Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will
judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye
have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased
with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will
I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge
between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them,
and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them,
and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God,
and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.
And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the
evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the
places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower
to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And
the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall
yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall
know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the banks of their yoke,
and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves
of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither
shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell
safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for
them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with
hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.
Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and
that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord
God. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am
your God, saith the Lord God (verses 20-31).
We reach the climax in the final section of this chapter. He through
whom all this will be accomplished is now mentioned by the prophet.
"And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even
my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among
them; I the Lord have spoken it." Some have applied this to Zerubbabel,
the head of Judah at the return from the Babylonish captivity; this is
done by those who deny a future restoration of Israel. Others take these
words in a strictly literal sense and teach that David the King will
become the head of the nation once more and raised from the dead will be
the one shepherd over His people. It is not David, but He who is
according to the flesh the Son of David and David's Lord as well. The
one Shepherd can only be the Messiah. Numerous passages show that
David's name is used in a typical sense. Jeremiah announced, "They shall
serve the Lord their God, and David their King, whom I will raise up
unto them" (Jere. xxx:10). Here David stands typically for Christ, the
Messiah of Israel, for He is raised up unto them when Jacob's trouble is
ended (verses 1-7). Of Him Jeremiah speaks more fully in chapter
xxiii:5-6: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall
be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby He
shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness." The two, Judah and Israel,
will be reunited by the one Shepherd. The Messiah of Israel is also
mentioned by Hosea as David. "Afterward shall the children of Israel
return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King and shall fear
the Lord and His goodness in the latter days" (Hosea iii:5). Isaiah
speaks of the sure mercies of David and adds, "Behold I have given Him
for a witness to the people, a leader (prince) and commander to the
people." It is therefore not David, raised from the dead, but the Prince
of Peace, who was here once to seek the lost sheep of the house of
Israel and who comes again to save the remnant of His people Israel and
to receive the Throne of David (Isaiah ix:6-7).
When the Lord is doing all what is promised here and the remnant has
accepted the long rejected Messiah-King, a covenant of peace and
blessing will follow. "And I will make with them a covenant of peace,
and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall
dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." Peace will come
to the land and to the whole earth with His Coming. The evil beasts, the
Gentile world powers (Dan. vii) will no longer devastate the land. All
will be peace and safety so that they can sleep peacefully in the woods.
"There shall be showers of blessing" (verse 26). How often a hymn is
sung based upon this promise:
"There shall be showers of blessing,
This is the promise of love."
But how few who sing it know that the promise belongs first of all to
Israel. When the Lord comes the showers of blessing will be poured forth
upon His people and upon all nations. It will be "the times of
refreshing" (Acts iii:20). Verses 27 and 28 give a brief description of
the millennial Kingdom. Groaning creation will then be delivered and the
wild beasts will have their nature changed (compare verse 28 with Isaiah
xi:6-9 and Rom. viii:19-22). There is no need to speculate on the
meaning of "the plant of renown" which will be raised up. It is none
other than He, who, as to His humiliation, is described as "a tender
plant" and "as a root out of a dry ground" (Isaiah liii:2). But now He
appears in all His glory and becomes the plant of renown. Their shame
and suffering will then be over. He will be their God and they will be
His people.