Shepherds

 Read Genesis 46

 

When the people came out of bondage in Egypt, they had a variety of skills.  We see these in building the Ark of the Covenant and even in the Tabernacle.  They were skilled at woodworking and there was some metallurgy. Even though the Tabernacle was essentially a tent, there were fine fabrics, wood, and gold included in the design.

When the people went into Egypt, they were shepherds. Yes, shepherds needed some tentmaking and woodworking skills, but their stock and trade was shepherding.

This was the family of Jacob—Israel.  While other skills would be acquired over the next 400 years, these people were shepherds.

That worked to their advantage.  Shepherds were detestable to the Egyptians.  Yes, the Egyptians had flocks, but shepherds were at the very bottom of the social ladder.  The Pharoah was happy to send Israel’s family to Goshen. Out of sight was out of mind.

The Pharoah wanted to keep Joseph happy but he didn’t want shepherds hanging out with the social elite.  Goshen would work just fine.

He added, if you have a really good shepherd among you, put him in charge of my flocks. But it was Goshen where Israel’s family would settle and grow.

Let’s turn the clock ahead.  God’s Chosen People had come out of Egypt.  They had received the Law of Moses.  They had acquired kings for themselves.

The people still described themselves in terms of shepherds and sheep. Consider David’s words.

The Lord is my shepherd.  I shall not want…

How about this one.

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

These descendants of Jacob had also acquired a class of religious experts—Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus had come into the world and spoke to the people in metaphors.  The Pharisees didn’t understand the metaphors concerning sheep and shepherds.

We should.  Let’s go to John 10.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They 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 and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the 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. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus is the way.

Jesus cares for his flock.

Jesus laid down his life for his flock—for us.

Anyone or anything that leads us away from Jesus is a thief—a deceiver.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

How about this one?

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Jesus wasn’t at a shepherd’s convention when he offered this, but the people he addressed certainly knew about shepherds and sheep. It was their history.  It was their culture.

Americans don’t have that culture.  Our livestock business has more business to it than lifestyle.  Yes, farm life can be a tough life.  It can also be a rewarding and  liberating life, but it is not the shepherd’s life.

The modern-day farmer or rancher will not lay down his life for his livestock.  He has a rifle in the truck if the wolf comes. It’s a different deal these days.

But we should seek to understand the life of a shepherd.  So much of the Bible is framed in terms of this vocation.  Of course, it is.  These people in Jacob’s family were shepherds.  Shepherds entered Egypt and for all the skills they acquired in their centuries of bondage, shepherds emerged from Egypt.

Study to understand shepherds. Why?

We must know the Good Shepherd. We must know his voice.  In an age where confusion reigns, we must know the voice of the Good Shepherd so as not to be led astray by so many other voices calling out to us.

Know the Good Shepherd and draw near to him.

Amen.