"This is what the sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey. . . I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace . . . I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes - feed them justice! . . . I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats. . . I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep. For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands. So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another. And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken! I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear. I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the Lord. They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will frighten them. And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations. In this way, they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people."
Within this passage there is much judgement and there is much hope. These are promises which motivate me to live on the side of the injured, the weak, the scrawny, the sick, the hungry, the abused, the lost ones who strayed away, the ones who are enslaved, the ones in prison, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger. . . for it is there that I might perhaps experience the showers of blessing that are promised in our greatest time of need. This is where I want to live. This is where I want to stay. Counter-intuitively, this is the place of safety.
I came of age under the shadow of the political slogan "Peace through strength" - a phrased coined by the supporters of the MX missile in the 1970's - it became the rally cry of Reagan's political campaign in the late 1980s. The oxymoron of this justification of the accumulation of military might is perhaps subtle. A simple walking forward with this idea will bring one to it's logical conclusion - as Andrew Bacevich (retired career Army officer and self described conservative catholic) has pointed out that "belief in the efficacy of military power almost inevitably breeds the temptation to put that power to work. 'Peace through strength' easily enough becomes 'peace through war.'"
The prophet Ezekiel gives voice to God's offering of another way. The alternative: Peace through weakness. Is this not where God's strength is made perfect? For those who claim to follow the God of the Torah and/or the Bible - we would do well to take heed that we not find ourselves living on the side of the fat and powerful.
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