LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “Tell me, O you whom my soul loves: where do you pasture your flock, where do you make it rest at noon, that I may not wander beside the flocks of your companions?” (Sg 1:7)
He Feeds His Flock by the Rivers
Furthermore, verse 13 says that the Lord would feed His flock by the rivers. We can testify that in the local churches we have the sense that the Lord Jesus is feeding us day after day by the rivers of living water.
While we were in the denominations, we had the sense of dryness and aridity, but once we came to the meetings of the local churches, we began to have the sense that we had been brought back to the river and that, by this river, we were being fed by the Lord Jesus.
Something was flowing there like a river, and we were by the river enjoying the riches of Christ. This is not something of man; it is something of our Shepherd, who is feeding us by the rivers. In the meetings of the local churches we have the river, the flowing, and the watering.
He Brings Them Back to Good and Rich Pastures
Verse 14 continues to say: “I will feed them with good pasture, and on the high mountains of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good pasture, and they shall feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.” Here we see that the Lord would bring His people back not only by the rivers but also to good and rich pastures.
Considering that the rivers typify the life-giving Spirit, the pastures typify Christ. By the rivers we have the rich Christ as our pasture. The rivers are for us to drink, and the pastures are for us to eat.
In the meetings of the local churches we have the sense that we are by the rivers and in the pasture, that we are drinking and eating. Praise the Lord that we are under the care of our Shepherd, drinking by the rivers and feeding in the pasture!
If visitors come to your local church and do not have the sense that they are under the watering of a flowing river and the feeding of a good, rich, and green pasture, this indicates that the church life is wrong. If the church life is right, then when others come to the meetings they will realize that they are by a flowing river and in a good pasture.
He Causes Them to Rest
In verse 15 the Lord, the Shepherd, says: “I myself will feed My sheep and cause them to lie down.” To rest means not to work, struggle, or strive. In the Bible to rest is to rest. In Song of Songs 1:7, the seeker asked the Lord where He pastured His sheep, where He made His flock rest at noon.
Whenever the Lord feeds us, pastures us, and gives us something to drink, He also causes us to rest. In the meetings of the church we often have the sense that we are resting to rest. Outwardly we are sitting, but inwardly we are resting to rest.
He Binds the Sheep That Was Broken
Ezekiel 34:16a continues: “The lost I will seek, the strayed I will bring back, the broken I will bind up, and the sick I will strengthen.” Here, to strengthen means to heal. As the Shepherd, the Lord will bind the one that was broken and heal the one that was sick. How much we need the Lord’s healing and binding!
Often in the meetings of the church we have the sense that we are under the Lord’s tender binding and that the wounds and broken places are being bound up by Him. At other times we may feel that we are experiencing His strengthening, His healing. Praise the Lord that while we are eating, drinking, and resting, we are under His binding, strengthening, and healing.
He Judges between Rams and Goats
Verse 17 says, “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.” Verses 18 through 21 continue the Lord’s word concerning His judgment, and then verse 22 concludes: “I will save My flock, that they shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep.”
This indicates that when we have experienced the Lord’s restoration by life—that is, when we have been brought back to the mountains, the rivers, and the pastures and have experienced rest and healing—there may be righteous judgments among us.
When we were fallen or backslidden, we argued with others and blamed them for our situation. But after we have been revived, restored by life, we begin to realize that we ourselves were wrong. Only then will righteous judgments be made among us.
Actually, only the Lord who pastures us, supplies us, and heals us can make such judgments. Only after He gives us the supply of life, binds up our wounds, and heals us will all the unjust things among us be removed.
However, if we lack the Lord’s supply, binding, and healing, we will condemn others, blame others, and complain about others. If we condemn and blame one another, we cannot be in harmony with one another.
But as the Lord restores us by life, we have a genuine revival, we have the enjoyment of Christ, which leads us to be satisfied, restful, and peaceful, and we experience the Lord’s binding and healing.
The One who feeds us and supplies us leads us to have a proper feeling concerning our relationships with the brothers and sisters. When we have such a feeling, we judge ourselves, and as a result we have genuine unity with the saints as one flock.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: Worship to the Father - “His Righteousness”
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