380
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
June 3924
will bind up th a t which was broken; I will streng then th a t which was sick; I will set up one shepherd over them ; I will m ake w ith them a covenant of peace; I will make them and the places round about my h ill a blessing; and I will cause th e shower to come down in his season; th e re shall be showers of b le ssin g /’ A wonderful day is in store for Israel — to be realized when Jesus comes again. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” In th e meantime may we be found faithfully carrying out His injunction: “Feed my lambs; feed my sheep” (Jno. 21:15-17). “Feed th e flock of God which is among you. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory th a t fadeth not away” (1 Pet. 5 :2 -4 ). The Good Shepherd. Ezek. 34:11-16, 25, ¡26. Memory Verse.— “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not w ant.” Psa. 23:1. Approach.H-You have all seen sheep— the big ones and th e little lambs. They are very tim id, helpless little creat ures, and need some one to care fo r them more th an most animals. It may be a man or a boy, or even a dog, th a t watches over them , and acts as th e ir ELEMENTARY shepherd. The shepherd loves each Mabel L. M errill one of th e sheep in his flock, and knows them by name, and th e sheep know him, and will follow him, for a tru e shepherd always leads his sheep and never drives them . When a sheep wanders away from the shepherd he is in danger of getting lost, or falling down over some precipice, or caught by wild ani mals. We have learned th a t God calls th e people who love and serve him , his sheep, and we have been having these wonderful tru e stories from the Bible, showing how God’s sheep, the children of Israel, did not obey and follow God, the tru e Shepherd, and how they got into all kind of trouble and sorrow by having th e ir own way. Prayer. Lesson Story.—Now I w ant some one to tell me what happened to God’s people in our la st story because they did not follow Him? Oliver, you may te ll us. W hat a sad story about th e ir being carried away into a strange place by a heathen king, and th e ir beautiful home city of Jeru sa lem burned. They though t they knew b etter th a n their shepherd, God, and do you know boys and girls sometimes th ink they know b etter th a n fath e r or mother, and b etter th an God, and they have th eir own way, and ju st like th e children of Israel, they get into trouble every time. Among th e people of Israel who were carried away by the king of Babylon! (Nebuchadnezzar) was a faith fu l prophet or preacher, whose name was Ezekiel. He warned the people and told them of all th a t would happen to them and the city of Jerusalem , when they were going on in th eir own way and forgetting God. Ezekiel knew w hat was go ing to happen before it really came to pass, for God told him, and God also told him to w arn th e people, ju st as God is telling us today in His Word (The Bible) and warning us. The king of Babylon made slaves of the people of Israel, and many of them were having very hard times and suffering, and they were so homesick for th e ir old home. The people who are now ruling over them do not love them, and only care for the money and work they can get out of th em 'as slaves. Ezekiel calls the ru lers th e shepherds, and he says the shepherds are not tru e shepherds. They were not caring for th e sick and discouraged, or looking for the lost ones, but were trea tin g them cruelly. (Read prayer fully and carefully Psalm 137, and get the p ictu re). O how they needed a tru e shepherd. Now they were sorry they had left God, th e ir tru e and loving shepherd; they
Y. 12. “ in the m idst off” (Hebrew ) his sheep th a t had been scattered. R eferring to Messiah’s second advent, when He shall be “ the glory in th e m idst of Isra el” (Zech. 2 :5 ).— J . F . & B. V. 13. Some day every living Israelite will be found out in th e rem otest corners of the earth and be the object of Jehovah’s shepherd care. The day of th e ir dispersion is a day Of Judgm ent,— “ the cloudy and dark day” (cf. chap. 3,0:3; Isa. 50:10; Joel 2:1-3; Amos 5:18-20; Zech. 1 :1 5 ). Having found out His sheep in e a rth ’s rem otest spot, Je hovah will bring them one and all “ out from the peoples,” nations of every name and lineage, and “ g ather them from the countries” and will “ bring them into th eir own land,” the hold land (cf. ch. 11:17; 20:41; 28:25, 26; 36:24; 37:21, 22; 38:8; 39:27; Isa. 11:11-16; Jer. 23:3, 4, 8 ; 30:3, 18; 31 :8 ; 32:3.7; Amos 9:14; Zeph. 3:18, 19). To try to spiritualize these numerous passages and make them mean anything else th a n th e literal regath ering of Israel into the land of Israel, is to do violence to the Word of God. The p artial resto ration of Israel under Nehemiah and Ezra does not fulfill these predictions, it is a resto ration th a t lies still in the future.-—Torrey. V. 16. The Old Testament no less th an th e New teaches th a t w ithout God men are lost, and th a t God is always yearning a fte r his lost ones. The New Testam ent shows us th is yearning love of God tak ing shape in the sacrifice of His only SonjE-Peloubet. Vs. 23, 24. The Lord Jesus, the tru e David, the man who is perfectly the man after God’s own h ea rt (Acts 13:22; cf. Matt. 3 :17 ; 17 :5 ) shall be th e Shepherd of Israel and shall reign over them (Jer. 23:4-6; Mie. 5 :2 -5 ). He is th e great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2 :25 ; 5 :4 ; ch. 37:23, 25; Isa. 11:1-12; 55:3, 4; Jer. 30:9; Hos. 3 :5 ). In th a t day Jehovah will be th e ir God and th e tru e David th eir Prince. The promise, “I will be th e ir God,” is inexhaust ible in its meaning (cf. vs. 30, 31; ch. 36:28; 37:23, 27; Ex. 29:45, 46; Isa. 43:2, 3; Jer. 31:1, 33; 32:38; Zech. 13:9; 2 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 21 :3 ). V. 25. Evil beasts would be removed from the land and th e ir form er haun ts would become safe places for sleeping. Under Christ’s reign th ere would be safety, restfulness and plenty.-M-Pract. Com. V. 26. The Jews, and Zion, God’s hill (Psa. 2 :6 ), are to be sources of blessing, not merely to themselves, bu t to the surrounding heathen (Isa. 19:24; 56:6, 7; Micah 5 :7 ; Zech. 8 :1 3 ). The literal fulfilment is, however, the p ri mary one, though th e sp iritu al also is designed. In cor respondence w ith the settled reign of righteousness in te rn ally, all is to be prosperity externally, fertilizing showers (according to th e promise of the ancient covenant, Lev. 26: 4; Psa. 6 8 : 9; Micah 3 :1 0 ), and productive trees and lands (vs. 27). Thus shall they realize th e image of v. 14, viz. a flock richly pastured by God Himself.— J . F . &. B. In Ezekiel 34 we have a strik ing illu stration of th e tru th stated in 2 Tim. 2:13, R. V., “ If we are faithless (u n fa ith ful, Scofield m arg in ), he abideth faith fu l.” Verses 1-10 give the sad and distressing picture of Israel’s unfaithful shepherds, th a t is, th e ir ru lers (see 1 DEVOTIONAL Ki. 22:17, w ith context, Jer. 2:8, R. V. COMMENT m a rg in ;' Jer. 23 :1 -6 ). Greedy, self- John A. Hubbard seeking, “ looking out for number one,” growing fat at the expense of those whose welfare should have been th e ir chief concern— such were .these faithless ones upon whom God pronounced His “woe.” “Woe be to the shepherds of Israel th a t do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” (v. 2 ). “Woe be unto th e pastors th a t destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord” (Jer. 2 3 :1 ). Over against th is unfaithfulness of man stands th e faith fulness of God. (vs. 11-31). Look up and underscore in your Bible the tw enty and more of Jehovah’s “ I w ill’s” in these verses. “ I will search for my sheep; I will deliver them out of all places Where they have been scattered ; I will bring them in to th e ir own land; I will feed them ; I
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker