiel 34:11-31

GOD AS THE PERFECT SHEPHERD

1. Searching for Lost Sheep
"Indeed, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day."
Ezekiel 34:11-12

2. Gathering the Lost sheep
"And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land…"
Ezekiel 34:13a

3. Feeding the Sheep
"I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.
I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel
I will feed my flock, and I will make them lie down,' says the Lord God."
Ezekiel 34:13b-15

4. Special attention to the Sick
"I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick…"
Ezekiel 34:16a

5. Judgment of the Bullying Sheep
"But I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.
And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God:
'Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.'"
Ezekiel 34:16b-17

"Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep."
Ezekiel 34:20

6. Indictment of the Bullying Sheep
"Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture- and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet."
Ezekiel 34:18-29

"Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad…"
Ezekiel 34:22a

7. Prophecy of One Shepherd
"Therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them- My servant David.
He shall feed them and be their shepherd.
And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them;
I, the Lord have spoken."
Ezekiel 34:22-24

Fulfilment of this Prophecy- Jesus the Good Shepherd
"I am the Good Shepherd…"
John 10:11, 14

"I am the Door of the sheep…"
John 10:7, 9

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly"
John 10:10

"I know my sheep, and am known of Mine…"
John 10:14b