Feed My Sheep
“Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above them; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen!’ while lifting up their hands; and they knelt down and worshiped the Lord with their faces toward the ground.
Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, explained the Law to the people, and the people remained in their places. So they read from the Book of the Law of God, translating and explaining it so that the people understood the reading.
Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law. Then Ezra said to them, ‘Go [your way], eat the rich festival food, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold.’
So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for the day is holy; do not be worried.’ Then all the people went on their way to eat, to drink, to send portions [of food to others] and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been communicated to them.’” Nehemiah 8:5-12 Berean
Nehemiah was sent to rebuild Jerusalem after many, many years of Jerusalem laying in ruins. When the work was completed, the people then asked their leaders, Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levitical priests, to read and explain the scriptures to them. They had longed for and were missing God’s word so much that they began to be very sad and to cry upon hearing and understanding His word again. But God had the leaders tell them instead to “eat, drink, and send portions” for the others who were not there. They were not to worry, for the joy of the Lord is their strength.
What a word for today! Paul tells the Philippians that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. The joy within that comes from the Lord’s presence in our hearts is literally our strength. Without His joy springing up alive from understanding His word and His ways, we lose our strength, our ability to handle our lives. The Israelites were God’s special people, His sheep, and they had lost much strength without their ways of worship to hear and understand the Word of the Lord.
After His resurrection, when He appeared to the disciples, Jesus Christ fed them and then told Peter:
“Jesus, then, is coming and taking the bread and is giving it to them, and the food fish likewise. Now this is already the third time Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after being roused from among the dead.
When, then, they lunch, Jesus is saying to Simon Peter, ‘Simon of John, are you loving Me more than these?’ He is saying to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, Thou art aware that I am fond of Thee!’ He is saying to him, ‘Graze My lambkins!’
He is saying to him again a second time, ‘Simon of John, are you loving Me?’ He is saying to Him,‘Yes, Lord, Thou art aware that I am fond of Thee!’ He is saying to him, ‘Shepherd My sheep!’
He is saying to him the third time, ‘Simon of John, are you fond of Me? Peter was sorry that He said to him the third time ‘Are you fond of Me? and he is saying to Him, ‘Lord, Thou art aware of all things! Thou knowest that I am fond of Thee’ And Jesus is saying to him, ‘Graze My little sheep!’”
John 21:13-17 Concordant Literal
“Graze my lambkins, shepherd my sheep, graze My little lambkins.” Thus was Peter directed to do after Peter affirmed three times that he did, indeed, love the Lord. Like Peter, those who deeply love the Lord are told to feed the flock of God. Our love for our Lord is to be manifested to others He is raising up in His body of believers. The Greek word translated as “graze” comes from “bosko”, meaning “to pasture, graze or keep.” “Shepherd” comes from “poimaino,” meaning “to shepherd, supervise, or feed.” Both imply a close, caring, and committed relationship of support and protection of the Lord’s flock.
A shepherd is responsible for guiding the sheep, protecting and attending to their needs. Shepherds such as David was for his father’s flocks make sure the sheep have clear fresh water, green pastures on which to feed, and protection from predators. When we are called to feed the Lord’s sheep, we are to have a close watch over others who belong to Him and for whom He cares deeply. This calling is for lambs all the way to mature sheep that require all of God’s word, wisdom and protection.
Sheep are an excellent metaphor for God’s people. Sheep cannot graze on the same pastures nor are they always safe from predators, the storms that come. Sheep cannot, on their own, find new pastures or watering places. When the current pasture is grazed to the roots, the shepherd must move the sheep to new pastures. When the sources of water change or dry up, it is the shepherd’s responsibility to move the flock to a new source of water so they may drink in peace.
With the shepherd’s watchcare over the flock, he or she moves them to new pastures. How we need our Shepherd!
“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.” Psalms 23:1-4 KJV
When you are called to shepherd His sheep, you must stay close to the Lord and His leading, to know how to feed, care and nurture the flock of people He has put in your care. People need a fresh word from “green pastures” in order to grow. The clear, still water of the word of life must continue to flow to, in, and through us for others. Water is needed without to wash the outer and within, to refresh the inner man.
Our Lord is so precise in the metaphors and symbols He uses in His word to help us understand Him! David well knew what sheep needed from his own years of shepherding his father’s sheep. It was his training ground, the way he was prepared to lead God’s people as their future King. We can learn much about the directive to “feed my sheep” from the lives of sheep and those who raise them. For example, what happens when sheep are not moved to new pastures?
Those who raise sheep telll us that sheep don’t thrive without a shepherd. Sheep get into lots of tr, trouble without a shephard, eating things that could hurt them, and easily falling prey to predators. “The condition of the sheep is directly related to the care of the shepherd. Sheep need constant care.” Don’t we know it?! Without our Shepherd, we do get into all kinds of trouble, ingest things from the world and from evil that hurt us, and are vulnerable to attack.
No wonder the Lord has chosen some to be shepherds of His spiritual flock, under the leading and direction of the Great Shephard. When those who raise sheep move them to new pasture, it is not as easy as it may seem to those of us inexperienced in the tending of these animals. Indigenous shephards in many countries must know the terrain around them intimately, becoming familiar with every peak and valley in that area. In mountainous areas, the sheep go higher to avoid predators.
While the valleys of green pastures make for great feeding, the sheep may need to be moved to the higher areas in order to avoid predators. What wisdom is required, just as David spoke further about in Psalms 23:
“He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalms 23:3-4 NIV
The word “valley” is literally translated as “a ravine of blackest shadows.” It is a place of darkness and danger. The Greek word is “gay,” a narrow gorge, taken from the root word “gevah” meaning “exaltation, arrogance, a lifting up, pride.” Hmmm….One of the dark valleys we can wander into, bringing darkness and the threat of evil is a place where God’s light, His way, becomes hidden from us. This valley is a place where we are relying on our own strength, being arrogant and prideful instead of humbly submitting to our Lord.
How we need our Shepherd and those He has called to lead and guide us out of such places! God leads us through many places of darkness, showing us the path of life so that we need not be afraid. As with David, we do not need to fear because our Shepherd is constantly with us, able at a moment’s notice to lift His club and His staff to protect and comfort us. When we need new pastures, He leads us to new, life-giving growth, green and lush.
Those who raise sheep know that while newborn lambs need the same food daily, the “milk of the word,” maturing sheep need to be moved to greener pastures. If they are not moved. they develop parasites and problems with digestion. What does that say to Christians who settle for hearing the same word year after year, eventually lacking the refreshing water of the spirit as well? We can learn a lot from exploring God’s use of shepherds and sheep in His word!
Spiritually, the parasites and problems in digesting the Word are described this way by Peter:
“Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:1-3 Berean
Expanding our understanding of this passage of scripture, consider the Concordant Literal’s version:
“Putting off, then, all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all vilifications, as recently born babes, long for the unadulterated milk of the word that by it you may be growing into salvation, if so be that you taste that the Lord is kind:
Whom approaching, a living Stone, having been rejected indeed by men, yet chosen by God, held in honor, you, also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, into a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, most acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:1-5 Concordant Literal
Parasites: malice, deceit, guile, hypocrisy, envy, slander, vilification—how they “adulterate” the milk of the Word fed to His lambs. It is always a matter of the heart, and, as God’s living stones, we are to be built up through this pure milk of the word. All of these evil, parasitical attitudes of the heart begin to hinder the digestion of His word, until it simply does not “digest” any more! There is no life left in these dark places of the heart hidden from the light and life of the Lord, so there is no nurturing and growth to maturity.
But how we love a fresh, new word, a delightful outpouring of the presence of God through His holy spirit! Those raising sheep tell us that they love going out onto pasture in the spring, after a winter of dry hay and fodder. The grass is sweet, growing so quickly in the spring, and the sheep are happy to eat and over-eat. Learning more from the raising of sheep, we find that sheep cannot switch quickly to easily digest this new, luscious food.
“We also follow the old-timers’ adage, ‘Never put dry sheep onto wet grass.’ If the sheep are dry and the grass is wet, it isn’t wet due to rain (otherwise, the sheep would be wet!), but instead is wet because of the morning dew.
Putting sheep onto lush pasture in the early morning will mean that they will get all of their nutrition that day from the new pasture – which is asking for trouble [creating digestive upset, with the grass going right through them instead of building them up]…
Instead, we let them fill up in the early morning on what is left in the old pasture (the less palatable and lower nutrition plants that they have left) before moving them later in the day to the new field…
[Eventually] they are no longer eating the hay in the barn, even if we offer it. They are fully on the lush pasture...” Adapted from Pine Knoll Sheep and Wool 2020)
What wisdom God is teaching with the use of these references to sheep! As the Great Shepherd, He is teaching us called to feed His sheep! Just as the shepherd starts out with the familier barn hay he knows the sheep can digest, a wise teacher does not rush the sharing of the new Word, the deeper Word. Instead the feeder of God’s flock introduces it along with foundational truths the believers have already been able to “digest.”
New-born spiritual lambs need the pure milk of the Word. They cannot be nourished yet on the lush pastures of deep revelation, as they simply cannot understand or digest it yet. They need to grow and develop on the foundation laid by Jesus Christ through His word. Sheep cannot grow and thrive on the same pasture, the same Word, but must also be led to move on, no matter how much that current pasture fed them and caused them to grow.
It takes a wise shepherd of His sheep to know how to be led by the spirit to nurture, grow, and protect His flock. A wise and skillful teacher of God’s word knows how to speak to the people where they are at while lifting them to higher and higher places in God. Throughout our walk with the Lord, we may be called to shepherd many of His own, directly through interaction in fellowship and worship, and indirectly, even invisibly, through prayer and intercession. God moves people into our spiritual path where we walk together as fellow believers, then moves them—or us—onto new pastures where they must be fed.
It is all the doing of the Lord, to continue to fulfill His directive to Peter: “Feed My Sheep!”