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While reading through the Bible this year, I have been pondering the prophecies in the final books of the Old
Testament. Putting myself in the place of the hearers, these often scary and dire predictions must have been hard to accept. Current day readers like me have the advantage of knowing how the story continued into the New Testament.
The interesting thing is the amount of time that elapsed between the last word of Malachi and the first word of Matthew. Generations of people heard nothing new. I imagine that the dedicated scholars and religious people must have leaned on the writings they had to keep the faithful encouraged.
The stories of God’s people emerging from slavery into the promised land, the poetry and proverbs of Israels’ second and third kings must have provided valuable encouragement. The prophecies that pointed to the coming of a Savior.
Through the travails of the people that are not recorded, maybe the prophet Ezekiel’s message was a welcome herald of things to come. Ezekiel addressed the shepherds of his day, describing the shepherd of the people who was coming. Chapter 24 spoke of hope. The Shepherd who was coming would be their long awaited Savior.
Today, we are again waiting with confidence. No matter our current situation, no matter where we live, the Good Shepherd has promised to return.
Come, Lord Jesus.
“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.'” Ezekiel 34:11 NIV
“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 Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.” Ezekiel 34:13 NIV
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