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Jun 23, 2011
My dear friend Claire asked me to do a 5-minute Bible Study on Jehovah-Rohi, the name of God that translates into "The Lord Our Shepherd". No problem... well... except maybe for that 5-minute part. So I decided to post my thoughts here on the blog in 7 installments, thus allowing me to blow that 5-minute restriction out of the water.

The name Jehovah-Rohi (pronounced ro-hee) is attributed to the 23rd Psalm. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." we all learned that one before we cut our second set of teeth. I'm going draw some comparisons between being a shepherd and what the scriptures tell us about our Shepherd.

I'll use the pronoun "he" to describe the shepherd, knowing full well that you, the gentle reader, will understand that a shepherd can be and often is, in fact, a "she". I trust my readers not to need a lot of he/she, him/her, his/hers nonsense to get the message.

On with the first installment!

A shepherd guards his flock against danger. There are numerous dangers that face sheep every day. Sheep, by their very nature, have no defenses. They are easy prey for practically anything passing by.

In our neck of the woods, that may be a coyote, a wandering dog, or even a bear. To protect my sheep from these outside invaders, we have invested a lot of time, money, and energy to install and maintain appropriate fencing. There is nothing like the zap of a few thousand volts of electricity to deter any of these dangers. But along with hot wires, we also have the sheep enclosed behind high-tensile woven fence.

Not all dangers come from without. As a shepherd, I also have to watch for things with which the sheep - being sheep - might hurt themselves on. When we first bought this place and fenced in the land, we spent hours and hours walking the pasture and removing bits of wire, odd pieces of metal, plastic trash, and other objects that a sheep might get hurt on.

The Bible tells us that God has put up fences and picked up objects for us as well. "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

The next time we find ourselves facing evil and feeling tempted, we should take a good look at where we are. Have we kept ourselves behind the God's fence? Or have we wandered off into the wilderness? His fence is still there and He has already cleared it of sin's debris through His Son, Jesus Christ.

5 comments:

MGalloway said...

That's really good...and a great connection to how God goes ahead of us and picks up objects that may cause us problems.

Nancy said...

This is the kind of imagery that really helps to remember the message. Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to the other installments.

lynnmosher said...

I've always loved the sheep/shepherd analogy with believers. We are so much alike! Great post, Pegg!

Pegg Thomas said...

Thanks for the kind comments! I've had fun with this series. I love the analogy as well, Lynn. But I think, as a shepherd, that when God calls us His sheep... it's not a compliment. A more helpless and contrary beast I've never met... other than humans!

Unknown said...

Thanks Pegg- of those among us who love to share things about "our Shepherd" you bring a wonderful experience that always enlightens. You know none of us likes to consider ourselves "sheep" but if we are honest, we'll find we are more like sheep that we care to accept. Looking forward to the rest of your series.

Blessings to you and yours