God begins to stress again the situation the wicked shepherds created causing the sheep to scatter and become prey to all the beasts of the field. Neither did the shepherds look for the sheep when they were scattered The shepherd did not carry out their responsibilities but only took care of themselves. God still calls the sheep His. This obviously means that He has never relinquished His rights to any under shepherd of the flock. These wicked men were given temporary responsibility but only under the vigilant oversight of the Lord God.. This then is the indictment, they failed to look after the people of God to whom they were entrusted. This should be a sober message to anyone who has teaching responsibilities of the Word of God. God is very serious about the quality of the teaching of His Word and will chastise those who cause the sheep to scatter because of poor quality teaching including denial of essential doctrines necessary for the sheep to flourish. The false shepherds had brought Israel to ruin and now He would intercede to rescue His chosen people. This fact cannot be missed. God will cause His people to hear the truth and bring the genuine sheep under shepherds when the false ones fail. There is a component of responsibility on the sheep to seek out the truth of God’s Word taught clearly and abandon the false teachers. Only the truly saved will seek the truth.
