Woe to the pastors of America!
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the pastors of America; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to you pastors of America who only take care of yourselves! Should not pastors take care of the church? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the church. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
“‘Therefore, you pastors, hear the word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you pastors, hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the pastors and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
“‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of America, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of America will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of America. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Note: In case you didn't catch it, the above post is an adaptation of Ezekiel chapter 34, because I believe that God would say the same thing to most of the pastors today. By the way if you look up the definition of the word pastor you will find that it comes from a word that meant shepherd.
“‘Therefore, you pastors, hear the word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you pastors, hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the pastors and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
“‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of America, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of America will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of America. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Note: In case you didn't catch it, the above post is an adaptation of Ezekiel chapter 34, because I believe that God would say the same thing to most of the pastors today. By the way if you look up the definition of the word pastor you will find that it comes from a word that meant shepherd.
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