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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 34:23 - 34:31
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The Messiah as the true Shepherd
v. 23. And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, a singular and preeminent one, the Messiah, who claims this honor for himself, Joh_10:14, even My Servant David, the king who was often named as the antitype of Jesus Christ; He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd, the one truly fit to be the Ruler and Protector of His people.
v. 24. And I, the Lord, will be their God, once more occupying this position over against them, and My Servant David, the great Son of David, a Prince among them, as a Ruler in the best sense of the word; I, the Lord, have spoken it.
v. 25. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, namely, by virtue of the atonement of the Savior, Rom_5:1, and will cause the evil beasts, the various enemies who tried to hinder the course of the Gospel, to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, secure in the very midst of the heathen world, as in the case of missionaries, and sleep in the woods, in places where they would ordinarily be in the greatest danger of their lives.
v. 26. And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing, literally, "I give them [the people of God] and the environments of My hill as a blessing"; for this is the function of the Church of God in all its congregations, the visible exponents of the invisible communion of saints; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season, there shall be showers of blessing, namely, through the Gospel-message proclaimed in the Church.
v. 27. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, the believers being rich in good works as the outgrowth of faith, and they shall be safe in their land, leading a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, and shall know that I am the Lord when I have broken the bands of their yoke, that of their spiritual oppression as He broke the yoke of Egypt, Lev_26:13, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them, the oppressors who exploited them, including the false teachers of all times.
v. 28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, to the enemies of God everywhere, neither shall the beast of the land devour them, said of the various dangers threatening the existence of the Lord's Church; but they shall dwell safely, in the security afforded by God's almighty hand, and none shall make them afraid, causing trepidation and terror within the Church.
v. 29. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, literally, "a plantation for a name," the expression evidently including both the Messiah Himself, as the Branch of the Lord, Isa_11:1; Jer_23:6, and the Church founded by him as a garden of the Lord, Isa_60:21, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, namely, with the spiritual hunger which can be satisfied only with the Gospel of God's grace and mercy, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more, for the mockery of the enemies would finally cease.
v. 30. Thus shall they know that I, the Lord, their God, am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, those who are Israelites in truth, by faith in the one Redeemer, are My people, saith the Lord God.
v. 31. And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, who have derived all their spiritual food and strength from the Lord alone, are men, enrolled under His banner and standing up for the truth of His Gospel, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. This is the preliminary restoration of tile Garden of Eden, in the Church of Christ here on earth, the full consummation and glory being reserved for the Church Triumphant.