Monday, March 4, 2013

One Shepherd Forever (part 1 of 2)


My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. – Ezekiel 37:24a  (NET)                     

Who are the “them” to whom this statement is referring?  Because this statement is found in the book of Ezekiel, it can be easily determined that the “them” is the covenant people of the Creator God, that being Israel.  In fact, their God is here speaking of a unified people of Israel, as it is also written that “They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms” (37:22b).  Their God has said that He “will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all” (37:22a).  That one king is the one referred to as “My servant David,” who would be the “one shepherd for all of them.” 

That said, one can go on to read that “They will live in the land I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it---they and their children and their grandchildren forever, David My servant will be prince over them forever” (37:25).  Now, because this was written in the sixth century before the coming of the Christ and the advent of His kingdom, it is clear that this cannot possibly be an actual reference to King David of Israel, but to the messiah of Israel to come, who is and will also be known as the son of David, the shepherd of Israel. 

Jesus, of course, according to those that come to look upon Him as King, refers to Himself with such terminology.  According to the record of the Gospel, Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd.  The accounts of the life of Jesus that have been provided to the body of believers have Jesus, in a number of different ways, laying claim to the role and title of Messiah.  Therefore, by extension, and by the understanding of the people of Israel which would have been shaped by their own telling of their story, Jesus lays claim to being the expected king in the line of David. 

At the time in which Jesus would step into the world as the Christ, a popular, though not exclusive conception of the messiah was that he would be the ruler of Israel, and that under his Creator God-ordained rule, Israel would rule all nations.  Therefore, Israel’s messiah was to be the ruler of the world in the inaugurated kingdom of God.  Putting aside the nationalistic colorings that are contained in this conception, it can be said that Christians, by and large, hold to this same idea. 

Christians, owing to the Resurrection, believe that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, and that as Israel’s Messiah, He does indeed rule over all nations and all powers, as King of the kingdom of God that was inaugurated with power at that Resurrection.  Among other things, that kingdom of the Creator God consists of a renewed humanity (renewed Israel---divine image bearers) that is made up of all those that are in union with Christ through their belief in Him as Lord of all (the Gospel). 

It is because of the messianic idea and the union with Christ that is effected by believing the Gospel message (Jesus is Lord), that Jesus-followers are able to think of and see themselves as the renewed Israel (covenant people) for the world.  That is, Jesus-followers, as the people by which the Creator God intends to demonstrate His glory through the Spirit-empowered spreading of the knowledge of Himself, can look to this passage in Ezekiel and revel in the promises that it presents.  In contemplation of that, we read that “This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone.  I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land” (37:21b). 

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