What Good Sheep Do Series

A Sheepfold was a circular wall about 10 feet tall with a single opening that served as a door. Several flocks might be placed into the sheepfold at night, with one of the shepherds lying in the opening to serve as the door. Nothing could get into, or out of the sheepfold without having to go through the shepherd and only thieves and robbers seek to enter the sheepfold by another means besides the door.

• False shepherds surround us on all sides looking for ways to get at the flocks. Sometimes they come through religion? Morality? Excitement? Promises of wealth or health? Intimidation? Guilt? False hope. They always distort the truth in one way or another. Primarily the truth about Who Jesus really is.

• They WORK HARD: Climb up….put lots of effort into leading the sheep astray.

• Their real motive is to STEAL and exploit the sheep for their own purposes.

I am amazed at how blind people can be to the obvious efforts of those who would steal and exploit sheep. The world seems to be very aware how obvious it is. Just ask the average non-Christian what they think of what they see on most Christian TV programs. All about the money or the ministry of the person hosting and little about Jesus Christ.

2 PETER 2:2-3 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and IN THEIR GREED they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

2. The True Shepherd enters the proper way. 2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

It is the fall of the year, the weather is getting colder.

In the summer, the flocks stayed out in the field all night.

In the winter, the flocks were gathered into pens, or sheepfolds.

Shepherding in the ancient East worked differently than it does in our western culture.

In the west, sheep are driven by the shepherd on a horse.

In the east, the shepherd leads the flock on foot, and they follow him.

In the east, sheep were given names, as we do to dogs and pets.

The shepherd was familiar with his sheep, knowing them all by name, and they would know the sound of his voice.

When the sheep came in for the night, several flocks from various shepherds would all share the same sheepfold for the night.

Sheepfold was typically a large stone wall enclosure without a roof, with a single entrance into it.

Sometimes the entrance was just an opening in the wall, and a shepherd might spend the night sleeping in the opening, keeping his sheep in and the predators out.

In the morning, all a shepherd had to do was call to his flock, and even if they were mingled with another shepherd’s flock, his flock would respond to his voice and follow him out of the sheepfold.

• The true shepherd would show up AT THE DOOR to gather His sheep the proper way. Jesus came in direct fulfillment of God’s Word. In the fullness of time He knocked at the world’s door perfectly in line with God’s revealed will.