Tag: God as Shepherd

We all like sheep have gone astray

OLD TESTAMENT: EXODUS 1

POETRY: PSALM 23

NEW TESTAMENT: MATTHEW 18:1-20

Earlier this year, my husband and I went to visit a sheep dairy farm (yes – that’s a thing!) near our house. We spun wool, petted the sheep, and ate some cheese. One of my son’s favorite parts was watching the sheep dogs herd the sheep, seeing all the twists and turns they took into the corral. 

What I didn’t realize is that when you want to get sheep, you really need two different types of dogs. You need a herding dog, like a Border Collie, Corgi, or Australian Shepherd, and you need a guardian dog, like a Great Pyrenees. The herding dog lives with the owner of the sheep and learns how to work the sheep. The guardian dog lives with the sheep. The sheep become part of its pack and for good reason. Sheep are easily hunted down by coyotes, (sometimes) bears, and even stray dogs. 

guardian dog
Guardian dog with his ‘pack’

Growing up, my grandfather had a herd of goats – similar in temperament to sheep – that were attacked by a pack of stray dogs. Out of the 40 in his pack, there were only a few left, who dealt with shock (a sometimes fatal aftereffect). The common saying in circles of sheep owners is that sheep are always looking for a reason to die. Whether that’s escaping from a fence, getting sick from their food, or predators, it takes a watchful eye – from a guardian dog or a shepherd – to care for these wooly beasts. 

This week, we will dwell on Psalm 23, a beautiful passage that describes how the Lord is our shepherd. The undercurrent of the passage is the resounding hope that we have in the good that God has in store for us despite the dangers that we face in our everyday lives. Some of the dangers, the dark places of the valley, are made up of sickness and the brokenness of the world. But, some of the dangers are caused by our own tendencies to wander off the path that God has laid for us. 

Our passage in Matthew contains the parable of the Lost Sheep. In this parable, Jesus emphasizes how there is much rejoicing in heaven when one lost sheep is found. The sheep had wandered away, looking for some way to die out of the watchful eye of the shepherd, but the shepherd wandered through that valley of the shadow of death and brought the sheep back to the flock. 

We are that sheep who wanders. And God, in his grace, has brought us back. How has this happened? Isaiah 53:8 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” This prophecy speaks to the role Christ would play in our salvation because God has saved us by placing our sins onto Christ. 

God is the Redeemer. He brings salvation to his people. We will see this ring true in our reading from Exodus this week. You may feel like your life is bitter and full of groaning under the weight of your sin, but God is a good shepherd. He will rescue you if you trust in him. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

Cayce writes about discipleship, productivity, and homemaking at her blog https://amorebeautifullifecollective. You can find her latest post on celebrating the Christian year here. You can also listen to A More Beautiful Life Collective Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. What are some similarities between ourselves and sheep?  
  2. What is the point of the parable of the lost sheep? Do you rejoice when another one who was ‘lost’ is found again? 
  3. Can you think of a time when you felt bitter over your life circumstances? Did you handle that season with faith or doubt? 

SGLCalendar2024DOWNLOAD

The Shepherd

Ezekiel 32-34

Ezekiel 33 and 34 cover leadership, how Ezekiel cannot be an effective leader and how God will one day lead Israel directly and be their shepherd. 

30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.” (Ezekiel 33:30-32 NIV)

Ezekiel is a leader over God’s people, but he cannot lead effectively if they will not listen to him.  Ezekiel has been proclaiming God’s word to the people for a few years now and telling them of the judgements of God and the consequences of their actions, and they have been collectively taking his messages about as seriously as you would a street performer’s.  I think that a lot of people go to church today because they want to hear nice things from the pastor and they enjoy how energetic and uplifting the speaker can be, but unless you are being pushed to change your ways and grow closer to God and step outside of your comfort zone, then you might be like the Israelites here, with the word of God going in one ear and out the other.  Hearing the word is not enough, you have to listen and change.

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.” (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-16 NIV)

I think that this looks forward to two different times.  First it looks to the time after the death of Jesus when the sins of mankind can be covered by Jesus’ blood and man can go directly to God, without the need for an earthly priest and a temple and daily sacrifices.  I think that Jesus was even alluding to this chapter when he told the parable of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to find the one, basically telling the Israelites that God was ready to begin this new type of relationship with them that he had told them about during the time of Ezekiel.  

I think that this verse also looks forward to the Kingdom of God when he will reign as the perfect shepherd over all those who have believed.  At the time of Ezekiel this was very far away, and Jesus had not begun his ministry, and the Church was not yet established, but God still had a plan.

Revelation 21:3

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 

Thanks for joining us this week as we have been going through Ezekiel.  It is not a book that we know particularly well and we are glad that we have had this time to study it.

Chris and Katie-Beth Mattison

Today’s Bible reading passage can be read or listened to at Bible Gateway here – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+32-34&version=NIV

Tomorrow we will be reading Ezekiel 35-37 as we continue our Chronological Bible Reading Plan.