Should I Fear “the Patriarchy”? Five Lessons from Ezekiel 34

You’ve likely seen the headlines over the last few years:

• “Gen Z Men Returning to Church in Surprising Numbers in Faith Resurgence” 
• “Young Men Driving Revival of Christian Faith in the United States” 
• “In a First among Christians, Young Men More Religious Than Young Women” 

Younger guys are filling churches, repenting of sin, and seeking next steps in their faith. They’re hungry for meaning in their lives, and they’re finding it in Jesus. As young men attend regular services, they’re also stepping up to serve: playing music, teaching Bible studies, and leading the way in shaping the culture of their congregations. 

For many women in the church, this resurgence feels like the fruit of long hoped-for prayers. For decades, they’ve asked the Lord to draw near the hearts of their brothers, husbands, sons, and grandsons, so to see Him move in the lives of these men is a deeply personal joy. Every time they get a glimpse of younger guys lifting their voices in worship or stepping into new leadership roles with humility and enthusiasm, it feels like a long-awaited answer, a glimpse of God’s faithfulness in their generation. 

But for others, including many young adult women, there is a lingering sense of apprehension. Why? As reporters have noted, young women in Gen Z came of age during the #MeToo movement, watching as stories of spiritual abuse were spotlighted under the spinoff hashtag #ChurchToo. When Roe v. Wade was overturned, they were caught in the crossfire of conversations about reproductive rights and were fed the lie that lack of access to abortion meant losing agency over their bodies.

Maybe you’re a part of that generation, and when you think about men in the church, you fear that a resurgence of male leadership means the loss of control over your choices, your body, and your future. You may see male engagement in the church as part of the “patriarchy” of our day, using the term as a catch-all descriptor for any cultural or religious system where male authority and gender roles seem to threaten women’s autonomy and reinforce rigid hierarchies. It could be that you see the rise of a new generation of Christian men as a pivot toward those patterns.

Or maybe you’ve simply lived through seasons when male leadership in the church was faulty—when women’s voices were silenced, gifts were overlooked, and safety was compromised. You’ve seen what happens when authority goes rogue and the words “biblical leadership” are used to justify behavior that looks nothing like Jesus.

Satan is aware, too, and I believe he knows exactly where to press. If he can make you associate male spiritual growth with sinful domination, if he can make you believe that every man who loves Scripture will eventually use it to mistreat you, and if he can convince you that a revival of men will end in your oppression, he’ll be able to keep you distant, guarded, and suspicious of your brothers in Christ. Our enemy loves to twist valid experiences and load them down with fear until what you think is self-protection is really self-imprisonment. 

Satan wants nothing more than for you to think you should retreat from the church and withdraw from genuine, biblical community, believing it’s the surest way to safety. But sister, that’s not the voice of your Shepherd.

Five Lessons from Ezekiel 34

Long before modern headlines, before hashtags and TikTok, God Himself spoke about corruption among a group of unfaithful leaders—the kind of system of power and authority that some in our modern context might label as part of the patriarchy.

Grab your Bible and read through Ezekiel 34. As you do, pay attention to what it says about the character of God and the nature of man, and consider what it still means for us today.

1. God condemns corrupt and cruel shepherds (Ezekiel 34:1–4, 10). 

In the ancient Near East, the word translated as “shepherds” referred to civil leaders such as Joshua (Num. 27:17), as well as princes and kings, but it also referred to spiritual leaders (1 Pet. 5:2). The indictment God gives at the beginning of Ezekiel 34 is for both. He rebuked those who had been exploiting their own flock and neglecting to care for them (vv. 3–4). “Instead,” He said, “You have ruled them with violence and cruelty” (v. 4). Jesus offered a similar rebuke in Matthew 20, calling out leaders in high positions who “act as tyrants” (v. 25) and rule with force.

Are there still corrupt systems made up of male leadership in our world today? Of course. But God sees every abuse of power and doesn’t tolerate it—ever. Leaders, especially those in spiritual roles who exploit or neglect the people under their care, are accountable to God Himself. None have permission to use their roles—whether on a platform or behind-the-scenes—to coerce, manipulate, threaten, or lead with anger. Those are not “masculine” traits to be ignored or accepted. They’re the opposite of what Jesus commanded when He said to those who would lead: 

“It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant . . . just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26–28). 

2. Removing all shepherds is not the remedy (Ezekiel 34:5–6). 

Particularly if you’ve been hurt by leaders in the past, It can feel tempting to think your best option is to avoid the institutional church and its shepherds completely. Ezekiel 34 shows us why that thinking is dangerous:

In both the civil and spiritual realms, when sheep have unfaithful shepherds sometimes they think the answer is no shepherds. They think that almost any kind of leadership among God’s people is unnecessary and that the flock can lead itself. Ezekiel specifically spoke against this kind of thinking. When there was no shepherd, it was no better for the sheep.¹

In Ezekiel 34, the sheep “became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered” (v. 5). As they wandered from the Lord, they weren’t free: they became prey. Without spiritual guidance, they were far more likely to make harmful choices, chase empty substitutes for God, and adopt values that lead them away from life and truth. The same is true today. Wandering away from the church and rejecting all shepherds leaves you vulnerable.

3. Sheep cannot rescue themselves (Ezekiel 34:11–16). 

• “My flock went astray” (v. 6).
• “My flock was scattered” (v. 6).
• “My flock, lacking a shepherd, has become prey” (8).
• “I myself will search for my flock” (v. 11).
• “I will look for my flock” (v. 12).
• “I will tend my flock” (v. 15).
• “I will save my flock” (v. 22).
• “My flock will be secure in their land” (v. 27).
• “You are my flock, the human flock of my pasture, and I am your God” (v. 31). 

That repeated “my” isn’t possessiveness that diminishes the worth of the object; it is protection that offers dignity and a path forward. This is still true today: You don’t belong to corrupt shepherds. You don’t belong to cultural narratives. You don’t belong to fear. You belong to Christ. The One who claims you is altogether unlike human leaders who have failed you.

The Good Shepherd does not consume His sheep: He shields them. He doesn’t diminish their worth: He restores it. He doesn’t use His authority to take from them: He uses it to heal, to gather, to secure, and to lead them safely home.

4. Sheep can harm one another (Ezekiel 34:17–21).

The bad shepherds weren’t the only ones God called out. Some of the sheep had been throwing their weight around (v. 21) and acting as though they were the “better ones” in the flock. Their behavior drove vulnerable sheep away and only added to the chaos: 

The sins of the shepherds did not excuse the sins of the flock. They had their own accountability to God. Modern western culture often divides the world into two categories: oppressors and victims. Great attention is given to the sins and crimes of the oppressors, and often rightly so. Yet we err when we think there are never circumstances when one thought to be a victim can also have responsibility for their own sins and failings before God.²

Scripture offers an honest look. Being sinned against and being placed in a vulnerable position are real problems, and God takes them absolutely seriously. But all of us are image-bearers capable of both hurt and harm, weakness and wrongdoing. Acknowledging where we may be trampling the pasture or muddying the water (v. 18) isn’t meant to cause shame. God sees the full story, and He invites every one of us to come under His healing, transforming rule.

5. God is the hope of His flock (Ezekiel 34:22–31).

Ezekiel 34 doesn’t end in God’s judgment or the abandonment of His people; instead, He lifts their eyes. He speaks of the true Shepherd who would make a “covenant of peace” with His people (v. 25), in which He’ll personally assure their well-being, satisfy their needs, and establish them in their land. His future reign will be marked by compassion and justice (v. 16). 

Those are two aspects of God’s character worth clinging to today. When you feel uncertainty about what’s happening in the church or doubt your place among God’s people, remember that the Good Shepherd’s compassion is always toward you and His justice is your protection. You can entrust your life—your gifts, your body, and your future—to Him with confidence. 

Faith That Transcends Systems 

What will future statistics about the church say? I hope they show that a wave of young women began to flood pews alongside the current generation of men. I hope statistics show that women stayed—not to uphold a particular system or to blindly follow a certain set of rising leaders, but because they were sought by the Good Shepherd and found Him worth following. 

He’s worthy of your trust. While cultural narratives about authority and power will continue to swirl, the Good Shepherd remains the same. So don’t place your hope in “ending the patriarchy,” whatever that means today, or in finding perfect leaders or flawless church cultures—though God can use healthy authority for great good. Instead, ground your hope in the Good Shepherd, who never wields His power to diminish His daughters. He never fails, never flees, and never stops seeking His own. 

And sister, you are His. 

¹ David Guzik, “Study Guide for Ezekiel 34,” Blue Letter Bible (Enduring Word Ministries), https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/ezekiel/ezekiel-34.cfm.

² David Guzik, “Study Guide for Ezekiel 34,” Blue Letter Bible (Enduring Word Ministries), https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/ezekiel/ezekiel-34.cfm.