Shepherding

by CAPEWELL, P. | Category: N/a | Jul 2002

By reference to Isaiah 11:6,7 and Jeremiah 33:12 we get glimpses into the thoughts behind the expression 'He makes me to lie down' which concern rest, safety and shelter. Drawing upon shepherd Philip Keller's considerable practical experience, there seem to be four requirements that must be met before sheep can be made to lie down: freedom from all fear, from friction with others, from pests and from hunger.

Freedom from fear

As a boy, my father took me, perhaps four or five times, to watch sheepdog trials. While coming to admire the skill of sheepdogs under the control of their master, I also learned a lot about the behaviour of sheep. Many times I've seen a small group of six sheep being apparently shepherded safely towards a pen, when one has taken fright and split from the others. For a moment they've stood, the five together in a little huddle, the one, anxious, by itself. Then, the lone sheep has made a dart and so unsettled the others that they, the majority, have also run off in fear. It's reminiscent of Peter's experience when he said: '"I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also,"' and six others went along too (John 21:3).

The warning is clear - one frightened or bewildered sheep can have a knock-on effect. But when the seven returned in the psychological grey mistiness of the morning following a fruitless night's fishing, the Lord was awaiting them, not with a stick, but with breakfast which he had cooked and would Himself serve to them. Doesn't that call to mind Ezekiel 34:12? '"As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day."'

The second occurrence of 'scattered' in this verse means 'dispersed' or spread abroad. That morning breakfast was, it seems to me, the turning point in Peter's life. The Lord had said he would turn again and when he did so he was to strengthen his brethren. That's the picture of a reformed Peter in the Acts. And all because his Master was waiting for him. 'I came to realize,' wrote Philip Keller, 'that nothing so quieted and reassured the sheep as to see me in the field. My presence ... put them at their ease as nothing else could do'. Are there frightened sheep in our flock? Will I know if he/she bolts? Am I aware of the potential spread of such fear? Will I go in search of them? Will I have the meekness and gentleness to gather them back and turn them round?

Freedom from friction

In a pen full of hens there is a 'pecking order'. Among cattle it is called 'horning order' and with sheep it's called 'butting order'. A vivid and accurate word picture of this process is given to us in Ezekiel 34:21, '"You have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad."' Was that the setting of Luke 22:24-27? 'Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.' But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves."'

Was the disciples' refusal to wash each others' feet in the upper room the direct outcome of this 'butting order'? How graciously the Lord showed them the lesson that here He spoke to them. '"I am among you as the One who serves,"' He said, and now meekly and gently He Himself does the feet-washing. He's their Lord and Master, yet He stoops to serve them. We notice the preposition 'among' occurring again - we read it in Ezekiel 34:12, '"He is among his ... sheep."' In other places the word for 'among' is translated 'between' or 'through'. For example, Exodus 28:33 says, '"And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around."' Exodus 36:33: 'And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other.' Am I aware of any rivalry? Could I dispel it by an example of meekness in service? Am I truly 'among' the flock to the extent that the word implies?

Freedom from pests

In Ezekiel 34:12, the Lord says He will deliver His sheep. It's a Hebrew word meaning to snatch away, defend, deliver, part, pluck, recover, rescue, rid. The word seems to cover the whole spectrum of potential sheep pests, from the lion or bear to the nasal fly or scab. 1 Samuel 30:18 says, 'So David recovered (the same word, delivered) all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.' That is from Ziklag. David, where did you learn that sort of care and skill? "Why," he'd tell us, "I learned that out on the hills looking after my father's sheep." It's the same word which David used in 1 Samuel 17:35, '"I went out after it and struck it, (the lion) and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it."' But we'll notice that the word means also to 'part, pluck, rid'. Those are words suggestive of a closer, more meticulous care for the flock. Philip Keller describes sheep stamping their feet erratically, racing from place to place, beating their heads against posts or rocks and rubbing their heads against woody growth. What was the cause of such irrational behaviour? A nasal fly which had penetrated the sheep's nostrils. A brother apologized to me once for allowing a trivial matter to have caused problems. The scenario calls for close vigilance, doesn't it? The word translated 'seek out' in Ezekiel 34:11 is the same word used of the priest in Leviticus 13 when he scrutinizes the potentially leprous skin-sore for evidence of yellow hair. You'd have to get close, wouldn't you? It might not be pleasant, but it is important. We see the significance of the meanings 'to recover, part, pluck, rid'.

Freedom from hunger

The fourth and final requirement is freedom from hunger and that's in Ezekiel 34 too. Verse 14 reads, '"I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture."' The Spirit uses two adjectives here to describe the pasture: 'good' and 'rich'. We'll deal with them briefly in that order.

In Psalm 25:13 the word good is translated 'at ease' where it's used of the man who fears the LORD. In Ezekiel 31:16 it refers to the choice and best of Lebanon. In Psalm 133:2 it occurs as the word 'precious' - 'It is like the precious ointment upon the head, running down on the beard.' It's translated 'pleasant' in 2 Kings 2:19 where the fifty strong men appeal to Elisha over Jericho, saying, '"The situation of this city is pleasant."' Finally, though not exhaustively, in 2 Chronicles 3:5 in reference to Solomon's temple it's recorded that it was panelled with cypress and overlaid with 'fine' gold. At ease, best, precious, pleasant, fine - quite a list of qualities of the sort of pasture land on which the Lord will shepherd His people.

Then, He adds that it's rich, meaning to become fat. In 1 Chronicles 4:40 (RV), it states of the sons of Judah that 'They found fat pasture.' To rid the flock of the unsettling effect of hunger, the shepherd provides the best, precious, pleasant, fine, fattening pasture. In my preparation for the assembly Bible reading and ministry, the courses of study for young people, am I preparing that top-quality grazing? What's the alternative? The people lusted after the things of Egypt and Psalm 78:31 (RV) speaks of the 'fattest' of the people, robust full-fleshed men, physically, but Psalm 106 speaks of the leanness of their soul. Clearly, it's not always the shepherds' fault. It wasn't then, but it comes as a challenge to me again today lest the flock under my care is ill at ease because they're hungry due to any failure on my part to provide fine, pleasant, precious, fattening, best pasture.

'"I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down," says the Lord GOD.' (Ezekiel 34:15)

CAPEWELL, P. | Jul 2002
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