Now You Say You See…Part 1

And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind also? (John 9:40 KJV)

And Jesus answered their question in no uncertain terms.

Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say "We see"; therefore your sin remaineth. (John 9:41 KJV)

As Jesus interacted with the Pharisees after opening the eyes of the man born blind, he set forth spiritual technology that needs to be examined and accurately digested. Jesus makes a comparative statement here in that if you were blind you would have no sin, but if you say you can see, your sin remains. Take note that he doesn't say, "if you can see", but rather if you say you can see.

What sin was he referring too? What were the Pharisees claiming they could see?

What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. (Romans 3: 1-2 KJV)

In ancient biblical history we have the accounts of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Patriarchs and such and it seems that any interaction between God and man at that point was done so in a verbal fashion or impressed upon them in dreams or visions. God would speak and man would respond. Any record of these communications was passed down verbally from generation to generation. It became a verbal archive of the history of God and man. It was not until the time of Moses that Gods interaction with man came in the form of a written document. And when God adopted the Hebrews as His chosen people, He granted unto them the oracles of God. And what began as the Big Ten (The Ten Commandments) soon evolved into a series of 613 religious commandments that had crept into every aspect of the Hebrews lives. It was known as the Oral Law. Some of these commandments concerned relations between men and women; others were directed toward the Levitical priesthood and their duties and behaviors. Many were applicable only during the time period that the Temple stood in Jerusalem. But even to this day approximately 300 of these commandments are still imposed upon the followers of Judaism.

What is an oracle?

The word oracle is the word 'logion' and simply means an utterance, but in this case, an utterance of God. It comes from the word 'logios', which describes one that is fluent in the delivery of this God inspired communication. God in His infinite understanding chose Moses, a timid man with weak communication skills, to be the orator of this divine revelation. This pattern still holds true today; God still chooses the foolish of the world to confound the wise 1.

Paul tells us of the advantage that this divine revelation gave to the Jewish people. For a moment consider the benefit of having inside knowledge of the creation from the Creator himself. Throughout the biblical historical record this inside information has allowed the Hebrew nation to expand while those around them crumbled. Noah knew of the flood before man knew what rain was. Joseph knew the famine was seven years hence, while in exile in Egypt and exactly how to prepare for it and in the end saved the entire Jewish nation from extinction.

The advantage of the fluent understanding of Gods communication with man knows no bounds. But the Hebrews turned from it and developed their own system to replace the perfect one God had given them.

This is he (Moses), that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, (Acts 7:38-39 KJV)

Notice that "in their hearts" they turned back toward Egypt. Egypt is a 'type of the world' system as is Babylon. It represents enmity toward God and when the ancients did so, the fluent understanding of God became polluted with man's goals, desires and agendas.

Gods desire for Israel was for them to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation set apart for His purpose. The Father also tells Moses that Israel will be a peculiar treasure unto Him. This phrase peculiar treasure is the word 'cegullah' and describes wealth that has been shut up for safekeeping. It is also the word that is used to describe a jewel. The fulfillment of this desire hinged upon the people of Israel hearing and obeying the voice of God and maintaining the covenant relationship that had been established.

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:5-6 KJV)

1 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (I Corinthians 1:27 KJV)

Moses relayed this message to the people of Israel and they responded positively with "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do," and God sets an appointment to speak to the nation. God then tells Moses that the main purpose for this meeting is to reveal to the people that God speaks to him and that they should believe what he says, forever. Remember that Moses is a type of the Christ; hence God forever will speak to us through His Son.

And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. (Exodus 19:8-9 KJV)

The people at this time have actually entered into a verbal covenant with God to do all that He says for them to do. God tells Moses to prepare the people for this meeting. He sets up some guidelines and establishes boundaries for the people's protection. God wanted to speak to these people but knew that if He did not set boundaries they would "break through to gaze" upon Him. This would lead to their death and that was not the Fathers purpose. His purpose was to bring them to life, but patterns and processes had to be maintained. But in all of this preparation the most profound concept was that God, Creator of all things, wanted to return to a verbal relationship with mortal man. This relationship would be much similar to the one He had with Adam in the Garden when He would speak to His creation in the cool of the day.

The big day arrives ...

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
(Exodus 20:1-2 KJV)

God speaks to man and lays out the basic ground rules for this covenant relationship. First, He makes it perfectly clear; I am God. I am the one that brought you out of bondage. The birth of the Ten Commandments has just occurred. All in all, 10 simple common sense rules, in which, if you do these, I will be your God and you will be my people.

BUT!

And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightning, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. (Exodus 20:18-19 KJV)

They freaked! They allowed their natural senses to guide their interaction with a spiritual God. They saw, they heard... they ran! And their next move was totally guided by fear and cost them any hope of intimacy in their relationship with God. In fact, it was the beginning of The Law. From this point forward all communication with God would be second hand. "You go and talk with God and we will do as you say. We don't want to talk with Him. If He talks with us we will die!"

Where did this idea come from? "If He talks to us, we will die!" As it was in the Garden of Eden with Eve, so it was with the people of Israel. Somebody twisted what God had said and it cost them an intimate relationship with God. Moses tries to calm their fears and reassure them that God was not going to squish them like bugs, but in the end Moses was the only one who came forward.

And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
(Exodus 20:20-21 KJV)

What would have happened had the entire nation drew near as Moses had? But that did not happen. Then again, what would have happened had Adam taken responsibility for his actions rather than blaming Eve and consequently God when he faced his moment of decision? Who knows? But as it was with Adam and Eve, it was now repeating with the children of Israel. God had offered them everything and they settled for works and bondage. Adam and Eve had been given free reign in the Garden and ended up having to work the land to survive. God had offered Israel total intimacy (grace?) with God and they ended up with works.

After their fearful response, God begins the restructuring of the new relationship. From here on out all of your communication with me will involve toil, service and a third party. It will not be based upon faith, but rather works. And works they were.

And what was the beginning of this separation from God?

...And said "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do."

Really? That lasted until HE spoke! Then it became, "You go and talk with God and we will do as you say". By making the statement above, Israel implied that they were willing to hear from God. But as soon as God spoke, they nullified the agreement, and by that point it was too late. The agreement had already been made and accepted.

How does this relate to Jesus telling the Pharisees about saying that you see?
When God spoke to Moses about communing with the people of Israel, they thought that they understood what was involved. They assumed that they knew what was going on. The Pharisees had arrived at that same place. They thought they knew all that was to be known of God and stood sure in their position. They had developed a religious system that mentally assured them of accuracy in the revelation of God. In their minds they had arrived. There was nothing else to learn, just wait for the Messiahs return and be blessed! They became prideful in their knowledge. And what is saddest of all is that their knowledge was flawed. So their service was in vain.

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29 KJV)

The flaws in the Pharisees belief system were not "secret things" that God had hidden from their view. In fact, the issues that the Father had with Israel had been written more than six hundred years earlier and were made very plain. But as is the case today, the Pharisees made the fatal assumption that God was talking about someone else and not them (us).

Many of the Pharisees dogmas were constructed around erroneous doctrines concerning the Messiahs coming. They were inaccurate not only in how he would arrive, but also why he was coming in the first place. This set the stage for an outright denial of the Christ when he was actually standing right in front of them doing miracles that had never been done in the history of man. In fact, many of the same prophesies that they misinterpreted were the same ones that stated they would deny him and crucify him when he finally did arrive.

Jesus revealed to us early in his earthly ministry a vital key to the kingdom of God; seek and you shall find. The act of seeking is perpetual in our quest for the things of God and must never cease. We will never know all that is to be known of God and historically what has occurred is that when we as human beings reach a certain experiential level or plateau in the spiritual pursuit; we cease our searching.

An example of this in modern Christianity can be seen in Martin Luther. Martin Luther is considered to be the father of modem Protestantism. But what needs to be seen is that he did not wake up one day and determine to destroy the Roman papal system, In fact, he was searching for truth about his own salvation when he stumbled across Romans 1: 17 3

The discovery of this passage answered many of his internal questions and opened his eyes to a greater spiritual position within Christ. From this one unearthing many more spiritual treasures were uncovered and the Lutheran Church built upon these discoveries. From these doctrines the Lutheran Church was catapulted to become the second largest religious organization representing Christianity in its day.

Millions were converted to this Protestant brand of Christianity.

But what has happened since?

Worldwide it is reported that there are approximately 3 billion Christians on the planet. Of those, there are approximately 64 million Lutherans. Though 64,000,000 adherents to the Lutheran sect of Christianity seems like a large number, it only represents a little over 2% of the total Christian population!

How could it be that the founding faith of Protestantism only contains 2 percent of the total faithful body? (I use this word 'faithful' extremely loosely only as a means of exaggeration.)

The answer to this question is that they "say they see"!

As it is with all denominational systems, they arrived at a position where they refused to yield to fresh revelation and became obsolete in the processes of God. They ceased their seeking.

How are denominations created in the first place?

As we examined in the last chapter, when experiential revelation challenges a currently held doctrinal position, division or the disunion of adherents occurs. From this disunion a new foundation of believers is created. But what happens next is the most baffling of all.

As it was with the early church, it was with the birth of Protestantism, Methodism, Pentecostalism, Charismania and all of the 'isms' yet to be created, they arrive at a point where revelation ceases to be sought and they enter into 'The Box'.

'The Box' is that place where things get stored. But in time, there is no longer any room in 'The Box' for anything else, so 'The Box' becomes closed.

In reality, all of the new systems are created on a good foundation of present truth, but what occurs is that in their desire to build the Church they loose sight of the fact that there is more to understand and glean and needs to be added to their original revelation.

And in addition to their ceasing of the search, they develop man made structures in which to contain the revelation that they originally received. But what seems to be a natural progression turns into the very same system that impedes the true growth of the Body.

A perfect modern day example is the birth of the Pentecostal movement in the late 1800's. Twelve people locked in a room together, seeking more of a relationship with God and God responding, birthed the current Pentecostal movement. The gift of tongues and the release of the Spirit back into the religious sector has been compared to the Spirit coming into the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. The fire had been released and had forever changed the religious landscape.

The liberty had been re-released in the Church service; joy in worship was restored and the dry Baptist and Methodist services, (which actually didn't start out dry), rose up in contentious fashion and disunion had occurred.

As the Baptists and Methodists before them had done, the Pentecostals started structuring their new found revelation and pressing out in their evangelistic outreach until they had surpassed their predecessors in number. Pentecostal Churches had sprung up around the world, but what seems like a good thing soon turned into the beast that must be fed.

Because of the shear size of these organizations and their central form of governing, a tremendous amount of recourse was necessary to continue the growth patterns forecast and to maintain the status quo. With the erroneous concept of church building ownership added to the central form of government the resource became money rather than revelation. And soon all efforts on church growth centered more on the potential for finances rather than manifestation of kingdom reality.

The beast must be fed in order to survive.

When any religious system ceases the pursuit of revelation or closes the door on any new revelation, it is destined to end in apostasy (anti-Christ).

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. (Matthew 23:13 KJV)

Jesus tells us here that the scribes and Pharisees refused to enter in to the kingdom and would prevent others from entering also. Due to our failure to see ourselves in scripture we cannot equate our current religious systems as parallel to that of the scribes and Pharisees. It's the 'He's talking about someone else' mentality, which is pervasive within the modem church.

Jesus stated in no uncertain terms that unless our righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and Pharisees we will not enter the kingdom.

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20 KJV)

The Pharisaical mentality would impress upon us that we would have to be more righteous than the biblical Pharisees had been, when what Jesus was referring to was the actual change in the religious system that was necessary to enter the New Covenant. The word used here for righteousness is the word 'dikaiosune', which is defined as the equity of character or act and specifically defines the Christian passage of justification.

The entire Pharisaical system was built upon the personal fulfillment of required works under the Law, whereas the New Covenant was centered on the personal justification through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:28 KJV)

Because the Pharisaical system has entered back into prominence in the Church today, justification by works has returned as the norm. This can be seen in the present doctrines concerning: holiness as an outward appearance rather than an internal configuration, the return of the temple mentality rather than tabernacle reality and, of course, the return of the tithe system of giving. All of these were concluded at the fulfillment of the Law in Christ Jesus.

These Pharisaical doctrines coming to prominence in today's church are not new inventions. Paul fought them in the first century, but still they returned. Man loves 'The Box', and 'The Box' loves man.

How does this relate to Jesus telling the Pharisees that 'if you say you see, your sin remains'?

When 'The Box' closes to outside revelation, they enter into a prideful position of saying that they know or understand completely what God is doing, (usually in any given situation!) This causes them to cease the search for fresh revelation and plants them firm in their error.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV)

Isaiah attempts to help us understand the nature of Gods thought processes and the fallibility of the human mind to understand and/or comprehend the magnitude of the difference between the two. But still the Pharisaical systems conclude that they know what the Father is doing or going to do. This is a dangerous mental position to assume and sadly quite common.

Paul also attempted to advise us of this fact.

o the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath
first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
(Romans 11:33-35 KJV)

In simpler terms, they (Isaiah and Paul) were trying to tell us that our natural understanding of a spiritual God would be extremely limited, but still we want so desperately to believe that we know.

Therefore the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ would tell us that the sin that remains would be the error in doctrine that they have placed within their respective boxes.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
(2 Corinthians 11:3 KJV)

When Jesus was confronting the Pharisees in John Chapter Nine, they had already presented him with their religious positions. Earlier in the discourse the Pharisees had in Chapter Eight informed Jesus of their right to kingdom access because of their relationship to Abraham. But Jesus countered with:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:56-58 KJV)

The phrase "I am" held an extremely important position in Hebrew religious culture for that was the designation of the Father. He was and is the Great I Am. When Jesus utilized that phrase in relationship to Abraham, he in fact, placed himself in a superior position to their hold unto Abraham by equating himself of the Father.

In John Chapter Five, The Pharisees stated their access rights through their heritage with Moses. But Jesus squashed that position as well when he said:

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:45-47 KJV)

Jesus was attempting to show them in both of these scenarios that if their understanding of the scriptures had been accurate they would have known that both Moses and Abraham were focusing them towards Jesus as the Messiah, but because of their box mentality they had sealed their fate in their erroneous doctrinal positions.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6 KJV)

Jesus tells us here of a process. A process that begins with him being the only channel or access route to the Father and once you are in 'the way', you have access to the truth. The problem with religiosity is that they see truth as an end all. That was the position that the Pharisees had assumed; that they had all of the truth and that is that. But because of erroneous doctrines they missed the life. To have life was the purpose in receiving the truth. The purpose of access to the truth was to bring them to a position called life, not a position called truth.

Jesus said:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10 KJV)

Jesus said in John 14 that he was the truth and it is here that he says that the purpose of his coming was to bring life where the thief had taken it.

This is a perfect example of how the Pharisees have twisted doctrine to meet their ends rather than fulfill the kingdom mandate. Many in the Pharisaical system insist that the thief spoken of in this scripture is the devil. It sounds good and when presented with other out of context and twisted scriptures it makes sense. But, if your foundation is flawed, anything built upon that foundation is flawed also.

Jesus, in our foundational scripture of this chapter, informs the Pharisees of their blindness and continues by saying:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1 KJV)

The sheepfold is a type of the kingdom; we are called the sheep of his pastures. In the statement, "He that entereth not by the door, but climbeth up some other way", Jesus is answering the Pharisaical assumption that their ancestral right to kingdom access is because of their historical and genealogical link to Abraham and Moses. Jesus says that those religious ties will not get you into the kingdom. In fact, anyone who attempts to do so is a thief and a robber. Jesus continues to outline accuracy in entering the kingdom. He begins by establishing that there is only one way into the sheepfold and that is through the Door and He is that Door. Anyone who enters into that arena by any other means (the Abrahamic or the Mosaic systems) is a thief and a robber.

The word thief used here is the Greek word 'kleptes', which means a stealer; but it comes from another word that means to filch. A filch is someone who takes something, especially something of little value, in a manner expressive of hidden motives or purposes. Another word for filch is that of a pilferer. We use the word pilferage to describe someone who steals from his or her employer. The Pharisees considered themselves the employees of God because of their works based system.
A robber on the other hand is the Greek word 'leistes', and it means to plunder; one who is a brigand. The definition of plunder is to rob of goods by force, especially in time of war or property that is stolen by fraud or by force. A brigand is a robber or bandit, especially one who is a member of an outlaw band. An "outlaw" is one who has committed crimes against the "law" and refuses to surrender. The Scandinavians, who invaded and settled in England during the 8th through the 11th century, gave us the Old English word 'utlaga' (outlaw), which designated someone who because of criminal acts, must give up his property to the crown and could be killed without recrimination. This is an accurate description of the punishment that was inflicted upon the Pharisaical system of Jesus' day.

Note also that "The Law" was actually at a place of transition to becoming "outlawed".

So we can see by context and definition, that the thieves and robbers mentioned in John 10:1 refer to the Pharisee's that refused to come under subjection to the ruling authority set in place by God, and were trying to enter and control "kingdom" domain by some other route, other than that of Jesus Christ.

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:7-9 KJV)

Jesus tells the Pharisees here that all of the structure and systems that have been put in place up to this point have been flawed. He is not saying that Abraham and Moses were flawed, but that the systems that were built around their (Abraham and Moses) relationships with God had become flawed and all that presented those systems as being the way into the kingdom had become the thieves and the robbers.

He then defines the parameters of the thief.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10 KJV)

We have already concluded that the thieves are those that attempt to enter the kingdom by some other means other than the door and it is here that Jesus tells us that they have come to steal (filch), kill and destroy. Whereas Jesus came that they, the sheep, may have life and have it abundantly.

We must take note that in John 8:44 it is said that they (the Pharisees) are of their father the devil and that he was a murderer from the beginning. But their is a major difference between a murderer (anthropoktonos) in this passage and kill (thou) as listed in John 10:10. These differences will also reinforce the object of this scripture.

Jesus in John Chapter Eight; while speaking to the Pharisee's said;

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44 (KJV)

Now it has been said that this scripture is the reference scripture for John 10:10's use of the word kill, but that cannot be so. The word used here for murderer is the Greek word 'anthropoktonos', and though it does mean to kill, it specifically means a manslayer, one who murders a man. But the word used in John 10:1 0 is the Greek word 'thuo' and makes absolutely no reference to the killing of a man.

'Thuo' is a word that means to rush, to breathe hard, to blow, to smoke and it implies to sacrifice by fire, but by extension it means to immolate (slaughter for sacrificial purpose). It is used only fourteen times within the New Testament and with the exception of John 10:10, every other usage is related to the sacrifice of animals in worship. There is not one reference, (other than relating to Christ as the Passover Lamb) which points to the murder or death of a human being. To imply from John 10:10 that the devil has the power to kill is an ignorant use of scripture and may actually be a releasing of him to do such.

If we place it in context to the Pharisee's religious practices, it makes perfect sense! Their entire religious system was developed around the sacrifice of animals for the temporal remission of sin. They had become so blinded to the Spirit of the Word, that they couldn't see that the "Lamb of God", was about to present himself, to transition them from a sacrificial system that was temporal, to a system where, the sacrifice of one would be sufficient for all.

The Pharisee's system of religion was one of destruction. The lack of liberty in serving God would "choke" revelation and destroy souls. God was in the box (Ark of the Covenant) and that was that. Revelation from God had come to a standstill. The "sheep" were standing in the same place for four hundred years. If a literal sheep stays in one place too long, it will starve to death. It must be constantly moving forward to greener pasture. The Pharisaical system was literally destroying the sheep. New revelation of God was hindered to the point that there was no new revelation and it was forbidden to receive.

It is a parallel to the systems that we currently see now present and will see flourish in the times to come, as God moves and people hear. It's guaranteed! They must arise in order for every jot and tittle to come to pass.

Jesus stated that every jot and tittle that the prophets had spoken must come to pass. What did the prophets say about the rise of these systems? The Prophet Ezekiel was commanded to speak a word over Israel. Take notice the wording he used and observe any similarities between it and what Jesus had told us of the thieves.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls: they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her
priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. (Ezekiel 22:25-28 KJV)

The phrases "have devoured souls' have taken the treasure and precious things and they have made her many widows, has a parallel sound to John 10:10, but the next phrase gets right to the point; to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

to shed blood-----to destroy souls-----to get dishonest gain

to kill----------------to destroy---------------to steal

Was Ezekiel speaking of the devil? No he was speaking of the systems that would come into existence and are now in places of power in our religious culture.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. (Ezekiel 34: 10-12 KJV)

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not
might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. (John 9:39-41 KJV)

We are now living in that cloudy and dark day.

Can you see it?