Rescue for Scattered Sheep
Ezekiel 34:1-16 ·December 7, 2025· Joel Passmore
Part of: Ezekiel, God Said He Will
Rescue for Scattered Sheep: Though other leaders fail, God will always look out for you. This is the first of a 4-part miniseries for Advent as we anticipate and celebrate the fulfillment of God's promises.
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Welcome to the season of Advent, everyone. Truth be told, on the calendar, actually, Advent started last week. But anyway, we are in the season of Advent, and we're happy to be here together. If you don't know what Advent is or means, it's all about anticipation. It's all about looking forward. It's a season of expectation, of looking forward to celebrating the first coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and looking forward to His second coming, His return.
It's a season where we get our expectations raised a little bit. So the Old Testament prophets describe these events, describe the events of Christ's first and second coming, sometimes a little bit mixed together. But one of the things the prophets do is they tell us about what's going to be, what's going to happen, what happened when Christ came the first time and what's going to happen when He comes the second time. Last year, we spent four weeks in the prophet Isaiah during Advent, and this year we're going to spend four weeks in Ezekiel.
So let me tell you a little bit about Ezekiel. He was born in Judah near the end of the 7th century. He was the son of a priest. He too became a priest, but then he was sent away with the others in the Babylonian exile. That's when he was called by God to be a prophet. So he's one of the few handful of folks who were both priest and prophet. And all of his words of prophecy came during the exile, when he was in exile, and most of the people were in exile.
Ezekiel lived through the Babylonian invasion and conquest. He lived through the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple of Solomon, the temple that Solomon had built. He knew that all of this was happening because the people had so thoroughly turned away from the Lord. God's people had so thoroughly turned away from him, worshiping idols, committing injustice, that there was judgment coming upon them. He knew that this was happening for this reason because God told him that's why it was happening.
But God told Ezekiel something else too. God said he would save them. God said he would intervene. God said that he would rescue, that he would deliver, that he would bring them back, that he would restore the land. God told them about the coming salvation that would happen, that they would not always be in exile, they would not always be scattered among the nations, that God would forgive, that God would call them back, that God would heal.
The title of this series, this little four-week series, is God Said He Will. God Said He Will. In these four weeks, we're only going to cover two chapters, Ezekiel 34 and Ezekiel 37. These are beautiful, compelling promises from God. Promises of renewal, of hope, of Him coming in power and in purpose to address the needs that we have. These chapters give us promises that we can rely on, that you can rely on, if you rely on Him. You can't rely on these promises if you're not relying on Him.
But if you are, then you can take every one of these words to the bank. Because God does not lie. He's not a man that He would lie. He doesn't change His mind. He will fulfill these things that He has promised here. Right? So people of God, if you're relying on Him, rely on these words. Turn with me to Ezekiel 34, and let's get started. This is the very word of the Lord. It came to the people of God a long time ago. It was the word of God then, it's the word of God now.
It's in your bulletin. It's in your Bible. If you brought a Bible, it's in your Bible app if you have it. Wherever you are looking, it's the word of the Lord. So let's pay attention to it today.
The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. So, prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God, ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves. Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat. You clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened. The sick you have not healed. The injured you have not bound up.
The strayed you have not brought back. The lost you have not sought. And with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered. They wandered all over the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered all over the face of the earth with none to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts 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.
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding of the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord God, Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
And 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 ravines and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture. And on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.
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 and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. Pray with me.
Lord God, speak to us. Each one of us individually and us together as a people speak to us, encourage us, tell us the truth about our great need for you and your great, great provision for that need. Hallelujah, Lord. You will never fail. And your word will never fail. Come into us, Lord. Change our hearts. Make us more like you. And most of all, Lord, help us to depend on you more than we started today. Help us taste and see that you're good and follow you wherever you lead us.
In Jesus' name we pray. God said he will. Here's the first one. Rescue for scattered sheep. Rescue for scattered sheep. Though other leaders fail, God will always look out for you. Though other leaders fail, God will always look out for you. Something wonderful about these chapters of Ezekiel is how relatable they are. Ezekiel has got some very strange passages that are very hard to understand. Then you get to 34 and other chapters like it and it's very relatable.
He gets us. He gets us. He's describing problems that we know about. Here, the problem is the pain caused by bad leaders. When someone responsible for your care fails and instead hurts you. If you've ever felt abandoned or neglected or taken advantage of, I want you to pay attention to this passage. Grab hold of it. And remember, it doesn't tell you how to take care of yourself. It tells you that God will take care of you. This is not a manual for how you can dress your own wounds.
It's a promise for how He will do it for you. So go to Him. This is all about God's intervention for scattered sheep in three parts. God calls out, God steps in, and God takes over. God calls out, God steps in, and God takes over. So let's start with this first one. God calls out. This chapter opens with an indictment handed down by from God through Ezekiel. This is one of the functions of the prophets. The prophets had a lot of different purposes in the plan of God.
One of the purposes of the prophets was when God had a complaint or a charge, He sends the prophet to people and He says, you've been served. Here it is. You've been served. I want you to show up before the Lord in answer to these charges. But this indictment is different. It's not going to all the people. It is only to a select category. It's going to the shepherds. And the charge against them is that they have abused their authority.
Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves. Leadership is supposed to be for the sake of the people. God says, should not the shepherds feed the sheep? These men have served themselves at the sheep's expense. You eat the fat. Another way to translate this is you drink the milk. You clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. Milk, wool, meat. These shepherds just looked out of the sheep and they saw them as objects to exploit.
What can I get from these sheep? But the problem is not just what they did, it's what they failed to do. Look at verse 4. Lots of repetition in this passage. If you're taking notes or something, circle these things. Write them down. If you look at verse 4, you'll see the phrase you have not five times. Five times you have not. The repetition drives the point home. This is dereliction of duty.
And in front of each you have not is a description of the needy sheep. That too is intentional. It puts the victims front and center. The weak, the sick, the injured, the strayed, the lost. These poor sheep are in this condition because the shepherds took advantage and then in their need the sheep were ignored.
A double problem. The sheep are the people of course. But who are the shepherds? All the commentators I read agreed that the shepherds are probably the former kings of Israel, former kings of Judah. It was common in the ancient Near East to refer to kings as shepherds both outside Israel and within. God had told Saul, you shall be the shepherd of my people Israel. these kings were supposed to care for the people but they didn't. A few of them did but most of them didn't.
And we don't live under a king but we all live under authority figures. Every elected, even the elected leaders in a democratic republic have a responsibility to the people. Presidents, senators, governors, city council members, school board members, they should all heed the warning of this passage. God sees how they act in their role. God sees what they're doing with their position of power. He sees and He will judge. He sees and He will judge.
But this includes not just our political leaders but our church leaders as well. We heard this earlier from 1 Peter. Elders, shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Pastors and elders are called to serve the sheep not themselves. Not for shameful gain.
Protecting and tending eagerly and gentler. Not domineering over those in your charge. Sadly, this is not always our experience. Harm from church leaders is real and it's so painful.
I've had to repent of my own sins as a shepherd. And although I hate to say it, I'm sure I will need to do that again before it's all said and done. Proverbs says when the wicked rule the people groan.
The closer a bad leader is to our daily lives the deeper the wounds that they cause. And often in our woundedness we just retreat entirely from every leader. We only listen to ourselves. We tend to our own needs.
Or we turn to leaders who are more distant who have less capacity to hurt us. A preacher on YouTube has far less capacity to hurt you than I do. We find by the dozens online people who are willing to lead us from a distance where the hurt is less possible. Social media is full of people trying to steer you and shepherd you.
Young people pay attention. They are trying to shepherd you and influence you. They don't call them influencers for nothing. We act like we're in control. We can scroll past them whenever we want. but they have an ability to lead you. If they're talking to you they can lead you. They have the channel you don't.
They might promise to care but only leave you hungry and restless. Remember they only want your views. They don't want your good. They only want your views.
So those are the leaders that we are subject to. Some we subject ourselves to. Some God has put into place. We know the condition that we're in. We know that bad leadership is out there. But here's the good news. God sees and God knows. God sees and God knows and God steps in. The first sign that God won't allow this mistreatment to stand is two words. My sheep. If you have a pen and you're taking notes just circle every time you see my sheep in this passage.
You're going to come up with eleven times. Eleven times God says my sheep. My sheep were scattered. My sheep have become a prey. My sheep have become food. You can hear the indignation ringing out through the prophet's voice. This strikes fear into the shepherd's hearts. But it's music to the sheep's ears. Because they're hearing God say those are not just any sheep. Those are not just these sheep. Those are my sheep. They're mine. This is not an expression of ownership like these sheep are just coins in God's pocket.
It's a term of endearment. It's like when I say that's my wife. Those are my daughters. It's not ownership. That's endearment. And speaking of my daughters, when they were younger and I heard about them getting picked on at school, the reflex was strong and instinctive and protective. When the situation called for it, I would intervene. It didn't matter that I was way, way older than the kid I was talking to.
It didn't matter that I wasn't their dad. I was her dad. She belongs to me. And you better watch yourself the way you speak to her, the way you treat her. I'm watching. I'm on these field trips. I'm at the playground.
You better believe that God is watching you too wherever you are. If you have come to God in repentance and faith, then you are his child. He is your zealous and protective father. I have called you by name. You are mine, he says. He says, watch out, bullies. Watch out, bad shepherds. Those are my sheep.
Entrust yourself to him and then rest in this. You are not your own, but you belong, body and soul and life and in death to your faithful savior, Jesus Christ. God cares about your care. He does.
And the first act of care is to remove the bad shepherds. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. Their negligence and their abuse has disqualified them. They don't get put on a performance improvement plan. God says, you're done here. You're done here. In this world, people who have done terrible things always seem to wriggle out of accountability. Is anyone else incensed by that? They hold a press conference and they lawyer up and they put together this word salad fake apology and they just keep right on going in the same role that they've been in.
Just a bump in the road in their career. This passage gives all scattered sheep a sweet relief and that relief is called accountability. These shepherds aren't allowed to justify themselves or put on a PR campaign or claim victimhood. For the sake of the sheep, these shepherds are simply dismissed. You're done here. But God doesn't spend any further space discussing them. They don't dominate this passage. Don't you hate it when the perpetrators of a crime get more coverage than the victims?
God doesn't tell us why the shepherds acted this way. He doesn't even tell us what their punishment will be. He wants to focus on the restoration of the sheep.
That's what his focus is. And that's what most of this passage is about. At least the second half of it. He's not going to go into detail about what's going to happen with the shepherds. He wants to talk to the sheep. He wants to speak to you scattered sheep and reassure you of his promise to care. And to do that God takes over. The solution to bad shepherds isn't no shepherd. The solution to bad shepherds is the good shepherd. Okay? They say if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.
That is almost never true. The only exception is for God. for it to be done right he has to do it himself. And so verse 10 says this I will require my sheep at their hand. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths. I will. Two words that form the big theme of Ezekiel 34 and 37. In these two chapters God says I will 47 47 times 47 times he declares what he will do for his people. Our God means what he says and he says what he means and he always backs up his words with action.
In this passage he says I will so many times that I'm going to just for the sake of digestion we're going to have to condense it to three pairs of actions. Three pairs. This is the application section of the sermon but it's God who's taking the action. This is the uno reverse card of this sermon. Three pairs of actions that God will do but that we need to respond to. Here's the first one. He will search and rescue. He goes out to find the scattered sheep and this is not a game of hide and seek.
They aren't just out in the backyard within the fence behind a tree. They've wandered over all the mountains and over all the face of the earth. And they don't have tracking devices implanted in them like some of your read read the landscape figure out which way they went go after them you have to be a mountaineer you've got to be climbing over all of this terrain and then when you finally find the sheep you've got to figure out a way to get this sheep back safely even if it means carrying that sheep to be a shepherd was tough but God's tough sheep and will seek them out listen friends he tracks you down he tracks you down whatever state he finds you in he intervenes you might be hurt you might be trapped in the bottom of a valley you might be surrounded by wolves he comes to rescue you he is searching are you listening are you listening for him to call when you hear him coming rustling in the bushes will you hide or will you turn towards him will you trust this shepherd to get you out of distress and lay down your own solutions your independence and say he's coming for me I need to listen for him here's the second pair of actions God will bring out and bring into both together bring out and bring into verse 13 says I will bring them out from the peoples and countries and bring them into their own land out and into scattered sheep like us end up places where we were not meant to be just like a certain raccoon in Hanover did last weekend I can tell you heard about this in case
you didn't hear about this it made national news even the BBC picked it up so I guess it's international news a raccoon raccoon broke into an ABC store in Hanover broke a lot of bottles of whiskey and started binge drinking he passed out drunk in the bathroom and that's where the owners of the people people who are scattered end up where they shouldn't be like that raccoon in that ABC store when you're feeling hurt and lonely when you're searching for some help some comfort you end up in places you shouldn't be you end up in addictions you end up with false identities you end up vulnerable for spiritual danger God comes to bring us out of those places and bring us into recovery to bring us out and bring us into now that raccoon was not in a state to resist animal control there was no resistance from that animal but sometimes animals who need rescue resist help it's just instinctive they think they're going to get hurt their struggle is against their own good when you when he taps you on the shoulder friends and he says it's time to go will you obey him or will he need to put you on his back God says we can do this the easy way or the hard way when he send send into the good place listen to him won't you listen to him won't you obey you can't come into God's help without leaving where you've been here's the last one the last pair God will give us food and rest food and rest food and rest are the basics of care taking and God doesn't skimp he doesn't give us the bargain brand sheep
chow when he feeds us it's the good stuff it's the good stuff I've seen commercials for really expensive bougie dog food even the commercials look expensive I can only imagine how much this dog food costs I have to admit I roll my eyes when I see these commercials but when I read this passage I get it if you really love your dog and you have a ton of money you're going to give that dog really good food well listen God really loves you and he has it all so what do you think he's going to feed you friends is he going to give you the bargain stuff no he's going to spare no expense I to hear believers united with by the spirit in Christ he satisfies our hunger with himself of course he gives us the best he's addressing the deep needs that we have and in the same way he offers us real rest they shall lie down in good grazing land I myself will make them lie down this phrase make them lie down it makes me think of preschool and being made to take a nap foam vinyl foam mats that they would give you I hated that I hated being told it's nap time you gotta lay down right I wanted to keep playing but the truth is I needed to rest they church you are not built to go go go all the time you need rest you need time without plans you need time without scrolling sometimes even when you have no plans you still have your phone I know I do scrolling scrolling that's not rest you need time with him we need to stop regularly in a quiet place to be still to tell him what's on our hearts and our minds
to listen to him he knows we need it and he gives this to us sometimes by making us lie down for our own good God is determined to meet our needs but when he offers us food and rest will we accept it will we agree with him and we call it good will we call the things that God are giving us good or will we look at it and we say no thanks and choose our own good now you can see what God is doing here even before he says it I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep I myself he takes over he sees to it that his sheep receive the care they need his son because Jesus came to seek and save the lost he came to us Matthew tells us when Jesus saw the crowds he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd that compassion church took him to the cross where he delivered us from death by laying down his life pulled us and he put himself into it he is both tough and tender exactly as a shepherd should be in Jesus God is keeping his word searching and rescuing bringing us out of sin and into life giving us food and rest and all of those promises will be fulfilled when he returns we will be gathered with him in the new heavens and the new earth the sheep with his shepherd the sheep with our shepherd and he will say oh my sheep you'll never have to be concerned again about your provision you'll never be hurt anymore you'll never miss a meal you will always be at rest with me