Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
In Ezekiel 34 God says, “I will be the shepherd,” and then, “I will send my servant David,” raising the question “Who is returning—God or David?”; how does this prophetic tension prepare for the incarnation, and how would it confront a modern view that mainly treats Jesus as a moral teacher?
Another way to ask: In Ezekiel 34 God says he will be the shepherd, but also says he will send “David”—so who is coming back, God or David? How does that set up the idea of Jesus coming in the flesh, and challenge the view of Jesus as mainly a moral teacher?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests Ezekiel 34 deliberately links God’s return with the coming Davidic ruler, setting up the incarnation where Jesus is both “the embodiment of Israel’s God” and “the descendant of David,” which is far bigger than viewing him mainly as a teacher.
- He summarizes Ezekiel 34: God will “seek the lost…bind up…bring them back,” acting as the good shepherd.
- Then God says: “I’m going to send my servant David to rule over them,” creating the question: “Who’s actually coming back? Is God returning or is David?”
- He says this tension “sets up, of course, for the incarnation.”
- In Isaiah 40/John the Baptist: John prepares “the way for Yahweh,” but “who ends up showing up?…It’s Jesus…implicitly telling us that’s Yahweh.”
- He concludes Jesus says, “I’m here as the embodiment of Israel’s God, but also as the descendant of David.”