LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Message 16
GOD’S RESTORATION BY LIFE
WEEK 7 - TUESDAY
Scripture Reading: Ezek. 34:11-31; Luke 15:1-7; John 10:11
Read and pray: “Seeing the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were afflicted and exhausted, like sheep that have no shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36)
COMING TO BE A SHEPHERD
After establishing the watchman, God Himself came to be the Shepherd (34:11-31). After the warning of the watchman, God did not send an angel or another person; He Himself came as the Shepherd. How wonderful this is!
We see this not only in Ezekiel but also in the New Testament. After John the Baptist sounded the trumpet of repentance, the Lord Jesus came as the Shepherd (Matt. 9:36; Luke 15:1-7; John 10:11). In God’s restoration by life, He first sends the watchman to His people to repent, turn, and live; then He Himself appears as the Shepherd.
In our personal experiences, this is exactly what happens. First we hear the Lord’s warning, leading us to repentance. Then we realize that the Lord Jesus is not only our Savior but also our Shepherd, seeking us and searching for us.
Seeking His Sheep and Searching for Them
Ezekiel 34:11 says, “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.” As the Shepherd, the Lord not only searches but also seeks. Because of our fallen condition, we were all buried under many evil things; therefore, we needed God to search for us.
In Luke 15 we have both the shepherd (typifying Christ as the shepherd) seeking the lost sheep and the woman (representing the Spirit) lighting a lamp and searching inside the house for the lost coin. The prodigal son was then drawn back home by the Spirit’s seeking.
The Lord has done the same with us. He searched for us in order to save us and restore us. Before we were saved, we were buried under many sins, but the Lord Jesus sought us. Then, after we were saved, we wandered into degraded Christianity and were buried under many things, such as doctrines, formalities, and gifts.
Nevertheless, once again the Lord Jesus searched for us; He sought us and brought us back. Today we are those who were sought by the Lord Jesus as the Shepherd. How is it possible that we are here in the church life? This is not our merit but absolutely His. We are here because, as the Shepherd, He searched for us and sought us out.
Bringing Them Out from the Nations
Ezekiel 34:12-13a says, “As a shepherd seeks his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek My sheep; and I will deliver them out of all the places where they were scattered in the day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries.”
Here we see that Ezekiel prophesied that, as the Shepherd, the Lord would bring His people, His sheep, from among the nations. This has also been our experience. When we were fallen as sinners or when we wandered away, we were among the nations living as Gentiles.
Although we were living as unbelievers among billions of other people on the earth, the Lord Jesus searched for us and brought us out from among the nations, from among the unbelievers. You might have been a schoolteacher among many others, but only you were sought and brought back by the Lord Jesus, who then led you to be different from the Gentiles. Previously you were the same as the unbelievers; however, one day the Lord Jesus, as the Shepherd, sought you, brought you out from among the unbelievers, and brought you to Himself.
Bringing Them Back to Their Own Land
In verse 13b the Lord went on to say that He would bring His people back to their own land. They were in captivity in the pagan nations, but the Lord promised to bring them back to their land, to the good land of Canaan.
Our good land is Christ. Before we were saved or after we wandered away, we were separated from Christ. But the Lord searched for us and brought us back to Him and even to Himself as our good land. Today we are in Christ as the good land.
The good land today is also the church life. Thus, when we were brought back to Christ, we were also brought into the church life, where we have the riches and enjoyment of the good land.
Bringing Them Back to the High Mountains
The Lord promised to bring His people back not only to their own land but also to the high mountains (vv. 13-14). Since the high mountains typify the resurrected and ascended Christ, this indicates that the Lord Jesus brings us back to the experience of the resurrected and ascended Christ.
Thus, in the Lord’s restoration today, we do not enjoy Christ merely on a flat level but on the highest mountains as the resurrected and ascended Christ.
Bringing Them Back to the Rivers
The Lord also said that He would bring His people back to the rivers (v. 13). These rivers typify the life-giving Spirit, the living water of the Spirit. From the mountains, the resurrected and ascended Christ, the living water of the Spirit flows. The Spirit of life flows from Christ in His resurrection and ascension.
After the Lord searched for us and brought us back to Him, we not only returned to Christ in the transcendent position of His ascension, but we also began to drink of the Spirit as the living water.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: Worship to the Father — “As the Fountain of Life”
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