Every time, I try to read the whole Bible. I used the Navigators Bible Reading Plan this time, and I plan to continue doing it the following month. This program, which includes a choice from the bible, a selection from the rest of the New Testament, and two daily choices from the Old Testament, is what I like on.
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Although I started after in the year, so I can’t take advantage of those, the program also allows a couple days at the end of the month to get up if you get on. I can also set up the plan so that I may tap on my phone to go from one reading to the next in my Bible program and app.
One day late, the perusing included a part of John 10 and Ezekiel 34. There’s a beautiful connection between these passages, and I don’t know if it was just divine timing or purposeful scheduling, but it’s really great anyway.
John 10 is Jesus ‘ popular Good Shepherd conversation, in which He said:
” Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not provide the sheepfold by the entrance but climbs in by another way, that person is a thief and a robber. However, the sheep of the sheep is the one who walks by the doorway. To him the arbiter opens. He calls his own animal by title and leads them away when the animal hear his voice. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep following him, for they know his words. A person they will not observe, but they will escape from him, for they do not realize the tone of strangers”. They did not understand what Jesus was saying to them, despite the figure of speech he used with them.
John 10: 1-6 ( ESV )
He continued using the analogy to convey the message:
But Jesus once said to them,” Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the entrance of the sheep. The animal did not listen to the thieves and robbers who came before me, but all of them are now. I am the lock. He may be saved if someone crosses my path and wanders to pasture. The thief simply arrives to steal, kill, and damage. I came that they may have life and have it clearly”.
John 10: 7-10 ( ESV )
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Jesus continued to explain to those who were listening that He was going to die for their crimes, making a distinction between Him and the various shepherd who had led Israel. He even mentioned that another animals may join the congregation: Gentiles.
I am the great sheep. The sheep receives his life’s sacrifice from the great shepherd. When the dog approaches the sheep, the appointed hand, who is not a shepherd, flees, and the wolf grabs the sheep before scattering them. He flees because he has been hired and doesn’t care about the sheep. I am the great sheep. I put my life on the line for the sheep because I know my individual and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And there are some animals who are not my sheep. I must take them likewise, and they will subscribe to my words. So there will be one sheep, one sheep. The Father loves me because I gave up my life so that I could start over. I don’t let anyone take it from me, so I do it on my own authority. I have the authority to put it over and to bring it up once more. This is a cost my father has made of me.
John 10: 11-18 ( ESV )
God gave the apostle an instruction in Ezekiel 34 to visit out the shepherd of Israel. You eat the large, you clothe yourselves with the sheep, you murder the large ones, but you do not supply the animals,” said the Lord in lines 3-4″. The poor you have no strengthened, the sick you have no healed, the injured you have no bound up, the strayed you have never brought up, the lost you have never sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.”
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God was unhappy with the way the shepherd were treating His selected people. So, what came next for the shepherd wasn’t great:
So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, declares the Lord God, absolutely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, hence, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: So says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I may require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I’ll get my sheep out of their mouths so they won’t be able to eat them.
Ezekiel 34: 7-10 ( ESV )
God proclaimed to watch over His people through the words of Ezekiel. For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out “(Ezekiel 34: 11, ESV).
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What’s more, He also promised to expand the flock to include not just Jewish people, but Gentiles as well:
On a day of cloudy and gloomy, a shepherd will seek out his flock when he is among his sheep who have been scattered, just as a shepherd will seek out his flock. I will rescue my sheep from all locations where they have been scattered. And I will remove them from the populations, collect them from the nations, and bring them into their own country. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I’ll provide them with good pasture, and Israel’s mountain ranges will be their grazing areas. They will lay down on good grazing ground, and they will feed on Israel’s mountains on rich pasture. The Lord God declares,” I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down.” I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
Ezekiel 34: 12-16 ( ESV )
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Finally, God had Ezekiel tell them Who the Good Shepherd would be:” And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord, I have spoken “(Ezekiel 34: 23, ESV).
Who would the Good Shepherd be if David was long gone by the time of Ezekiel and the Israelites in exile? Jesus, of course, the Son of God and a direct descendent of David in his earthly lineage.
The parallels between Jesus ‘ words and Ezekiel’s prophecy hundreds of years later are fascinating. Both passages demonstrate how flawless and complete God’s plan has always been and is. As I’ve said before, I love the links between the Old and New Testaments. God’s big story is always amazing and encouraging.
