← A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace
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- [00:01]
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 in 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.
- [00:18]
Podcast Host
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 but the center of it.
- [00:32]
Alexa
Hey everyone. Welcome back to Year in the Bible. I'm Alexa and I'm here with my co host Beth.
- [00:37]
Beth
Hey friends, Today we're going to be going deeper into the passage that we annotated yesterday. Ezekiel 34, 7, 16. So to start us off, Alexa, can you share with us how this passage fits into the story of Scripture?
- [00:49]
Alexa
Yes. We have been discussing different prophetic books for a bit now. Last week we are in Jeremiah and this week we are in Ezekiel. God's people are in exile and God commissions a man who is also a priest, Ezekiel, to speak to the Israelites who are being stubborn and hard hearted. Ezekiel will speak God's words to the people, calling them to repent from their sins and walk in obedience to God. The Israelites were struggling in their obedience to God, but they also had leaders over them who were failing to take care of them as they should. They they aren't caring for Israel's physical and spiritual needs. Instead, they are taking advantage of Israel for their own selfish gain. And that's the situation we see being talked about in Ezekiel 34. We read in Ezekiel 34, 2, 6 that God speaks these words to the shepherds. Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves. Shouldn't the shepherds feed their flock? You eat the fat, wear the wool and butcher the fat animals, but you do not tend the flock. You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd. They became food for all the wild animals. When they were scattered, my flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth and there was no one searching or seeking for them. So while the Israelites are being disobedient, we see that God still cares for his people. And he's not going to allow these shepherds, these leaders to take advantage of his people, people any longer. He is Going to be their shepherd instead.
- [02:27]
Beth
That's beautiful. We really do get to see God's heart here in this passage. So will you say more about what we learn about who God is?
- [02:35]
Alexa
Yeah, I really love that we see both God's justice and mercy displayed in this passage. God shows his justice by rescuing his people from these shepherds and preventing the shepherds from hurting his people any longer. So in one sense, God is going to shepherd his people with justice by removing them from these leaders, but he's also going to shepherd his people with justice by giving them what the shepherds have failed to give them. In the beginning of the chapter we read how the shepherds didn't strengthen the weak, heal the sick, manage the injured, bring back the strays, or that they didn't seek the lost. So God says, I'm going to do this essentially. And we see this in Ezekiel 34:16 as God says, I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. And so God is going to justly give the these. These people, the Israelites, what the shepherds did not. But God's mercy is also at play here. We see his mercy in that he sees that his people are lost and wayward and he does something about it. He seeks out the lost, gathers them together and brings them to a place of rest. And in fact we see that God is bringing them back to their land. They are in exile now. But God says three times that he is going to shepherd his people on Israelites mountain. So God is going to restore his people from exile. But God isn't done. Later in Ezekiel, we read that God is going to establish one shepherd over his people, his servant David. So while God will take care of his people, it's this promised shepherd who will ultimately take care of God's people and give them true rest, renewal and restoration.
- [04:09]
Beth
So cool. Through all of these prophetic books, we've really seen God display His justice and his mercy in a perfect balance, which is really something. I don't think I know a single human being who can balance those things. Well, people usually usually lean way too lenient where they don't have any conviction and don't speak up against evil, or they're too harsh and too concerned with justice that they neglect to show compassion or understanding. God is not like us, though. He can be perfectly just and perfectly merciful at the same time. Well, friends, we are finished for today, but come back tomorrow as we discuss our New Testament passage and our annotations.
- [04:44]
Podcast Host
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 a daily gracepodcast and hedaily graceco on Instagram for more Bible study resources and encouragement.
- [05:01]
Alexa
We're looking forward to studying God's Word with you again tomorrow. Bye, friends.