S4: Week 40 Day 1: Annotating Ezekiel 34:7-16

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace
Episode: S4: Week 40 Day 1: Annotating Ezekiel 34:7-16
Hosts: Beth and Alexa
Date: September 29, 2025

Main Theme:
In this episode, Beth and Alexa guide listeners through an annotated reading of Ezekiel 34:7-16, exploring how God’s promises in the Old Testament point forward to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The discussion focuses on the repeated assurances God gives (“I will”), His heart for His people, and the connections across Scripture revealing Christ at its center.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Reading and Reflecting on Ezekiel 34:7-16

[01:20-02:58]

• Beth reads the full passage aloud, highlighting God’s indictment against Israel’s unfaithful shepherds and His declaration that HE will personally shepherd His people.
• The text repeatedly features divine promises—God saying “I will” to assert His active role in rescuing, gathering, healing, and shepherding His flock.

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2. Annotation Exercise: Counting the “I Will” Promises

[02:58-03:44]

• Alexa dives into the annotation prompt, which encourages counting how many times God says “I will” and listing each promise.

  “One of the prompts asks us to count how many times God says I will… I counted about 12 times.” — Alexa [02:58]

• She lists the explicit promises:

  • “I will demand my flock.”
  • “I will rescue my flock.”
  • “I will search for my flock, and I will look for my flock.”
  • “I will rescue them.”
  • “I will bring them out from the people, gather them from the countries and bring them to their own soil.”
  • “I will shepherd them.”
  • “I will tend to them in good pasture.”
  • “I will tend my flock and let them lie down.”
  • “I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak.”
  • “I will destroy the fat and the strong.”
  • “I will shepherd them with justice.”

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3. Attributes of God and Connections to Christ

[03:44-04:53]

• Alexa reflects on how God’s desire to give His people rest reveals His love and mercy:

  “Something that stood out to me was God’s desire to give His people rest, which I think comes from His love and mercy.” — Alexa [03:54]

• She links Ezekiel’s words to Psalm 23:

  “The language in this verse reminds me of Psalm 23, when David says that God makes him lie down in green pastures.” — Alexa [04:10]

• Alexa draws a connection forward to Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28:

  “It also, I think, points us forward to Matthew 11:28, when Jesus says, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.’ So Ezekiel 34:7-16 shows us God’s heart to give His people rest and He has ultimately provided that rest through Christ.” — Alexa [04:18]

• Beth expresses delight at seeing these Scripture connections:

  “I’ve never made that connection between Psalm 23 and Matthew 11 before, and those are two of my favorite passages.” — Beth [04:53]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Alexa [02:58]: “I counted about 12 times… Here are the promises that we see in the passage…”
• Alexa [03:54]: “Something that stood out to me was God’s desire to give his people rest, which I think comes from his love and mercy.”
• Alexa [04:18]: “Ezekiel 34:7-16 shows us God’s heart to give his people rest and he has ultimately provided that rest through Christ.”
• Beth [04:53]: “I’ve never made that connection between Psalm 23 and Matthew 11 before, and those are two of my favorite passages, so I love that you drew out those connections there.”

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Important Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |-------------------------------------------------|-----------| | Introduction & Episode Theme | 01:02-01:20| | Passage Reading (Ezekiel 34:7-16) | 01:20-02:58| | Annotation Exercise (“I will” Promises) | 02:58-03:44| | Connections to Psalm 23 & Matthew 11 | 03:54-04:53| | Closing Thoughts & Preview of Next Episode | 04:53-05:13|

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Conclusion

This episode gently guides listeners to see how God’s promises in the Old Testament are not abstract or obsolete but are vividly fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus. By closely annotating Ezekiel 34:7-16, Beth and Alexa demonstrate that God’s “I will” declarations foreshadow Christ’s coming as the Good Shepherd who seeks, heals, and gives rest to His people. The thoughtful Scriptural links—in the hosts’ own words—equip listeners to see Jesus “on every page of Scripture.”

Encouragement to Listeners:
Listeners are invited to join the following day’s episode for further exploration of Ezekiel’s context and a deeper dive into how God’s shepherding heart is revealed throughout the Bible.

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Transcript

[Alexa]

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[Beth]

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[Alexa]

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[Beth]

Welcome to A Year in the Bible With Daily Grace. This year we want to spend a few minutes with you every day walking through our study, Christ and all of Scripture. Each week we will dive deeply into two passages of Scripture, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, seeing how they connect and point to Jesus.

[Alexa]

Whether you are doing the study yourself or just following along with us here, we are hopeful that through studying these passages each week you will see how Christ is not only present throughout the entire Biblical story, but the center of it.

[Beth]

Hi friends. Welcome back to A Year of the Bible. My name is Beth and I am joined by my co host Alexa.

[Alexa]

Hey everyone. We are super excited to be starting volume four of our Christ in All Scripture study with you. This week we're going to be looking at Ezekiel 3, 4, 7, 16 and John 10, 11, 15. And we're going to learn how Jesus is the good shepherd who fulfills God's promise to shepherd his people.

[Beth]

So we're going to start by discussing our annotations for Ezekiel 34, 7, 16. So let me go ahead and read that passage for us. Therefore you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord as I live. This is the declaration of the Lord God. Because my flock, lacking a shepherd, has become prey and food for every wild animal and because my shepherds do not search for my flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock. Therefore you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says. Look, I am against the shepherds. I will demand my flock from them and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue my flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them. For this is what the Lord God says. See, I myself will search for my flock and look for them as a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock. So I will look for my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered. On a day of clouds and total darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own soil. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel and the ravines and in all the inhabited places of the land on. I will tend them in good pasture. And their grazing place will be on Israel's lofty mountains. There they will lie down in a good grazing place. They will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will tend my flock and let them lie down. This is the declaration of the Lord God. I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd with justice. So would you like to share your annotations with us, Alexa?

[Alexa]

Yeah, absolutely. It's funny, I was already noticing the amount of time God says I will in this passage. So I was really excited to see that. One of the prompts asks us to count how many times God says I will and to also list out what God promises. I counted about 12 times. And so here are the promises that we see in the passage. I will demand my flock. I will rescue my flock. I will search for my flock, and I will look for my flock. I will rescue them. I will bring them out from the people, gather them from the countries and bring them to their own soil. I will shepherd them. I will tend to them in good pasture. I will tend my flock. Flock and let them lie down. I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak. I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.

[Beth]

That is definitely a lot of I wills. It is always so cool to read how God so matter of factly is sharing his promises with us. Did you have any other annotations that you wanted to share?

[Alexa]

Yeah. Thinking about any attributes of God and connections to Christ, something that stood out to me was God's desire to give his people rest, which I think comes from his love and mercy. We see in verse 14 that God says that he will tend to sheep in good pasture and their grazing place will be on Israel's lofty mountains. There they will lie down in a good grazing place. They will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. And in verse 15, he says, I will tend my flock and let them lie down. I just love this picture of God bringing His people to their land so that they could experience rest and refreshment. The language in this verse reminds me of Psalm 23, when David says that God makes him lie down in green pastures. But it also, I think, points us forward to Matthew, Matthew 11:28, when Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. So Ezekiel 34:7 16 shows us God's heart to give his people rest and he has ultimately provided that rest through Christ.

[Beth]

I love that I've never made that connection between Psalm 23 and Matthew 11 before, and those are two of my favorite passages, so I love that you drew out those connections there. Well, I cannot wait to discuss this passage more throughout this week, so join us tomorrow as we unpack all of Ezekiel's context and talk more about what this passage shows us about God.

[Alexa]

Thank you for listening to today's episode of A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. Be sure to check out our show notes for some helpful links and resources related to today's episode and make sure you're following Daily Grace Podcast and the Daily Grace Co on Instagram for more Bible study resources and encouragement. We're looking forward to studying God's Word with you again tomorrow. Bye friends.