Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 34-36.

God gave Ezekiel a prophecy against those who had taken positions of leadership over His people.  This prophecy came in the metaphor of shepherds over a flock of sheep.  It is a very appropriate metaphor for many reasons, but I want to focus on the idea that shepherds profit from their position of leadership over the flock.  A careful reading of this passage reveals that God intends for those He appoints as shepherds over His flock, those to whom He gives positions of leadership, to profit from caring for the people over whom He has put them in charge.  The condemnation of the shepherds in this passage comes not from the fact that they profited from being over the flock, but that they did so without doing the job for which they had been appointed.  The shepherds profited from the flock, but did not take care of the sheep.

This prophecy should be a warning for many of those in positions of leadership today.  All too many of them use their positions to get rich and get into ever more powerful positions without making any effort to care for those under their power, those who should be under their care.  However, those of us who are not in positions of leadership do not get off easy in this prophecy, because Ezekiel goes on to condemn the rich and powerful who are not leaders for abusing the poor and weak.  So, each and every one of us, whether we are in positions of authority or not, need to examine ourselves and how we live our lives.  Are we doing things which interfere with others receiving the good things in life which we have already received?  Do we find ourselves spoiling other people’s happiness?  Moreover, do we use whatever power we do have, however limited it might be, to care for those less fortunate than ourselves?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.