When the Shepherds Become Wolves Text: Isaiah 56:9-12
Introduction: A Summons to the Scavengers
When a body politic begins to rot, the stench travels. When a nation that has known the covenant of God decides to abandon that covenant, God does not simply let it go with a quiet sigh. He issues a summons. He sends out a dinner invitation. But the guests are not what we would expect, and the main course is the nation itself. This is what Isaiah is doing here. He is not whispering a courtly suggestion; he is blowing a trumpet, calling for God's appointed scavengers to come and feast on the carcass of a compromised and corrupt Israel.
We live in an age that wants its Christianity domesticated. We want a God who is a celestial guidance counselor, a Jesus who is a meek and mild therapist, and a church that is a comfortable self-help group. But the God of Isaiah is the sovereign Lord of history, and He is not tame. When the leadership of His people fails, when the men who are supposed to be watchmen on the walls fall asleep, when the dogs that are supposed to bark at intruders are silent, God does not just fire them. He brings in an outside demolition crew.
This passage is a blistering indictment of the spiritual leadership of Israel. But we would be fools, absolute fools, to read this as some dusty historical record about failures long past. This is a mirror. The prophetic eye is given to see what is actually going on in the present. And what was going on in Israel then is going on in the Western church now. We have watchmen who are blind, shepherds who are greedy, and leaders who are so besotted with their own comfort and pleasure that they cannot see the wolves gathering at the edge of the flock. This passage is God's declaration of what happens when the guardians of the covenant become its greatest liability.
The warning is stark. When the leadership of a people becomes this corrupt, God's judgment is not just coming; it is being formally announced. The beasts are being summoned. The devourers are on their way. And the reason they are coming is that the men in charge have utterly abdicated their duty.
The Text
All you beasts of the field, All you beasts in the forest, Come to eat.
His watchmen are blind; All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;
And the dogs have a strong appetite; they do not know satisfaction. And they are shepherds who do not know understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his greedy gain, to the last one.
"Come," they say, "let us take wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, beyond exceedingly great."
(Isaiah 56:9-12 LSB)
The Divine Invitation to Judgment (v. 9)
The passage opens with a terrifying and formal invitation.
"All you beasts of the field, All you beasts in the forest, Come to eat." (Isaiah 56:9)
God is the one speaking here. This is a divine command. The "beasts of the field" and "beasts in the forest" are common biblical metaphors for gentile, pagan nations that God uses as instruments of His wrath. Think of Assyria, Babylon, or Rome. They are the lions, the bears, the wolves of the geopolitical landscape. And God is telling them that the banquet is ready. The flock of Israel, left unprotected by its worthless shepherds, is now on the menu.
This is a fundamental principle of covenant theology. When God's people are faithful, they are a wall of fire, a protected garden. But when they are unfaithful, particularly when their leadership is faithless, God Himself removes the hedge of protection (Isaiah 5:5). He doesn't just allow judgment to happen; He actively summons it. He whistles for the Assyrians. He calls Nebuchadnezzar "My servant" to come and discipline Judah.
We must not miss the profound sovereignty on display here. The pagan nations are not acting on their own initiative. They are not the ultimate actors on the stage of history. They are beasts, and they come when their Master calls. They think they are pursuing their own imperial ambitions, but they are actually God's unwitting janitorial staff, sent to clean up the mess made by a rebellious covenant people. This should be a terrifying thought for any nation, like ours, that has been so richly blessed by God and has turned its back on Him.
The Useless Guardians (v. 10)
Having summoned the beasts, God now explains why the meal is available. The security system has completely failed.
"His watchmen are blind; All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber." (Isaiah 56:10)
The leaders of Israel had two primary jobs: to see and to say. They were to be watchmen on the wall, scanning the horizon for threats, and they were to be watchdogs in the yard, barking loudly at the first sign of danger. But here, they fail at both. They are blind, and they are mute.
First, they are blind. They "know nothing." This is not a lack of intellectual horsepower. It is a spiritual and moral blindness. They have lost their prophetic eye. They cannot discern the times. They see the rising tide of paganism, the internal rot of idolatry, the blatant injustice in the land, and they call it peace. They see the wolves massing, and they think they are sheep. This is the condition of so many pulpits in our nation today. They are blind to the flagrant rebellion against God's created order, blind to the theological heresies being taught in their seminaries, and blind to the spiritual state of their own people.
Second, they are mute dogs. A dog that doesn't bark when a stranger comes into the house is worthless. It is a pet, not a guardian. These leaders refuse to speak. They will not warn. They will not confront. They are more concerned with being liked than being faithful. They preach a gospel carefully, like a donkey eating a thistle, afraid of offending anyone. They have traded the prophetic fire in their bones for a comfortable pension. They are "dreamers lying down, who love to slumber." They are addicted to ease. The last thing they want is a confrontation that might disturb their nap.
The Insatiable Shepherds (v. 11)
The diagnosis gets worse. Their failure is not just one of incompetence, but of active, malicious self-interest.
"And the dogs have a strong appetite; they do not know satisfaction. And they are shepherds who do not know understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his greedy gain, to the last one." (Isaiah 56:11)
These are not just sleeping dogs; they are greedy dogs. They have a "strong appetite" and "do not know satisfaction." The Hebrew here is vivid; it means they are strong of soul for devouring. Their entire being is oriented toward consumption. They are supposed to be shepherds feeding the flock, but they are instead feeding on the flock.
They are "shepherds who do not know understanding." Again, this is not about IQ. It is a failure of wisdom, a failure to understand their basic job description. And the root of this failure is laid bare: "They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his greedy gain." The compass of their life is not oriented toward God's glory or the good of His people. It is oriented toward self. Their ministry is a means to an end, and the end is personal profit, personal comfort, personal prestige. From the greatest to the least, "to the last one," the corruption is universal.
This is the inevitable result when the fear of God is replaced by the love of money and the praise of men. The ministry becomes a career path, the church becomes a marketplace, and the sheep become commodities. When you see pastors obsessed with church growth metrics, book sales, and conference circuits, while their own people are biblically illiterate and starving for true spiritual food, you are seeing this verse in action.
The Delusion of the Drunkards (v. 12)
The final verse reveals the pathetic, self-deluding worldview that undergirds this entire dereliction of duty.
"'Come,' they say, 'let us take wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, beyond exceedingly great.'" (Isaiah 56:12)
This is the philosophy of the failed leader: hedonism and optimism. Faced with imminent disaster, their response is to throw a party. "Let us drink heavily." This is not the moderate use of wine that Scripture commends to gladden the heart of man. This is a deliberate flight from reality. It is self-medication on a national scale. They are drowning out the sound of the approaching beasts with the clinking of their cups.
And it is coupled with a completely baseless optimism. "Tomorrow will be like today, beyond exceedingly great." This is the official lie of every corrupt establishment. Everything is fine. Things are actually getting better. We are on the right track. This is the kind of blind, content-free optimism that is preached from the pulpits of compromise and the halls of power, right up until the moment the walls come crashing down.
They are so deep in their sin, so insulated by their wealth and comfort, that they have lost all touch with reality. They cannot imagine a world where their party ends. They believe their prosperity is a permanent feature of the universe, rather than a temporary mercy of the God they are ignoring. This is the ultimate stupor. They are drunk on wine, yes, but they are also drunk on their own pride and self-sufficiency.
Conclusion: The Call to Repent or Be Eaten
So what is the takeaway for us? This passage is a divine warning shot across the bow of the contemporary church. God is still sovereign, and His standards for leadership have not changed. He still demands watchmen who can see and dogs that will bark.
For those in leadership, the call is to immediate and radical repentance. We must ask ourselves: are we blind? Are we silent? Have we turned to our own way, for our own greedy gain? Have we substituted the pursuit of comfort and pleasure for the hard work of faithful ministry? If so, we must repent before the beasts God is summoning arrive at our door.
For the flock, the call is to be discerning. Do not follow blind shepherds. Do not trust mute dogs. Do not sit under the leadership of men who are more interested in feeding themselves than in feeding you the unadulterated Word of God. Your souls are at stake. You must demand faithfulness from your leaders, and you must pray for them, that God would open their eyes and untie their tongues.
The good news is that God has provided the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, who never fails. He is the watchful guardian who never slumbers or sleeps. He is the one who laid down His life for the sheep, rather than feeding on them. He is the one who drank the cup of God's wrath so that we might be spared. Our ultimate hope is not in any human leader, but in Him.
But our hope in Him must translate into a demand for faithfulness here and now. The beasts are always at the edge of the forest. The only thing that keeps them at bay is a church whose leaders are awake, alert, and vocal. May God grant us such leaders, and may He have mercy on us for the times we have settled for so much less.