John 10:1-5
10 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
In July of 2005, two shepherds in Turkey took a break from their shepherding duties to have some breakfast. There were hundreds of sheep in this flock, owned by more than two dozen families.
As the sheep grazed, one of them wandered to a small cliff with a 30 foot drop.
Another followed.
And another.
And another.
400 sheep lost their lives at the foot of the cliff that day. Another 1,100 went over the cliff but had their fall broken by the wool cushion that had been formed by the sheep who had gone before.
The moral of the story is: don't be a sheep without a shepherd.
Or you will fall off a cliff and die.
The Bible has several illustrations about sheep, shepherds, the innocence of sheep, the meekness of sheep, the fact that sheep are easily led.
Sheep are the most commonly referenced animal in the Bible. Sheep are mentioned over 200 times. And if you also count lambs: baby sheep; and rams; male sheep, it's another 365 mentions. To put that in perspective, cats are mentioned 0 times.
As I researched all about sheep I came across several things to note. I watched several videos about sheep and noticed that they are followers of the shepherd.
1. The flock should stay together.
Acts 2:42
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Together we are more powerful than apart. When the sheep are together in a flock they are more likely to not be easily attacked. A wolf, bear, or any other predators or more than not come into the midst of the flock, but they are more likely to attach one that is away from the flock. The devil will attack or send out his demons to attack the ones that are staying away from the flock. That is the easy pickings.
It says in Acts 2:42 that we are to have fellowship, break bread and pray together. This is the job of the shepherd to try and keep the sheep together and not let them wander off into trouble.
2. The flock know the voice of the shepherd.
John 10:27
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
I watched several videos about how the sheep know their shepherd. One video show several people trying to call a shepherd's sheep and each one that tried the sheep would not even pay attention to them. However, when the shepherd of those sheep called them they all perked their heads up and headed his way.
If a shepherd gets another sheep from a different flock and puts the sheep in with his flock, that sheep will not know the shepherds voice. As that sheep is surrounded by other sheep that knows the shepherds voice then he will learn to know his voice and follow the other sheep. Another words if we have someone new come into this church then if the flock (you as MTC Family) gather around that person and show them the love then they will eventually change and learn to follow this shepherd.
3. The flock gets anointed by the shepherd.
Psalm 23
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
I want to pause here for a moment.
John 8:12
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Jesus is our light and if we follow Him then we will be in the light of Jesus.
As sheep the shepherd will find them green pastures to graze in so that they are full and he will also make sure they have water to drink. As well in verse 4 it says that the flock will fear nothing because they know their shepherd is with them. however it also say that his rod and staff will comfort them.
A good shepherd watches out for their sheep. They do not let their sheep wonder off into the brier and get hurt. They will protect them with their rod and staff.
The rod was a short blunt object that was kept on their side to hit and defend their flock. As well the shepherd also carried a wood cane with a hook. This hook was used for grabbing the sheep that got caught up in the bush and pull them to safety. As well the staff was also used to stretch out behind the sheep giving the allusion to the sheep that someone else was helping the shepherd and therefore steering the sheep to go in the right direction.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
In verse 5 it says you anoint my head with oil.
When dealing with she there is a horrible fly that will fly around the nose of the sheep. the flies will lay their eggs around and in the nose and that will then hatch into larvae. This worms will in turn drive the sheep crazy and cause them to start hitting their heads on the rocks and eventually killing themselves.
The shepherd will take and pour oil all over their heads to keep the fly from laying the eggs.
The shepherd does his best to take care of the flock. My wife and I have spent countless hours making sure that our flock is taken care of. We call and text when someone is sick or have made house calls to bring them groceries or to visit and pray.
We have picked people up that were in car accidents. We have spent a lot of time in prayer, praying that you would get well, find peace, be healed, or be blessed from God.
God is our good shepherd and He does this and more. He even made sure that you have a place to spend eternally that is beautiful and glories.