There is a new breathtaking sight along the highway near where I live. Scattered across a lush green meadow is a flock of white wooly sheep grazing contentedly. The beautiful sight seems out of place but a welcome treat to the usual landscape of herds of cattle. Spring is in the air and the grazing sheep speak to me of hope and new life. When I was in my youth I worked with cattle but didn’t have the opportunity to be around sheep. Sheep were not common in the part of the country where I grew up. One thing I do know about sheep is that sheep receive more attention in the Bible than any other animal.
They were important to the total life of the Israelites. Earliest mention of sheep is in Genesis 4:2 where it says that “Abel was a keeper of sheep.”
In biblical times shepherds led the sheep to new locations whenever pasturage gave out. Water requirements meant that shepherds had to know where the streams or wells were located. Watering was always done at noon. King David was once a shepherd and beautifully describes the shepherd’s care of his sheep in Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd,” David declared. Continuous care of the sheep led the shepherd to know each by name just as the Lord knows each of his sheep.
The Word of God refers to both good and bad shepherds and during the latter part of Israel’s history the leaders are denounced as being bad shepherds. Figures of speech concerning shepherds and sheep are used repeatedly throughout the Bible. Jesus used many illustrations concerning sheep. Jesus Christ came as the Good Shepherd (John 10) and his arrival was announced to shepherds.
When God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, He instructed them to slay a lamb and paint the blood over the top and on each side of the door frame of their homes. When the death angel passed over those homes covered with the blood, the firstborn son was spared from death. The Passover celebration was ordained as a perpetual ordinance for the Jews. (Exodus 12; Hebrews 11:28) The Apostle Paul tells us that “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7).
I remember the old nursery rhyme “Baa, baa black sheep have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir three bags full, one for the master, one for the dame, and none for the little boy who lives down the lane.” This perhaps referred to the social inequalities that were common in the English countryside in the middle to late 1700’s.
We were all born black sheep. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Isaiah tells us that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all . . . He was led like a lamb to the slaughter . . . For the transgressions of my people He was stricken. And they made his grave with the licked – but with the rich at His death . . . my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53). John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and declared, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:20, 36).
The Lamb of God took our sins when He died on the cross as our substitute. When I see a sheep I am reminded of this fact, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
They were important to the total life of the Israelites. Earliest mention of sheep is in Genesis 4:2 where it says that “Abel was a keeper of sheep.”
In biblical times shepherds led the sheep to new locations whenever pasturage gave out. Water requirements meant that shepherds had to know where the streams or wells were located. Watering was always done at noon. King David was once a shepherd and beautifully describes the shepherd’s care of his sheep in Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd,” David declared. Continuous care of the sheep led the shepherd to know each by name just as the Lord knows each of his sheep.
The Word of God refers to both good and bad shepherds and during the latter part of Israel’s history the leaders are denounced as being bad shepherds. Figures of speech concerning shepherds and sheep are used repeatedly throughout the Bible. Jesus used many illustrations concerning sheep. Jesus Christ came as the Good Shepherd (John 10) and his arrival was announced to shepherds.
When God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, He instructed them to slay a lamb and paint the blood over the top and on each side of the door frame of their homes. When the death angel passed over those homes covered with the blood, the firstborn son was spared from death. The Passover celebration was ordained as a perpetual ordinance for the Jews. (Exodus 12; Hebrews 11:28) The Apostle Paul tells us that “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7).
I remember the old nursery rhyme “Baa, baa black sheep have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir three bags full, one for the master, one for the dame, and none for the little boy who lives down the lane.” This perhaps referred to the social inequalities that were common in the English countryside in the middle to late 1700’s.
We were all born black sheep. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Isaiah tells us that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all . . . He was led like a lamb to the slaughter . . . For the transgressions of my people He was stricken. And they made his grave with the licked – but with the rich at His death . . . my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53). John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and declared, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:20, 36).
The Lamb of God took our sins when He died on the cross as our substitute. When I see a sheep I am reminded of this fact, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Author ~ Cliff Sanders
Peace
Patricia
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