The pastor who reads only the New Testament to get his assignment, see his field, and understand the nature of his work will miss a great deal of vital information. The Old Testament is a book of illustrations of New Testament teachings.

Case in point.

Two passages from the 6th Century prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel take pains to show us the failures of the shepherds–i.e., the spiritual leaders–of their day. It’s impossible to read Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 without seeing a reflection of ourselves and our situation in that mirror.

(Warren Wiersbe says when we first start reading Scripture, it’s a window to us. We gaze through it to see the characters of the Bible, how they lived, what they did. Eventually, however, if we stay with it, the Word becomes a mirror. As we gaze into it, we begin to see ourselves, our world, our situations.)

The passage from Ezekiel 34 rails against the failures of the spiritual leaders of that day. Bible students recall what days of crisis those were, with the nation of Judah being pulled on one side to trust in Egypt and being called by God to surrender to Babylon, with false prophets calling one way and true prophets another. The poor people had no idea where to turn. Eventually, the Israelis were defeated by the Babylonians, the population was carted off to foreign lands, and the city of Jerusalem was demolished. Thousands of God’s people died from war or starvation or other cruelties.

In the middle of this national crisis, a time when the preachers should have been at their best, they failed miserably. Ezekiel 34:1-10 lists five great failures of these so-called shepherds.

1. While starving the sheep, the shepherds gorged themselves.

2. While neglecting the sheep, the shepherds adorned themselves.

3. While dominating the sheep, the shepherds indulged themselves.

4. While fleecing the sheep, the shepherds enriched themselves.

5. While abandoning the sheep, the shepherds protected themselves.

As a result, God says, the shepherds will give account–always a requirement of a shepherd at the end of the day; see Hebrews 13:17–and God Himself will take over the shepherding role.

“I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out,” he says. “I will care for my sheep…I will bring them out…I will feed them…I will lead them to rest…I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick….” (34:11-16)

The Lord Himself taking up the shepherding role was not a new idea. Some four centuries earlier, David had sung, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” (Psalm 23) And 150 years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied, “He shall lead His flock like a shepherd and gently carry them that are with young.” (Isaiah 40:11)

And who among us does not treasure the time our Savior stood with His people and announced, “I am the Good Shepherd.” He said, “I have come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The New Testament calls Jesus our Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep (John 10), the Great Shepherd who rose from the dead (Hebrews 13), and the Chief Shepherd who is coming again (I Peter 5).

And then there is Jeremiah 23.

The sins of the shepherds portrayed in this chapter are of two kinds, the outwardly hostile and the inwardly subtle.

Adultery. Idolatry. Outright wickedness. And all of this is just in verse 14. “They’re as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah,” God says, citing the worst examples that came to mind.

The more subtle, less obvious, sins were the kind that preachers are more likely to commit, then or now.

1. Imagining. “They speak a vision of their own imagination.” 23:16

2. Neglect. “(They did not) stand in the council of the Lord, that he should see and hear His word.” 23:18

3. Presumption. “I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them but they prophesied.” 23:21

4. Dreaming. “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in my name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream.’ 23:25

5. Supplanting God. “(They) intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams….” 23:27

6. Plagiarism. “I am against the prophets who steal my words from each other.” 23:30

7. Lying. “I am against the prophets who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.'” 23:31

One of the most hopeful words God can give to a preacher is found in 23:22, “If they had stood in my council, then they would have announced my words to my people, and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.”

He’s willing. If we are.

But exactly how does one “get” a word from God? By following the example of Jesus’ friend Mary in Luke 10. Plop yourself down at His feet and listen. Don’t be in a hurry and quit talking. Be quiet. Shhhh.

Read a few verses, then sit quietly reflecting on them. Then sit quietly reflecting on nothing. Just wait.

Read some more, then be quiet. Talk to the Lord a little, then stop. Be quiet. Do not be in a hurry. God deserves patience.

Now, do this regularly. Show the Lord that you intend to make yourself available to Him every day like this, and He might decide to take you at your word and show up.

Take that, you loud-mouthed, fast-talking preacher who comes on to God in your prayers like a machine gun. You call it storming the gates of heaven or something. He calls it a refusal to listen.

Shut off your motor and sit at His feet. Be still and learn.

The most striking section of Jeremiah 23 might be verse 28. “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has my word speak my word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?”

Pow. Take that, you over-emotional, spiritualistic, psychical somebody who does not have time to study God’s word, but preaches your visions, your imaginations, your opinions. It’s just straw.

“Preach the Word,” Paul told the young pastor/son of his named Timothy. (II Timothy 4:2) As a young pastor I would read that and yawn to myself, thinking, “Well, what else could he preach?” The answer of course is a lot of things. His opinions, the ideas of others, the sermons of others, books he has read, dreams he has had, his visions, his convictions, his experience. Satan will present a thousand substitutes for the Word of God.

But they’re all just so much straw.

Sheep need nourishment, not just fiber.