“It’s the preacher’s fault!” We’ve all heard complaints like this, haven’t we? Whether we don’t like the hymns sung in public worship, or whether we’re dissatisfied with the children’s ministry, or whether we just don’t care for the color of the carpet in the Sanctuary, it’s always easy to blame the leaders of the Church, isn’t it?

And sometimes, that criticism is justified. It is, in fact, a scandal whenever those who are called to proclaim the gospel of faith, repentance, and holiness don’t practice what they preach. Such moral failures demoralize the faithful and also give unbelievers an opportunity to dismiss Christianity as so much hokum: “If that’s the way Christians really act, I don’t want any part of it!”

And the religious leaders of Ezekiel’s time committed the same kinds of sins, reaping the economic benefits of ministry, while either abusing or neglecting the people entrusted to their care (Ezekiel 34:2-6). Yes, God’s people were hungry and sick and in danger, and it really did seem to be “the preachers’ fault.”

But in Ezekiel’s day, some of God’s people were just as abusive as their leaders were: the strong ones pushed the weak ones around. Worse yet, as they struggled to get their own way, they ended up ruining what should have been a source of plenteous blessing for everyone, fouling with their muddy feet the water meant to supply the whole flock (Ezekiel 34:17-19). Just so, Christians who bully one another still bring just as much scandal on a congregation as preachers who run off with their secretaries. Oh yes, when there is trouble in the Church, there’s plenty of blame to go around. And that’s because all of us, preachers and people alike, are sinners in need of a Savior.

But that’s why Ezekiel’s message is such good news. For he said that God has done what even the best religious leaders can’t do: the Lord Himself is the One Who seeks for His sheep and cares for them and provides the justice that they need (Ezekiel 34:11-16). And the Lord has done all this this by sending us the greatest shepherd of all, the Son of David (Ezekiel 34:23), the One Who has fed us with His body and blood, the One Who rules and reigns over all of us forever.

And it is only as the leaders and the people of God follow our Good Shepherd that we can ever hope to have the showers of God’s blessing come down on us (Ezekiel 34:26). So, instead of pointing fingers at each other, let’s all stick close to Jesus today.

Ezekiel 34:11-26 (NASB)

11 For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
12 “As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.
13 “And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.
14 “I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down in good grazing ground, and they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 “I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God.
16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.
17 “And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.
18 ‘Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet?
19 ‘And as for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet, and they must drink what you foul with your feet!'”
20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21 “Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad,
22 therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.
23 “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.
24 “And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
25 “And I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26 “And I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.