From the shepherds of Ezekiel to the Name in Acts
Scripture references: Ezekiel 34–37 · Joel 1–2 · Acts 1–5
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.
Published · 24 min read
Who is feeding the flock, and what are they feeding it for? That question reaches beyond the conduct of a single leader. It asks whether the people entrusted to our care are being strengthened, whether the wounded are being tended, and whether the lost are being sought.
Ezekiel confronts shepherds who have fed themselves while the flock suffers. Joel calls a devastated people to awaken and return to the Lord. In Acts, the risen Jesus pours out the promised Holy Ghost, and a gathered people begin to speak and serve in His name. These passages bring us through judgment and repentance into restoration and life.
Each passage must first be heard in its own setting. Ezekiel speaks to the house of Israel, including its scattering and promised return to its land. Joel addresses a people whose fields and worship have been devastated. Peter explicitly identifies the outpouring at Pentecost with Joel’s prophecy. As we follow these Scriptures together, we can also trace the wider Christian theme of God gathering His people under the care of Christ.
The burden of this study is that restoration must reach the heart. A community can recover its outward appearance and still need the life only God can give.
Ezekiel begins his accusation with a question that exposes the failure of Israel’s shepherds.
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”
(Ezekiel 34:2)
Those responsible for the flock have taken its resources while neglecting its needs. The sick have not been strengthened. The broken have not been bound up. Those driven away have not been brought back. With force and cruelty, the shepherds have ruled the people they should have protected (Ezekiel 34:3–6).
The result is scattering. The flock becomes prey, and no one searches for it. God sees the suffering that those in authority have learned to overlook. He also holds the shepherds accountable for it.
Then the voice of accusation becomes a promise.
“For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.”
(Ezekiel 34:11)
God will seek His sheep, gather them, feed them, and bind up the broken. The repeated promise of what He will do answers the repeated account of what the shepherds have failed to do. His care is personal, and it reaches the very people whom careless leadership has left behind.
Yet the chapter also promises a shepherd through whom that care will be expressed.
“And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.”
(Ezekiel 34:23)
God’s promise to seek the flock Himself stands alongside His promise to establish one shepherd, called His servant David. In the Christian reading of these promises, we look toward Jesus, the Son of David, who identifies Himself as the good shepherd and gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11).
The answer is deeper than a change in management. God intervenes to rescue His people and place them under faithful care. Leadership remains a responsibility, but it must serve the Shepherd’s purpose rather than consume the flock for its own benefit.
Ezekiel 36 speaks to the mountains and the land of Israel. The surrounding nations have treated the people’s desolation as an opportunity for possession and contempt. God promises to restore the land, but He also names the sins that brought judgment upon His people: bloodshed, idolatry, and the profaning of His holy name (Ezekiel 36:17–23).
The wounds are real, and so is the need for repentance. Failed leaders do not remove the people’s own responsibility before God.
“Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.”
(Ezekiel 36:22)
The rescue begins in God’s faithfulness to His holy name. Israel cannot claim that it has earned restoration. God acts in mercy, and that mercy calls the people to be ashamed of the ways that have dishonored Him.
“For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”
(Ezekiel 36:24)
The gathering has a place and a people in view. It is a promise to bring scattered Israel home. Within that restoration, God promises a cleansing that reaches beyond the land into the people themselves.
“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
(Ezekiel 36:25–27)
The movement is clear: cleansing, a new heart, and God’s Spirit within. Filthiness and idols must be removed. The heart that has become unresponsive must be replaced with a heart capable of responding to God.
The image of a heart of flesh speaks of tenderness and responsiveness. God is not promising a more polished version of the same resistance. He promises an inward change that makes obedience possible.
We should hear the purpose of the Spirit’s presence in the words of the promise. God will cause His people to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments. Grace reaches into conduct. The Spirit’s work is not complete in an outward religious appearance; it bears fruit in the way we live.
This does not make prayer unnecessary. Later in the chapter, God says that He will still be sought by the house of Israel concerning what He has promised (Ezekiel 36:37). The promise gives the people a reason to pray. They may come before Him with hope because He has already spoken of restoration.
In Ezekiel 37, the prophet is carried in the Spirit of the Lord into a valley full of bones. God causes him to pass around them, and he sees both their number and their condition. There are very many, and they are very dry (Ezekiel 37:1–2).
The vision leaves little room for confidence in ordinary human recovery. Then God asks the question.
“And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”
(Ezekiel 37:3)
Ezekiel places the answer in God’s knowledge. He cannot give life to what lies before him, but neither can he set a limit on what God may do. His answer is a posture of dependence.
The next command requires him to speak.
“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.”
(Ezekiel 37:4)
The prophet does not invent a message to make the scene more hopeful. He speaks the word God gives him. The promise is that breath will enter, bodies will be formed, and the bones will live (Ezekiel 37:5–6).
As Ezekiel prophesies, there is a noise and a shaking. Bone comes to bone. Sinews and flesh appear, and skin covers them. Yet the prophet observes that there is no breath in them (Ezekiel 37:7–8).
That moment gives us a searching image for the life of a community. Things can come together outwardly while the inward need remains. Organization, order, and visible activity have their place, but they cannot supply the life of God.
“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
(Ezekiel 37:9)
Ezekiel speaks as he is commanded. Breath enters them, they live, and they stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army (Ezekiel 37:10). What was beyond the prophet’s power is accomplished by God’s word and life-giving action.
God then supplies the meaning of the vision.
“Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.”
(Ezekiel 37:11)
These are the people’s own words of despair. Their hope is lost; they see themselves as cut off. God answers their hopelessness with His promise to open their graves, bring them out, and bring them into the land of Israel (Ezekiel 37:12–13).
“And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.”
(Ezekiel 37:14)
The vision is explained as the restoration of the whole house of Israel. Its imagery of life from death also gives Christian readers a powerful picture of God’s restoring power. That application should grow from the explanation God gives, rather than replace it.
Chapters 36 and 37 belong together. The new heart and the living bodies express related promises of renewal. God cleanses, puts His Spirit within His people, and restores the hope they believed was finished.
The second half of Ezekiel 37 moves from the valley to the joining of two sticks. Judah and Joseph, representing the divided people, are to become one in God’s hand. God promises to gather them and make them one nation, with one king over them (Ezekiel 37:15–22).
Restoration includes reconciliation. The people are not merely brought back as separate pieces. God addresses their division, their defilement, and their need for faithful rule.
“And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.”
(Ezekiel 37:24)
The promise continues with an everlasting covenant of peace and God’s sanctuary in their midst. His dwelling with them is the goal toward which the chapter moves.
“My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
(Ezekiel 37:27)
We can hear the depth of the restoration here. The scattered are gathered, the divided become one, and God dwells with His people. In Christian faith, these promises draw our attention to the care of Christ and the fellowship created by His Spirit. They call us to seek a unity that includes truth, cleansing, and obedience.
Joel opens with a devastated land. Successive waves of destruction have consumed what the previous wave left behind. The harvest has failed, the trees have withered, and joy has withered away from the sons of men (Joel 1:4–12).
The loss reaches the house of God. The meat offering and the drink offering are cut off. Priests are called to lament, elders and inhabitants are called to gather, and the people are summoned to cry unto the Lord (Joel 1:13–14).
Joel’s concern includes both the disaster before them and the day of the Lord. The language of chapter 2 presents an overwhelming force in the imagery of an advancing army. The people cannot dismiss the warning or presume that outward religion will protect them from judgment.
Yet the call to return remains open.
“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”
(Joel 2:12–13)
God calls for the whole heart. The tearing of garments may express grief, but it cannot substitute for inward repentance. The Lord seeks a people who will return to Him in truth.
The reason for hope is His character. He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. The expression about His repenting of evil refers here to His relenting from threatened calamity, not to God turning from moral wrongdoing.
Joel does not present repentance as a way to control God. The question in verse 14 leaves the people dependent upon His mercy. They are called to seek Him sincerely, bringing their need before the One whose character gives them reason to hope.
The priests are to weep between the porch and the altar, asking the Lord to spare His people and protect His heritage from reproach (Joel 2:17). As in Ezekiel, the concern reaches beyond their circumstances to the honor of God’s name among the nations.
The word of restoration answers the account of loss.
“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”
(Joel 2:25)
The creatures that consumed the harvest are named again. God has not overlooked what has been destroyed. He promises renewed provision, satisfaction, and praise. His people will know that He is in the midst of Israel and that He is their God (Joel 2:26–27).
The promise then reaches beyond the recovery of the fields.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”
(Joel 2:28–29)
Sons and daughters, old and young, servants and handmaids are included in the promised outpouring. The Spirit’s work will not be confined to a privileged social group. People who might be overlooked by human arrangements are expressly named by God.
Ezekiel speaks of God putting His Spirit within His people. Joel speaks of God pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh. These are related images of divine generosity: God renews His people inwardly and equips them to speak of His works.
Joel also speaks of signs associated with the coming day of the Lord. In that setting, he declares that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered (Joel 2:30–32). The chapter carries both warning and hope. The call is to return to God and seek the salvation He provides.
That promise will be heard again in Jerusalem.
Acts begins with the risen Jesus instructing His apostles. He has shown Himself alive after His suffering and has spoken to them concerning the kingdom of God. He commands them to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father (Acts 1:3–5).
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
(Acts 1:8)
The power has a purpose: witness to Jesus. The promise does not authorize the disciples to build their own importance. It equips them to carry His testimony beyond the place where they are gathered.
They continue together in prayer. When Peter speaks about Judas, he identifies the Holy Ghost as the One who spoke through David in Scripture (Acts 1:14–16). The Spirit’s work is already connected with the word God has given.
Matthias is then numbered with the eleven apostles. The particular qualification for this appointment is that the chosen man must have accompanied Jesus’ followers from John’s baptism to the ascension and become a witness with them of His resurrection (Acts 1:21–26). This is a specific apostolic responsibility, grounded in testimony to the risen Lord.
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
(Acts 2:1–4)
The disciples are together, and the gift comes from heaven. They do not produce the Spirit’s presence through their own effort. They receive what Jesus has promised.
Their unity is part of the scene, and it matters. It expresses a shared waiting and prayer. Yet the passage gives us a gift of God, not a technique by which people can compel Him to act.
Jews from many nations hear the wonderful works of God in their own languages. The variety of tongues carries a common testimony. We may see here an echo of the gathering of scattered people: the hearers are reached in languages they understand, and God is magnified among them (Acts 2:5–11).
Some marvel, while others mock and accuse the speakers of being full of new wine. Peter stands with the eleven and explains what is taking place.
“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:”
(Acts 2:16–17)
Here the connection to Joel is explicit. Peter names the prophet and identifies the outpouring before the crowd as the event of which Joel spoke. He continues through the promise that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:18–21).
Peter then directs their attention to Jesus of Nazareth. His works had been done among them. He had been crucified, and God had raised Him from the dead. Peter bears witness to the resurrection and declares the exaltation of Christ.
“Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”
(Acts 2:33)
The risen Jesus has received the promise of the Holy Ghost from the Father and has poured out what the crowd can see and hear. The life promised by the prophets is now being proclaimed through the crucified and risen Lord.
Reading Ezekiel alongside this testimony, we recognize the Christian hope of the faithful Shepherd gathering and renewing His people. Peter’s direct quotation is from Joel; the connection with Ezekiel is a wider reading of the shared themes of restoration, God’s presence, and the gift of His Spirit.
Peter declares that God has made the same Jesus whom they crucified both Lord and Christ. The hearers are pricked in their heart and ask what they must do (Acts 2:36–37).
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.”
(Acts 2:38–39)
The response includes repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The promise reaches to their children and to those afar off, as many as the Lord calls.
We can hear a relationship with Ezekiel’s promises of cleansing and inward renewal. The passages should not be forced into an identical sequence of steps, but they direct us toward the same need for God to cleanse and enliven His people. The heart must respond, and the life that follows must be shaped by His Spirit.
About three thousand souls are added that day. They continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. Their common life includes generosity toward those in need (Acts 2:41–47).
This is what restored care begins to look like. Those who have received the word learn together, pray together, and attend to one another. The flock is being fed.
Acts 3 brings us to a man lame from birth, carried daily to the gate of the temple called Beautiful. He asks alms from Peter and John. Peter asks him to look at them, and the man gives them his attention, expecting to receive something (Acts 3:1–5).
“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
(Acts 3:6)
Peter takes him by the right hand and lifts him up. Immediately his feet and ankle bones receive strength. He stands, walks, and enters the temple with them, leaping and praising God (Acts 3:7–8).
The man is a living witness to the power of Jesus. Those who recognize him cannot dismiss the change. He had been carried to the gate; now he walks in with praise.
Peter refuses to make the healing a claim about his own power or holiness. He directs the people to the God of their fathers and to Jesus, whom God has raised from the dead (Acts 3:12–15).
“And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
(Acts 3:16)
The name is not a religious formula detached from the One who bears it. Peter speaks of faith in Jesus and of the soundness given through Him. The authority belongs to the risen Lord.
Peter calls Jesus the Prince of life. Read alongside Ezekiel’s promised ruler, that title deepens the study’s theme of a Shepherd whose rule brings life. Acts does not explicitly quote Ezekiel at this point, but the relationship is meaningful within a Christian reading of the promises.
The sermon also opens a way of repentance. Peter acknowledges the ignorance of the people and their rulers, then calls them to repent and be converted so that their sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:17–19). The charge does not end in condemnation. The invitation to return remains.
The priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees interrupt the apostles and take them into custody. They are grieved that the apostles teach the people and preach through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Nevertheless, many hear and believe, and the number of the men is about five thousand (Acts 4:1–4).
These events give us a further picture of leadership confronted by the care and authority of Christ. The comparison with Ezekiel concerns the conduct of those opposing the apostles; it is not a judgment upon every leader or upon the Jewish people as a whole. Jesus, the apostles, and the first believers belong within Israel’s story.
Before the council, Peter is filled with the Holy Ghost. He declares that the man stands whole by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom they crucified and whom God raised from the dead (Acts 4:8–10).
“This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:11–12)
The rejected stone has become the head of the corner. Peter draws upon Psalm 118:22 and places Jesus at the center of the testimony. Salvation is found in Him.
For Cornerstone 1131, this is a searching foundation. Our confession must rest upon Christ, and the way we treat people must agree with the care of the One we confess. We cannot honor the cornerstone while disregarding those He calls us to serve.
The council sees the boldness of Peter and John and recognizes that they have been with Jesus. The healed man stands with them, and the evidence cannot be denied. The apostles are ordered to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus, but they answer that they cannot cease to speak of what they have seen and heard (Acts 4:13–20).
When released, they return to their own company. Together they pray for boldness to speak God’s word and for His hand to be stretched out in healing through the name of Jesus (Acts 4:23–30).
“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
(Acts 4:31)
The people who have already received the Spirit are filled again for the witness before them. Their dependence continues. The gift does not remove their need to pray.
Acts 5 turns our attention from opposition outside the church to dishonesty within it. Ananias and Sapphira agree to misrepresent the proceeds of a sale. Peter makes clear that the property had been theirs and that the money remained under their control after it was sold (Acts 5:1–4).
Their sin is not that they have failed to give a required amount. They have agreed to lie. The appearance of generosity has become a covering for deceit.
This belongs within the concern of Ezekiel 36. A restored people must have more than the appearance of a changed heart. The Spirit who gives life also exposes falsehood. Great fear comes upon the church and upon those who hear what has happened (Acts 5:5–11).
Unity must therefore be joined to truth. Agreement can serve love and obedience, but it can also be used to conceal sin. The purpose of a gathered people is faithfulness to God.
The chapter continues with signs, healings, and increasing numbers of believers. Opposition also grows. The high priest and those with him are filled with indignation, and the apostles are imprisoned. After their release by an angel, they return to teaching as commanded (Acts 5:12–21).
Before the council again, the apostles are accused of filling Jerusalem with their doctrine and disregarding the command concerning the name of Jesus.
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”
(Acts 5:29–32)
The Prince and Saviour is exalted to give repentance and forgiveness. His rule is expressed in saving mercy. The apostles bear witness to Him, and the Holy Ghost also bears witness.
Obedience belongs within that testimony. The Spirit’s presence and the call to submit to God must be held together. A claim to spiritual power cannot excuse deceit, self-service, or disregard for His word.
Gamaliel counsels the council to refrain from destroying the apostles. If the work is merely human, he argues, it will come to nothing; if it is of God, they will not be able to overthrow it (Acts 5:34–39).
His counsel restrains the council, but the passage does not tell us that he becomes a disciple. Nor does the survival of a movement by itself establish its truth. The apostles’ witness rests upon the risen Jesus and the word of God.
The apostles are beaten, commanded again not to speak in His name, and released. They depart rejoicing that they have been counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Their witness continues daily in the temple and in every house (Acts 5:40–42).
Opposition does not make a message true, but neither can opposition overturn the truth of Christ. The apostles continue because of the Lord to whom they bear witness.
The movement of these Scriptures brings us back to the first question. Who is feeding the flock, and what are they feeding it for?
Ezekiel exposes shepherds who consume the people entrusted to them. God promises to seek His sheep, cleanse them, give them a new heart, and put His Spirit within them. The valley of dry bones declares that the people’s despair does not have the last word. Their restoration rests in the God who speaks and performs His word.
Joel calls the people to return with the whole heart. The devastation reaches their fields, their worship, and their joy, yet the Lord remains gracious and merciful. He promises restoration and the outpouring of His Spirit.
In Acts, Peter names that outpouring and proclaims the risen Jesus. Those who receive the word repent, are baptized, and enter a life of teaching, fellowship, prayer, and care. A man who had been carried now stands and praises God. The apostles speak before rulers, and the Spirit searches the truthfulness of the gathered church.
These passages ask us to examine the heart behind our service. Are we feeding the flock or drawing from it for ourselves? Are the weak being strengthened? Are the wounded being tended? Does our life together agree with the name we proclaim?
Faithful structures and responsible leadership can serve that work. Their life and purpose must come from the Shepherd. We remain dependent upon His mercy, His word, and His Spirit.
The promise that first answered the scattered flock still gives this study its hope: God Himself will seek them out. The One who sees the lost does not abandon them to neglect. He gathers, cleanses, restores, and teaches His people to walk in His ways.
May our witness bear the character of His care, so that those who have been scattered find welcome, those who have lost hope hear His word, and those who receive His life learn to stand together under one Shepherd.