The Old Testament Shepherd was no wimp
By Daniel New
A. The Old Testament Model
The Old Testament shepherd was no wimp. Yes, he began as a child, often with a small flock and a lead goat or pet sheep that had been raised from a lamb and would follow him anywhere. The child was an apprentice. And he might begin that job as early as five or six years old, or even accompany an older brother when only four years old. He grew up watching the sheep, being bored, walking around, chasing them away from crops, leading them to water, taking them to green pastures, etc. For years on end.
What do little boys do when they're bored? They build little forts and play war. They throw rocks, sometimes at each other. They make a sling and practice with it until they can hit a target three inches wide at 50 to 100 feet away! Sometimes they sing. They talk to themselves, and if they have spiritual depth, they talk to their Creator.
In time, as this child grows in strength and displays maturity, and doesn't lose many sheep, and impresses his father with his abilities, he gets more and more sheep (and maybe a younger brother or two just to make him more miserable), and he takes them further away from the tent or the house. (The green grass of the summer needs to first be eaten as far away as possible, then moving back toward the house in winter.)
There are wolves out there. And lions. And bears. And places where sheep can fall down and hurt themselves. He knows all this, and he knows what to do about it. The Shepherd of the Old Testament drove off or slew his share of predators, (and not all of them had four legs).
It was while watching sheep, and talking to his Creator, that David the Shepherd, acquired the skills and insights and temperament he needed to become David the King.
David led his sheep from point A to point B by calling the leaders, and they followed him. The younger ones followed their mums, and the whole flock moved along by following leaders.
When the OT Shepherd had a problem with a wayward sheep, he knew exactly what to do. If that sheep was an "ill-bred" - one with blemishes or deformities of some kind, it became camp meat, or brought home to dinner. But if it was out of the prize ram and the blue-ribbon ewe, and was perfect in all points, and was the ideal for which he was training his flock, but just needed an attitude adjustment, he knew how to arrange that.
He took the wayward lamb, which refused to follow his voice, and gently laid its hoof on a big rock and held it so that it could not retract the leg. He then took his staff and gave that leg such a whack that the bone was broken! At that point the lamb could not even keep up with the flock, so our Shepherd had to carry that little rascal on his own shoulders from pasture to water and back again. Every day.
You know about bonding. That's what happened. Remember the pictures in Sunday School of "Jesus and the Lost Lamb"? He's probably on his way to (or from) breaking a leg. Because he loves that little rascal. And he wants it to follow him when they move around. Because that lamb is an integral part of his breeding and flock development programme. Yup. They really did think in those terms, even if they didn't use those words.
There are countries today where the OT model is still practiced. A descendent of Basque shepherds, working on a large range in the Western USA, once told a friend of mine to be careful in shearing a splendid old ram. My friend asked him about the big knot on his front leg. He smiled and said, "That old rascal was such a headstrong little lamb when he was young. But his breeding was what I had been working toward for years. I had to break that leg three times before he would follow me when I called him. You be careful with him - he's my favorite ram in the whole world."
That is the picture of shepherding we are given in the Old Testament, and is was used by Yeshua and the Apostles in the First Century as a very model of leadership in the Assembly of the Saints. It's also what we were told to employ in tending to His Flock.
B. The Modern Sheepherder
If you haven't visited New Zealand, then you need to. If that's not possible, surely there is somewhere you can find a place where sheep are handled in large numbers. Take the time to go there, and get familiar with how they do it today. It's both fun and educational.
The modern method of moving sheep from point A to point B is to first open a gate. That means that fences have been erected, and the sheep cannot run away. The modern sheepherder spends a lot of time maintaining fences so he does not have to go looking for lost sheep. It's easier that way. (If he found a lost sheep, he couldn't catch it!) Of course, if allowed to graze only in one pasture or paddock, they would nibble the grass to nothing in short order, so the sheep have to be rotated on a regular basis, depending on conditions rather than a calendar.
The modern Sheepherder does not "speak to his sheep, and his sheep know his voice." No, his sheep know only the voice of a couple of sheepdogs, who are sent around to the back side of "the mob" to move them through the right gate. A series of whistles and they are moved. Out of fear, not of relationship and trust. Who cares? It works. And it's SO MUCH more efficient than just wandering around out there amongst the bears and lions and wolves.
The modern Sheepherder has chutes and dipping tanks, and modern methods of fleecing twice a year, and he is a scientist at what he does. His productivity level is so much higher than the OT shepherd. At least, in terms of meat and wool. What else matters to him?
When the modern Sheepherder has a problem with a wayward sheep, he also knows exactly what to do. Some of those little rascals are just very headstrong. They will run away from the flock when a dog tries to move them. They will fight when they are fleeced. They will attempt to ram the knees of the man with the prod. Imagine that! So that young ram never makes it to fatherhood. He is finds himself penned separately one day, for no reason he can figure. And the next day he finds himself in a chute looking up at a man who is sharpening a knife. And he becomes mutton. (Or hogget. Or lamb. Depending on the age.)
The modern Sheepherder knows that a strong-headed sheep has the potential to be a leader among sheep. That's the problem. There is no need for more leaders. He has fences and gates. He has dogs. If the operation is large enough, he hires an assistant to open and close gates.
C. The Models Don't Mix
If a modern Sheepherder were to try to raise sheep in Outer Mongolia or Tibet today, he wouldn't have a clue where to start. No fences. Maybe a couple of big dogs, who are there to fight predators, but who are not interested in chasing sheep. He couldn't do it.
If an OT Shepherd were to arrive in New Zealand or Australia today, he would be dismayed. He would enter a gate and the entire mob would run to the other end and cower. He would have to start with a few pet lambs, from the beginning.
D. Application
The leader of the Modern Church is usually called a "Pastor" and sometimes a "Priest" or a "Minister". He is working on the modern Sheepherder Model. He has no clue what an OT Shepherd really did, and it never occurs to him that he working on a flawed premise. All he knows is that you have insulted him and his theological training by suggesting that he might do something differently. He already knows how to fleece the flock, and how to train dogs (deacons and elders) to move the mob from Point A to Point B. And he also knows what to do with a troublemaker.
Now… where does that leave you? Just as we are told that old wineskins cannot accept new wine, so modern methods of raising sheep cannot assimilate the Biblical model of leading and nurturing sheep. The most they can hope to do is latch on to the latest gimmick and make it a temporary program of the modern church. Which will absorb lots of time and money and energy, until a "new, improved gimmick" comes along.
If you can find an OT Shepherd somewhere, follow him. Learn. Apprentice. Develop. And repeat the process.
If not, then get on your knees and ask your Creator to teach you how to start a flock.
It's time to abandon the religious franchises known as denominations, and return to the Biblical model of shepherding that we were exhorted to employ in the New Testament. The Professional Priesthood is the problem. Don't be asking them for help. They'll start sharpening their knives, or calling their dogs. This may mean that you need to look for some newborn lambs, and start bottle-feeding them.
February 2004
(C) Daniel D. New, Permission to copy,
with credits, is hereby granted.
