73 - Sheep and Goats

The Lord now turns His attention to the flock under the care of the wicked shepherds. He refers directly to them as His flock. He uses the image of weak and strong animals in a flock, because the Lord knew that Judah’s political leadership was not its only problem. It is apparent that He sees issues with the flock. He calls them sheep, and he-goats. Not all the flock were professing faith in the Lord God. Some were only masquerading as genuine believers. This amounts to sheep being believers following Him and goats or unbelievers who do not follow Him. His examination and judgment will even separate out from among the people dominant (he-goat) and submissive (sheep). He says he will judge between the sheep who profess to believe and between the goats who really do not. He will put an end to the oppressive conduct of the fat goats who are strong and between the sheep who are weak.
The wealthy were not content with merely consuming the nation’s resources. They oppressed the poor in order to profit from them. They had seemingly aligned themselves with the wicked shepherds to subjugate the poor. God is making His intent clear in that He will make it possible for the weak to survive by ending the domination of the strong.