Context No. 3228 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Ezekiel 34:25-31: in context

25“‘I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing. 27The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them. 28They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid. 29I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more. 30They will know that I, the LORD, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD. 31You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord GOD.”

After rebuking the false shepherds, God promises to shepherd his flock himself, and the promise overflows. I will make with them a covenant of peace, he says; they will dwell securely, and I will send down showers in their season, showers of blessing. The land will yield its fruit, the yoke will be broken, and they will no longer be prey to the nations or consumed by famine.

The promise pours out, a covenant of peace, showers of blessing, security, the broken yoke, no more fear. And the heart of it is relationship: they will know that I am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people. The closing line is tender: you are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God. All the abundance and security flow from this one thing, that God himself shepherds his people and is with them. The truest blessing is not the showers or the safety but the I am with them.

Do I rest in the covenant of peace God gives his flock, whose center is not merely his gifts but his presence, "I am with them, and they are my people"?

Sources

Ezekiel 34:26: "I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing."
Ezekiel 34:31: "You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord GOD."
John 10:14: "I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I'm known by my own."