Ezekiel 34:17

Ezekiel 34:17 says, And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.  God then gave another warning to all the people of Israel.  He was going to judge them each according to their worthiness to be a part of His people, just as cattle are separated by their worthiness and sheep are separated from goats.  One day, every individual will be judged by their worthiness to be a part of God’s kingdom, and this worthiness will only come by having accepted Jesus Christ as one’s Savior and Lord.  

Verse eighteen adds, Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?  God asked if the people of Israel thought it was a good thing to not only eat all the good out of the pasture but to also trample down what was left.  He asked the same thing about the water, where they drank most of it and fouled what was left.  I believe that this was a reference to people only thinking about doing what was good for themselves and not being concerned that nothing was left for the poor and needy.  I don’t believe that God will ever be pleased with anyone amassing great riches, especially those who profess to be followers of Christ, while ignoring the less fortunate around them and leaving them with very little or nothing.   

Verse nineteen continues, And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.  God said that His flock, those who had put their faith in Him, were left with what those who didn’t had trodden down to eat and what they had fouled to drink.  Christians aren’t always blessed with the best things in the world but are often left with very little to survive on, but this doesn’t mean that God doesn’t know what is happening.  We may think it is unfair of God to allow this, but if everyone who accepts God’s gift of salvation was immediately made very wealthy then everyone would want to become a Christian.  Even when we are struggling in the world as followers of Christ, we have already gained our everlasting reward in heaven, where we will no longer lack for anything.   

Verse twenty concludes, Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.   God said that He was going to judge between the fat and the lean cattle.  I believe that the fat cattle would be those who thought only of themselves with no concern for others or God and the lean would be those who thought of others and not just themselves and were faithful to God.  I don’t believe that this means that all rich people will be sent away to everlasting punishment and all poor people will be redeemed, but that it means how we treat others and more importantly our relationship with God will be the determining factor.