Ezekiel 34:23 - Exposition

And I will set up one Shepherd over them . Here, more than ever, we have an anticipation of our Lord's teaching in John 10:1-18 . He claims to be the Fulfiller, as of the prediction of Isaiah 40:11 and Jeremiah 23:1-3 , so also of this. He, the "Son of David," is the David that inherits that among other promises. It has to be noted, however, that Ezekiel's words paint, less distinctly than those of the earlier prophets, the picture of an individual Messianic king, and seem rather to point, as do those of Zechariah 12:10 (I do not now discuss the date of that prophecy), to a line of true rulers, each faithfully representing the ideal David as the faithful Ruler, the true Shepherd of his people ( Psalms 78:71 ; comp. Ezekiel 37:24 ; Ezekiel 45:8 , Ezekiel 45:9 ).