Monthly Archives: November 2024

Ezekiel 36 A Healed Land for a People Renewed Heart and Spirit

3 Replies

By Kreecher at Russian Wikipedia – Transferred from ru.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4241172

Ezekiel 36:1-15

1 And you, mortal, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights have become our possession,” 3 therefore prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they made you desolate indeed, and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became an object of gossip and slander among the people; 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted towns, which have become a source of plunder and an object of derision to the rest of the nations all around; 5 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I am speaking in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who, with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, took my land as their possession, because of its pasture, to plunder it. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the watercourses and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am speaking in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the insults of the nations; 7 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer insults.

8 But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they shall soon come home. 9 See now, I am for you; I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown; 10 and I will multiply your population, the whole house of Israel, all of it; the towns shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt; 11 and I will multiply human beings and animals upon you. They shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 12 I will lead people upon you — my people Israel — and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance. No longer shall you bereave them of children.

13 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, “You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,” 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, says the Lord GOD; 15 and no longer will I let you hear the insults of the nations, no longer shall you bear the disgrace of the peoples; and no longer shall you cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord GOD.

The judgment against Mount Seir (Edom) in the previous chapter is mirrored by the words of promise for the mountains of Israel in the first half of chapter thirty-six. Previously in chapter six, Ezekiel set his face towards the mountains of Israel and prophesied against them. Now God’s rising to deal with the violation of the land of Israel by the Edomites, in the aftermath of the exile of the people, opens the path for a renewed relationship between the people and the land. In the first half of Ezekiel the prophet challenged the reliance of the people on the Davidic king, Jerusalem and the temple, and the land as assurances of the LORD’s blessings. In chapter thirty-four Ezekiel could reimagine a world with a proper ‘prince’ acting on behalf of the LORD as the shepherd of the people. Now in this chapter the judgment on Edom and the renewal of the land reimagines a future where the land and the people can live in harmony. Yet, both the land and the people need divine intervention to become what they were intended to be.

Even though the people of Judah have been removed from the land, the land still belongs to the LORD. When Edom and the other nations view this land as their bounty to exploit the LORD is affronted and will not sit by. Psalm seventy-nine, also likely speaking to the time of exile, could cry out to raise God to action:

How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. Psalm 79: 5-7

Yet, initially the concern of this portion of Ezekiel is for the land itself and not for the people. The people of Edom are laying waste to the prior habitation of Judah, but in Ezekiel’s view that people of Judah have been rightly judged by their God and their time in exile is earned. Now God is judging on behalf of the mountains and hills, the watercourses and valleys, and the plundered pastures. The actions of Edom and any others who violated the land have turned the LORD’s anger away from Judah and towards these invaders.

The reputation of the land has suffered in this time where other nations have seized it, and the LORD’s work to repair the reputation of the land leads to a broader time of healing for the mountains and valleys. Although there is in verse twelve the announcement that God will lead the people of Israel back to the land, there is a necessary healing for the land first. This land corrupted by the previous disobedience of the people and bearing the scars of war and famine must become fruitful again. The land begins by bearing fruit and being ready to be farmed again, perhaps having a time of sabbath renewal-but something more direct is indicated in the imagery. The phrase, “See now, I am for you” in verse nine is typically a summon to a duel when utilized in Ezekiel, but here the intent is plainly turning towards the welfare of the land rather than the judgment of the land. God has previously been the shepherd of the flock, and now is the tiller of soil planting the land as a new garden. Formerly destroyed towns will be rebuilt and wastelands inhabited as the land is renewed in expectation of the return of its children.

There is something wrong in this personified land of Israel. Daniel Block can talk about the land,

as having stifled maternal feelings for the nation that inhabits it and having robbed the nation of children. Yahweh hereby promises that this will never happen again. (Block, 1998, p. 335)

There is a long tradition throughout the scriptures of understanding the land personified and reacting in response to the disobedience of humanity. From the earth being cursed by Adam’s disobedience (Genesis 3:17) to the earth cursing Cain for consuming Abel’s blood (Genesis 4:11) to the provisions in the law dealing with an unsolved murder (Deuteronomy 21: 1-9) there is a connection between the people’s disobedience, blood, and the reaction from the land. The land now devours children just like the ‘princes of Israel/lions’ did in chapter nineteen. The rupture between land and people will be repaired by God prior to the reintroduction of the children of Israel. In an interesting echo the land in the time of Ezekiel has once again the fear of the spies sent to scout the land in Numbers 13:32-33

So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people we say in it are of great size. There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come for the Nephilim); and to ourselves seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

In preparation for what is to come the curse upon the land has been removed, the giants are a distant memory, and what remains is a land flowing with milk and honey, of rich fruit and grain filled fields where people and animals can flourish and multiply. The defilement of the land must be healed and so also must the defilement of the people.

Ezekiel 36: 16-21

16 The word of the LORD came to me: 17 Mortal, when the house of Israel lived on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their conduct in my sight was like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual period. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; in accordance with their conduct and their deeds I judged them. 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that it was said of them, “These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.” 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

Ezekiel’s way of understanding the world is often strange to modern readers but it adheres to a priestly understanding of the things that defile. The defilement of the land is coming from the actions of the people. In the law defilement can come from murder (Numbers 35:33-34), sexual relations outside of those permitted (Leviticus 18: 6-25), failing to remove the corpse of hanged criminal (Deuteronomy 21: 22-23) or idolatry (Ezekiel 5:11)[1] (NIB VI: 1489) This is the only time Ezekiel refers to the land being defiled, but as mentioned above there is a tradition stretching back to Genesis of the land responding to the actions of humanity upon it. (See my discussion on the Connection between humanity and the earth) Blood is a consistent theme in these verses and Ezekiel’s metaphor of the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual period links to Leviticus 15: 19-24. Blood in the law is a source of both life and contamination and there are many laws around contact with blood and purification after contact. The actions of the people were not only defiling themselves but also the land they had contact with and their God acted in response to the defilement of both the people and the land.

Ezekiel’s language may be uncomfortable for us but if we consider this strange prophet a part of our scriptures we have to figure out how to receive his messages which come from a world that understands defilement in a very different manner than we do. Ezekiel’s metaphors may have been powerful in his time because of their connection with his culture but also due to their uncomfortable nature. We do not know how the people of Israel actually practiced the laws of Leviticus, whether they truly kept women isolated from the camp for the seven days surrounding their menstrual cycle, but these ideas of cleanness and uncleanness helped to shape the practices and the imagination of the people.

Yet, the strangest thing for most Christian readers of Ezekiel is the image of God. Christians who may have more rigid ideas of holiness and boundaries may be comfortable with Ezekiel’s worldview and often their view of God adheres more closely to Ezekiel’s. God in this way of thinking is firm and a dispenser of justice. Yet, for a Lutheran Christian, like myself, whose witness is centered around the grace of God, the harsh God of Ezekiel is often disconcerting. Several important characteristics of God’s nature are absent in Ezekiel. Ezekiel’s God is never indicated to act in hesed (steadfast love), covenant faithfulness, and only once is the word mercy[2] used. (NIB VI: 1489) Instead Ezekiel focuses on the honor due to God’s name. The divine reputation is the primary motivation for God’s action on behalf of the land and the people in this section. The exile of the people and the violation of the land have had a negative impact of the name (reputation) of the LORD among the nations and for Ezekiel that damage must be addressed.

Ezekiel 36: 17-32

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. 28 Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your dealings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O house of Israel.

This image of the purification and renewal of the people of God is one of the well-known portions of the book of Ezekiel. Receiving a new heart (Hebrew leb) and a new spirit (Hebrew ruach) occurred previously in chapter eleven[3] and is similar to Jeremiah’s one heart and one way.[4] Yet at the same time we receive the heart-warming image of a new heart and new spirit replacing the stony heart of the purified people there is an uncompromising harshness to the image of God presented in this section. As Daniel Block is worthy of extended quotation for his directness on this point:

The modern reader may find Yahweh’s apparent heartlessness at this point disturbing, if not offensive. Yahweh looks like a stuffy egotistical monarch, upset that his subjects have not given him the honor he demands. His response hardly enhances his image. Absent is any compassion toward a bleeding nation, any mercy, any hint of forgiveness. Absent also is any reference to the covenant promises. Indeed, as Zimmerli has observed, a whole class of terms is missing from Ezekiel: hesed, “covenant loyalty,” rahamim, “compassion,” amuna, “faithfulness,” yesua, “salvation,”’ahaba, “love.” (Block, 1998, p. 352)

As mentioned previously, the motivation reinforced once again is that the LORD is acting for the sake of the name of the LORD and the reputation of that name. These actions are explicitly not for the people of Israel’s sake. Yet, regardless of the motives for God’s actions there are benefits for the people.

This reminds me of the ‘guilt piety’ in the Lutheran church that I grew up in. The language from the 1958 Service Book and Hymnal used by many Lutheran congregations declared in confession that, “we are by nature sinful and unclean.” And much of the preaching differentiated between our fundamental unworthiness and God’s undeserved grace towards us. Yet, this led to a practice of self-loathing similar to the desired end of these actions for Israel. Israel here is to loathe themselves and to be ashamed and dismayed at their ways. I understand the desire for repentance and the emphasis on personal accountability for the actions which defile the people and the land. Yet, the image of God presented throughout Ezekiel does not seem to have steadfast love, compassion, faithfulness, or love for the land or the people. Perhaps this is the language of a brokenhearted God and a brokenhearted prophet, and perhaps both will learn to love again in the future, but for now a purified people of a new heart and new spirit precede any renewal of God’s heart and spirit.

Human initiative will not be a prerequisite for the LORD’s actions on behalf of the land and the people. The people will be gathered and returned to the land to display the holiness of God and repair God’s reputation. Previously sprinkling with water has been used for the consecration of priests and Levites, for ritual cleanness on the day of atonement, and for cleansing a person defiled by a corpse.[5] Each of these images has resonance to this situation: the people are reformed to accept their role as a priestly kingdom and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6) in this time of atonement where their defilement from their past bloody actions is removed. Yet the verb for sprinkling is often used for the sprinkling with blood, particularly in Exodus 24:6-8 where the people are sprinkled with blood to seal the covenant with the people at Sinai. As Tova Ganzel notes, all of these actions also prepare the nation to not defile the future temple of chapters forty through forty-eight. (Ganzel, 2020, p. 305)

The familiar image of a new heart and new spirit to replace the stony heart are an act of the LORD to create a situation where the people can be faithful. In Hebrew leb and ruach are the locus of will and thought.[6] Through most of scripture, and even in Ezekiel, people are told to get a new heart (Ezekiel 18:31) but here the action is solely God’s. In Deuteronomy 30 the people are told to seek God with their heart, but then later God promises to circumcise their hearts. Now God’s reaction to human stubbornness and wickedness is a heart and spirit transplant. A renewed land awaits purified people bearing fleshy hearts and godly spirits. Yet, a heartbroken God acts for God’s own honor and for the sake of the land. God’s heart seems too broken here to love the people in return at this point.

Ezekiel 36: 33-38

33 Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the towns to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined towns are now inhabited and fortified.” 36 Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.

37 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will also let the house of Israel ask me to do this for them: to increase their population like a flock. 38 Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals, so shall the ruined towns be filled with flocks of people. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

God’s intervention on behalf of the land has transformed the wasteland that eats its children into a cultivated garden as full of life as the garden of Eden. Vegetation and animals are fruitful once again. Towns and cities have both the walls that protect the city and the habitations within the city rebuilt. The trauma inflicted on the land by the impurity of the people’s actions and the scars of war are healed and the land is ready to receive its children as a caring and responsible mother. The nations will see the renewal of the land, the nation of Israel, and the people and give the proper honor to the LORD the God of Israel in this vision. The LORD’s words become the assurance that this future will occur.

Previously in Ezekiel the LORD has been unwilling to hear the petitions of Israel, but now Israel is invited to ask for God to make their population grow. In chapter thirty-four the LORD was the shepherd caring for the flock, which was the people of Israel, and now as a good shepherd practicing proper husbandry of the flock it leads to an increase in the population of the people under God’s care. They will become as numerous as the memory of animals gathered around the temple at the time of festivals when sacrifice was practiced. The renewed land and rebuilt cities will be filled with people and both land and people will again be fruitful. Previously the people and the nation had known the LORD through the actions of judgment, but now they will now the LORD through the prosperity of the land and the population.

[1] The idolatry in Ezekiel five explicitly defiles the temple, but defilement in Ezekiel’s understanding would not be limited to the temple but expand to the city, the people, and the land itself.

[2] Ezekiel 39:25.

[3] Ezekiel 11:19.

[4] Jeremiah 31:33-34.

[5] See Exodus 29:4, Numbers 8:7, Leviticus 16: 4,24,26, and Number 19: 1-22.

[6] In Hebrew the heart is not primarily for emotion. That often in Hebrew thought comes from the bowels or gut.

Ezekiel 35 Judgment on Edom and Hope for Judah

3 Replies

Kingdoms around Israel 830 BCE. *Oldtidens_Israel_&_Judea.svg: FinnWikiNoderivative work: Richardprins (talk)derivative work: Richardprins (talk) – Kingdoms_of_Israel_and_Judah_map_830.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10876701

 Ezekiel 35

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, Thus says the Lord GOD:

I am against you, Mount Seir; I stretch out my hand against you to make you a desolation and a waste.

4 I lay your towns in ruins; you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

5 Because you cherished an ancient enmity, and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment; 6 therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed shall pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation; and I will cut off from it all who come and go. 8 I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses those killed with the sword shall fall. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall never be inhabited. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

10 Because you said, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them,” — although the LORD was there — 11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among you, when I judge you. 12 You shall know that I, the LORD, have heard all the abusive speech that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are laid desolate, they are given us to devour.” 13 And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. 14 Thus says the Lord GOD: As the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

Mount Seir is a geographical linkage to the people of Edom. This reference to Mount Seir will parallel the references to the mountains of Israel in the following chapter. Chapter 35 and Chapter 36:1-15 function together to link the condemnation of Edom with the hope for the mountains of Israel. Edom received a short but harsh condemnation among the nations in Ezekiel 25: 12-14 and its frequent references in the prophets, Psalms, and Lamentations[1] illustrate a long-lasting struggle between the people of Israel/Judah and Edom. Verse five indicates that Mount Seir/Edom cherished an ancient enmity (literally an enmity of eternity in Hebrew) and this may go back to the origin narrative in scripture of Jacob and Esau (the biblical origins of Edom) where the twins struggled in Rebekah’s womb and throughout their lives.[2]

In the previous chapter Ezekiel pointed to a vision of a new shepherd or king (or more properly for Ezekiel prince) who is David. Now Ezekiel begins the process of a renewed relationship with the land, but before the people can have their relationship with the land renewed the intrusions of the Edomites must be dealt with by God. In the vacuum left by the depopulation of the land by Babylon (and earlier Assyria for the northern kingdom) the Edomites have viewed this as a time to stake their claim on this fertile land. The Hebrew root behind ‘desolation’ or ‘desolate’ occurs ten times in this short section and set the theme for this judgment of Mount Seir. The abusive speech and actions of the people of Edom have been heard by the LORD and will be dealt with by God’s actions. The removal of the people by Nebuchadrezzar (acting as God’s agent of judgment) does not remove the land from God’s protection. This is a message of hope for the people of Judah. Those who have rejoiced and profited from the desolation of the people of Israel and may be participating in hunting down the survivors still remaining in the land will now experience their own judgment and desolation. This turn by God against the nations who are plundering the land of Israel will lead in the following chapter to a renewal of the land for the people of Israel.

[1] Amos 1: 11-12, Isaiah 34: 5-17, Jeremiah 49: 7-22, Malachi 1: 2-5, Obadiah 11-14, Psalm 137:7, and Lamentations 4: 21-22.

[2] Genesis 25: 22-34 and the continuing narrative which runs through Genesis 33.

A Review of A Passage to India by E. M. Foster

Leave a reply

Time Magazine Top 100 Novels

Book 70: A Passage to India by E. M. Foster (1924)

This is a series of reflections reading through Time Magazine’s top 100 novels as selected by Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo published since 1923 (when Time magazine was founded). For me this is an attempt to broaden my exposure to authors I may not encounter otherwise, especially as a person who was not a liberal arts major in college. Time’s list is alphabetical, so I decided to read through in a random order, and I plan to write a short reflection on each novel.

A Passage to India is an uncomfortable read. It is a story set in India under British colonial rule and is a story of multiple cultures that do not communicate effectively with each other. There is the British citizens who view themselves as people bringing civilization to the people of India and view the Indian people as inferior and dangerous. Even among the Indians there are the divisions between Muslim and Hindu Indians. Two women come to India, Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Adela Quested, to visit Mrs. Moore’s son, Ronny who is the magistrate for the fictional city of Chandrapore. Both women hope to experience India while they are there, but the English citizens in India, especially the women, keep to the safety of their compounds. Mrs. Quested is also trying to decide if she will marry Ronny Moore, and initially she is inclined to break off the engagement, but in a stressful situation she agrees to marry Ronny. Later the two women go on an outing to the Marabar Hills with Doctor Aziz, a Muslim Indian doctor who attempts to meet the expectations of these English women. Yet, Adela Quested in a moment of being overwhelmed in the cave first, unknowingly, insults Doctor Aziz and then later accuses him of assaulting her.

The English, except for Cyril Fielding the headmaster of a small government run college for Indians, are convinced of Doctor Aziz’ guilt, and the Indians rally around the Doctor. Eventually in the trial Mrs. Quested withdraws her accusation and Doctor Aziz is freed, but animosity remains between all the characters until almost the end of the story. It is a story of miscommunication and varied expectations between cultures. English, Muslims, and Hindus in the story often have no interest in understanding one another.

I cannot say I enjoyed this book. I understand why it is an important book, especially when it was published in 1924. Even though E. M. Foster attempts to be sympathetic to the Indian characters in the story, there are times that I cringe at the way he portrays them. Part of this may be that I live in an area with a large Indian population and although their level of education and their exposure to western society is different that what colonial India would have experienced in the 1920s, there are times when the colonial attitudes the book is attempting to critique still come through.

Ezekiel 34 Unfaithful and Faithful Shepherd

5 Replies

Sheep in Turkmenistan By Bayram A – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=104988739

Ezekiel 34: 1-10 Against the Unfaithful Shepherds of Israel

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them — to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. 4 You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 As I live, says the Lord GOD, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10 Thus says the Lord GOD, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.

Scripture utilize the metaphor of shepherd to refer to the king or leaders among the people frequently, and this taps into a broader utilization of this metaphor in literature throughout the region.[1] This is not the first time that Ezekiel has criticized the leaders who led the people of Judah to disaster, but this is the first time the prophet taps into this well understood metaphor. These shepherds who are responsible for a flock that is entrusted to them have looked to their own welfare instead of the welfare of the flock they are to care for. Instead of feeding the flock in the metaphor they feed on the flock. They have not cared for the vulnerable, which was to be the responsibility of the leaders of Israel, instead they have profited from the produce of the sheep. They either drink the milk from or eat the fat of the sheep,[2] wear the wool from the sheep, and slaughter the fatlings of the flock. These leaders have fleeced their followers, and the very ones charged with protecting and feeding them have abused them. This metaphor is very similar to Jeremiah 23:1-6, and it is plausible that Ezekiel would be familiar with Jeremiah’s utilization of this imagery as well.

The founding story of the people of Israel is the Exodus, and their existence as slaves under Pharoah was to be the antitheses of their existence as the people of God. Yet now the leaders are ruling with force and harshness. The word translated harshness (parak) is the same work utilized in Exodus 1:13-14 for Pharoah’s oppression of the Israelites. Leviticus 25: 43, 46, and 53 explicitely warns against treating fellow Israelites in with harshness (parak). In addition to the metaphor of the shepherds not caring for and even eating the flock we now have an allusion to these princes in Judah acting like the Pharoah of ancient times towards the people.

Micaiah son of Imlah predicted the failure of King Ahab’s campaign against Aram stating, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the LORD said, ‘These have no master; let each one go home in peace.’” (1 Kings 22:17) Although the people of Judah have recently suffered a military defeat, these inattentive shepherds have already created a situation similar to the confusion after Ahab’s death. In the metaphor these sheep are without a shepherd and wander not only over the mountains of Israel but are scattered over all the face of the earth.

These unfaithful shepherds who have failed the sheep now have to account for the sheep they have failed to care for. The owner of the sheep is not the shepherds but is the LORD the God of Israel. God, as the owner of the flock, will now have to find a different arrangement to ensure the health of the flock, but the shepherds are under judgment. Since the shepherds would not search for or gather the flock, the remainder of the chapter turns to a hopeful note for the flock where good shepherds are given responsibility for the care of the flock.

Ezekiel 34: 11-22 God the Shepherd

11 For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

17 As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats: 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? 19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, 22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures the image of God being the shepherd for the people is connected with God being the king for the people.[3] Although the time period of the judges, early in Israel’s story, was a time of conflict and the people desired a king to unify the people for military campaigns or security, there is always an element where Israel was to embody a different way of being than the surrounding nations. There is a strong voice in the Hebrew Scriptures that resists the appointment of a king over the people which critiques the failures of the kings to stay within the restrained vision of kingship that texts like Deuteronomy 17: 14-20 present. Yet, the kings of Judah and Israel have now lost their authority, and as we saw previously it because of their unfaithfulness in their care for the people. The prophets and poets of the people have imagined a reality where God is their king, and now continuing the shepherd metaphor now God does what the unfaithful shepherds did not.

The previous shepherds have allowed the flock to be scattered throughout the earth, and now God is the one to regather the flock and bring then back to the rich pastures of the land of Israel. This is one of the images of a hopeful future for the people beyond exile in Babylon. Even beyond the exiles of Judah in Babylon and Egypt, there is probably also a hope for the tribes of the Northern Kingdom that were scattered throughout the Assyrian empire being reunified into a healed nation of Israel. This is a hopeful vision for those who are weak, injured, lost and strayed but life in this renewed kingdom is a life of justice. The fat and the strong who have exploited the weak and injured will now be fed with justice. There is an imagined leveling of society in this image.

Even within the flock there are those who refuse to live in a way that is beneficial for the community. Using two complementary images: sheep who trample the pasture and foul the waters and fat sheep who pushed the weak animals away from the food and water, these exploiters are highlighted. God’s concern is for the larger flock, and if there are individual animals who prevent the weaker animals from having the pasture and water they need the LORD will see and deal with them.

Ezekiel 34: 23-31 David as Shepherd

23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

25 I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely. 26 I will make them and the region around my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. 27 The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They shall no more be plunder for the nations, nor shall the animals of the land devour them; they shall live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the insults of the nations. 30 They shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God, says the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, has been involved in dismantling a ‘Zion theology’ which placed its trust in the Davidic king, the city of Jerusalem, the temple, and the land as signs of God’s unending favor. Each of these things have been lost by the people, but now Ezekiel begins to rebuild and reimagine each of these former signs of God’s favor beginning with the line of David. In a reunified and gathered Israel there is a new shepherd appointed by God, David. Yet, this new Davidic figure is not given the title of king, but the title of prince. God remains king while David is the prince chosen to faithfully shepherd the people in this time of blessing and prosperity.

Ezekiel and the other prophets of both the exile and post exile refer to a Davidic figure as a symbol of a new time of prosperity under God. In Ezekiel the figure is David, but elsewhere the prophets will utilize imagery of a righteous branch raised up for David, raising up the fallen booth of David, or a child on the throne of David.[4] Even for all of Ezekiel’s critique of the princes of Israel, it would probably be unimaginable to return to a time where there was no earthly representative of God’s rule for the people.

God initiates for the people a covenant of peace where the wild animals are banished from the land. The banishment of the wild animals I believe is a continuation of the sheep/shepherd metaphor since sheep are often prey to many predators. God is creating a safe space of prosperity for the flock to pasture and be watered in, and the fields and trees will have the water in the proper time to ensure plenty of food. They will be rescued from their captivity and returned to a land of plenty. This people who has known the humiliation of military defeat, the destruction of their homeland, and the reality of exile among the nations will now be brought home to heal. The result of God’s action on their behalf is that they will know the LORD. They will recognize that their prosperity and security come from God and they, like sheep under a good shepherd in good pastures, will have all they need for their life.

[1] Daniel Block and many other commentators point to the connection with Sumerian and Babylonian literature. (Block, 1998, pp. 280-281)

[2] Translation depends in whether the Hebrew consonants hhlb. The Septuagint (Greek) and Vulgate (Latin) translations read this as hehalab (milk) while the MT (Hebrew text) has haheleb (fat). Arguments can be made for either translation.

[3] Jeremiah 23:3, Psalm 23, Micah 2:12.

[4] Jeremiah 23:5, Isaiah 11:1, Amos 9:11, Isaiah 9: 6-7.