Shepherd Regathering The Sheep

Shepherd Regathering The Sheep

 

Among all of the nations in the world, the nation of Israel has a special relationship with God. God chose Israel because He loves the people (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). He also chose Israel as part of His covenant with Abraham. God also chose Israel to be His witness according to Isaiah 43:10. The verse says,

“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.”
Isaiah 43:10 (NASB)

The passage says that Israel was to be Yahweh’s witness to the nations. God told Israel that He is the only God. There was no one before Him, and none after Him. But Israel reflected badly on God, for they were a negative witness as soon as they crossed the Red Sea. They sinned repeatedly and committed gross sins, but God was faithful to them and did not abandon them.

Instead, the book of Leviticus 26 records that Yahweh warned them to obey or He would punish them. He said that He would keep increasing the level of punishment if they did not repent. Eventually He would kill many of them with the sword, make their land desolate and destroy their cities, and scatter Israel throughout the nations of the world if they did not repent. Leviticus 26:33 records Yahweh’s warning,

You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. Leviticus 26:33 (NASB)

The warning was repeated in Deuteronomy 28 just before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan. Moses warned Israel in Deuteronomy 28:64-66 that Yahweh would scatter them if they failed to be righteous people. He said,

Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. Deuteronomy 28:64-66 (NASB)

But Israel eventually rebelled. Consequently, the prophets repeatedly called the nation to repent. The prophet Jeremiah repeatedly warned Judah that Yahweh would scatter them if they did not repent (Jeremiah 23:2; 30:11; 31:10; 50:17). We have discovered in our study of Ezekiel that the prophet Ezekiel also called Judah to repent, but the vast majority of the people did not.

Consequently, he prophesied in Ezekiel 5:12 that the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed and leveled to the ground, two-thirds of the people would die, and one-third of the people would be scattered to the nations around the world.

Ezekiel 33:21 tells us that after these prophecies were fulfilled, some refugees from Jerusalem arrived in Babylon and told the prophet Ezekiel that Jerusalem had been destroyed. Israel had been scattered.

One would think that the exiles in Babylon would have repented of their wickedness, turned to God, and loved Him. But that did not happen. The last part of Ezekiel 33 gave us some very sad news. We discovered that the vast majority of the exiles in Babylon were non-believers. When they came to listen to the prophet Ezekiel speak, he was only a sensual song to them. They enjoyed his words, but their hearts were spiritually cold. Their worship was only ritual. Then in the first part of Ezekiel 34, Yahweh rebuked the shepherds of Israel. That is the kings, the prophets, and the priests, were unbelievers too! They were still wicked shepherds. Then in verse 10, Yahweh told these shepherds that He would remove them from leadership roles. So, what did we learn? We learned that after the destruction of Israel, both a vast majority of the leaders and the people in exile in Babylon were still unbelievers. They had not repented and turned to God. Therefore, we should not be surprised that Yahweh had scattered them.

The Second Coming of Christ

Then in our last study, in verses 11-16, we discovered how the Jewish people will be regathered to the land of Israel. Yahweh tells us repeatedly in that passage that He Himself will regather His scattered sheep and care for them Himself. He repeatedly said, “I will.” But the question in this study is: when would Yahweh regather them and how would that happen?

In order to answer this question, we are going to return to verse 12 in Ezekiel 34. Here is the verse,

“As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. Ezekiel 34:12 (NASB)

Yahweh said that He “will deliver them from all the places to which they had been scattered.” That is, He promises to regather Israel. When would Yahweh do that? He said on a cloudy and gloomy day. The Hebrew word for “gloomy” is arapel. The literal meaning of the word refers to thick-dark clouds. The basic idea is great darkness. The best way to understand this is that it refers to the day of the second coming of Christ. Other Scriptures reveal that on that day, Yahweh will turn out the lights and darken the world. Zechariah 14:4-6 says there will be no light on the day of the second coming of Christ. Joel 3:15 says the sun and moon will grow dark and the stars will not be bright. In Matthew in 24:29, Jesus said that the celestial lights will be darkened. That means when Jesus comes, the world will be in total darkness. It will be easy to see Him! The world will be in panic. So, when Yahweh says He will regather Israel on a cloudy and gloomy day, He means this will happen at the second coming of Christ.

But when will the second coming of Christ occur? Go to Joel 3:9-15 because it gives us the timeline about the tribulation, the second coming of Christ, and the millennial kingdom. Verses 9-15 say,

Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men!
Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up!
Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”
Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, O LORD, Your mighty ones.
Let the nations be aroused
And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to judge
All the surrounding nations.
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
Joel 3:9-15 (NASB)

We are told in verses 2 and 12 that Yahweh will bring the nations of the world to the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is the location of the greatest battle in human history–the battle of Armageddon. The command to put in the sickle and tread the wine press in verse 13 refers to the wrath of Yahweh being poured out on the armies of the world that are invading Israel. It is also described in Revelation 19:15. Notice that Joel 3:15 says that the sun, moon, and the stars will be darkened. That is, Yahweh will turn out the celestial “lights.” The battle will occur in darkness. This reveals that total darkness will exist at the coming of Christ. Imagine: no sunlight and no moonlight!

Then in Joel 3:16 we read,

The LORD roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth tremble.
But the LORD is a refuge for His people
And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.
Joel 3:16 (NASB)

This describes the second coming of Christ. Zechariah 14:3-5 says Christ will descend at Jerusalem and protect the sons of Israel. Joel 3 is chronological. We just read about the second coming of Christ at the battle of Armageddon. Then in verses 17-21 the millennial kingdom is described. So now we know when God will regather Israel. Yahweh will regather the sons of Israel at the second coming of Christ or after the end of the tribulation, and at the second coming of Christ.

Before we continue to the next verse in Ezekiel 34, we need to visit Jeremiah 33:8. This verse tells us that Yahweh will cleanse Israel from all their sin and pardon their sins. That means all of Israel who are alive at the time of the second coming will become believers or Christians. That is the message of Romans 11:25-26. Here is Jeremiah 33:8.

I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities . . . Jeremiah 33:8 (NASB)

Then Jeremiah 33:14-16 tells us that the Messiah, the Branch of David, who is Jesus Christ, will reign as king in Jerusalem. This helps us understand that all Israel will be saved at the second coming of Christ or at the end of the tribulation and before the kingdom.

If we turn to Ezekiel 36:24-28, Yahweh describes Israel’s future restoration. The restoration includes a physical restoration to the land and a spiritual restoration. It includes a new heart. Here are verses 24-28.

“For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel 36:24-28 (NASB)

This means Yahweh will save every living Israelite at the end of the tribulation (see Zechariah 12:10-11; Romans 11:25-26).

Israel Is Regathered

Next, Ezekiel 34:13-14 describes the regathering of Israel. Yahweh said,

“I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel 34:13-15 (NASB)

This is wonderful. Notice that a Good Shepherd cares for His sheep. Yahweh is not like the wicked leaders of the world. Yahweh will gather believing Israel from all the nations of the world because He is the Good Shepherd.

Sheep and Goat Judgment

After the tribulation, Christ will then separate believers from the unbelievers. The believers will go into the millennial kingdom and the unbelievers will be sent to hell. Jesus said this in Matthew 25:31-46,

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” Matthew 25:31-34 (NASB)

So, Christ will separate the sheep, or the believers, from the goats, the unbelievers. The Christians will enter the kingdom which verse 34 says the Father prepared in eternity past.

The proof that these individuals are believers is how they treated other people. Matthew 25:35-40 describes these believers as those who care for others. Here is Matthew 25:35-40,

“‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” Matthew 25:35-40 (NASB)

If we continued reading verses 41-46, we would discover the unbelievers are described as selfish and uncaring.

Now we return to Ezekiel 34:16-22. We know the timeline of the events. As I read this passage, I rejoiced that Yahweh is the Good Shepherd. In John 10 Jesus is the Good Shepherd. In Psalm 23, Yahweh shepherds His own sheep. He protects them by judging and eliminating the self-indulgent and self-centered leaders. We begin with verse 15,

“I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment. As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.’” Ezekiel 34:15-17 (NASB)

In these verses, we discover that Yahweh will judge the fat and strong who are unbelievers, and the broken and sick are the believers. This is an important passage. It reveals that Yahweh knows who is wicked and who is righteous.

Verses 18-19 now describe the fat sheep as those who dirty the waters with their feet. They did not care if the other sheep must feed on pastureland and in water that they had muddied. Here are verses 18-22.

Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!’” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another. Ezekiel 34:18-22 (NASB)

Verses 16-22 describe Yahweh judging between the Gentile unbelievers and believers and believing Jews. There will not be any unbelieving Jews; for at the second coming of Christ, all Israel will be saved (Zechariah 12:10-11; Romans 11:25-26). So, we have discovered that Ezekiel 34:16-22 is a summary of Matthew 25:31-46. It is called the Sheep and Goat Judgment or the Judgment of the Nations. It occurs after the battle of Armageddon and before the millennial kingdom starts.

Conclusion

This has been a wonderful and encouraging study because we have learned that Yahweh is a Shepherd who faithfully shepherds His sheep. He keeps His promises. He cares for them. He loves them. He punishes those who mistreat His sheep. He is the shepherd in Psalm 23 and the Good Shepherd of John 10.

But the primary lesson of our study is that Yahweh promised to keep His covenant with Abraham. That is why God promised to regather Israel, even though He scattered them. Now notice–Yahweh wanted to give them hope! He wants to give us hope! He wants us to look to Him for our future.

Suggested Links:

Book of Ezekiel
God Does Not Take Pleasure In the Death of the Wicked
Two Groups of People Who Will Not Be In Heaven
Why Israel Was Scattered and Will Be Regathered