The destruction of Jerusalem. The faithful being cared for, the impenitent are rejected. The slaves of Beauty and Bands broken by the rejection of Christ. The type and curse of a foolish shepherd.
Before Christ 517.
THIS chapter contains a prophesy of a very different cast from the foregoing. The people would not always behave as they ought, and therefore would not always be prosperous. Before their final glorious restoration, an event of a most calamitous nature was doomed to take place, the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, which is plainly here foretold, and ascribed to its proper cause, punishment for notorious wickedness. The flock, meaning God's people, were under the guidance of corrupt and unprincipled pastors, who sacrificed them to their own lucrative and ambitious views. The Messiah, then, is represented as assuming for a while the direction of them, as the good shepherd. After this, the prophet is held forth as the type of a worthless shepherd, or a succession of evil governors, who, heedless of the flock, or seeking only to oppress it, at once ruin the flock and bring destruction on themselves.