We are like sheep, lost with no shepard, vulnerable prey to the dangers of the world. This stark image, unbearably familiar right now - is what Ezekiel depicts as he looks at the Judeans in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE - refugees, survivors, with no more king, or temple, land or leaders. Who will take care of the beaten flock?
Then, as now, the tragic lack of leaders who prioritize the wellbeing of the people - all people - over their narrow needs and viewpoints - leads to devastation. The prophet blames the leaders of Judah, especially the kings - and speaks here for God who promises that one day, when the time is right, it will be the Divine Self who will be back, directly, not through mortal leaders - as the Great Shepherd - protecting the flock and restoring order.
This image of the shepard is a known mythic trope in the Near East, and the shepherd's crook was a familiar trope for gods and kings way before it became identified with Jesus - and one of the pope’s iconic props.
But Ezekiel was not being vague about leader roles here. He is getting very specific in this chapter - proposing a radical shift in the Judean political system, as one of the ways of response to the trauma of the destruction.
If the kings of Judah are to blame for the moral decay and destruction of the nation - and they are blamed by him and all other prophets - then other leaders and other forms of government must replace them. This is a practical position - no royal house was allowed under Babylon anyway.
But it’s also an ideological shift - thinking ahead for days in which there will be some form of Jewish communal leadership that must not a monarchy. But what will it be and who will be the leaders?
Ezekiel doesn’t specify but he does include two important factors in the features for new leadership: Known pedigree, and a new ruling structure. The future utopia of Ezekiel will not include a king - the leader will be called a Nasi - ruler, or president. It will not be the old and failed Davidic dynasty.
But - and probably to pacify the bitter monarchists -- whoever the future leaders will be and however they will rule - the blood in their veins will be that of King David:
וַהֲקִמֹתִ֨י עֲלֵיהֶ֜ם רֹעֶ֤ה אֶחָד֙ וְרָעָ֣ה אֶתְהֶ֔ן אֵ֖ת עַבְדִּ֣י דָוִ֑יד ה֚וּא יִרְעֶ֣ה אֹתָ֔ם וְהֽוּא־יִהְיֶ֥ה לָהֶ֖ן לְרֹעֶֽה׃ וַאֲנִ֣י יְהֹוָ֗ה אֶֽהְיֶ֤ה לָהֶם֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים וְעַבְדִּ֥י דָוִ֖ד נָשִׂ֣יא בְתוֹכָ֑ם אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה דִּבַּֽרְתִּי׃
וְכָרַתִּ֤י לָהֶם֙ בְּרִ֣ית שָׁל֔וֹם וְהִשְׁבַּתִּ֥י חַיָּֽה־רָעָ֖ה מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְיָשְׁב֤וּ בַמִּדְבָּר֙ לָבֶ֔טַח וְיָשְׁנ֖וּ בַּיְּעָרִֽים׃
“Then I will appoint a single shepherd over them to tend them—My servant David. He shall tend them, he shall be a shepherd to them.
I the ETERNAL One will be their God, and My servant David shall be a ruler among them—I, GOD, have spoken.
And I will grant them a covenant of friendship. I will banish vicious beasts from their land, and they shall live secure in the wilderness they shall even sleep in the woodland.”
Ezekiel 34:22-25
The hopeful future includes the ability to sleep in nature - dessert or forest, with no worries in the world. Sigh.
This will be possible with new leadership. The Hebrew honorific “Nasi” is translated here as ‘Ruler’ and elsewhere as ‘governor’ or ‘chief’. And though in one English translation it does show up as ‘prince’ what’s clearly said here is that despite regal blood - future leadership style and form will be different from kingship. The title Nasi would indeed become one of several communal structures, both in the diaspora and in some rabbinical and jurist organizations still active today. It is also the title of the president of Israel today.
But at the time - what Ezekiel is imagining here was quite radical - no more kings! It is a political statement - but also a religious-spiritual vision for leaders who will restore not just the physical security but also the deeper sense of solidarity, serenity and safety in the world.
Tova Ganzel elaborates:
“Ezekiel records a harsh prophecy directed against the kings of Israel, the nation’s leaders, whom he compares to shepherds who do not tend to their flocks. In the future, the leadership will be taken from these shepherds who failed in the past to properly lead the nation. God Himself will gather up the flock, rehabilitate it and hand it over to a different shepherd who will fulfill his role faithfully.
The new shepherd will be a descendant of David. However, the present model of leadership will come to an end. It will not be a mere technical replacement of personnel, but rather a fundamental change in the essence of the role. Since the institution of kingship has failed, an alternative form of leadership must replace it. One of the roles of the king of Israel is to bring about a situation that will facilitate the Divine Presence coming to rest amongst the nation. The kings of Israel, as depicted in the book of Ezekiel, brought about the opposite situation: defilement and the distancing of the Divine Presence. Now it is too late; there is no repair for the corrupt kingship, and therefore it is replaced by the station of the “Nasi.”
It’s hard to know how Ezekiel’s visions landed on the people, still in trauma, lost sheep yearning for direction and a future. They wanted a king - but also needed - and still do - a larger sense of care and trust - the Great Shepard. With time - this would become one of the ways Jesus became known - and also the future Messiah of Israel. Both claim Davidic lineage.
The aspirational image of trusted shepard that Ezekiel depicted was received, remembered, aspired to -- and made it not only into the Bible but also into the prayer books. The shepherd is found in Unetanah Tokef, one of the most famous Jewish prayers, a medieval litany for the High Holidays, made popular by Leonard Cohen’s Who By Fire.
“As a shepherd herds the flock” - With these words we name each year our fear of death, the fragility of our lives, the fact that our fate is not in our hands to determine.
This phrase comes directly from today’s chapter, where a wistful image of the future when we are all led by love, pierces through the fog:
כְּבַקָּרַת֩ רֹעֶ֨ה עֶדְר֜וֹ בְּיוֹם־הֱיוֹת֤וֹ בְתוֹךְ־צֹאנוֹ֙ נִפְרָשׁ֔וֹת כֵּ֖ן אֲבַקֵּ֣ר אֶת־צֹאנִ֑י וְהִצַּלְתִּ֣י אֶתְהֶ֗ם מִכׇּל־הַמְּקוֹמֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָפֹ֣צוּ שָׁ֔ם בְּי֥וֹם עָנָ֖ן וַעֲרָפֶֽל׃
As shepherds herds their flock when some in their flock have gotten separated, so I will seek out My flock, I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of cloud and gloom.
Ezekiel 34:12
In the middle of this war, with so many losses, questions and fears of leaders who fail to address basic needs, pains, moral truths and aspirations - Ezekiel’s political stance and dreams seem important and compelling.
Who will be our shepards? Can we find some comfort in the great force beyond politicians, generals and presidents? How we will co-create new forms of leadership that will help us not be led like sheep to the slaughter but celebrate life’s gifts in greener pastures of hope?
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