The human shepherds of the flock.
It is a comparison as old, yes, older than literature, this of the people to a flock of sheep, and of their rulers, leaders, and spiritual instructors to the shepherds whose vocation it is to protect, care for, and feed them. Both in the Old and New Testament Scriptures we meet with passages in which unfaithful, careless, selfish, and grasping religious teachers and leaders are denounced as hirelings who have nothing of the true shepherd's heart—no watchfulness, commiseration, and self-sacrifice. In the time of Ezekiel there were throe who, called to be pastors and reputed to be pastors, were nevertheless destitute of the pastoral character and habits.
I. THEIR CONDUCT. This is very graphically and (after Ezekiel's manner) with outspoken plainness described in these verses.
1. The shepherds' neglect of the flock. They neither feed them upon suitable pastures, nor strengthen the weak, nor heal the sickly, nor recover the lost, nor deliver the defenseless sheep from the wild beasts of the field. On the contrary, they treat them with violence and with rigor.
2. The shepherds' care for themselves. They use the flock merely for their own pleasure and advantage, eating of the flesh of the sheep, and clothing themselves with their wool.
3. The consequent condition of the flock. Neglected by their custodians, they are scattered, they wander upon every high hill, they fall a prey to the beasts of the field. In all these respects there is a parallel between the conduct of careless, hireling shepherds and the conduct of those in Israel who claimed to be the spiritual pastors of the people. These, whether priests or prophets by profession, simply used their position as a means towards their personal wealth, ease, pleasure, and aggrandizement. And no wonder that the sons of Israel, so neglected by those who should have made their highest welfare their care, were abandoned to every enemy, and sank into a state of degeneration, debasement, and hopelessness.
II. THEIR CONDEMNATION. That such flagrant neglect, of duty could not pass unnoticed and unpunished may be presumed by the least thoughtful. Under the rule of a Governor of infinite justice, those placed in a position of eminence and of influence, if they neglect to fulfill the duties of their position, must surely be called to an exact account of their trust. The prophet tells us concerning the unfaithful shepherds that:
1. God is against them. He, whose help and countenance would have been vouchsafed had they honestly and earnestly set themselves to do the work which they professed to undertake, now sets himself against the unfaithful.
2. They are held responsible for the flock. "I will require," says God, "my sheep at their hand."
3. The custody of the flock is taken away from them. And at the same time, they are prevented from any more feeding themselves. It cannot be that the flock should be punished for wandering, and that the careless shepherds, through whose neglect they wandered, should be suffered to go free.—T.