Shepherds, since days of old, have always cared for their fragile, silly, cute, stubborn and vitally important herds of sheep.
Sheep are not very smart or clever. They tend to follow one another, even into danger or over cliffs. They are good at escaping the safety of the sheepfold and running into danger, and shepherds have been known to do heroic deeds to save their sheep.
Sheep have always been kept for their wool and their meat. Some cultures have even used the milk of sheep, but their main use has always been wool and meat.
Jesus talked about sheep a lot, because Israel kept sheep and they were familiar with them. Jesus explained that sheep know their own master’s voice and will not follow another. He said that an enemy climbs over the fence to the sheepfold, instead of entering in through the gate. He said that He was the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the Flock (Church). He warned about “hireling” shepherds (paid professional “pastors”) who did not care for the sheep in the way their own masters would.
Obviously Jesus wasn’t talking about eating the sheep of His fold, nor would he shear them. Our relationship as “the sheep of His hand” or “the flock of His pasture” is that of trusting lambs who know that our Good Shepherd will not allow us to be destroyed by predators, and if even one gets out and runs away, He will leave the others in the sheep pen to go find the one that was lost.
The prince of this world, Satan, has a different use for sheep. In fact, quite blatant and obvious is he when he leads the “sheople” astray. He wants them for their wool, but when they no longer produce, he will slaughter them for their meat.
What does this mean to people today?
From the time of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve fell, when the Serpent was cursed to go on his belly in the dust, and when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, Satan realized that he would have to do something about people. God prophesied a time when the seed of the woman would conquer the seed of the serpent. Satan realized that in order to prevent his own demise, he had only to figure out how to destroy these fragile, silly and stubborn sheep of God.
The Nephalim (offspring of the fallen angels and human women) were large and powerful. They dominated humanity to the point that God decided to wipe out all except the family of Noah, whose family bloodline was pure (no Nephalim DNA there). Had God not brought the flood onto the earth to wipe out the Nephalim and all those they had caused to sin, then the prophecy He spoke over Eve in the Garden of Eden would never have come true.
After the flood, the Nephalim reappeared, and we see them after the children of Israel return to the Promised Land. They were to wipe out all of the inhabitants of the Promised Land BECAUSE the Philistines were of the Serpent’s seed! And because some of the kings of Israel and Judah were not obedient to wipe them all out, the Philistines were not all conquered, but some remained on the earth and they have intermingled with many other nations bloodlines over the generations. They are still in a position to dominate the “sheople” today, and they are still using us for our wool and meat.
We may not be able to leave this world of our own free world. But we can choose to be the Lord’s sheep, placing ourselves under His protection as the Good Shepherd.
It beats being “sheople” who line up waiting for our turn to be shorn, or slaughtered.
It is truly time for us to wake up.
11:11 Truth 