THE SHEPHERDS OF GOD'S PEOPLE EZEKIEL 34

Shepherding is an occupation that most of us will never consider outside of a setting like this. We won’t have our children tell us that they want to be a shepherd when they grow up. We will probably only think about them when we put up our Christmas decorations and when we are in church hearing a reference to them.

However for the immediate audience of those the Bible was written to, the occupation of a shepherd very well could have been one that a child would enter. Families of shepherds lived in tents and led their flocks from field to field seeking new pastures. 

You would pass these shepherds on your way around the community, but it would be a common occupation that people knew much about.

God uses the occupation to describe Himself and the leaders and kings of the people. It is a metaphor that is used for leaders in the church. The name “pastor” is a name that has at its roots the occupation of a shepherd.

Tonight, we are going to take this occupation and seek to understand what it means to shepherd God’s people and what should be expected of God’s leaders.