Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd and Chief Shepherd, has appointed under-shepherds to watch over His physical and spiritual flock from the days of ancient Israel through the New Covenant church era and into the Millennium. The Chief Shepherd provides the pattern for His under-shepherds, gifting them to reflect His own shepherding in their responsibilities. However, false shepherds, not appointed by God, also exist, described by Jesus as thieves and robbers who come to steal, kill, and destroy, and as hirelings who abandon the sheep in times of need for their own safety. God pronounces woe on His appointed shepherds who become derelict, destroying and scattering the sheep of His pasture, leading them astray, and failing to attend to them. Some shepherds feed themselves rather than the flock, ruling with cruelty and force instead of strengthening, healing, or seeking the lost. Though these references often apply to physical leaders of Israel, they also pertain to the spiritual shepherds of God's flock. Even when under-shepherds do not perfectly emulate the Good Shepherd, He has established their roles and offices, ordaining this order. The condition of sheep without a shepherd is consistently portrayed as negative and harmful, whether due to being driven away by abuse or neglect, leaving the sheep to beseech the Good Shepherd to gather them to an under-shepherd of His choosing.

God says in Ezekiel 34:2-4 that the shepherds of Israel feed themselves rather than the flocks. They eat the fat and clothe themselves with the wool while slaughtering the fatlings. They fail to strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the broken, bring back the driven away, or seek the lost. Instead they rule with force and cruelty. This chapter constitutes an indictment against the rulers and not the ministry. The first clear hint appears in verse 4 where the word rulers is announced. Later in the chapter God affirms this by mentioning David who was a ruler though dead by that time. Some of the accusations may apply in principle to the ministry but the primary targets are the political business and educational leaders of the nation who serve themselves rather than righteously leading the people.

The text states that godly leadership existed in short supply throughout Israel's relationship with God. The scriptural record shows that an occasional Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, or another good leader arose among them, but Ezekiel 34 summarizes Judah's leadership as shepherds who ruled for their own well-being rather than the citizens'. Such leadership does not produce good results. In a context like Ezekiel 34 the terms shepherd and sheep are used in a figurative sense. A shepherd is a human leader in some position of authority, and sheep designate human citizens the leader has authority over. Shepherd includes far more than the religious ministry. It includes leadership in government, education, business, entertainment, and media, reaching all the way to parents in the family home. The prophet Isaiah 3:12 exposes that community life in Judah was already in severe decline because those who lead cause the people to err and destroy the way of their paths. Isaiah 59 portrays an entire culture in collapse produced by self-centered leadership. The Bible reveals that Israel's leadership consistently fell short of serving God adequately enough to lead the nation to greatness in His eyes. This is partly because every leader follows a pattern made by someone who preceded them. The first and most critical element in judging the quality of any leader's service is the answer to whose pattern the leader is following.