The king was seen as a shepherd by the prophets; read Ezekiel 34 and Jeremiah 23:1-5. Heads of state were to see after the weak, the hurting, and those unjustly treated. Israel’s kings had failed at this, caring only for themselves; they left the common people with no shepherd. The Messiah, the Righteous Branch of David, would be a true shepherd-king. When Jesus announced that “I am the Good Shepherd” those two passages in Ezekiel and Jeremiah were looming in the background. The Kingdom of God, with Jesus as its Shepherd-King is the opposite of the governments of this world. God expects kings and political leaders to have strong pastoral instincts. All the heads of state, including kings, presidents, governors, and mayors, will stand before the true Shepherd-King Jesus and give an account (Matthew 25: 31-46).
