For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. (Ezekiel 34:11-12)
This prophecy must have sounded appealing to the people of Judah who were taken captive to Babylon in the last two decades of the 6th century BCE. But is there broader appeal to people who identify as Jews? Did Jews living in Egypt in the 3rd century BCE read Ezekiel's prophecy and hear it with joy? Did Jews living in Rome in the 1st century CE read it and feel a sense of anticipation? And how does anyone identifying as a Jew anywhere today read and receive the Lord's message through Ezekiel?
The text certainly appeals to me. As a Christian, I understand that I have been grafted into the Israeli people's "family tree" (Reference the Bible's book of Romans, chapter 11.). Again and again I have experienced the Lord's coming to me in my "lostness."
Oh how I long for all of God's creatures to be at peace with one another and to be perfectly aligned with God's will and purposes!
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