[15] After breakfast, Yeshua said to Shim’on Kefa, “Shim’on Bar-Yochanan, do you love me more than these?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I’m your friend.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” [16] A second time he said to him, “Shim’on Bar-Yochanan, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes Lord, you know I’m your friend.” He said to him, “Shepherd my sheep.” [17] A third time he said to him, “Shim’on Bar-Yochanan, “Are you my friend?” Shim’on was hurt that he questioned him a third time: “Are you my friend?” So he replied “Lord, you know everything! You know I’m your friend!” Yeshua said to him, “Feed my sheep!” John 20: 15-17
The word sheep is mentioned over 700 times throughout the scriptures. They are an instrumental and intimate portrait from Genesis to Revelation. Abel was a shepherd. Abraham was a shepherd. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. Yeshua, Jesus is the Great Shepherd. Sheep were used for sacrifice, in parables and analogies, in poetry and all with purpose. The fist time the word lamb, (se from the letters Shin and Hey meaning “those that graze”) is in Genesis 22:7 when Abraham is taking Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him. Isaac askes “Where is the lamb?” and Abraham replies, “God will provide himself the lamb.” And indeed, He did on Calvary’s tree.
In Psalms 78:52 Moses is referred to as a shepherd when leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt. Psalm 29:13 Asaf refers to us as God’s sheep. In Psalm 95:7 God’s people are mentioned as sheep in His care, and in Psalm 100:3 as the flock in His pasture. Psalm 119:176 paints us as lost sheep and in Ezekiel 34 His people are described as wandering sheep and that He searches for His sheep. As sheep are mentioned so many times, it is important to understand why. The people of Israel were not strangers to sheep, it was a massive part of their lives. They knew sheep, how to raise them, care for them, nurture them, and to offer them as a sacrifice as per the ordinance of God.
The 23rd Psalm paints the most exceptional portrait of how shepherds take care of their sheep. Although David paints this picture as how God takes care of us, it is also a very literal picture between a shepherd and his herd. David had firsthand knowledge as he tended his father’s sheep.
Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing. He has me lie down in grassy pastures; He leads me by quiet water.
A good shepherd would make sure that the flock was completely provided for. They had food, water, and shelter. A shepherd would make a corral out of thorns and brambles and pen the sheep within at night, then lie down across the gate of the pen to protect the flock from predators.
He guides me in the right paths.
The shepherd knew the layout of the fields and landscape where the flock was being tended and knew the safe and not so safe paths. Knowing his surroundings, the shepherd was able to lead his sheep on the safest route to their destination.
Even if I pass through death-dark ravines, I will fear no disaster; for you are with me; your rod and staff reassure me.
The rod and the staff of the shepherd were important tools of the trade, and each held a separate purpose. The rod was a club that had a knob on its end and sometimes sharp instruments were driven into it to provide a weapon on hand to fight off predators. According to Ancient Hebrew Research Center, “The prophet Ezekiel refers to the custom of the sheep passing under the shepherd’s rod for the purpose of counting or inspecting them. ‘I will cause you to pass under the rod’ (Ezekiel 20:37). The law of Moses speaks of tithing the flock for a specific purpose at such a time. ‘And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord’ (Leviticus 27:32). To do this Jewish writers tell us that the shepherd allowed the animals to come to him as they would under the rod at a narrow entrance. The head of the rod was dipped into some coloring fluid and was allowed to come down upon every tenth one that passed by, thus marking him as the one to be given to the Lord for sacrificial purposes.”
The staff was used for handling sheep and was helpful if one fell into a ravine to help retrieve it, and like the rod, was a useful weapon to have on hand when necessary.
You prepare a table for me, even as my enemies watch; you anoint my head with oil
If you have ever been in a wooded area, you understand the concept of you may not see a predator, such as a coyote or a mountain lion, but rest assured, if they are in the area, they have seen you. It was the same for the flock, even if they did not see the lion or the bear, it does not mean that they were not seen by them. Yet, the shepherd would graze his flock even with the enemies of the flock around them.
As I mentioned in a previous post, (The One Who Heals the Sick), olive oil or anointing oil was used in a variety of ways in Hebrew culture, and shepherds would anoint a wounded sheep’s head with olive oil as a medicine to keep insects from laying eggs in the wound, causing further damage or even death to the sheep.
Each of these analogies are for actual four legged sheep, but David saw deeper as he cared for his father’s flocks, and saw that God himself tends to us as tenderly as he did the sheep of his father’s pasture.
In John Chapter 10:11-16 Yeshua told the people I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12] The hired hand, since he isn’t a shepherd and the sheep aren’t his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf drags them off and scatters them. [13] The hired worker behaves like this because that’s all he is, a hired worker; so it doesn’t matter to him what happens to the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me – [15] just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father – and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. [16] Also I have other sheep which are not from this pen; I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
What profound words! He laid down His life for us, He knows His own and even went further to say that He was going to bring the Gentile nations into His flock. (Sheep not from this pen)
Shepherd in Hebrew is the word ra-ah. I mentioned in the post “Our Mediator and Our Faithful Pastor about an easter egg in a future post. Here lies that egg. Within the definition of pastor were the words to be a shepherd, to care for flocks, graze, and feed. Within the definition of shepherd are the words, to care for flocks, graze, with a focus on care or concern.
The more I study the Word, the more amazed I become when God shows me how the two testaments knit together. There are two scriptures concerning sheep and shepherds that connect. One from 1 Peter and the other from Isaiah 53.
1 Peter 2:25 For you used to be like sheep gone astray, but now you have turned to the Shepherd, who watches over you.
Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet Adonai laid on him the guilt of us all.
As I typed these two verses, I was drawn to the word “turned” and jumped up to look at it in more depth. Turned is pa-na in Hebrew and means to rotate, to revolve, to face another direction, to turn the face. Cause to return, Beholdeth. It is made up of the letters Pey with a numeric value of 80, nun, which holds value of 50, and Hey with a value of 5, totaling 135. There is one overwhelmingly astounding phrase with the value 135. YAH ANSWERS. When we, the sheep turn back to the Great Shepherd, He answers. He brings us back into the fold and cares for us tenderly, lovingly. He restores our soul, just as David said in Psalm 23. The Shepherd is at work, His rod and staff are in His hand. He is leading His sheep on the correct paths and turning the hearts of the sheep who have not known Him, turning them to Him and answering them. Goodness and grace will pursue me every day of my life; and I will live in the house of Adonai for years and years to come. Psalm 23:6 This is the promise the of the Shepherd, a promise to His sheep. The love and care of a Shepherd who knows each of His sheep by name.
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