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Ezekiel 34 should be as well-known as Psalm 23, but it is, sadly, too often neglected. Celebrate with Pastor Mike as he extols the greatest Shepherd ever. What a great chapter!
Welcome, welcome, welcome. No compromise, no compromise, no compromise. Radio, radio, radio, rodeo. Now that my son-in-law, the ranch hand, the cowboy, is in my life, in my family, I need to know more about cowboy stuff.
Roping, lariats, lassos, bulls, heifers, et cetera. Mike Cabin, North, No Compromise Radio Ministry. You can write me, mike, at nocompromiseradio .com. Few write me anymore. Just the way it goes. Or you can write info, thinking that you're gonna get to Spencer, and maybe you will.
A new, what's new in the future here? I don't know, I'm up to five grandchildren, so that is fun. I have Amos, Clara, Mason, Eliezer, and Evelyn, or Evie, named after Kim's grandmother who raised her.
Evelyn Nichols, Grandma Evie. Grandma Evie was one of these ladies that was definitely sold out for the Lord, and she was kind. It's one thing to be earnest and enthusiastic and evangelistic, and it's another thing to be mean.
If you can be godly and nice, I guess that goes together. And I don't mean the gospel of nice, I just mean kind, compassionate. Sometimes she'd just go down to the grocery store, Knob Hill in Scotts Valley, California, just so she could evangelize, and she had these little tracks, and I think it had maybe pink roses on the front or something, she loved pink.
And I think the track was entitled, You Are Special. Now how am I going to say to Grandma, there's maybe a better track than that, or something like that, when she was the one going down the street to evangelize, and I was, what?
I think in those days I was a long-distance runner. I was probably going on a run. Lost and found. I don't know about you, but you've probably experienced a loss. You're probably thinking about a loved one.
What I'm thinking about is, have you lost something and then found it lately? Or do you remember a time when you lost something valuable and then found it? Or maybe when you lost something and never found it and realized how painful that was.
It was 20 years ago, we got a dog, a Paterdale Terrier, and probably within a month, the thing ran away. It was, you know, we're out in the backyard playing, kind of out in the middle of the woods. We have a little property, not over an acre, but down into the woods and working on the shed and this, that, and the other, and you turn for a moment and the dog is gone.
So I don't know if that dog got picked up by someone else. I don't know if the dog drowned. I don't know if it got hit by a car, taken by a coyote. It was the middle of the day. So can you imagine just driving around in the dread and finally giving up at night and thinking, this is kind of still a little puppy.
There's no way she can find her way home. Anyway, we never found that dog. So we got a new dog and it wasn't a Paterdale Terrier. It was a Parson Jack Russell Terrier. And we had that dog for many years until the dog went to heaven.
Just kidding. I think that that dog died like five years ago. Anyway, lost and we didn't find anything. We would have been thrilled to find the dog. Probably a bigger lost moment for me, but then there was a finding.
I was at Six Flags in Agawam, Mass. And I'm sure I talked about this earlier, but I wanted to tell the story again. And I don't know if it was Wednesday show we did it or Thursday show or whatever. I don't know.
But anyway, lost Luke in the water park and found him in the great joy. Matter of fact, now I am remembering I did tell the story. So I'm not going to repeat the water gun incident or anything like that.
It sounds like a man by himself in a room laughing at his own jokes. Well, that wasn't a joke, but I was just still laughing. I think for all of us, a little levity, right? I was told in seminary, many things.
This thing, I actually believe with many other things. Some things I've changed my mind on, but I was taught that you, this was at Southern Seminary. Don't tell jokes from the pulpit. I was probably told that at Masters as well, but I remembered at Southern.
And I think it was Danny Akin who told me that, 500 comedians lose their job every week. You ought not to be the next, right? So comic relief, fine. Telling jokes, probably not. Even though I gave some jokes, some covenantal dispensational jokes, I tried to rib both sides at the Omaha Bible Church's Pactum Conference.
But that's another day. Lost and found. Today, we are going to leave no sheep behind. You can study wars and you'll find out many slogans. We'll leave no man behind, no man left behind. And at the risk of their own lives, military soldiers will go into, whether it's Mogadishu in the 1990s, or Dunkirk in the 1940s, to try to rescue and evacuate people because we don't want to leave any man behind.
Sometimes in education, people say no child left behind. When it comes to dance class, my dance instructor, Jim, J-Y-M, he said, Jim with a Y. Then I said, Kim with a Y, Mike with a Y. And, oh, I have too many stories in my mind.
The dance thing, he said, I'll leave no man behind. So until I figure out the move, he won't move on. Unless it's Friday night, we'll open dance in, too bad. Speaking of dance, I met someone at the country dance.
We had, what do you call it? Some kind of hootenanny here at the Harvest Festival. The faux Halloween deal. Just kidding. And this guy, I think, was a little more liberal. I had not met him before. He was here at the church.
And he said, you know, by the way, if you're walking out, he had asked me before, is this an evangelical church, fundamentalist church? And I said, well, it's obviously not a fundamentalistic church because we're having a dance class in the church building on a Saturday night.
So anyway, he said, all truth is God's truth, and then walked away. Okay, nice to meet you, all truth is God's truth. Saturday, just right over there. And so I just, I kind of had to be snarky because I knew he was coming from a liberal bent and he was not thinking God's two books, you know, book of nature or book of revelation.
So I just said, and all Satan's, all error is Satan's error, so you need the Bible to figure out what is truth and what is error. Have a good day. Well, we don't want to leave people on the dance floor behind.
We don't want to leave dogs behind. We don't want to leave sheep behind. We certainly don't want to leave any person behind or a soldier. So today, Luke chapter 15, the man who was a shepherd who lost a sheep, one sheep, one out of 100 sheep, and he went after it.
So here's the premise for the show today. If you know the Old Testament, you will understand the New Testament better. And if you know the New Testament, you'll understand the Old Testament better. One divine author, one divine author.
And that's why the, as Barsalus would say, one of the reasons why we know the Bible is not like any other book, because no other book has divine author, and therefore, no other books do usually say, I should pray before I read this book for illumination and understanding.
So understanding the Old Testament, for you to read the Old Testament. I'm currently reading through the Old Testament now, as I read through the Bible in a year, and I just was reading Joel today. Finished up Ezekiel, and then into Daniel, I believe, and then Hosea, Joel, Amos, something like that.
Anyway, I used to have those memorized. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Acts and the Letter of the Romans. To understand the Old Testament better, even today, I want to remind you that if you do study the Old Testament, you will see God regularly call himself shepherd, shepherding people.
Not shepherding goats, but shepherding people. Genesis 49, from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. Psalm 80, verse one, give ear, O shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. So God calls himself a shepherd, and other people in the Old Testament call God a shepherd.
And so God is the shepherd. It would not surprise us in the Old Testament to see God's people being called sheep, or a flock. We are your people, the sheep of your pasture. Psalm 79, or Jeremiah 50, Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions.
And therefore, we have God as a shepherd, Israel as sheep. And the leadership that God has put into place for Israel regularly are chastened and given a tongue lashing for not being good under shepherds.
So the main shepherd is God, the people are the sheep. God has given leadership to take care of those people, and they would be called sheep herders. I guess that's where we get shepherd, sheep herders.
Jeremiah 23, concerning the shepherds who care for my people. God says, the God of Israel, the Lord, quote, you have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evildoes, declare the Lord.
These people that God has given charge of, the sheep, the people of Israel, the leaders are not doing the right thing. And then ultimately, we know that there's going to have to be someone who's the right kind of shepherd to come along to shepherd the sheep.
Somebody in the Davidic line, we know that. On that day, the Lord, their God will save them as the flock of his people, Zechariah 9. So that's a good backdrop, but probably the Old Testament passage on God being a shepherd and we being the sheep of his pasture, probably the one that's known the most is Psalm 23.
And that is actually good that you know that. But there's another chapter that could be just as important. Of course, how can I rank chapters importance in the Old Testament? But for understanding our passage today in Luke 15 about a shepherd that loses one sheep, if we need to understand the backdrop of the whole thing, which we do, then not just Psalm 23, but Ezekiel 34.
So if you have a Bible, turn to Ezekiel 34. If you're driving or you are mowing, I can't listen to podcasts when I mow because the volume would have to be too loud. So I put earplugs in, earmuffs kind of thing, and then just have to think.
Ezekiel 34, verse one, the word of the Lord came to me, 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?
And so we have shepherds that are literally under shepherds of the great shepherd God. And they are supposed to be taking care of the people. And they're not just neglecting, but they're benefiting at the cost of the flock.
As I read here, the ESV Study Bible's notes that says exactly that. Verse three, you eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with wood, excuse me, wool. It's hard to get wood out of a sheep. You slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
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.
So they were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered. They wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth with none to search or seek for them.
So they're shepherds, not concerned about the sheep, but what they can get out of the sheep for themselves. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild beast 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, you bad shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Verse 10, thus says the Lord God, behold, I'm against the shepherds and 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. God is going to do something. God is going to take the initiative. God loves his sheep.
God loves sinners. Do you know that? Do you know God loves sinners? Or do you think God loves sinners only after they clean themselves up? Well, that's another show. Verse 11 of Ezekiel 34, a chapter that you need to know.
For thus says the Lord God, behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out, right? They, the false shepherds, the bad shepherds, the religious leaders, they're not doing it. And so God says, I will do it.
And he uses language, I myself, for emphasis. I, I myself. Shepherds are not doing the right thing. The sheep are all over and he's going to go get them. Some have called this section right here, the theological heart of the chapter.
God is the initiator. God is the one who is going to rescue. He is going to accomplish the saving work. He will seek and save the lost. All that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I'll never cast out.
That's what Jesus said in John six. Later in John six, he said, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. So God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you've been saved, Ephesians chapter two.
We were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior.
So God is the initiatory. Is that a word? Well, he's the initiator, I know that. Initiatory progress, initiatory language. You know what I'm saying. Verse 12 of Ezekiel 34. 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 the places where they've 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. 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. God to the rescue. God will save. As bad as the bad shepherds were, the good shepherds even better. And of course, when I read those verses in Ezekiel 34, you're thinking of Psalm 23, so am I.
God doesn't just say, get these things done, repent bad shepherds, make it happen. He steps in. As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God, verse 17. 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've trodden with your feet and drink what you've muddied with your feet? Therefore, Ezekiel 20, verse 20 of chapter 34, 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 judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set them over one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them and he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
And I, the Lord God, will be their God and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord. I have spoken. There's going to be a Davidic shepherd. Sound like anybody you might know? Sound like Messiah talked to you?
Sound like Jesus is the son of David? Matthew chapter one, Jesus is going to shepherd the flock. It's interesting, you saw in there the switch over from their shepherds, the bad religious teachers are called shepherds and then they become sheep here and they're muddying the rest of the water with their feet.
Fascinating. Well, let's keep reading in verse 25. The point of the show today is simply, if you know the Old Testament better, you'll know the New Testament better. And if there's going to be a sheep and a shepherd in Luke 15, a sheep that's lost out of the hundred fold, what kind of shepherd do you think Jesus is?
Well, the Old Testament tells us. Verse 25, I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from their land so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and all the places around my hill a blessing and I will send down the showers in their season.
They shall be showers of blessing and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit and the earth shall yield its increase and they shall be secure in their land and they shall know that I am the Lord.
I will break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations nor shall the beast of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely and none shall make them afraid.
And I will provide for them a renowned place for planting so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord, their God with them and that they, the house of Israel are my people, declares the Lord God.
And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture. I am your God, declares the Lord God. The covenant of peace, all leading to the New Testament, the Lord Jesus. Eternal Son took on flesh and dwelt among us.
And as Romans 5 says, because of the work of Christ, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God. He, Jesus making peace by the blood of the cross, Colossians chapter one. May the God of peace who brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with every good thing.
Again, Jesus just doesn't come and say, this is something that you should do. He comes to make peace. And I love how it ends in chapter 34, verses 30 and 31. As I've heard it called a tender conclusion.
You're my sheep, human sheep of my pasture. I am your God, declares the Lord. Closeness, communion. It's hard to understand Luke 15 if you don't know Ezekiel 34. If you don't know Psalm 23. If you don't know that God is regularly called a shepherd in the Old Testament, that people are regularly called sheep, that the under shepherd, the religious leaders are taking advantage of them.
And that God is going to have to send a Davidic shepherd to rescue. And of course we know then that's the Lord Jesus. So when we go to Luke chapter 15, I want you to be thinking again, Jesus is God. Who is the one that's going to shepherd?
And that the Lord loves sinners. And when sinners are found, that implies they're lost. Lost, found, there should be great celebrating and rejoicing. Joy in heaven, chapter 15, verse seven. Joy before the angels of God, Luke 15, 10.
And fitting to celebrate and be glad, Luke 15, 32. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all trying near to hear Jesus, Luke 15, one. Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying this man receives sinners and eats with them.
So then Jesus gives one long parable that has three components. Sometimes we say three parables, but chapter 15, verse three says this parable. So it's one parable in total with three substories, if you will.
And of course, in each of these, we're going to see a truth, right? Jesus is telling a story to drive home a point. And the point happens to be this is my defense for being with sinners, for receiving them, for welcoming them, for eating with them, for seeking them, for saving them.
I love sinners. And that's the whole chapter is really the self-sacrificial love of God for sinners. And we have a person who loses a sheep and wants to find it. And then when he finds it to celebrate.
Now, these men, the Pharisees and the scribes, they were the religious ones. They were the law keepers. We keep the law. We keep the law. And that background, that toxic self-righteousness is very, very contaminating.
These legalists, they think they're doing everything right, at least externally, per Mosaic law and their own interpretation of Mosaic law. And they are like the rich young ruler who would say all of these laws I've kept from my youth up, right?
I've kept the 10 commandments since I was little. And so you see how that would inoculate you against Jesus. How you wouldn't even need Jesus. I mean, if you're righteous, i .e. self-righteous, then why would you need anything when it comes to Jesus?
Spurgeon said, the greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit, which makes men look to themselves for salvation. That's exactly what's happening. Jesus does eat with sinners. He does fellowship with them, not to condone their sin, but to save them from their sin and then grant them repentance.
Self-righteousness is tricky and deceptive and deceitful and damning. And we have to be aware of that. Our heart tricks us. Self-righteousness, Spurgeon says, exclaims, I will not be saved in God's way.
I will make a new road to heaven. I will not bow before God's grace. I will not accept atonement, which God has wrought out in the person of Jesus Christ. So Jesus comes to save sinners, right? That's why he was sent by the Father, right?
In the covenant of redemption, the pactum, the covenant of peace with the Father, Son, and the Spirit. They're attesting to everything. And now Jesus is going to go rescue sinners. He rescues people that need salvation, that need a perfect righteousness.
And so Jesus tells a parable with three prongs to say, this is why I'm with sinners. And it's going to be lost, found, and rejoice. And so that's a little intro, an Ezekiel 34 intro to Luke 15. So your homework for this weekend, dear no-co-listener, is to subscribe to the YouTube channel, tell your millionaire friends about the show, and read Ezekiel 34, Ezekiel 34.
My name's Mike Ebenroth. This is No Compromise Radio Ministry. Seriously, tell your friends. We've been on the air, I don't know, maybe close to 20 years. And when I say on the air, we used to literally be on the air.
I want to say three years, daily radio here in Central Mass in Worcester. I went down to Plymouth the other day, Plymouth Plantation, Mayflower II. I did not know that in 1620, when the Mayflower arrived here at Provincetown Harbor on the Cape, down Cape, that then they thought, well, you know what?
We better head to Hudson River. I think that's where they were wanting to go, but couldn't because of the contrary winds. And then they headed to Plymouth. And after, I think April, when the ship left to go back to England, and when it went back to England, it turned into just a cargo ship, and then they took it apart for scrap.
Like, what in the world? So I was on the Mayflower II. You can write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com. Thanks for listening today.