Глава 34

Ezek.34:2. Son of man, prophets for the shepherds of Israel, prophets, and prophets for the shepherds: this says the Lord Adonai: Ezek.34:3. Ole, shepherds of Israel! Do the shepherds graze their own food? Isn't it the shepherds who tend the sheep? Tell me yourself, says God, what is characteristic of a shepherd, whether to look for pasture or to graze sheep? Behold, you eat the milk, and clothe yourself with the wool, and slaughter the fat, but you do not feed My sheep. Everything is said in a figurative sense: you, priests, collected firstfruits, tithes, plots of sacrifices, and you, kings, collecting tribute and quitrents, were not content with them, but, killing the rich, took their wealth for yourself; but neither your priests nor you cared about the care of the sheep. Then he describes in detail the incongruity of their behavior. Ezek.34:4. You did not pick up the exhausted, and did not heal the sick, and did not oblige the broken, and did not restore the fullness of the body to the exhausted, and did not return to the erring, and did not recover the lost, and what is most inexcusable, a strong insult was caused by labor, and by the authorities, by punishment and abuse. Not only were they not given proper healing to the weak, but also great labor was imposed on the healthy. And this is not difficult to discern from history. For the wicked shepherds did not want to heal those who worship idols and live lawlessly and convert them to God, and the divine prophets, strengthened in virtue, did not cease to insult, imprison in bonds and subject them to thousands of griefs, and, doing this, mocked them, turning what they said into laughter. This is why it is said: “I reprimanded and abused the authorities,” to show that they also caused sorrow to the saints, and they themselves considered what was being done to be a joke and a child’s game. From these bad shepherds, says God, Ezek.34:5. My sheep were scattered and were to be devoured by every wild beast. The name “beasts” is again taken in a figurative sense, because the name “sheep” is taken in the same sense. He calls demons, destroyers of souls, spiritual beasts, and enemies attacking them from everywhere as sensual beasts. Ezek.34:6. And My sheep were scattered and gone astray over all the mountains, and over all the high hills, and My sheep were scattered on the face of all the earth, and there was no one to seek, nor to turn. He called the service to idols performed on them mountains, hills and other names, because on the mountains, on earthly heights, and in every place, idol churches were built, and neither kings nor priests forbade this wickedness. That is why God said: “there is neither one who seeks nor one who converts.” Having thus made the accusation, he threatens the shepherds with punishment, and says: because of your laziness and your negligence, My sheep became the prey of wild beasts, but you did not take any care or providence for them, because you cared only about your own pleasure and about pleasing your body. Ezek.34:9. For this reason, shepherd, hear the word of the Lord: Ezek.34:10. This says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I am the shepherds, and I will require My sheep out of their hands, and I will leave My sheep away from pasture, and the shepherds will not feed them: and I will take My sheep out of their mouth, and they will not be devoured. With these words he foreshadowed the end of both the high priesthood and royal power among the Jews. For he says: I will deliver My sheep from the evil supervision of those who never deigned to care for them, but did not stop only from eating them. Then he promises salvation by our Lord and Savior. Ezek.34:11. For this reason says the Lord Adonai: Behold, I will seek My sheep and will welcome them. Ezek.34:12. Just as a shepherd visits his flock on a day when it is clouded and dark among his sheep, so I will seek My sheep, and I will deliver them from every place that may be scattered on a day that is clouded and dark. “Cloud and mist” here called the darkness of ignorance that was spread throughout the universe before the incarnation of our God and Savior. Therefore, he says: like a zealous shepherd, taking the greatest care of his sheep, when he sees the fog that has found it, which gives freedom to both wolves and thieves; and I will take care of My sheep, I will gather those who are scattered, and from the sheep that are scattered I will form one flock, and this is the Church, gathered from Jews and Gentiles. Then he utters a profound prophecy, because the visible is appropriate only for the Jews, and the mysterious and hidden is for all people, and moreover, what happened to the Jews served as a prototype of what happened to us. For their liberation from captivity and return to Judea is similar to our return from the devil to God, and liberation from this painful slavery. Ezek.34:13. And I will take away from the tongue, and I will gather from the countries, and I will bring them into the land, and I will feed on the mountains of Israel, and in the wilds, and in all the villages of the land: Ezek.34:14. I will provide blaz in the pasture, It is true that the law is good, and “the commandment,” according to the word of the Apostle, “is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12), but God promises them another pasture, because they already had lawful pasture. What kind of good pasture is this over and above the lawful pasture? Isn’t it clear that this makes clear the divine gospel teaching, with which God’s flocked sheep feed, become fat and gain salvation? And expressing this more clearly, he says: on the highest mountain of Israel will be their beauty. Although he mentioned many mountains and wilds, he mainly mentions a certain high mountain, on which, as he predicts, there will be the beauty of the flock. Blessed David also mentions this mountain, saying: “The mountain of God is a fat mountain: a strewn mountain, a fat mountain” (Ps. 67:16), and then he says to the mountains of Israel, who envy this mountain: “Do you not feel the strewn mountains? The mountain in which God is pleased to live in it: for the Lord will dwell to the end” (Ps. 67:17), that is in vain do you envy this mountain, because God was pleased to dwell on it; for He will do this to the end. Other interpreters have taught us to understand this: Aquila said that you are arguing over the mountains, and Theodotion, that you are entering into judgment about this mountain? “All the nations will come to her,” and so on (Isa. 2:2; Mic. 4:1). And the Lord in the Holy Gospel says: “a city cannot be hidden on top of a standing mountain” (Matthew 5:14). Therefore, here too God calls the height and clarity of the Gospel teaching “mountain”, on which, as He promised, there will be the beauty of the sheep. Then he adds: And this applies directly to us, and not to the Jews, because they had one fence - the Jerusalem temple, and we have countless churches in the whole universe. And they will sleep and rest there in food, and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. . Ezek.34:15. And I will feed my sheep. He calls the words of God good and fat food, for it is said: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the petitions of your heart” (Ps. 36:4); and “the mountains of Israel” are the prophetic books that we fed on before, in them having a certain way to climb a high mountain, because through prophetic broadcasts we are led to the gospel teaching, which they testified to. And we have as our shepherd the Master and Lord Himself, Who cries: “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). Foreshadowing this here too, he said: “And I will feed My sheep and I will give rest, and they will understand that I am the Lord.” For those who are herded by Him, and in His teaching, as if in some green pasture, resting, we recognize His sovereignty. Ezek.34:16. This says the Lord Adonai: I will seek what is lost, and will bring back what is lost, like Paul and others like him; like a publican, a harlot, a robber and the like; I will supply both the fat and the strong, as the Apostles and those who chose the same life with them; giving benefits and punishing when necessary. Having thus concluded a word against bad shepherds and a prediction about what kind of care He himself will use, God turns his speech to the sheep, teaching them that the incongruous behavior of the shepherds will not serve as an excuse for the sheep, because they are verbal sheep, have reason, can avoid evil and choose good. Why does he say: Ezek.34:17. And ye are My sheep, saith the Lord Adonai: Behold, I will judge between the sheep, and the ewe, and the ram, and the goat. As I judge the shepherds and the sheep, so I will judge the sheep, and I will punish those who do injustice. Ezek.34:18. Is it not enough for you that you have grazed in good pasture, and trampled the remains of your pasture under your feet, and poured down the settled water, and disturbed the remains with your feet? Ezek.34:19. And My sheep lived by trampling your feet, and by drinking the disturbed water under your feet. The word is addressed to the rich, who waste their wealth dissolutely and use it not only for their needs, but also beyond their needs. And this, as others will see, is being done by some even now: this is also evidenced by the parable of Lazarus, which showed that this rich man did not give even the grains that fell from the table to the beggar. And this “remain is trampled underfoot”, it is said in a figurative sense about sheep who eat grass and trample the rest, and first drink water, and then disturb it with their feet. Ezek.34:20. For this reason says the Lord Adonai: Behold, I am against you, and I will judge between the strong sheep and the weak sheep. Then he talks about the audacity of the strong. Ezek.34:21–22. since by your ribs and by your braids you have raged, and by your horns you have gored, and every weak thing has been driven out, and My sheep are scattered among all who pass by, then I will save My sheep, and no one will be despoiled. He listed everything that sheep have, shoulders, horns, ribs, and with all this he exposed the unjust rule of the strong; however, he promises safety to the sheep. And I will reason between sheep and sheep, and between ram and ram. I will reason, that is, I will not leave those who are offended without care, but I will punish those who offend. Then follows the promise of a common salvation for all. Ezek.34:23. And I will raise up for them one shepherd, who will shepherd me, my servant David; I will shepherd that one, and I will give rest to that one, and I will be their shepherd. Having said above: “I will save,” he says here that David will be their shepherd, whom he also calls a servant. Who is this? Is it not clear that the Lord is Christ, born of the seed of David according to the flesh? Therefore, a slave is like a man, but this is also by nature, and not by dignity. For if those who believed in Him were not slaves, but sons, how much more is He, through Whom the slaves enjoyed freedom, not a slave, but a Son. So Blessed Paul says: “Who was in the form of God, not being equal with God by admiration, but wasting away the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:6, 7). Isaiah, on His behalf, cries out, saying: “Thus says the Lord, who created Me from the womb of His servant, the fellow brother of Jacob, and Israel will be gathered to Him. Behold, I have given You for a covenant of generations, for a light of the tongue, so that You may be saved, even to the last of the earth” (Isa. 49:5, 6); and again: “My servant Jacob (in Hebrew it reads “My servant”), I will receive also” (Is. 42: 1). The divine evangelist attributed this testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as a person, he is called a slave, and as I said, not by virtue, but by nature, because he took on the form of a slave. And that there is “one” shepherd of the sheep, the Lord spoke about this in the Gospel: “and there are other sheep that are not of this fold: you too must be brought to Me, and they will hear My voice: and there will be one flock, and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Then he adds: Ezek.34:24. And the Lord will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. And it is not the falsity of what was said that proves to those added: “I am the Lord of the verbs.” For the dignity of the One who spoke is sufficient to verify the truth of the words. Ezek.34:25. And I bequeath David’s covenant of peace, The interpreter of this is Paul; for he cries out about Christ: “This is our peace, making both one, and destroying the middle of the fence” (Eph. 2:14). God said this above: “And I will raise up for them one shepherd,” for one shepherds those who believe, both pagans and Jews. and I will consume the evil beasts from the earth, that is, hordes of crafty demons and people suffering from brutality, some of whom changed, became rational and were completely freed from their brutality, while others remained in it until death. they will dwell in the desert, trustingly, and sleep in the oak groves. Both the desert and the oak forest are barren. God says that they will occupy and cultivate the pagan desert, and will find peace and care for themselves in the Jewish oak grove. But even above, wanting to show the barrenness of Jerusalem, he said: “the prophets of the son of man are in the oak grove of Nageb” (Ezek. 20:46), meaning, as we said above, the south. Ezek.34:26. And I will give blessings around My mountain: and I will send down rain for you in my season; there will be rains of blessing. For such are the teachings of the divine apostles, bringing the blessings of full irrigation to the souls of believers. And that the Divine Scripture often calls the teaching rain, witness this to the Prophet Isaiah, who on behalf of God threatens the ancient grapes: “It will not be pruned, it will dig below: and the cloud will command that it will not rain on it” (Is. 5, 6). Ezek.34:27. And the trees of the field will yield their fruit, and the earth will yield its strength, For both those who are earthly in soul, that is, those who came from the pagans, and like wild trees the barren Jews, having come to faith and taking advantage of such irrigation, will give Me the fruit of piety. and they will dwell in their lands with the hope of peace. He did not say: “in peace,” but “with the hope of peace,” for to them who believed in Him, the Lord said: “You will be in a world of sorrow, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And the divine Apostle says: “We are saved through hope.” But visible hope is not hope: who sees and trusts? If we do not see him, we hope, we wait with patience” (Rom. 8:24, 25); and again: “Not exactly, but we ourselves have the firstfruits of the Spirit, sighing within ourselves, longing for sonship, redemption for our body” (Rom. 8:23). Then say what is most useful. And they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bonds of their yoke: and I will deliver them out of the hand of those who enslave them. Ezek.34:28. And no one will be taken captive by the tongue, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them: I have already said that the prophecy is purely: one thing in it befits the Jews, and the other befits all people; for God freed the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, and delivered us all from the torment of the devil. The “yoke” called “bonds” the need for slavery, and “tongues” and “beasts” in relation to the Jews - bestial enemies, and in relation to us - various hordes of demons who, like wild beasts, attack people. Then he points out an invincible weapon, that is, hope in Him. And they will dwell with hope, and there will be no one to frighten them. For “it is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man” (Ps. 117:8); He who has this hope cries out: “All the nations have gone after me, and in the name of the Lord I have resisted them” (Ps. 117:10). Ezek.34:29. And I will build for them a peaceful garden, in the name of. The Prophet Isaiah also says this: “A Rod will come out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will spring up from the root: and the Spirit of God will rest on It” and so on (Is. 11:1, 2); and again: “He will be the root of Jesse, and he will arise to rule the tongues, in Him the nations will trust: and His honor will rest” (Is. 11:10). Explaining this, the Lord said: “I am the true vine, and you are the birth” (John 15:1, 5). And in the Song of Songs, as we find, the bride says: “Like apple trees among the trees of the forest, so is my brother among sons” (Song 2:3). Therefore, it is said here: “I will build for them a garden of peace in their name,” that is, a famous, glorious, notorious garden. Or maybe this word makes it possible to understand something else, namely: from this garden they will take the name, because all the pious from Christ are called Christians. And no one will be small in number on earth, that is, pious; for before the coming of Christ they were very few in number. And the lands will not be destroyed by famine, that is, they will enjoy all spiritual food, because famine here refers to the deprivation of the word, which God threatened through the prophets; for it is said: “I will not bring a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). And no one will receive reproach from tongues. And this also befits both us and the Jews; for we, having become numerous and filled the universe, no longer tolerate reproaches from those who remain in wickedness, but rather envy and compete with us; and the Jews, upon returning from Babylon, having freed themselves from captivity, again acquired a high opinion of themselves. Ezek.34:30. And they will know that I am the Lord their God, and these people are Mine: the house of Israel, says the Lord Adonai. It is necessary to remember the saying of the Apostle that “not all who are are from Jerusalem, even these are Israel; neither are they the seed of Abraham, but all children” (Rom. 9:6, 7). And to this we must add what the wise John the Baptist said to the Pharisees: “For God is able from this stone to raise up a child for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). From this it is clear that all who believe, and who see all kinds of God by faith, as far as one can see, are called Israel, for such is the meaning of this name. And this was fulfilled with the Jews upon their return from captivity, but this prophecy primarily and truly applies to us, since what happened to us is not a type, but the reality itself. Ezek.34:31. You are My sheep, and the sheep of My pasture And showing that the word refers not only to Israel, but to the entire human race, of necessity he added: We are men, and I am the Lord your God: says Adonai the Lord. For, having got rid of bestiality, you have acquired a way of thinking characteristic of human nature, but I will be your God and Lord, taking every care and care for you. This is the meaning of the prophecy. But I don’t consider it at all strange that the Jews, according to custom, do not heed this, but I am surprised that some of our people dare to accept all this about Zerubbabel, not realizing that most of what was said is directly contrary to what happened under Zerubbabel. For what has been said: “I will make a covenant of peace with David, and I will consume the evil beasts from the earth, and they will dwell in the desert in confidence, and they will sleep in the oak groves. And they will dwell with hope, and there will be no one to frighten them. And I will build for them a garden of peace for the sake of it, and the land will not be destroyed by famine, and no one will receive reproach from the tongue” - completely contrary to what is known from history about Zerubbabel. Having returned from Babylon and begun to build the church of God, he encountered obstacles from neighboring nations to bring this work to completion; and both according to the story of the Old Testament history and according to the testimony of the Gospel, after forty-six years one church was renewed, and after another eighty-two years the city was renewed with walls, which were erected in the thirty-second year of the reign of Artaxerxes. The Scripture of Ezra informs us that those who built were in great fear, and were forced to build with weapons in their hands, at the same time carrying stones and throwing arrows at the enemies. Therefore, how can we apply to them the words: “and they will not be afraid”, or: “I will build for them a garden of peace,” or: “they will not be small in number”? Ezra also informs us that Nehemiah, with great difficulty, barely convinced the priests to leave their residence in the villages and settle in the city. Similarly, for those who are curious, it is not difficult to compare other things with history and find out the difference. So, only other things in prophecy befit the Jews, but most of them are the salvation of the universe. Therefore, to the Jews, who have carried the weakness of the eyes of their mother, I mean Leah, into their souls and do not want to see the truth, leaving absurdities to speak, we urge our fellow believers to “hold on to all that is tempting”, according to the word of the divine Apostle (1 Thess. 5:21), and as we usually do with food, preferring sweet to unsweetened, and choosing more from sweet. sweet, let us do the same with divine words. For the mind, as God says, “considers words, but the throat eats food, and in many times wisdom is gained, and in many lives knowledge” (Job 12:11, 12). A thorough mentor is experience who has accepted revelation from above for assistance; Using it and being enlightened by it, we will never sin in the truth about Christ Jesus our Lord. With Him glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto ages of ages! Amen.