Читать книгу Admiring and Applauding God - R. Bruce Stevens - Страница 28

I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

—Ezek 34:16a

• God compares the leaders of Israel to shepherds and the people to sheep. He condemns these selfish, negligent, and abusive men for their failure to care for those in the land who are weak, defenseless, and abused.

• God declares that he will be their shepherd and he will see that his flock is cared for. He will bind up the wounds of the injured sheep and tenderly nurse them back to health.

• We are God’s sheep, and Jesus is the Good Shepherd. It was prophesied of him, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion” (Isa 61:1–3a).

• Praise God for Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who cares for his sheep, binding up our hurts.