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 If you've ever done a biblical word search for "Sheep" or "Lamb" you'll find hundreds of verses.
Sheep were an integral part of the Middle Eastern society being used for money, barter, dowries, festivals, and sacrifices to be eaten together and discuss why exactly they gave up their BEST yearling ram that year.
As a way to talk to His people, God used a number of ways to relate; one of those ways was to use what they knew best -- their sheep.
Are we really like sheep?
I've been a Christian for roughly 25 years and although I wish I could say I was a great role model for evryone that knew me, there have been many times that I was anything but. This is by no means a public confession of any sort but a realization that I'm a sheep just like any other person in this world who is looking for greener pastures, a herd leader, a shepherd, good health, and perhaps an easy meal or more. During my time as a Christian I'm ashamed to say that I've done some "Un"-Christian things but God is patient and kind and waited for me to call out for help when I found myself too deep in the mess I made for myself.
As I'm starting to really enjoy my sheep, and being a real shepherd for the first time in my life, they are by no means a replacement for God; an idol. They're just plain fun and I think it's God's way of opening more doors for me into understanding the bible and relating it to what He was saying to the very early people He called out from the desert into a better way with Him.
To show us what He (God) wanted, He related people and sheep to one another calling us (mankind) sheep and Himself like a shepherd.
Psalm 78:52-53 But [God] made his own people to go forth like sheep,
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And He led them on
safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemy.
When we belong to God's flock then He makes it His responsibility to watch out for us so long as don't stray out of the flock.
How? How exactly did we stray? The bible is God's written and Living Word to us telling us what is good for us and what is right in His eyes. If a sheep doesn't want to be part of the flock, openly rebels, and always wanders off, then God has few choices in dealing with us. God never desires to use force, but if He must, He will.
One old practice of the shepherds in the Middle East for treating a rebellious sheep was to break its leg. By breaking the leg they no longer could stray and were completely dependent on the shepherd to moved around and feed while it mended. Just like those rebellious sheep, God can and does take away everything, if that's what's needed, to make us dependent upon Him and keep us from straying once we've become part of His flock.
David wrote the majority of the book of Psalms (Translated "songs") found in the bible. He knew when he did wrong in God's eyes because God's Spirit spoke right into his heart, showing him his error, urging him to change, pressuring him to turn around.
David said, Psalm 119:176, "I have gone astray like a lost
sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget
they commandments."
We all seem to sense when we've gone "astray" and we're no longer doing what the shepherd wants us to do. And that brings an emptiness that David is talking about here. We've all gone astray and God calls to us, asking us to turn around (which is what the word "repent" actually means).
Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with
compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered,
as sheep having no shepherd.
Jesus felt for all mankind when He saw how hurting, and lost they were. He's compassionate and looks to always do what is right for His flock. Jesus told us that He came to restore us to his flock and that there are others who will come and claim to be the shepherds, claiming to know what's right, claiming other ways to heaven, but they are all liars and thieves and only kill and destroy the flock. When real trouble comes they will run away and leave the sheep unguarded. But Jesus, being the real shepherd, will lay down His life for the sheep, and take up His life again because He is righteous and laid it down for us willingly.
John 10:1-17 I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter
the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way,
is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the
shepherd of the sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him,
and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out. When he has brought out all of his own, he
goes on ahead of the, and his sheep follow his because they know
his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run
away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.
Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he
was telling them. Therefor Jesus said again, I tell you the truth, I am
the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves
and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate;
whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out,
and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that
they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand
is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when He sees a wolf coming,
he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the
flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand
and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know
my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know
the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep
that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will
listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The
reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life
-- only to take it up again.
In those days a sheep pen was made a little differently then we have them today. These pens were small corrals made of wood or stone with a very small entrance and without a gate. The shepherd would lay in the doorway and became the gate. He was solely responsible for protecting the flock and stood in the way of predators as well as calling them out of the pen and leading them to good pastures where they could be safe and multiply.
Jesus is the only way and showed the Jews through subtle symbolism that He would be slaughtered for the sins of the people. This is a ritual repeated yearly during the holiday of Passover.
When the Hebrew nation was in Egypt they became enslaved by the Egyptian people and cried out for God to deliver them. Egypt can be seen in the story as representing sin. God raised up a man, Moses, to free His people and through a series of 10 plagues on the Egyptian people they were finally let go.
The tenth and final plague was the death of every first born in the country that would include the Hebrews unless they slaughtered an innocent lamb and spread its blood on the top and bottom door post, and side door posts of their houses (a sign of the cross). When the final plague was visited on the people, finding the spilled blood, the plague would PASS - OVER their house.
Jesus was slaughtered at the very hour that the Passover lambs were being killed and is recorded in the New Testament. He died willingly to protect His flock from sin and bring us out into new pasture, but we must be willing to come to His calling
Psalm 95:7-8 For He is our God; and we are the people
of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today if you
hear His voice, don't harden your heart.
If you have not received this free gift, pray to Jesus the following prayer and follow His voice:
Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I am a lost sheep that needs your help. I want to follow your call and be restored to your flock and freed from sin. Please help me. I know that you are the only true shepherd and that it's only through you that I can have life.
If you've prayed for this, please find a good teaching church, one that reads through the bible and teaches you exactly what God wants. The bible is God's word of truth and it tells us how we find new pasture and a new way of life that is pleasing to Him and is good for us. If you need help with this, please feel free to use the CONTACT US page and let us know how we can help you walk a life with God as your good shepherd.
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