305. No hunger or shame
Ezekiel 34:29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Many precious promises are given regarding hunger and satisfaction. The hungry will be filled. The rich will be sent empty away. The rich, the proud, and the full do not need God and so they do not have room for Him in their lives. They are distracted about too many things and do not even sense their need. Until something bad happens; then they may cry out for help. Or not.
A truly hungry person is consumed with his hunger; he cannot think of anything else other than getting something to eat. Humans have been spiritually hungry and empty ever since the Fall when they were banned from the Tree of Life. Those who recognize spiritual hunger and come to understand that they are empty without God have the promise that they will be filled. When they hear the Gospel God comes in to fill the “God-sized vacuum.” Jesus has opened the way to the Tree of Life by dying on the tree of the cross. This is the “plant of renown.”
There is no hunger in “the land.” This is ultimately fulfilled in the New Jerusalem when it comes down from heaven, for the Tree of Life is in it, opened up for all. “The land” is the kingdom of God, presently residing within the believer and seen in the group of believers meeting in Jesus’ name; this is the Church. In that land they may hear, receive and believe the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. Believers have come to know they are really hungry, empty, poor beggars in this world. They come to the cross and remember their baptism daily. And they are no more consumed with spiritual hunger. Jesus grants a full life.
The other part of the promise is that believers will no longer bear the shame of the heathen. The Holy Spirit, through the Word, convicts of guilt and shame and leads us to the sacrificed Lamb to cover the shame. The problem for many heathen is that they do not even sense their shame. Unbelievers sense disappointment, but in their pride they blame God and others, instead of finding the only remedy for shame. But the believer in Christ has no more shame, guilt, bitterness, resentment, blaming, and even complaint. This is the promise of “not bearing the shame of the heathen.”