Bear

Harvest of Asher

Akko, Israel

Ezekiel 34 is one of the sharpest and clearest chapters in the Bible concerning leadership.

“WOE to the shepherds of Israel who have been shepherding themselves. Should not the shepherds shepherd the flock?” (Ezekiel 34:2)

This verse sets forth a simple yet revolutionary truth: a leader exists for the sake of the people and not the people for the sake of the leader. Yet the reality described is the opposite. 

“You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the healthy, but the flock you do not shepherd.” 

(Ezekiel 34:3)

The leaders enjoy the authority, but they do not fulfill their mission. They take for themselves, but they do not give to the people. Therefore, comes the indictment: 

“The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, and the lost you have not sought. With force and with cruelty you have ruled over them.” (Ezekiel 34:4)

This is the complete opposite of the calling of leadership. Leadership is not domination, but caring. The priestly model illuminates the depth of the rebuke. The high priest was not a ruler, but a servant. Over his heart he bore the breastplate, with twelve stones representing the twelve tribes. The Torah emphasizes that this bearing of the breastplate is before the Lord and out of continual concern for the people. 

“And Aaron shall BEAR the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he comes into the Holy Place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.” (Exodus 28:29)

The high priest bore the people upon his heart – not in order to glorify himself and not in order to take for himself; but in order to stand in prayer, in love, and in responsibility. This is leadership that does not seek gain, but seeks fulfillment of the call. When Ezekiel rebukes the shepherds of Israel, he rebukes them for having forgotten their identity as servant priests. They ceased to bear the people upon their heart and began to carry only themselves.

Yeshua’s stance toward the religious leadership of His time is clear. He did not come against the Torah, but against its distortion; against leadership that burdens the people but does not carry them; against leadership that emphasizes outward appearance but neglects justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

“For they bind heavy burdens and lay them on the shoulders of men, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with even one finger.” (Matthew 23:4)

In contrast, Yeshua sets forth different leadership. 

“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) 

Yeshua is the living fulfillment of the vision of Ezekiel: a shepherd who does not consume the flock, but gives himself for it. 

At the close of Ezekiel 34:15, the LORD says: “I myself will shepherd my flock… declares the Lord God.” When human leadership fails, the Holy One Himself rises to be the shepherd. This is both a comfort and a warning.

True leadership is measured not by the power it possesses, but by the love it carries. Not by what it takes, but by what it gives.

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