Most people who have been
exposed to the Bible even a little know that David was a shepherd in Bethlehem
as a young boy before becoming Israel's greatest King. David's Psalm 23 is often
recited by believers and outsiders alike,
The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still
waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with
me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth
over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD for ever." (Psalm 23 KJV)
The figure of shepherd-king
is especially suited to the agrarian society of ancient Israel. The land--with
its Mediterranean Dry climate (like California)--has lots of rocky hills, but is
well suited for olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, and the grazing of sheep,
goats and cattle. The Philistines had bronze and iron, the Egyptians had horses
and chariots, but the Israelites fought on foot with simple spears, borrowed
farm implements, or a simple sling. Their strength was always to be found in the
Yahweh their God. They were not to enter into entangling foreign alliances of
any kind.
The first indication that
the God of Israel is a shepherd to His people Israel is found in Jacob's words
of farewell blessing to his sons in Genesis 48. Jacob, Abraham's grandson, spoke
of "the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac
walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who
has delivered me from all harm..." (15-16 NIV)
James Boice notes,
"The reason this is so helpful is that Jacob had been
a shepherd himself, and he knew from experience how difficult a shepherd's work
was. In his moving confrontation with Laban, after Laban had pursued him on his
flight from Haran back to his own country, Jacob aptly described the
difficulties of a shepherd's life, saying, "This was my situation: The heat
consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household...If the God of my
father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you
would surely have sent me away empty-handed" (Gen.
31:40-42).
This is a powerful statement. But it seems to be an
understatement as a description of the difficulty of a shepherd's life. Sheep
are notoriously helpless, wayward, and even stupid animals, and it is a
difficult and full-time job to care for them.
Jacob had also learned a second thing about
shepherding, and that was how great a failure he had been when he was trying to
shepherd himself. Self-shepherding means trying to run your own life. Jacob was
like many Christians today. He acknowledged God. He would have described himself
as a believer. But he had followed his own judgment and taken his own paths
rather than trusting in the word and wisdom of the divine shepherd. The
wonderful thing is that, in spite of Jacob's waywardness. God had been a
faithful shepherd to Jacob anyway, which he acknowledges, just as God also is to
us." (Psalm 80, Psalms, Baker Books, 1996)
The Old Testament is
surely more relevant today than when it was written. Yet American Christians are
generally biblically illiterate these days. Most churches seem to have wandered
off onto irrelevant pathways having detached themselves from much of what God is
really doing in history. But dare to pick up the Old Testament and read awhile
and surely the words will begin to leap off the page--especially if one follows
the latest news from the Middle East. The Second Advent of Jesus is "nearer now
than when we first believed"--and the Bible is packed full of details concerning
the end of the age we live in. (See Nearing the End of the Age, http://ldolphin.org/nearing.html).
When Jesus is described
as the Shepherd-King in Scripture the emphasis is first of all about his
relationship with Israel. To be sure Jesus is the Shepherd of all his people
whether they are members of the believing remnant of Israel, or Christians.
Jesus spoke of this in John 10:
"I am the good shepherd; and I know My
sheep, and am known by My own. "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the
Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. "And other sheep I have which are
not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there
will be one flock and one shepherd."
(John 10:14-16)
Ray Stedman says,
The first thing in his work as the Great Shepherd is
that he has "other sheep that are not of this fold." The fold he speaks of is
the nation Israel. Here Jesus is lifting his eyes beyond the cross, beyond the
resurrection, to the going forth of the gospel to all the nations of the earth.
Isn't it moving to think that not one of us would be here this morning, as
Gentile believers in Jesus, if he had not been willing to lay down his life for
the sheep. The result of that laying down of his life was that the gospel broke
out beyond the boundaries of Israel and spread throughout the earth. Here we
are, at the far corners of the world, meeting as a great crowd of believers in
Jesus because he laid down his life for the sheep. He brought us together so
that there is one flock -- not one fold, notice, but one flock-- and one
shepherd, no more than one; one church, one Lord, as Paul says in Ephesians 4.
We all belong together. There are not two flocks; there is only
one...
Surely one of the most meaningful aspects to
believers about Jesus is that he does for us what no one else can do. Do you
feel that? No one else can satisfy your heart, no one else can solve the
problems of the mind, no one can answer the questions about life after death
like Jesus can. No one can touch a human situation of conflict and strife and
bring healing and deliverance like Jesus can. Don't you often feel like saying,
with Peter, "To whom can we go? You alone have the words of eternal life," (John
6:68 RSV). From The Shepherd and His Sheep, http://raystedman.org/john/3858.html).
The New Testament spiritual
gift of pastor (poimen) is that of a shepherd in the local church, (see Body
Life by Ray Stedman, http://raystedman.org/bodylife/),
though many pastors today are isolated and insulated from the people they are
supposed to serve. Peter admonishes, "Shepherd the
flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but
willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those
entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd
appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." (2 Peter
5:2-4).
While the theme of the
shepherd and his sheep is not a major subject of the New Testament--it is a big
deal in the Old Testament. The Tanach is loaded with powerful references to
Israel's Messiah and His role as coming Shepherd-King of
Israel.
Psalm 80 is vividly clear
on this subject. The writer is Asaph, a Levite and leader in the temple choir in
David's time. Hence Psalm 80 dates to the time when Israel was still a united
kingdom not under any dire threat from invading armies. If the Psalm is taken as
prophetic and applicable to the end of the age we live in now, it makes perfect
sense:
Psalm
80
A Testimony of
Asaph
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of
Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim,
shine forth!
2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and
Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength, And come and
save us [Israel]!
3 Restore us, [sh�b, i.e., "turn
us again in repentance"] O God [Elohim];
Cause Your face to shine, And we shall
be saved!
4 O LORD God of hosts, [Elohim
tsaba]
How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your
people?
5 You have fed them with the
bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great
measure.
6 You have made us a strife to
our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among
themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts
[Elohim Sabaoth];
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be
saved!
8 You have brought a vine (note
1)
out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations, and
planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the
land.
10 The hills were covered with
its shadow,
And the mighty cedars with its
boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to
the Sea,
And her branches to the
River.
12 Why have You broken down her
hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck
her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods
uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours
it.
14 Return, we beseech You,
O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this
vine
15 And the vineyard which Your
right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for
Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is
cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your
countenance.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man
of Your right hand [Messiah],
Upon the son of man whom You made
strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back
from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your
name.
19 Restore us, O LORD God of
hosts [Yahweh Elohim Sabaoth];
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be
saved!
James Boice
notes,
"But lest we get the idea that a shepherd is only
some gentle, almost helpless soul doomed to care for sheep, the psalm reminds
its that this wonderful shepherd of Israel is nevertheless also the God who sits
"enthroned between the cherubim." This might refer to God's throne in heaven or
to that earthly representation of it within the Most Holy Place of the
tabernacle or temple. But whatever the case, it is a reminder of the majesty and
power of the true God. In fact, it is on the basis of God's power that the
psalm's appeal for salvation from Israel's enemies is made: "Awaken your might;
come and save us" (Boice op. cit.).
A prophetic
passage in Micah speaks of Messiah as Israel's shepherd, and king-but this
shepherd is also Yahweh. He is called "the Breaker," [i.e., the One who breaks
open the sheepfold to lead his sheep to safety].
[God speaking] "I will surely gather
all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will
bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place
will throng with people ["in a great commotion"]. One who breaks open the way
[Heb: ha parats] will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go
out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD [Yahweh] at their head."
(Micah 2:12-13)
Taking other
Scriptures into account, this passage most likely is speaking about of the
remnant of Israel who will flee Jerusalem at the mid-point of the approaching
tribulation period (See Matthew 24:19-22). The place of their refuge for three
and a half years seems to be in Southern Jordon at Bozrah ["sheep-fold"] and/or
at nearby Petra. It is there that the Shepherd of Israel will meet them,
(Ezekiel 20-33-44). (See Israel's Coming Exile in Edom, http://ldolphin.org/bozrah.html).
As Israel is
overrun by foreign armies one last time (see Zechariah 12-14, Daniel 11:36ff),
Jesus will lead the remnant of Israel back into their land from Bozrah/Petra in
His role as a Greater Moses. Together they will come triumphantly to Jerusalem,
arriving at the Mount of Olives in power and glory (Isaiah 63, Rev. 19:11-16).
The sudden national conversion of Israel (Zech. 12) will be in time for Israel
to rise up suddenly and defeat the armies of the nations assaulting them
successfully against overwhelming odds, as Messiah slays Israel's false messiah
and his European military-political ally (2 Thess. 2:3-12, Rev. 19:19-21). (Note
2)
After His
return to earth, Jesus will gather the survivors of the nations to the Valley of
Jehoshaphat just South of Jerusalem --and separate them there "as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats." (Matthew 25, see http://raystedman.org/olivet/). Jesus
has already been appointed Judge of all the earth (see http://ldolphin.org/judgment.html).
Thus says the LORD, The Holy One of
Israel, and his Maker: "Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And
concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. I have made the earth, And
created man on it. I--My hands--stretched out the heavens, And all their host I
have commanded...Thus says the LORD: "The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall be
yours; They shall walk behind you, They shall come over in chains; And they
shall bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, 'Surely God
is in you, And there is no other; There is no other God.'" Truly You are God,
who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior! They shall be ashamed And also
disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, Who are makers of
idols. But Israel shall be saved by the LORD With an everlasting salvation; You
shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever.
For thus says the LORD, Who created the
heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD,
and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the
earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek Me in vain'; I, the LORD, speak
righteousness, I declare things that are right. "Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no
knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that
cannot save. Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel
together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that
time? Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me, A
just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me. "Look to Me, and be saved, All
you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by
Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not
return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. He
shall say, 'Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength. To Him men
shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him. In the LORD
all the descendants of Israel Shall be justified, and shall glory.'" (Isaiah
45:11-25, v. 23 is quoted in Rom. 14:11, Php. 2:10)
Historically,
Sennacherib of Assyria overran the ten Northern tribes, destroying their capital
of Samaria in 722 BC, and laying siege to Jerusalem (unsuccessfully) in 701.
However, several Old Testament prophets use the term "the Assyrian" as a type of
the final invasion of Israel from the North which opens up the campaign of
Armageddon, for example,
"The LORD of hosts
has sworn, saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as
I have purposed, so it shall stand: That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke shall be removed from
them, And his burden removed from their shoulders. This is the purpose that is
purposed against the whole earth, And this is the hand that is stretched out
over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out, And who will turn it back?" (Isaiah
14:24-27)
"Behold, the name of the
LORD comes from afar, Burning with His anger, And His burden is heavy; His lips
are full of indignation, And His tongue like a devouring fire. His breath is
like an overflowing stream, Which reaches up to the neck, To sift the nations
with the sieve of futility; And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the
people, Causing them to err. You shall have a song As in the night when a holy
festival is kept, And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, To come
into the mountain of the LORD, To the Mighty One of Israel. The LORD will cause
His glorious voice to be heard, And show the descent of His arm, With the
indignation of His anger And the flame of a devouring fire, With scattering,
tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be
beaten down, As He strikes with the rod. And in every place where the staff of
punishment passes, Which the LORD lays on him, It will be with tambourines and
harps; And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it. For Tophet ["a
burning place", Gehenna] was established of old, Yes, for the king it is
prepared. He has made it deep and large; Its pyre is fire with much wood; The
breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, Kindles it." (Isaiah
30:27-33)
Micah Chapter
5 is about Israel's Messiah and coming king. The return of Yeshua to our earth
will be followed by a total purging of all idolatry from the earth.
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though
you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to
Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From
everlasting."
Therefore He shall give them up, Until
the time that she who is in labor [Israel] has given birth; Then the remnant of
His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel. And He [Messiah] shall
stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name
of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends
of the earth; And this One shall be peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land,
And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven
shepherds and eight princely men. They shall waste with the sword the land of
Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from
the Assyrian, When he comes into our land, And when he treads within our
borders. Then the remnant of Jacob Shall be in the midst of many peoples, Like
dew from the LORD, Like showers on the grass, That tarry for no man Nor wait for
the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob Shall be among the Gentiles, In the
midst of many peoples, Like a lion among the beasts of the forest, Like a young
lion among flocks of sheep, Who, if he passes through, Both treads down and
tears in pieces, And none can deliver. Your hand shall be lifted against your
adversaries, And all your enemies shall be cut off."
"And it shall be in that day," says the
LORD, "That I will cut off your horses from your midst And destroy your
chariots. I will cut off the cities of your land And throw down all your
strongholds. I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no
soothsayers. Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars
from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands; I will pluck
your wooden images from your midst; Thus I will destroy your cities. And I will
execute vengeance in anger and fury on the nations that have not
obeyed."
"But as for me, [Micah] I watch in hope
for the LORD, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over
me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the
LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, [Micah identifying
with the remnant of Israel] I will bear the LORD's wrath, until he pleads my
case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see
his righteousness. Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she
who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will see her downfall;
even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets. The day for
building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries.
In that day people will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates and from
sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. The earth [the entire earth] will
become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their
deeds.
[Micah's prayer] Shepherd your people
with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a
forest, in fertile pasture-lands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days
long ago. "As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my
wonders." Nations [all nations] will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their
power. They will lay their hands on their mouths and their ears will become
deaf. They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the LORD
our God and will be afraid of you [Israel].
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin
and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not
stay angry for ever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on
us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the
depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you
pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago." (Micah 7:7-20) (note
3)
One should
also note Ezekiel Chapter 34 which speaks of a future day when Israel's true
Shepherd will judge that nation's false shepherds and take personal
responsibility for the care of His people Israel:
And the word of the LORD came to me,
saying, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say
to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of
Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? "You eat
the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you
do not feed the flock. "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed
those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven
away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.
"So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for
all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. "My sheep wandered through
all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the
whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them."
'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the
word of the LORD: "as I live," says the Lord GOD, "surely because My flock
became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because
there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the
shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock"-- 'therefore, O shepherds,
hear the word of the LORD! 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against the
shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease
feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will
deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them."
'For thus says the Lord GOD: "Indeed I
Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. "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. "And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the
countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the
mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the
country. "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 on the mountains of Israel. "I will feed My flock, and I will make them
lie down," says the Lord GOD. "I will seek what was lost and bring back what was
driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy
the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment."
'And as for you, O My flock, thus says
the Lord GOD: "Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and
goats. "Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you
must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture--and to have drunk of
the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? "And as for My
flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you
have fouled with your feet." 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: "Behold,
I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. "Because you have pushed
with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered
them abroad, "therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a
prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. "I will establish one shepherd
over them, and he shall feed them--My servant David. He shall feed them and be
their shepherd. "And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a
prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
"I will make a covenant of peace with
them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely
in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. "I will make them and the places all
around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their
season; there shall be showers of blessing. "Then the trees of the field shall
yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in
their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands
of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. "And
they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land
devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. "I
will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed
with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. "Thus they
shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of
Israel, are My people," says the Lord GOD.'" "You are My flock, the flock of My
pasture; you are men, and I am your God," says the Lord GOD. (NKJV)
Isaiah also notes the
Messiah will come back to Israel as a shepherd comes to care for his sheep
"Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work
before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs
with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with
young." (Isaiah 40:10-11 NKJV)
The benediction which
closes the New Testament letter to the Hebrews brings full circle the picture of
Israel's true shepherd, Yeshua, who is also the Shepherd of the church, and our
Great High Priest.
"Now may the God of peace who brought
up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good
work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Ray Stedman connects the
Shepherd of Israel with the Great High Priest over the church in summing up the
great benediction at the end of the Letter to the Hebrews,
"Verses 20-21 must rank among the most powerfully
worded blessings found in the Scripture. They gather up the passionate concern
of the writer for his readers' spiritual growth and stress the major factors
that make such growth possible: the God of peace, the blood of the eternal
covenant, the resurrection of Jesus, his Shepherd care for his sheep, the
indwelling life of God himself, the equipping of the Spirit, the aim to please
God, and the eternal glory and lordship of Jesus. It is all there in one
glorious outpouring of good wishes and confident certainty. [F.F.] Bruce sees it
as a kind of collect (a gathered-together prayer) which later became popular in
the Latin churches. These are the themes of Hebrews brilliantly restated and
forming an appropriate conclusion to the letter. The God of peace is surely a
reference to the peace given to all who are justified by faith (Romans 5:1); the
blood of the eternal covenant recalls all the writer has said in chapters 8-10
about the opening of a new and living way to God; brought back from the dead our
Lord Jesus, though the only direct reference to the resurrection in the epistle,
implies the new beginning and the new power which is now shared with all who
believe; that great Shepherd of the sheep pictures the high priestly ministry of
Jesus under a different figure; equip you with everything good speaks of the
spiritual gifts imparted by the Spirit, mentioned in 2:4; working in us what is
pleasing to him looks back to 13:15-16, the worship and service of God's people;
and through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever concludes with the
pre-eminent theme of the entire letter: the superiority of Jesus to anything and
everything else that men worship or honor. With such marvelous resources as
these, who can excuse any failure to become the man or woman God intends you to
be? We may well adopt for our own the words of J. I. Packer: "My task is not to
dizzy myself by introspecting or speculating to find (if I can) what lies at the
outer reaches of consciousness, nor to pursue endless, exquisite stimulation in
the hope of new exotic ecstasies. It is, rather, to know and keep my place in
God's cosmic hierarchy, and in that place to spend my strength in serving God
and men." (http://raystedman.org/hebrews2/heb2comm2.html).
The Shepherd-King of
Israel is coming back soon! "Even so, Come Lord Jesus."
Notes:
1. The figure of the vineyard speaks
of Israel's national history, the olive tree of Israel's spiritual history, and
the fig tree as symbolic of her religious history. (See Arthur Custance, Three
Trees And Israel's History, http://custance.org/old/time/2intro.html
).
- Israel's coming false Messiah is cryptically and
prophetically described in Zechariah,
And the LORD said to me, "Next, take
for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. "For indeed I will raise up a
shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the
young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he
will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces. "Woe to the
worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And
against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall
be totally blinded."
(11:15-17)
3. For mp3 audio files of my December class in Micah
see http://ldolphin.org/micah.html.
Lambert
Dolphin
January 9,
2008
