Shepherd of Israel

“ In short, it might be said to embrace the period during which our Lord Jesus " sought by repeated efforts, but without avail, to deliver the lost sheep of the house of Israel from the spiritual tyranny of its blind and corrupt guides."
Anyhow, this is an historic fact, that it was consequent on the rejection of the Messiah, the Good Shepherd, that the Jewish polity was broken up, and that since then, and now for " many days," the children of Israel have been not only without a king and without a prince, but also without a prophet and without a priest. ”

“ Amid all their wanderings and vicissitudes of life, though dismembered and dispersed, like sheep without a shepherd, over the surface of the globe, the children of Israel have never forgotten or neglected the sacred duty of praying for their deceased brethren. ”

“ I. The prophet is ordered to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel—the princes and magistrates, the priests and Levites, the great Sanhedrim or council of state, or whoever they were that had the direction of public affairs in a higher or lower sphere, the kings especially, for there were two of them now captives in Babylon, who, as well as the people, must have their transgressions shown them, that they might repent, as Manasseh in his captivity. God has something to say to the shepherds, for they are but under-shepherds, accountable to him who is the great Shepherd of Israel, Ps. ”

“ That one who comes in his own name has not yet come, and when at last he is here, it will be for Israel the time of greatest trouble and tribulation for all them that inhabit the earth. The third section of our chapter finds its complete fulfillment in the Antichrist, the false Messiah, the beast, the little horn, the leader of the enemy, the false prince of Israel; thus the foolish shepherd is called throughout the prophetic word. The dreadful punishment will be executed upon the foolish shepherd in the day of the Lord’s coming with His saints for the salvation of His people Israel. ”

“ And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be My people, and I will be their God. And David My servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd ”

“ For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie ; and they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain : therefore they go their way like sheep, they are afflicted, because there is no shepherd. Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats : for Jehovah of hosts hath visited His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as His goodly horse in the battle. From him shall come forth the corner-stone, from him the nail, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together. ”

“ Jehovah Himself is " the Shepherd of Israel," but He fulfils all that is implied in this relationship and office mediately, in and through the Messiah. This is fully set forth in Ezek. xxxiv., where, after announcing that He will Himself" seek" and "save," " heal " and " strengthen," " feed " and " satisfy," His now scattered flock, He says : " / will set up one shepherd over them, and He sliall feed them, even my servant David" (whom the Jewish commentators themselves identify with the Messiah, " David s greater Son ") . " He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd? ”

“ And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine ; yea, their children shall see it, and rejoice ; their heart shall be glad in Jehovah. And I will hiss for them, and gather them ; for I have redeemed them : and they shall increase as they have increased. And I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember Me in far countries ; and they shall live with their children ; and shall return. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria ; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon ”

“ Israel with the tenderness and particularity with which the Shepherd, leaving the ninety and nine in the wilderness, seeks till He find it the one lost lamb. His analysis of his fickle generation's efforts to repent, of their motives in turning to God, and of their failures, is as inward and definite as if it were a single heart he were dissecting. Centuries have passed; the individual has displaced the nation; the experience of the human heart has been infinitely increased, and prophecy and all preaching has grown more and more personal. ”

“ In the remarkable position occupied by Israel in the early Christian Church for our Lord and His apostles were Jews, and the majority of the early evangelists were men of this nation in the wonderful fact that the Jews, though politically crushed beneath the Gentile yoke, con quered the nations of the earth by means of that religion which sprang from their midst in such facts this prophecy, and other similar prophecies, found a most glorious and real fulfilment. The nations have been enlightened by the Jews, and books written by Jewish pens have become the laws and oracles of the world. ”

“ Then, after the " two-thirds" in the land were " cut off," the remainder of " the sheep of the flock " were " scattered " ; for a new stage the universal phase in the dispersion of the Jewish nation took place consequent on the culmination of Israel s apostasy in the rejection of their Messiah.
Throughout all these centuries the Jews have suffered as no other nation on earth. ”

“ Surely a land which includes within its boundaries an area at least one-third more than the whole of France may with right be called " a large land " ; but it is possible that even the larger land, with its desert parts transformed into fruitful fields, will not suffice to hold the whole of blessed Israel in the millennial period, so great and rapid will be the increase of the saved remnant.
In the iith verse God s wonderful works on behalf of His people in the past are again alluded to as the basis and illustration of what He will do for them in the yet greater deliverance of the future. ”

“ And there in Matt, ix., even as in this passage in Zech- ariah, which may have been in our Lord s mind at the time, the saddest touch in the gloomy picture of Israel s distressed and helpless condition is contained in the words, " because there is no shepherd" or, " as sheep having no shepherd" i.e., no one to guide, or control, or care for them. There were indeed in the time before the Captivity, as later in our Lord s time, many who called themselves " shepherds," but they were false, deceiving shepherds, who devoured the flock, and sought only to feed themselves. ”

“ They are bowed down and fallen ; But we are risen up and stand upright."
And the great deliverance which Jehovah shall then accomplish for Israel will embrace the entire nation, which in Zechariah s prophecies are regarded as no longer divided into two separate kingdoms, but as one people, with a common and inseparable destiny. " And I will strengthen the house of Judah ”

“ That the primary reference of the words, " the flock shall be scattered," etc., is to the Jewish nation, is placed beyond a doubt by the verses which follow, for the 8th verse sets forth the misery which the dispersion of the flock brings upon Israel, and the 9th verse shows how the words, " I will turn My hand upon (or, back upon ) the little ones," would be realised in the final deliverance and salva tion of the remnant : " And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saitli Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off, shall die, and the third part shall remain therein. ”

“ This world is an ante-chamber to the next.
The just of all nations have a portion in the future reward.
Every nation has its special guardian angel, its horoscopes, its ruling planets and stars. But there is no planet for Israel. Israel shall look but to God. There is no mediator between those who are called His children and their Father which is in heaven. ”

“ But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face which glory was passing away: how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. ”

“ Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, which thou hast defied.
46 This day, and the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from thee: and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth: that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ”

“ Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore he made thee king, to do justice and righteousness. ”

“ It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.
7 Thus saith the Lord the redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers: Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore for the Lord’s sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. ”

“ In the dark watches of the night, when the waves ran highest and the heavens were obscured as with a pall, he felt that he had that within his soul beckoning him on, more brilliant in its coruscations than the starry cross that illumines the southern hemisphere, as unerring in its guidance as the beacon which of old led the children of Israel through the pathless desert—implicit belief in the sublimity of his mission, and an entire reliance on the mercy of his Creator, in whose hands he felt himself an humble instrument for the accomplishment of noble ends. ”

“ There is none like unto the God of thee of Israel: he that sitteth upon heaven shall be thine help, whose glory is in the clouds, that is the dwelling place of God from the beginning and from under the arms of the world: he hath cast out thine enemies before thee and said: destroy. And Israel shall dwell in safety alone. And the eyes of Iacob shall look upon a land of corn and wine, moreover his heaven shall drop with dew. Happy art thou Israel, who is like unto thee? A people that art saved by the LORD thy shield and helper and sword of thy glory. ”

“ So strongly is Israel established in the favour of Shaddai, the Almighty One, that attempts to injure her will surely recoil on the head of the aggressor. And on the other hand, to help Israel, to bid her God-speed, will be a way to blessedness. Jehovah will make the overflowing of His grace descend like rain on those who take Israel's part and cheer her on her way. ”

“ O Israel, transgressor of the law, why hast thou committed this new iniquity, subjecting the Lord to new sufferings—thine own Lord, Him who fashioned thee, Him who made thee, Him who honoured thee, who called thee Israel? ”

“ Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful: so let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant Benadad saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive he is my brother. ”

“ As "a man's reach should exceed his grasp," so also should a nation's; and though it is almost always forgotten, it is precisely Israel's glory that she set up for herself and exhibited to the world an ideal of brotherhood, of love to God and man, to which she could not attain. Great as the practical failure in Israel was, therefore, no fault can be found in the legislation. It moulded the characters of men who were sensitive to the influences coming from God, so that they became fit instruments of inspiration ”

“ How great is thy Lord, O Israel! There is no being who can say to Him, 'Do this!' there is no womb which could have given birth to Him. He created the bottomless deeps above which He moves when He wishes. He brings light out of darkness, and from the dust of the earth He creates living things which have voices. ”

“ Rather a vine, full-flowered, golden-branched, Ambrosial-fruited, creeping on the earth, Trod by the passer's foot, yet chosen to deck Tables of princes. Israel now has fallen Into the depths, he shall be great in time.* Even as we die in honor, from our death Shall bloom a myriad heroic lives, Brave through our bright example, virtuous Lest our great memory fall in disrepute. Is one among us brothers, would exchange His doom against our tyrants,—lot for lot? Let him go forth and live—he is no Jew. ”

“ In view of this, the prophet addresses mankind, saying, "All the inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth, tremble, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, shall hear." The ensign being planted on the mountains of Israel by Britain, the Lord will cause the Assyrian Autocrat to "blow a trumpet," summoning the hosts of his nations to war; for He has said, "I will bring thee, O Gogue, against my land." ”