I try to read through the entire Bible every year. This year, I did the Navigators Bible Reading Plan, and will probably stick to that next year. What I like about this plan is that it includes a section from the gospels, a selection from the rest of the New Testament, and two selections from the Old Testament every day.
The plan also allows a few days at the end of the month to catch up if you get behind, although I started later in the year, so I can’t take advantage of those. I can also program the plan into my Bible software and app, so I can tap to get from one reading to the next on my phone.
One day recently, the reading included a portion of John 10 and Ezekiel 34. There’s a neat connection between these passages, and I don’t know if it was just providential timing or intentional scheduling, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.
John 10 is Jesus’ famous Good Shepherd discourse, in which He said:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
John 10:1-6 (ESV)
He continued the metaphor to get the message across:
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
John 10:7-10 (ESV)
Jesus continued to explain to those listening to Him that there was a difference between Him and the other shepherds who claimed to lead Israel, because He was going to die for their sins. He also mentioned that other sheep would join the flock: Gentiles.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
John 10:11-18 (ESV)
In Ezekiel 34, God instructed the prophet to call out the shepherds of Israel. “You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep,” said the Lord in verses 3-4. “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.”
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God wasn't happy with the way the shepherds were treating His chosen people. Therefore, what came next for the shepherds wasn’t good:
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.
Ezekiel 34:7-10 (ESV)
God promised through the lips of Ezekiel to take His people under His watchful eye. “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out” (Ezekiel 34:11, ESV).
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What’s more, He also promised to expand the flock to include not just Jewish people, but Gentiles as well:
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.
Ezekiel 34:12-16 (ESV)
Finally, God had Ezekiel tell them Who the Good Shepherd would be: “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” (Ezekiel 34:23, ESV).
Since David was long dead by the time of Ezekiel and the Israelites in exile, who would the Good Shepherd be? Jesus, of course, the Son of God and a direct descendent of David in his earthly lineage.
It's so fascinating to see the parallels between Ezekiel's prophecy and Jesus' words hundreds of years later. Both passages demonstrate how perfect and complete God's plan always was and is. As I’ve said before, I love the links between the Old and New Testaments. God’s big story is always amazing and encouraging.
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