Bible

[plugger]

In reading from John 10 I got curious about sheep, and remembered that some years ago I heard a story similar to the following. So much in Scripture talks about sheep & shepherds, here in 2021 and living in USA we don't give much thought to sheep & shepherds, but maybe the following will help us to understand why Scripture has so many references to sheep & shepherds. Might suggest after reading the following that when you have a minute you read John 10 and see new thoughts enter your mind.....God Bless
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In ancient Israel, as the winter night fell, all the sheep of a town were driven into the sheepfold. The sheepfold was square in shape and made of four stone walls with no roof. The walls were about nine feet high and four feet across. On top of the walls lay thorn bushes and branches all the way around to keep out the wild animals.
There was only one entrance in and out of the sheepfold where a gate or door was bolted from the inside at night. The guardian (or keeper) would sleep on the inside by the door. This way, both thieves and wild animals were stopped from stealing and killing the sheep. The sheep were protected and secure in the sheepfold during the cold darkness of the night.
When morning came, the shepherds would present themselves to the guardian, asking him to open the door that they might come in and call to their flock. The guardian would open the door and the shepherds would enter and call out to a few of their choice sheep by name. With thousands of sheep and many dif- ferent flocks in the sheepfold, it was an amazing sight to see the different flocks begin to untangle themselves from one another and follow their own shepherd. By calling the names of a number of his sheep, all of a shepherd’s flock would hear his voice and follow him as he left the sheepfold to lead and guide his flock to lush pasture.
Once there, the sheep would graze under the watchful eye of the good shepherd. They were safe with him for he would fight off wild animals and robbers, placing his life in the balance. And if one of the sheep should stray, he would leave the flock in search of it, find it, and reunite it with the rest of the flock.
Shepherds were highly regarded in ancient times, for the sheep were both a means of clothing and food. The Hebrew word for shepherd comes from the verb which means ‘to graze, to feed, to pasture, to nour- ish, to tend.’ The noun shepherd means, ‘one who leads and guides, protects, provides and feeds.’