Flock, God’s

Sermon • Submitted 7 months ago • Presented 7 months ago

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God’s people are frequently portrayed as a flock of sheep, for whom he cares with the tenderness and concern of a loving shepherd.

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The divine shepherd

God portrayed as a shepherd

Psalm 23:1 ESV

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Jesus Christ portrayed as a shepherd

John 10:11 ESV

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

God’s people are his flock

Israel and Judah depicted as God’s flock

Psalm 77:20 ESV

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

See also Ps 78:52; Is 63:11; Je 13:17; Je 31:10; Je 50:17; Mic 2:12; Mic 7:14

NT believers depicted as God’s flock

Acts 20:28 ESV

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

God cares for his flock

Isaiah 40:11 ESV

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

See also Ps 95:6–7; Eze 34:11–16; Mic 5:4; Zec 9:16

God judges his flock

Ezekiel 34:17–24 ESV

“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? “Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.

The under-shepherds of the flock

Many of Israel’s leaders exploited God’s flock

Ezekiel 34:2–3 ESV

“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? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.

See also Je 10:21; Zec 11:4–5; Jn 10:12–13

God will judge the corrupt shepherds

Ezekiel 34:7–10 ESV

“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 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.

See also Je 23:1–5; Je 25:34–36; Zec 10:3; Zec 11:17

Church leaders are to care for God’s flock

1 Peter 5:2–3 ESV

shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.