“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Thy strength, and come and save us.
Turn us again, O God, and cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. O LORD God of Hosts, how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people?
Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Turn us again, O God of Hosts, and cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” Psalm 80:1-7 (KJB)
Flock
The Good Pleasure of The Father
“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32 (KJB)
Anxiety can be a huge problem for many people. It is in fact a growing problem with people.
At the beginning of this let me say that planning ahead is not a bad thing. There is much in the Proverbs which we can learn in the matters of planning for our future; but it cannot, should not be done with fear or anxiety.
For the follower of Jesus Christ the words of Luke 12:22-34 are directed toward us. Jesus had just told the parable of the rich man who tore down his “barns” to build greater ones without one thought of God or his soul. He had no sooner completed the planning, and he died (Luke 12:13-21). Wealth without God is a foolish sin, that cost you your eternal soul. Your soul is eternal. Material riches are temporary.
Jesus was sending out His “Little flock” to do ministry; preaching the gospel, repentance, and faith toward God. They; as do we today; need to hear these words, “Fear not”.
We cannot let the cares, the fears, the anxiety of this word weigh on us. It is a load too heavy to bear. Why do we worry about things we have no control over? After all that is what most fear and worry is about.
For those who have been redeemed through the cross of Jesus Christ – His death, burial, and resurrection we are promised the kingdom. The kingdom is His, and we are in fact, “Joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). It is The Good Pleasure of The Father to give the kingdom to His Little Flock. We need always remember also the apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 4:6-7.
The Selfish Shepherd
“Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.” Zechariah 11:17 (KJB)
Some thoughts from John Wesley…
“The idol shepherd – To them that are but the images of shepherds. That leaveth – Casts off the care of the flock. The sword – Of the enemy, shall break his strength and be – fool his counsels. Dried up – They that have gifts which qualify them to do good, if they do it not, they will be taken away. They that should have been workmen, but were slothful, and would do nothing, will justly have their arm dried up. And they that should have been watchmen, but were drowsy, will justly have their eye blinded.” JOHN WESLEY’S NOTES ON THE BIBLE for Zechariah 11:17
John Gills notes on Zechariah 11:17…
“Woe to the idol shepherd,…. Or, “the shepherd of nothing” (w); that is, no true shepherd, that is good for nothing, for an idol is nothing in the world, 1Co_8:4 and who is an idol himself, sits in the temple of God, and is worshipped as if he was God. 2Th_2:4 and is an encourager and defender of idolatry:
that leaveth the flock; has no regard to its spiritual concerns; does not feed it, but fleece it, and leaves it to the cruelty and avarice of his creatures under him:
the sword shall be upon his arm; with which he should feed the flock:
and upon his right eye; with which he should watch over it:
his arm shall be clean dried up; his power shall be taken away from him; the antichristian states, which supported him, shall withdraw from him; the ten kings shall hate the whore, strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, Rev_17:16,
and his right eye shall be utterly darkened; not only given up to judicial blindness, which has been always his case; but his kingdom shall be full of darkness, Rev_16:10 his hidden things of darkness shall be exposed; all his crafty schemes will be confounded; and all his wit, cunning, and subtlety, will cease; and everything desirable to him will be taken away from him. His “arm” may denote his secular power, which shall be taken away from him: and his “right eye” his knowledge of the Scriptures, judgment in controversies, and infallibility pretended to by him, which wilt cease, even in the opinion of men. Ben Melech interprets it the eye of his heart or mind; and so Aben Ezra.” JOHN GILL’S EXPOSITION OF THE BIBLE
One Shepherd, One Flock
“As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, one shepherd.” John 10:15-16 (KJB)
The current “Fold” of whom Jesus is speaking is the people of Israel. Only those who would hear Him, believe Him, and follow Him. In the days following His death for the fold there would be added to the fold or flock others from the Gentile world.
All would be under the authority, and leadership of one Shepherd. His name is Jesus who died to redeem a people unto Himself; both from Israel, and the surrounding nations.
Have you been redeemed? Are you in His fold?
Shepherd
“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.” Psalm 80:1 (KJV)
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus sweetest name I know. He fills my every longing. He keeps me singing as I go.
The Shepherd of Israel is none other than Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God. Jesus can be seen as the Shepherd as He feeds the five thousand men (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:44; Luke 9:14; John 6:10), and as He fed the four thousand men (Matthew 15:38; Mark 8:9). Notice in those verses where He commanded that they sit down on the grass.
His glory is seen as the one who dwells betwee the cherubims. They were the ones who are formed bowing on the mercy seat facing one another with their faces toward the ark of the covenant, which represents the presence of GOD. The ark itself is the representation of the fulness of the Godhead.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1
Is the Lord Jesus your Shepherd today? He will give ear to you when you call on Him.
Day 67 – Words of Warning and Promise
Some people will never listen to a “negative” comment. They always want the positive stuff. Let me ask this question; What good is a battery with only a positive pole? There is no battery with only a positive pole. They all; from automotive – cars and trucks – to batteries for electronic gadgets, fire alarms, etc.; they all have a negative and positive pole.
My reading for the 67th day of my 90 day journey was Zechariah 10 – Malachi 4. Yes! I only read nine chapters today. There will still be time for catch up reading. Besides, I did not want to read only the first five chapters of the New Testament and Matthew to begin the NT.
The reading was mostly positive, yet there are some words of warning, yeah! Negative stuff. How good can the positive be, if there is no negative. How powerful can the electric be without the negative. I have an electric fence around my yard/lawn to keep cattle out. I can assure you that without the ground wire (the negative), there would be no jolt on that wire. You get my point.
One of the first negatives I will point out is,
“Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.” Zechariah 11:17 (KJV)
The shepherd or pastor of whom the prophet is speaking is one who leads his people or followers in idol worship rather than the worship of the true God. To me this has a positive message for the follower of God and Christ. It tells me that there is coming a day when all idol worship, and worshippers will cease to be and that all will worship the one true God.
There is also coming a day when all Israel will look upon Jesus who was judged guilty by the angry religious leaders of that day; and He was without guilt. His only guilt was that He was guilty of being holy, righteous, without blemish or spot; He claimed to be and is the Son of God.
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” 12:10
All will turn out just as the LORD has said. Just as He has promised. His Word will be fulfilled word for word. Not one word shall fail.
Malachi is a prophet who sees the people who are “bored” with worship; yes, the worship of the LORD. He confronts them with it. More negativity is coming. Do we not need to hear the negative to get a positive outcome? you can close your ears all you want to negativity, but that does not help you or any others who may be actually perishing in their sin, and decrepit attitudes.
“A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is Mine honour? and if I be a Master, where is My fear?’ saith the LORD of hosts unto you, ‘O priests, that despise My name. And ye say, ‘Wherein have we despised Thy name?’ Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine altar; and ye say, ‘Wherein have we polluted Thee? In that ye say, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’ And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person?’ saith the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 1:6-8 (KJV)
The people of Judah were going through the motions of worshipping God, but were not living the worship. They had in affect departed from the worship of YHWH, and “wearied the LORD with your words” (2:17). The prophecy of Malachi ends with a word of hope and promise of one coming to prepare the way;
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” 4:5-6
The Lord GOD calls all people to worship Him. He is holy, righteous, and just. He will not hold the sinner guiltless. However, when the sinner receives His offering for sin we put on the righteousness of His own dear Son who bled and died for our sins on the cross, was buried – carrying away the sin, guilt and condemnation; and He bodily arose from the grave justifying forever all those who will believe on Him.
-Tim A. Blankenship
The Fire and Hammer 