Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. Psalm 80:1-3.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Since My Son and I are One, and in seeing Him you are seeing Me, you should not be surprised that My Covenant Names are fulfilled in Him. 2 Corinthians 1:20. You may be wondering what I mean by that. Well, if you recall from Scripture, I tell you that I am your Healer, Exodus 15:26, I am your Shepherd, Psalm 23:1;Ezekiel 34:16, I am your righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6. I am your victory, Exodus 17:15, I am your peace, Judges 6:24, and I am your provider. Genesis 22:14. All these Covenant promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Through Him I reached out to you as your Healer, Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24; Matthew 8:1-17, Shepherd, John 10:11. Righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 1:9. Victory, 1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14, Peace, John 14:27, and Provider. Philippians 4:19.
One of the Names that I was called by David and Ezekiel was that of “Shepherd.” Jesus also referred to Himself this way, revealing that He was the fulfillment of this promise to My people spoken in advance by My prophets. All My promises find their “yes” and “amen” in Jesus. He is the way I reach out to you. He is the ladder between Heaven and earth.
The first reference to Me as a shepherd was made by Jacob. Jacob knew what it meant to be a shepherd and the work it entailed, Genesis 31:38-40. because Jacob himself was a shepherd, first for his uncle Laban and then over his own flocks. Genesis 30:27-34; Genesis 31:38-41; Genesis 37:1-2; Genesis 46:32. Because of the Blessing he had inherited from his father Isaac (who received it from Abraham), Jacob increased his uncle’s flocks so much that Laban did not want Jacob to leave his service, for he realized that it was because of Jacob that I had blessed Laban with prosperity. Genesis 30:27. So when Jacob sought to describe My goodness to him near the end of his life he could think of no better way to describe Me then as “the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.” Genesis 48:15’
The next reference to Me as the shepherd is by another shepherd, David, in Psalm 23, when he proclaims “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” and goes on to describe just how good his Shepherd is: He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
David understood Me better than many others have. He knew Me as a Shepherd who leads His sheep to a life of unlimited resources and perfect protection in the midst of enemies and evil. This psalm describes well the benefits of opening your life to My leading and direction, the wonderful benefits of complete provision, protection and peace, even in adverse circumstances, leading to a life that is free from fear–the life of one who is victorious because of Me.
My prophet Isaiah identifies Me as a shepherd when he states: “He tends His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:11. He understood that I am a good shepherd, a shepherd who cherishes and protects his sheep.
I reveal Myself in the image of a Shepherd to My prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel 34. I showed him that I am a shepherd of compassion, goodness and generosity. I Myself will tend My sheep, searching for the lost, bringing back the strays, binding up the injured and strengthening the weak. Ezekiel 34:15-16. I am a shepherd who provides perfect protection, provision, justice, and peace for those of My flock. In fact, I told My prophet Ezekiel that I would shower My flock with blessings! Ezekiel 34:26. You are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God. Ezekiel 34:31; Psalm 100:3.
You see these prophecies fulfilled in My Son, Jesus. I sent Him to seek out and save what was lost, the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Matthew 15:24. Remember, I told My prophet Ezekiel, “the lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back.” Ezekiel 34:16. Through Jesus, who is My image, I did this. Through Him, I told you the parable of the lost sheep– the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one lost sheep and returns in jubilation for a joyous celebration when he finds it. It is not My will that any of you should perish but that all be saved and come to know the truth.
You know, I also reveal Myself to Ezekiel as a shepherd who binds up the injured and heals the sick. Ezekiel 34:16. If you recall, I had already entered covenant with you, the people of Israel, as your LORD your Healer in the time of Moses and the exodus from Egypt. I fulfilled this in Jesus, My Word made flesh, as He went about “healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” Acts 10:38. Indeed, there is no instance in the Bible where I ever refused to heal anyone who came to Jesus. Through Jesus’ ministry, I healed sick, possessed and disabled people. Matthew 8:1-17, 28-32; Matthew 9:35. Jesus often told you that He only did the works of the Father, that is, My works.
In the book of Ezekiel I also promise to place one shepherd over My people to tend them and be their shepherd, a shepherd described as My servant David. Ezekiel 34:23. This prophecy is repeated in Micah as quoted in the Gospel of Matthew referring to the birth of My Son Jesus, the Christ, descended from David in the flesh. Matthew 2:5-7. My Son verified this when He revealed Himself as the Good Shepherd. John 10:11, 14. You see, from all eternity it was My plan that My Son Jesus Himself would be the Shepherd of the Little Flock. He is the One you should follow, John 10:4, He is the One in Whom you abide, John 15:7, to be given access to the riches of the Kingdom. He is the gate, John 10:7-9, and the way to the Kingdom. John 14:6. It is only through Jesus that you have access to Me, the Father. Romans 5:1-2; Ephesians 2:18; John 14:6.
It is in the Gospel of John that this revelation of just who your shepherd is and just what this means to you is recorded. The Good Shepherd is Jesus, sent by Me to shepherd and save My sheep, which are called His sheep as well (for everything I have is His). My Son laid saved My sheep by laying down His own life for them. John 10:14-17; 1 Peter 2:25. It is I, the God of peace, Who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus the Lord.” Hebrews 13:20-21.
You know, it is your relationship with Jesus that opens the rich pastures of the Heavenly Kingdom to you. In Jesus we see My Words in Ezekiel fulfilled.
Now I think you can understand why My Son, who only spoke My Words, and in seeing Him you are seeing Me, told you that He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. John 10:10-11. I am your Shepherd and you are the sheep of My flock. Psalm 100:3. When the sheep ran away from Me and were lost, I went after them, and so begins your salvation story. I came down to seek you, that is, I sent My Word to heal and save you and ultimately that Word became flesh, My Son, to seek out and save the lost. Luke 19:10. That is what the incarnation is all about. Your Shepherd had to come and seek you and give His life for you to bring you back to the green pasture and life-giving water of the Shepherd’s Kingdom, your true home. Ezekiel 34:11-13; John 10:11.
And there is even deeper mystery here than that, My Son not only described Himself as the Good Shepherd who leads His sheep but also as the gate by which you gain access to salvation, good pasture and the sheepfold. John 10:9. The reason that I sent Jesus to dwell with you was that you might have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10:10. David, under inspiration of My Spirit, described this so well in the Psalm 23, saying, “my cup overflows.” I want to give you abundant life, the life gained only through access to My Kingdom.
My Words as spoken by My Son leave no room for doubt on what kind of shepherd He is to those who hear His voice and follow Him. My Words resound to this day as Jesus, who is One with Me, affirms to you, “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15.
Jesus then makes an astounding promise that is a great source of assurance and joy to every believer, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28. Jesus, indeed, is no ordinary shepherd, He is giving out eternal life and perfect protection. This is the Shepherd that you must follow to be one of the “little flock” to whom I give the Kingdom.
Looking at Jesus then you will come to know Me as your Shepherd. Through My Word made flesh I invite you: “Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you.” Matthew 11:28. My words of invitation to you through My Son give flesh and welcoming arms to the Shepherd that David knew in Me, I who led him to green pastures and refreshed his soul beside restful waters of peace. Psalm 23:1-3. But through Jesus I tell you much more, He reveals to you that I am not harsh and judgmental but “gentle and humble in heart” so that you can take on My yoke without fear and learn from Jesus for His yoke is easy and His burden light. Not like the heavy loads the religious leaders of that day bound up and laid on people’s shoulders as the requirements for one to obtain My approval. Matthew 23:4. In Me you will find peace, John 16:33, freedom, John 8:31-32, and rest for your bound and weary souls. Matthew 11:29.
Jesus, who is My image, is gentle, He will not quench a smoldering wick or bend a bruised reed, Matthew 12:20; Isaiah 42:3. He will not contend or cry out in the streets. Matthew 12:19. He is the Word I sent to heal you and deliver you from the grave prophesied in Psalm 107:20. He is the Good Shepherd who came to preach good news to the poor, seek out and save the lost, and announce a year of favor from Me, a jubilee. Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2. And His role as your Shepherd is not limited to your present life on earth but will continue throughout eternity. He is the eternal Shepherd who you see again in the Book of Revelation, Revelation 7:13-17, when John, in his vision of Heaven, sees the victorious believers who come out of the great tribulation before the My throne and hears these words from one of the elders about this group of saints: “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:16-17.
The ultimate expression of My love for you as your Good Shepherd is that I gave My Son to lay down His life for My sheep. He went through unspeakable pain and suffering in His passion and death in order that your sins would be paid for in full before Me. You have redemption in His Blood. You see how much I honor and love you expressed in the sacrifice of My Beloved Son for you.
I love you. I am your Shepherd and in Jesus I fulfill all that for you now and forever.