"Wicked Shepherds" Isaiah 56:9-12 (manuscript)

 

“Wicked Shepherds”

[Isaiah 56:9-12]

June 6, 2021 YouTube

            There is a stark difference between the first part of Isaiah 56 and the second part of Isaiah 56.  The chapter begins with God telling His people to be obedient and promising that He will bring the outcasts into the Kingdom.  People who would have been forbidden to enter the Temple will be draw by God through Jesus and allowed now to enter and be part of the believing community.

            This section concerns the condemnation of self-seeking leadership.  This leadership would have included the kings and other governmental leaders as well as the religious leaders – the priests and prophets.

            As we look at our text, we will look at it primarily in the religious leaders, but keep in mind that these things apply to the governmental leaders as well.

            God begins:

“All you beasts of the field, come to devour—all you beasts in the forest.”

God describes the leadership as beasts.  The leaders that God has given to Jerusalem are acting like a wild boar.  Whether they are in the field or in the forest, their concern is to fill their belly.  The needs of the people and their protection is down on their list of concerns.  They are looking out for their own interests – their own satisfaction – whatever it is thar they desire to devour.

Think, for example, of ministers who preach what his people want to hear, so the pastor will be thanked and smiled at and, at the right time, given a raise.

Paul writes, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (II Timothy 4:3-4, ESV).

Take, for example, Joel Osteen, who says he does not preach about repentance and sin, because “people feel bad enough about themselves” (https://christiannews.net/2016/03/31/joel-osteen-says-hes-not-cheating-people-by-neglecting-to-preach-on-repentance-hell/)

Why does a minister do this?  It’s not to care for his people.  His people need to know that they must repent of their sin and believe that Jesus is God the Savior. They need to know everything that God has said in His Word.

Ministers are called to protect their people and lead them in the truth.

David writes, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4, ESV).

David says he is comforted by the Shepherd’s rod and staff – what is that?  The shepherd carried these two instruments:  the rod was used to beat off any other animal or person who wanted to harm the sheep.  The staff was used to guide the sheep in the direction they should go.

“His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge;”

The shepherds are to be watchmen – like the men who watch from the towers of the city and give advanced warning of intruders – enemies – advancing against the city.

God condemns these watchmen as being blind – they cannot see the enemy approaching, because they have blinded themselves.  And they don’t have the knowledge to be able to tell between a friend and an enemy.  They are useless and a danger to the city because they cannot see who is coming, and even if they could see, they can’t tell the difference between the intentions of those coming towards the city.

How many of our ministers have blinded themselves to the clear teaching of Scripture that Jesus is the Only Way to salvation and preaches that all ways are really the same – God doesn’t care what you believe so long as you are a good person.

Again, “they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough.”

Ministers are supposed to preach the Gospel and bark like dogs against false teaching so the whole congregation knows what the lies and deceptions are coming their way. They are to be the force behind the “beware of dog” sign on the church – protecting their people.

A friend of mine contacted me about a woman who says she is a Christian but is teaching the heresy of Modalism.  Modalism is an ancient heresy that teaches that there is One God – which is true – and this One God expresses Himself in three different modes – sometimes as the Father, sometimes as the Son, and sometimes as the Spirit.  The Three are the One God, but not Three Persons – it is a denial of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. And true Christian ministers ought to respond by barking!  This is a lie!  This is not the Word of God!

Such ministers are not shepherds, they are dogs who like to sleep, who like to lie down, who like to dream about themselves and how wonderful they are.  Rather than preach God’s Word, they preach whatever gets them the most luxury and pleasure.

That is not to say that the people are innocent – the sheep are not innocent – Christians are not innocent – each one is a sinner.  But how much worse is it if the sheep – who sin and need guidance and protection – are “led” by a wicked shepherd?

“But they are shepherds who have no understanding;”

One of the problems is that the shepherds are not genuinely interested in Who God is and what He requires of His people.  These shepherds are interested in making the people feel good and telling them that what the culture says is true and normal and right is true and normal and right – no matter what the Bible says.

Victoria Osteen recently preached, “So I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy. Amen?" (http://www.breathecast.com/articles/joel-osteen-wife-victoria-responds-to-critics-regarding-worship-for-yourself-quote-video-19555/).

Osteen says that the point of worship is for us to be happy.  She has no understanding.

Isaiah tells us in chapter six that worship is all about God, and He overwhelms us with His Holiness and causes us to repent and follow in faith and obedience – our response fills us will joy – even if we ae not happy in our circumstances.

We will remember when the King of Israel was seeking a prophetic word about his desire to go to war, and we read, “And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.’ And Jehoshaphat said, ‘Let not the king say so’” (I Kings 22:8, ESV).

All the prophets of the king tell him what he wants to hear – except for Micaiah.  The king doesn’t want to hear from Micaiah, because Micaiah speaks the Word of God – whether the king likes it or not.  The other prophets don’t care what God has to say – they are happy in their ignorance to simply tell the king what he wants to hear.

One of my classmates in seminary reacted to my talking about reading theology to be a regular and continuous practice in my life, and she said, “Why would you ever want to read theology after you graduate from seminary?”  In other words, “Why would you ever want to spend time trying to know God and His Will better after you graduate from seminary. Just tell the people what they want to hear.”  She has no understanding.

“they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.”

God says that the shepherds of Israel – the priests – the ministers of Israel – let the people go their own way – which we happily do – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6, ESV).  The wicked shepherds don’t care because they are only out for their own gain.

Any minister – any seminary student planning to answer a call to the ministry – must not think that being a pastor – a shepherd – is about being well-thought of, well-paid, and getting everything you want – most of the time it will be closer to the opposite – if you actually preach the Word of God and seek to be faithful and obedient.

“’Come,’ they say, ‘let me get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure.’”

Such wicked shepherds don’t care about the people they have been given charge over – just as the prophets and priests didn’t care – overall – for Israel – they only care for what they can get out of her – the best seats – free food and wine – compliments – meanwhile, they despise the Word of God.  They preach nothing different.  They do nothing different.  Why would they?  They believe that they have never had it so good, so they keep up the pattern believing nothing will change from day to day.

God condemns the self-seeking leadership in Jerusalem – in the nation of Israel.

Ezekiel records God’s condemnation of the shepherds of Israel as well:

“’Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely 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, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them’” (Ezekiel 34:7-10, ESV).

God condemns the self-seeking leadership in Jerusalem – in the nation of Israel – and in the world today – in the church today.

What are we to do with this Word from God?

We are to understand it in the historical setting of Jerusalem before the Babylonian exile.  We are to understand how these shepherds sinned.  Shepherds – with us all – are sinners. And we are to understand that God punishes sin – God disciplines all of His people – including shepherds.

            Paul, who was a shepherd, confesses that he is a sinner, though saved by Jesus Christ Alone:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

            “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Romans 7:15-25, ESV).

            Still, he preached the Whole Word of God.  He strived after holiness.  He taught what God calls a shepherd – a minister – to be:

“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen” (I Timothy 6:11-16, ESV).

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (II Timothy 4:1-5, ESV).

Hold your shepherd to the biblical call upon him.  And pray for him.  Pray for his physical health.  Pray for his mental health.  Pray for his emotional health. Pray for his spiritual health.  Pray that God would keep him a faithful and obedient shepherd.  And receive the Word of God in faith and obedience as he preaches it to you.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, You have shown us the wicked shepherds in Jerusalem, and we mourn that there are wicked shepherds in our churches today.  We pray for those shepherds who are striving after holiness in faith and obedience while not excusing or ignoring their sin.  Be with those who desire Your Will above all else.  Supply the needs of our pastors physically so they can use their bodies to lead Your people and give You glory.  We pray for the mental needs of our pastors – that they would strive to know You and Your Word more fully and better.  We pray for the emotional needs of our pastors – that You would comfort them and keep them steady in rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn.  And we ask for the spiritual needs of our pastors – that they would remain deep in Your Word , rejoicing in Who You are.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.