This month Christ Community is seeking to raise awareness and understanding of the offices that the New Testament prescribes for churches: elder and deacon. To that end, I’ll be posting sections in order from a wonderful survey of shepherding, the task of elders, on this blog in the coming days.

You can also read the entire article in one shot.

To nominate men for the office of elder and deacon, fill out a form on Sunday morning, or email name(s) and designate office(s) to info AT christcommunity church DOT com.

fourth excerpt from Lessons in Shepherding

We’re studying the leadership metaphor of “shepherding” in the Old Testament, in part because Paul counsels the Ephesian elders to “shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28, NAS used throughout). Peter likewise counsels elders to “shepherd the flock of God among you” (1 Pet. 5:2).

In the former excerpts on biblical shepherding, we studied the model shepherds of the Old Testament. God is the ultimate shepherd of his people, as we discovered in texts like Psalm 23 and Isaiah 40:11. Moses was the first paradigmatic human shepherd, through whom God shepherded his people. And David is said to be a shepherd as well.

In this section, we’re going to look at a few critiques of bad shepherds from Jeremiah 4-5 and Ezekiel.

JEREMIAH

The Setting—Chapter 2

Let’s start in Jeremiah by reading a few passages that describe the situation of Israel in Jeremiah’s day and which use the shepherd metaphor.

Thus says the LORD, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty? They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of deep darkness, through a land that no one crossed and where no man dwelt?’ I brought you into the fruitful land to eat its fruit and its good things. But you came and defiled My land, and My inheritance you made an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers [roheem, shepherds] also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that did not profit. Therefore I will yet contend with you,” declares the LORD, “And with your sons’ sons I will contend” (Jer 2:5-9).

Why did the nation of Israel wander away from God and forget his great works of redemption in the past? Because their priests, rulers, and prophets had been negligent. The word for “rulers” here is “shepherds” and refers to the kings. The shepherds were partly to blame for the apostasy of the people and for the defilement of the land by their transgression of the law. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 had stipulated that the king must write out for himself a copy of the law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests, and that he should read it all the days of his life. He was to do this in order to learn how to fear the Lord and obey his statutes, and “so that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel” (Deut. 17:19b-20). Through writing out God’s law, the king was supposed to learn humility, because the moment in which he became prideful, he would in the same moment disregard God’s authority over him and act as if his royal authority was inherent in himself rather than derived from God.

The application for us today is pretty clear: there’s a direct relationship between our humility and how much we tie ourselves to God’s Word in fulfilling our roles as elders. Our authority is wholly tied to what can be taught from God’s Word, and not one inch beyond it.

A Promise—Chapter 3

Unfortunately, this is exactly what was happening in the days of Jeremiah. The shepherd-kings were transgressing God’s law and overstepping the bounds of their own authority. In response, God promised to give his people new shepherds:

“Return, O faithless sons,” declares the LORD; “For I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:14-15).

What’s true of these new shepherds?

• They are gifts from God.
• They share God’s heartfelt concern for his sheep.
• And this heartfelt concern works itself out in a carefulness to feed his sheep on the knowledge and understanding of God and his law rather than their own knowledge, or the knowledge of the pagan gods and practices of their Canaanite neighbors. Knowledge and understanding of God, his Word, and his ways are nourishing and sustaining for the sheep.

Stupid Shepherds—Chapter 10

Shepherds who do not rely on God’s Word, on the other hand, are just plain stupid.

For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered (Jer 10:21).

In the verses of chapter 10 leading up to this condemnation, Jeremiah contrasts the impotence of idols and the stupidity of their worshippers with the living creator God. The wise men of the pagan nations are stupid and foolish (Jer. 10:8) and “every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols” (Jer. 10:14). Then in verse 21, he says the shepherds of Israel are just as stupid as the pagan “wise men” because they have ignored the Word of the living God and begun to worship idols. They’ve become just like what they’ve worshipped. Instead of beholding God and become godly, they’ve looked at the pagan idols of the culture around them and become stupid.

It’s worth pausing long enough to consider, what would such mimicking of culture look like today, especially among those who call themselves evangelical pastors?

Bad, Good, and Very Good—23:1-8

In the first verses of Jeremiah 23, God promises woe upon these unfaithful shepherds, and then promises to gather his flock himself with good shepherds and a Good Shepherd:

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the LORD. “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is his name by which he will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil” (Jer. 23:1-8).

What are these bad shepherds doing that makes them bad shepherds? They destroy the sheep (v. 1), scatter them (vv. 1, 2), let sheep go missing, expose them to danger, and generally neglect them (v.2—”have not attended to them”).

Why is neglecting and exposing sheep to danger so bad? Because sheep are dumb and careless. They need guidance.

How does God characterize this kind of neglect? It’s evil (v.2).

What is God going to do to address the situation? He’s going to bring the sheep back to their pasture and raise up better shepherds to tend them.

What will these better shepherds do for the sheep?

• They will nourish rather than destroy them, so that they can be fruitful and multiply.
• They will gather them together rather than scattering them.
• They will keep track and account for each one of them (“nor will any be missing”).
• God will keep them secure in the flock rather than exposing them to danger (v.4 “they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified”; v. 6 “will dwell securely”).

These are categories for us to associate with the work of shepherding the flock – nourishing them so that they can be spiritually fruitful and multiply themselves; gathering them together into a flock; keeping track of each one of them so that none go missing; keeping them within the security of the flock with no reason for fear from wolves who would promote false teaching.

Yet what is God’s ultimate solution for his people according to verse 5? God will raise up a righteous Branch from the house of David to reign as king, act wisely, and do righteousness. The righteous obedience and saving activity of this king is what will save the Lord’s people from their sins and make them dwell securely with him as they follow his voice back to their own pasture lands.

So God will raise up multiple human shepherds to lead and feed his people. But ultimately it will be this righteous Branch of David who reigns over both the sheep and over the under-shepherds in order to establish his people in righteousness, salvation, and security. This Branch of David, of course, is Jesus Christ, the ultimate Good Shepherd in John 10.

excerpted from Lessons in Shepherding

 

 

9pm Thursday
Brad continues to recover well from his surgery. Please continue your prayers for the Patterson family.

One of our members is having emergency heart bypass surgery today to clear 95% blockage that is life-threatening. Brad is an ironman triathlete who experienced mild chest pains in recent weeks and wisely went to his doctor. Please pray for God to use the medical staff for Brad’s complete healing. Pray as well for his wife Cathy, and daughters to Abi, 8, & Ruby, 1.

We will post updates here as they are available.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. –Psalm 62

excerpt one from Lessons in Shepherding

This month Christ Community is seeking to raise awareness and understanding of the offices that the New Testament prescribes for churches: elder and deacon. To that end, I’ll be posting in sequential order a wonderful survey of shepherding, the task of elders, on this blog in the coming days.

You can also read the entire article in one shot.

To nominate men for the office of elder and deacon, fill out a form on Sunday morning, or email name(s) to info AT christcommunity church DOT com.

Jeremiah 3:15 “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding” (NAS used throughout).

GOD – THE ULTIMATE SHEPHERD

The whole history of God’s people can be traced using the metaphor of God as the shepherd of his people. From Jacob in Genesis, to the exodus from Egypt, and all the way to the second exodus from the wilderness of this world, God reveals himself as the shepherd of his people.

For Jacob

To begin with, God reveals himself as the shepherd of particular individuals, and individuals who were representative of the whole nation of Israel, such as Jacob.

And [Jacob/Israel] 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 angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Gen 48:15).

What did Jacob mean when he said that God had been his shepherd all the days of his life? It’s helpful to go back to God’s promise to Jacob in Genesis 28, where he promises to give Jacob the Promised Land and many descendants, and then says to him, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen 28:15).

God’s presence and God’s protection were the ways in which God shepherded Jacob all his life. So even before Israel became a nation—when Israel was just Jacob the individual—God was the shepherd of his people, providing his sovereign presence and omnipotent protection to ensure the fulfillment of his original promises to Abraham of a people and a place.

For David

God also shepherded David, another representative Israelite. As we read in Psalm 23,

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the 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 have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Ps. 23).

What are some of the functions of a shepherd that David ascribes to God in this chapter?

• In verses 1-2, God provides nourishment (green grass, quiet waters), rest (lie down), restoration of the soul, and satisfaction (I shall not want).
• In verse 3, he provides guidance (in paths of righteousness).
• In verse 4, he provides protection and comfort, by virtue of his presence and his rod and staff (the instruments a shepherd used to gather the sheep and fend off wild animals).

Through The Exodus

Just as God shepherded Jacob and David, two representative individuals of Israel, so God shepherded the entire nation of Israel through the exodus. For instance, the Psalmist describes God’s care for corporate, national Israel in the wilderness of Sinai as shepherding care:

You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron (Ps. 77:20).

He leveled a path for his anger; He did not spare their soul from death, but gave over their life to the plague, and smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham. But He led forth his own people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; He led them safely, so that they did not fear; but the sea engulfed their enemies. So He brought them to his holy land, to this hill country which his right hand had gained” (Ps 78:50-54; see also Ps. 80:1).

What aspects of shepherding do we see in these verses?

• Leadership through the wilderness,
• protection and safety in the desert,
• settling the fears of the sheep,
• fending off enemies of the sheep with power and courage.

It’s important to see here that Israel’s whole history is described as one seamless pastoral journey. From the days of Jacob, through the exodus from Egypt, through the wilderness of Sinai, to the people’s possession of the Promised Land, God’s relates to his people as a shepherd to his sheep.

Through The Exile

Looking forward to the nation’s exile, Isaiah saw another exodus coming, an exodus out of slavery to sin and into the holiness of the new creation:

Behold, the Lord God will come with might, with his arm ruling for Him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend his flock, in his arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in his bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes” (Is. 40:10-11).

Chapter 40 of Isaiah, from which these verses come, marks the beginning of a new section in Isaiah in which God promises that he will lead his people through a new exodus. Several chapters later, Isaiah says, “Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert” (Is. 43:18-19). In one sense, this is exactly what God had done in the wilderness of Sinai—lead the people through a wasteland with no road, and provide water in the desert. Yet now he promises to do it in a new way. It won’t be a physical or geographical exodus, but a spiritual exodus out of slavery to sin, through the wilderness of this world, and into the new creation (see Is. 40:1-2). Still, God uses the same language to describe how he will lead his people in this second exodus—”like a shepherd.”

Jeremiah sees the same thing: “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare in the coastlands afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock” (Jer 31:10). In exile, the shepherd’s gathering role comes to the foreground. God will gather his scattered sheep back together in one place.

Micah sees God gathering his sheep from exile as well: “I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; like a flock in the midst of its pasture they will be noisy with men” (Micah 2:12).

Micah later prays, “Shepherd your people with Your scepter, the flock of Your possession which dwells by itself in the woodland, in the midst of a fruitful field. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles” (Micah 7:14). Notice that God speaks of protecting his sheep, which is what a scepter was for. He also speaks of feeding them. And Micah connects this shepherding idea with the new exodus out of exile for sins. It’s going to be like the days when Israel came out of Egypt.

Summary

So God is the shepherd of his people. First, he leads them through the dry wilderness of Sinai to the Promised Land, and then he leads us through the parched wilderness of a sinful world on our way to heaven.

What aspects of God’s shepherding care for Israel have we seen so far?

• Protecting the sheep,
• providing for the sheep,
• being present with his sheep,
• gathering the sheep together,
• and guiding the sheep.

These are the activities that God thinks about and performs when he uses the metaphor of shepherding for leading his people.

As under-shepherds, then, we who are elders are called to shepherd God’s people in the same way:

• under his authority,
• through a wilderness world that is not our home,
• toward the Promised Land of heaven, where our true citizenship lies.

We lead them there

• by knowing the way ourselves,
• by keeping them together along the way,
• by feeding them on God’s Word,
• and by being present with them.

excerpted from Lessons in Shepherding