“And they were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became meat to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.”
This has definite reference to the past. They had had no true and worthy shepherd. That is why they were now scattered. Their kings, their official leaders, their official teachers and their official watchmen, had failed them and thus they had become meat for the hunters and scavengers round about. But not only had they been failed in the past, their shepherds were still failing them.