Scattered Sheep and Shoddy Shepherds

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; 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? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 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. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 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, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 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 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. – Ezekiel 34:1-10 ESV

While every Israelite was personally responsible for their own sin, God placed blame on the nation’s leadership and held them culpable for the sorry spiritual state of the His chosen people. The civic and religious leaders of Judah had played an undeniable role in the nation’s demise. According to God, these powerful and influential men were guilty of using their positions of authority to mislead and abuse those under their care. Rather than serving as loving shepherds for God’s flock, they had used their God-given authority for personal gain.

Yahweh, the Good Shepherd, accused these men of fleecing His flock. When they should have been protecting God’s people, they had chosen to use their roles for personal profit and self-promotion. And God warns them that He will hold them responsible for their abuse of power.

“What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?” – Ezekiel 34:2 NLT

God is unsparing in His assessment of their crimes. Using the shepherding metaphor to full advantage, God accuses them of neglect, abuse, cruelty, and dereliction of duty.

“You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.” – Ezekiel 34:4 NLT

But who are these shiftless shepherds? Throughout the Old Testament, the term “shepherd” is used to refer to kings, governors, priests, and even prophets. Since God is addressing His chosen people, His reference to shepherds would include the king and his royal court, as well as all the civic and religious leaders of Israel. Anyone in a position of authority would have been included in God’s indictment.

Earlier in his book, Ezekiel recorded God’s displeasure with the self-proclaimed prophets of Judah who were purporting to speak for God but were actually propagating false messages that contradicted the words of Ezekiel.

“…these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins. They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the Lord. Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions.” – Ezekiel 13:4-6 NLT

The people viewed these men as spiritual leaders and took their words as having come from God. But their messages were nothing but lies, intended to deceive and designed to provide false hope. They were nothing more than snake-oil salesmen promoting a self-concocted product offering beguiling but completely bogus benefits.

But the prophets weren’t the only ones whom God held responsible. The priests also played a role in the nation’s spiritual freefall. The very ones who should have been promoting obedience and modeling faithfulness were guilty of gross misconduct and failure to fulfill their God-given role. The prophet Hosea recorded God’s stinging rebuke of the priestly order and His intention to punish them for their catastrophic abuse of power.

“My people are being destroyed
    because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
    I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
    I will forget to bless your children.
The more priests there are,
    the more they sin against me.
They have exchanged the glory of God
    for the shame of idols.

“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
    So the priests are glad when the people sin!
‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
    So now I will punish both priests and people
    for their wicked deeds.” – Hosea 4:6-9 NLT

The prophet Malachi provides God’s clear explanation of the priestly role and His blunt assessment of those responsible for carrying it out.

“The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites…” – Malachi 2:7-8 NLT

As the spiritual leaders of His people, God held the priests and prophets responsible for the well-being of the flock. They were the teachers and truth-tellers, the guides responsible for leading and feeding the sheep of God’s flock. But they had dropped the ball. Rather than model righteousness and promote holiness, they had led the way in wickedness and unfaithfulness. When God had made His covenant with the tribe of Levi, setting them apart for their role as the priestly order, He declared, “they did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin” (Malachi 2:6 NLT). But all that had changed. Over time, the priests had become corrupt and used their God-ordained roles to promote sin rather than sanctification, and God would hold them accountable.

But there’s one more group of shepherds whom God must expose and excoriate. At the top of the leadership pyramid sat the king and all his royal counselors. As the designated head of state, the king was ultimately responsible for the well-being of the nation. His position as supreme ruler meant that the buck stopped with him. His role as God’s vice-regent provided him with great authority but it came with significant responsibility. The king was to serve as the primary example of submission to God. His power and authority had been delegated to him by God and it was to be used to provide protection and promote godliness. Yet, all throughout the history of the kings of Israel and Judah, there appears a recurring theme. The vast majority of the kings “did what was evil in the Lord’s sight” (2 Kings 15:9 NLT). They promoted idolatry, encouraged wickedness, and modeled unfaithfulness.

King David had encouraged Solomon, his son and heir to the throne, to remain faithful to God. His ascension to the kingship would require obedience to God.

“Observe the requirements of the LORD your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. If you do this, then the LORD will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’” – 1 Kings 2:3-4 NLT

Yet, Solomon had proved to be far from faithful. While he started out well, he ended his reign by promoting idolatry and causing the people to sin against God. As a result, God divided his kingdom in half, creating the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. And both kingdoms demonstrated a propensity for unfaithfulness. The sins of the kings resulted in God’s judgment of the people and their scattering among the nations.

“…my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.” – Ezekiel 34:5-6 NLT

God accuses His shepherds of abandonment. Not only had they been the cause of their sin, but they had also done nothing to restore them to God’s fold when they had become scattered. And God declares His intention to hold these men responsible for their actions. And, more than that, He promises to step in and do what they should have done all along.

“I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.” – Ezekiel 34:10 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Godly Leadership

5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. – Titus 1:5-9 ESV

Paul had left Titus on the island of Crete with a clear set of instructions and responsibilities: He was to put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as Paul had directed him. Paul communicated that first task using just two Greek words, epidiorthoō, and leipō, and the only time in the New Testament that they appear together in a sentence is in this verse. The first word means “to set in order or arrange.” But what was it that Titus was to set in order? The answer is found in the second word. It means “that which is lacking or left undone.” Evidently, Paul had given Titus some previous instructions regarding some unfinished business on the island of Crete, and one of those things had to do with the appointment of elders.

Paul placed a high priority on leadership within the local church and had given Titus the responsibility of finding and appointing men who met the qualifications of an elder. For Paul, the spiritual well-being of the body of Christ was dependent upon godly leadership, and he went out of his way to find men who had the right gift mixes and leadership qualifications to effectively shepherd the church of Christ.

In the grand scheme of things, God had prescribed a very specific set of roles within the local body of Christ. And they were to share a single-minded devotion to one cause: The building up of the body of Christ.

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT

Paul had a strong affinity for the role of the local elder. These men were to be home-grown and faithful members of their local congregations. And they were to meet a fairly robust set of criteria before they could be considered as possible candidates for the role of elder. And Paul told Timothy that it was a good thing for men to see the role of an elder as aspirational and motivational.

If someone aspires to be an elder, he desires an honorable position. – 1 Timothy 3:1 NLT

Yet, this role was not to be taken lightly or treated flippantly. For Paul, it required that a man meet certain non-negotiable requirements that reflected the degree of his integrity and spiritual maturity.

So an elder must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?

An elder must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap. – 1 Timothy 3:2-7 NLT

And it is likely that Paul had, at some point, shared this same list of qualifications with Titus. So, the somewhat abbreviated list found in his letter to Titus was probably meant more as a reminder than as a detailed listing of qualifications. Yet, don’t miss the similarities between the Timothy and Titus lists.

An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. A church leader is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money. – Titus 1:6-7 NLT

You can’t help but notice that character and integrity are essential in the life of an elder. Yet, when Paul states that an elder must live a blameless life, he is not suggesting that they be perfect or without sin. There has been only one man who could meet that qualification: Jesus Christ. But Paul is suggesting that any man who is considered for the role of an elder must be beyond reproach. In other words, there must not be anything in his life that would bring dishonor to the name of God or the cause of Christ. His reputation must be unblemished by even rumors of immoral activity or ungodly behavior.

These were men were expected to take their role seriously, pouring time and energy into the spiritual health of their local congregation.  And the churches they served were to recipocrate with provision for their physical needs.

Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. – 1 Timothy 5:17 NLT

And Paul made it clear that godly character was not only essential for a man to be appointed an elder, but it was also critical in allowing him to remain one. Paul knew that these individuals would have the capacity to fail. After all, they were men. So, if Titus or Timothy received an accusation against a serving elder, they were to take it seriously. But they were also to require that reliable witnesses confirm any accusation that might be leveled against an elder. Hearsay was not to be accepted or tolerated. But if the accusation was proven to be true, immediate disciplinary measures were to be taken.

Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this will serve as a strong warning to others. – 1 Timothy 5:19 NLT

Paul did not consider the moral and spiritual integrity of church leadership as something to treat lightly. And just because a man was well-liked and highly respected did not mean he was to be treated with kid gloves or could escape church discipline.

I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone. – 1 Timothy 5:20 NLT

And the risk of moral failure in the life of an elder was all the more reason to approach their selection and appointment with a sense of gravity and extreme patience.

Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader. 1 Timothy 5:21 NLT

The important thing about the list of qualifications in both of Paul’s letters is that they contain character qualities whose negative manifestations reflect the abuse of the power and authority associated with the role of an elder. A man who had authority over a local congregation could easily abuse his power and find himself acting toward his wife in unfaithfulness. Men who use their God-ordained authority to take advantage of others in order to satisfy their own sinful pleasures will be held accountable by God.

And a man who is supposed to manage the household of God, but who shows clear signs of failing to do that very thing in his own home, has not business holding a place of authority in the church. Paul’s reference to an elder having believing children seems to indicate that he expected an elder candidate to be more advanced in years with children who were old enough to hear and accept the gospel message. If a man failed to lead his own children to Christ, how could he be expected to lead a local congregation? And if his God-appointed role as the head of his own home had not produced Spirit-filled and obedient children, there was little likelihood that he would lead the people of God any better.

An arrogant man is a leader who lets his role go to his head. A quick-tempered man reveals a leader who gets angry when others don’t do things his way. A leader who is prone to drink heavily reveals a lack of self-control and an inability to manage his own passions. A violent man is not the kind of shepherd who tenderly cares for the sheep under his care. And a man who is dishonest with his money will end up being a leader who can’t be trusted to steward the body of Christ.

As far as Paul was concerned, the key to the success of any elder was their knowledge of and adherence to “the trustworthy message he was taught” (Titus 1:0 NLT) – the gospel message. If the saving, sanctifying message of the Good News did not saturate and motivate his life, he would prove to be a lousy leader of sheep. But a man whose life is steeped in and controlled by the gospel will be able to not only encourage others but, when necessary, correct them.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.s

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson