Yahweh’s Sheep
What it means to be sheep and why it is safe.
“My children want to exist in isolation. That’s not my plan for them. It has never been. There’s a reason why I call you a flock. You’re not lone lions being raised. You are the sheep of my pasture.”
God is quite interesting in the way he likens Himself and his people to visible and tangible things in nature. It doesn’t matter what day and age you come in contact with the scriptures; nature remains a solid reference point for all humanity through time and civilisations. When He says he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, we’re able to picture fierceness and defensive ferocity because we’re a little bit acquainted with the nature of lions. We might be limited in our perception, limited by what we see on our screens or read in books, but at least we have a reference. When He says we’ll find refuge under His wings, as in Psalm 91, we can easily picture that, as nature shows us—birds gathering their chicks into their feathers and wings for safety.
What is beyond perplexing, however, is how we have not cared to look into one of the most common descriptions of God’s people—Sheep. What do they look like? Where can they be found? What is the nature of sheep? Why would God liken His people to such a species?
If you watched a lot of TV & cartoons growing up, perhaps you have learnt to associate sheep with white, fluffy, woolly hair, very interesting bleats, and cute pink noses. If you were raised in the early 90s into the 2000s in most Christian Nigerian homes, for instance, maybe you saw that photo frame of a Middle Eastern man with warm brown eyes and a lamb around his neck accompanying the text Jesus the Good Shepherd in the living rooms of many homes. But if you grew up like me, you probably have a different understanding of sheep.
You see, I grew up as a farm girl. I almost lost an eye to a 1-½-year-old lamb, and yes, my parents had a flock of sheep we tended to for some years. I grew up knowing a few vital facts about sheep. Here are a few.
1. They were foolish. The term ‘sheepishly’ in English refers to the stupidity/timidity associated with the animals, and it is not a stretch. They act very foolish and unwise.
2. They are helpless. They are not like goats who can rough the terrain. They need constant care to thrive and flourish. They need you to wash them, feed them, and water them. They need to be guided home every single day because, unlike goats, they’re not good with roads.
3. They are capable of many wonders, including swimming. Though they have 32 permanent teeth as adults, they do not have front teeth. That simply means they are not equipped to bite anything but grass.
4. Sheep are simple. They will let the littlest lamb lead. Because they are not keen on having their way or asserting their dominance, it is easy for them to be misled. They can be very trusting and dependent.
I used to be so troubled that Yahweh likened us to sheep in the Bible. Why would he repeatedly do that? And Jesus took it a notch higher with his references in the gospels.
In David’s popular Psalm 23, he began by talking about Yahweh being his shepherd and his confidence of not ‘wanting.’
Sheep can be so smelly when they are not cared for. They can be so trusting, and that makes them extremely vulnerable. They are carefree and at the mercy of their shepherd. They are defenceless and are constantly dependent on the care, nurture, and protection of their shepherd. They can do nothing for themselves. If one wanders from the fold, they become easy prey for predators. They must stay together.
Yes, it troubled me that of all things to be likened to, it was sheep the Lord decided to call us repeatedly. Psalm 100:3 says, ‘Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.’
The question remains: Why? Why would Jesus say He is the Good Shepherd? Why are his saints constantly called sheep, even among wolves, and his ministers called undershepherds? Why did he say to Peter to ‘feed my sheep, feed my lambs’?
I looked closely, and it dawned on me that it makes absolute sense for us to be sheep. A believer is called to a life of total dependence on the Lord. The Lord’s prayer even samples this for us. We go to Yahweh for every need, for the bread, and for daily sustenance. May a day never come when we forget that our breath, bread, and water are with Him. He even reminded us that it is He who gives his beloved sleep. He gives us all we need—the power to live above sin, deliverance from evil (within and without), health in our bones, wisdom to make wealth, strength for today, and even the words with which to preach the good news. Like the sheep, we need him to bathe us (cleanse us), to feed us (with his word and love), to guide us (in the paths of righteousness), to lead us (besides still waters, the valley of the shadow of death, or even into waves and fire, wherever his perfect will may be.) We need his rod and staff for comfort and instruction, his balm for healing. We are capable of many wonders but can only flourish under the gentle hand of the Good Shepherd.
Indeed, we are like sheep. He instructs us to know his voice and to stay in the fold. And to be careful so we are not led astray. To be watchful because we are among wolves in enemy territory and we are defenceless.
I saw a clip from a sermon some months ago about the defence mechanism of the sheep. It has only one—the cry for help. The only thing that can save a sheep is for it to cry for help. How fitting that Yahweh repeatedly tells his people to call on him, and he will show them great and mighty things. How apt that all a saint needs to do is pray, whether in times of joy or sorrow.
If then we are his sheep, then this gospel of individualism and self-reliance we have received was sown by the enemy. It is not in our design to go about biting wolves, for we have no teeth for such activities. It is our design to cry for help and be watchful. To stay in the fold and listen to the voice of our true shepherd. It is not in our makeup to go looking for sustenance. We will get lost and might die of starvation or thirst. We are not like goats—we never know the way home and always need the guidance and protection of our shepherd. It is also in his wisdom that he warns us about false teachers. They wound us and maul us because they succeeded in deceiving us that they were from him.
As Yahweh’s sheep, we are called to blind obedience, foolish obedience if you will. To total dependence and absolute lack of resourcefulness when it comes to our welfare. To careful vigilance, so we are not misled or pierced by wounds in our quest to wander.
Have you been away from the fold for some time because of what someone, a saint or shepherd, did to you? Do you not see how cleverly the enemy is isolating you and ripening you for the kill? No, online services and multiple streaming sessions cannot replace the gathering of believers.
Another fast one the enemy pulls on us is to silence our cries for help. Through guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, disappointment, doubt, and even self-reliance. He’ll use anything, as long as he’ll silence us and keep deliverance away from us in the day of trouble.
Our safety is in our obedience. It is in doing all he said we should. Know His voice. Depend on Him. Be wary of wolves. Stay among the fold. Call on Him. Be faithful stewards or overseers. Our problems begin when we breach or disobey these instructions.
I will not excuse the betrayal and hurt you’ve experienced in the fold. I truly empathise. I also owe you the truth. Staying away is harming you slowly. Yes, they did not represent him well. They betrayed their office and behaved like wolves. Yet, I ask, is Yahweh still your shepherd? Then you shall not lack for anything. For provision, protection, and for a healthy flock to belong to, or for strength to cry out in the day of trouble. Go to him again. With the hurt, the fear, the wound, the shame. Take it to him, as the old hymn says. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
May the Good Shepherd keep us.
