“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:11.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Conversations with Jesus keep you in the safety zone of My protection. Conversations with Jesus keep you from sin. How do they do that? They keep you in the flock of the good Shepherd. They keep you close to the good Shepherd.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28.
And that is the answer to all the perils, pitfalls, temptations, and troubles in this life, stay close to your good Shepherd and let Him keep you.
“Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where do You pasture Your flock, where do You make it lie down at noon?” Song of Songs 1:7.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom. Isaiah 40:11.
When Jesus introduced Himself as both the door for the sheep to come out of danger and hardship and enter into provision and prosperity and the good Shepherd who led them into that place of abundant life, He was speaking with a group primarily made up of Pharisees. He was giving an analogy of the redemption of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, where their lives were being stolen, killed, and destroyed, to the abundance and glorious freedom they would have in their own nation that I had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I was their Shepherd guiding, feeding, and protecting them throughout the wilderness to the promised land.
Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken Your might; come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. Psalm 80:1-2.
And referring to Me as their Shepherd was not a new concept to those with whom Jesus was conversing in the exchange about Him as the good Shepherd, they knew the title well. It is one of My Covenant Names that contains the promise of provision, protection, and guidance. Yahavah (יהוה) Rohi (רֹ֝עִ֗י), the LORD is my Shepherd. Being teachers of My Word, the Pharisees also were familiar with the prophecy of Ezekiel that I Myself would shepherd My sheep, which was fulfilled in Jesus, but more about this in a moment.
The first person to address Me as His shepherd was Jacob, who was also a shepherd of sheep. He understood how devoted a good shepherd had to be to care for his sheep. He spent long hours under the blazing sun of noonday and many hours in cold nights pasturing, leading, nurturing and guarding his flock. He, like his descendant David many years later, fought with wild beasts to protect the sheep. He knew the responsibilities and care it took to be a good shepherd. And he knew the great care, guidance, provision, protection, and favor I had shown him, thus he called Me his faithful Shepherd.
He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the messenger (angel) who has redeemed me from all evil.” Genesis 48:15.
And when Jacob prophesied over his twelve sons before he died, He spoke of Me in the prophesy over Joseph and his descendants as the Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, his God who helped Joseph, and the Almighty who blessed him with the blessings of heaven above, the blessings of the deep that lies beneath, and the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. Genesis 49:24-25.
Jacob, whom I named “Israel,” began as a shepherd and I promoted him to birth a nation that produced a line of kings, culminating in the King of kings. Joseph, the son of Jacob, had begun as a shepherd for his father and I promoted him to become a ruler in Egypt as their shepherd in time of famine and a shepherd to My people Israel whom he saved from famine as well. Moses also was a shepherd when I called him to lead My flock out of Egypt to the Promised Land.
The next one to address Me as his Shepherd was David, a descendant of Jacob, who also began as a shepherd of his father’s sheep, but whom I promoted to be the shepherd of My people Israel as their king. And David gave Me, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that rushed upon him at his anointing by Samuel, the covenant promise Name of “The LORD my Shepherd,” along with the psalm that gives the details of the promises contained in this Name.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters of peace and healing. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the dark valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell (abide) in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:1-6.
In this Psalm, you hear the details how I provide for you to live the abundant life Jesus came to give you.
And as I already mentioned, the Pharisees, who were in conversation with Jesus that day as recorded by My Spirit in the tenth chapter of the gospel according to John, would have also been familiar with the conversation I had with the prophet Ezekiel from which he wrote by My Spirit the following prophecy that was fulfilled in Jesus:
For thus says the Lord (Adonai) LORD (Yahavah), “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord (Adonai) LORD (Yahavah),“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick. Ezekiel 35:11-16.
When you see the word “LORD” translated in all capital letters it is My Hebrew Memorial Covenant Name (יהוה) which is Yahavah, that I spoke to Moses. It is I AM, I was, and I am to come, three tenses of the verb “to be” shorted into four letters. When you see “Lord” in lower case letters, then the word is “Adonai (אֲדֹנָ֣י),” which refers to God and man in the term “Lord.” Sarah called Abraham “Adonai” to show her respect and David would also be called “Adonai” at times, meaning, “my lord,” being as he was king. Jesus is God and man so it applies to Him as the Lord of lords, and King of kings.
Jesus showed that “Adonai” referred to Him when He quoted David in Psalm 110 saying, “The LORD (יהוה) said to my Lord (אֲדֹנָ֣י), sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool under your feet.”
Together My Son and I work as your Shepherd. We are one. He is the arm I reach down to save you, bless you and lift you up to Me.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30.
However, the Pharisees would have also known that the passage in Ezekiel about My seeing to the shepherding of My people contained a harsh condemnation against the religious leaders, teachers, and priests for their poor shepherding of My people that impoverished, scattered and oppressed My sheep for the sake of their own selfish gain at the expense of My people. They got fat on My sheep while My sheep withered away.
Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord LORD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.” Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ‘Thus says the Lord LORD, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.” For thus says the Lord LORD, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.” Ezekiel 34:1-10.
And that is why I Myself had to provide a good shepherd for My sheep, Jesus came to seek out and save the lost.
And indeed, Jesus had commented the same:
Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35-36.
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. . . “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” Matthew 23:1-4;13-14.
And what was the remedy for the distressed, oppressed and dispirited sheep? The same remedy I later entrusted to Peter and the apostles to continue the work of Jesus. John 21:15-17; 1 Peter 5:2-4. Feed My sheep with My Word so they may grow thereby and become My disciples so then they will know the truth and the truth will set them free. For it is My heart’s desire that all men be saved and come to know the truth so they may prosper and be in good health even as their soul prospers. Your soul (mind, will, and emotions) prospers by walking in the truth.
When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. Mark 6:34.
So now let us look at what Jesus told the Pharisees that day about Himself as the fulfillment of the prophecies of old about the great good Shepherd that I Myself would send to look after and feed My people.
This conversation took place after My Son had healed the man born blind on the sabbath day. So at this point the majority of the priests and Pharisees were very critical of Him for “working” on Shabbat. There was a group of Pharisees with him when he spoke with the healed blind man and introduced Himself to him as the “Son of Man.” And it was these that were present with Him when He began this conversation.
Jesus heard that they had put him [the man He healed who was born blind] out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. John 9:35-41.
They were open to teaching so Jesus was ready to enlighten their eyes and He chose to reveal to them the fulfillment of the One I would send to shepherd My sheep.
“Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken. Ezekiel 34:23-24,
That prophecy was spoken well after the death of David, but I promised to raise up One who would be on the throne of David forever. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy, as He did all prophecies and Covenant promises, He is a descendant of David according to the flesh and My Son according to the Spirit of Holiness. And, as the angel Gabriel declared to Mary, Jesus was that One forever.
The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:30-33
And so Jesus began the teaching that day by first defining himself as the door that opens the way to all I had promised. He is the way, the truth, and the life and the new and living way to Me. He opens that ancient door to My Kingdom that Adam’s treachery shut tight until the Messiah would come, the seed of the woman, that would lead you to the tree of life. Jesus is the door to Me but He is also the door though which I come to you. He joins your humanity to My divinity and My divinity to your humanity, making peace through the blood of the Cross.
Once you come in through the door of Jesus you have access to all My Covenant promises and benefits. 2 Corinthians 1:20. And My Word old and new points to this. Jesus is a descendant of the son of Jacob named Judah. Jesus is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. Revelation 5:5. The name “Judah” in Hebrew is “Yehudah (יְהוּדָה)” which comes from the verb “Yadah (יָדָה),” which means to give thanks in worship with lifted hands. He was named thus by his mother Leah, the unloved wife of Jacob with whom Laban replaced Rachel the night of the wedding, when she gave birth to her fourth son. She was the first person in the Bible to praise Me.
Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben (“see the son”), for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon (From shama, hear). She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi (attached). And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah (thanksgiving praise). Genesis 29:30-35.
But if you look at the name “Yehudah (Judah),” in Hebrew letters, it is My Covenant memorial Name (יהוה) with one added letter, which is the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and is pronounced with the sound of “d”. It is a “delet (ד)” by letter name and its pictograph and meaning is a door. It is the word for “door.” From the descendants of Judah was born David and from the descendants of David was born Jesus according to the flesh, the door of your humanity through which I came to earth in Jesus reconciling all men to Myself. In the name Yehudah was the door through which I came to earth as Yeshuah.
Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the LORD, make His paths straight!’” Matthew 3:1-3, Isaiah 40:3-4.
But that is enough for today’s life lesson, we will go deeper into the conversation with the Pharisees about the good Shepherd in our next life lesson.
I love you. I so loved you I gave you Jesus as your great good Shepherd forever. Get in His flock and stay there, it has pleased Me to give His little flock the Kingdom now and forever. I have made life simple for you, follow the good Shepherd and only listen to His voice and you will get safely through this life and have eternal life. Stay in the middle of the safe zone, do not try to push as far as you can go at the edges where you find the shadow of death. Say in the middle of My Will, right in the bosom of Jesus. It is there you will find green pastures, restful waters of peace, an abundant table, the anointing that overflows your cup, and the joys of My house forever. Stay in the light of life for it is there you find Me. And that is always where Jesus is leading you, to Me. There is no snatching out of My hand.