The Good Shepherd

Why is the Man of Truth called the Good Shepherd?

Most people live life herded around like sheep.  They just do whatever the rest of the flock is doing and go wherever the flock is going.  I call them sheeple.

Sheeple just want to be part of the flock.  They want to be Sara Lee - same and regular and like everyone else.

Sheeple want to be free from the burden of being responsible for their own well being.  They want a shepherd to take care of them.  

Sheeple are led about by a much smaller group of people.  These people are shepherds.

The shepherds are religious and political leaders.  They are responsible for ensuring that the needs of the sheeple are taken care of.

Sheeple see shepherds as somehow fit to lead them for various reasons like being richer or stronger or charismatic or better looking.  Sheeple often follow shepherds who make them feel good about themselves.

Sheeple will value whatever the shepherd tells them is valuable.  Their life and final destination is entirely in the hands of the shepherds. 

If a good shepherd is leading sheeple, then things will go well with them and they will be led to good pastures.  If an evil shepherd is leading sheeple, then things will go badly for them and they will be led to the slaughter.

Either way, sheeple will always go with the flow like sheep in a flock.  They will continue with the rest of the flock to follow a bad shepherd to death, even if a good shepherd tries to lead them to life.

Some of the sheeple are very influential over other sheeple.  They are the principal among the flock.

The principal among the flock are not responsible for ensuring that the needs of the other sheeple are taken care of, but are very influential in how the sheeple respond to the the guidance of the shepherds.

The principal among the flock are societal leaders like business owners and military officers.  They may also include other influencers like educators, scientists, entertainers, and athletes.  The rest of the sheeple tend to follow the example of the principle among the flock in their response to the guidance of the shepherds.

Some people are neither shepherds nor sheeple.  They are goats.

Goats will eat together with sheep, but they are not part of the flock. They only look out for themselves.  They will go where sheep cannot go and eat what sheep cannot eat.  They are more prone to fighting than sheep.  They will each push to get their own way.  While the sheep will follow a shepherd to where he leads, the shepherd has to herd the goats to force them to go there.

The goats are trouble makers like gossips and rioters.  They may include influencers like educators, scientists, entertainers, and athletes.  They spread discontent throughout the flock.  The sheeple tend to be intimidated by them into ignoring the guidance of the shepherds.

Then there are the wolves.  The wolves are people who are out to destroy the sheeple for their own gain.  They only come into the flock to devour the sheeple.  The sheeple are not able to defend themselves against the wolves.

The fact is that the sheeple need a shepherd to lead them (Numbers 27:15-17).  They cannot defend themselves without a shepherd (1 Kings 22:15-17).  Without a shepherd, they will become scattered and picked off by wolves and the like (Ezekiel 34:5-6).  They need a shepherd to feed them (Mark 6:32-44).  They need the voice of a shepherd to guide them (John 10:1-5).  They need a shepherd to protect them from thieves (John 10:7-10).

This is why there are mustangs (wild descendants of domesticated horses), dogies (wild descendants of domesticated cattle), razorbacks (wild descendants of domesticated pigs), feral goats (wild descendants of domesticated goats), and packs of wild dogs that descended from domesticated dogs, but there are no wild descendants of domesticated sheep.  Domesticated sheep cannot survive without a shepherd to take care of them.

There is many reasons for this, but they could be summarized as this:  Domesticated sheep are too stupid to survive on their own.   

For example, if they get wet, they will roll on their back to dry off, then will get stuck on their back, which leads to them kicking their feet and bleating.  They are now announcing a free sheep dinner to every predator around.

So, the sheep are entirely dependent upon the shepherds.  How well things go for the flock depends upon how well the shepherds do their job.

In like manner, the sheeple are entirely dependent upon their shepherds.  How well things go for them depends on how well their shepherds do their jobs.

There is no better example of this than the sheeple of Israel.  The things that happened to the sheeple of Israel were recorded in the Book of Truth (The Bible) as examples that we can all learn from (1 Corinthians 10:1-11).

Father of Truth  (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) is the chief shepherd over the sheeple of Israel.

The Father of Truth is the shepherd who will bring the sheeple into a place of peace and prosperity (Psalm 23).  He provides everything that His flock needs (Luke 12:27-32).

He is the shepherd of the sheeple of Israel that will save them (Psalm 80:1-7).  He has fed the sheeple of Israel with words of wisdom that they might keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14).

The sheeple of His pasture will one day thank Him for saving them (Psalm 79:9-13). They will praise Him for his truth and mercy (Psalm 100).

They will praise the Father of Truth for sending forth a Good Shepherd to preserve them as He preserved Joseph (Yousef) (Genesis 49:22-26).

So, Moses (Moishe) was raised up to be a shepherd to bring the sheeple of Israel into His pasture.

Moses protected the flock of Jethro (Yithrow), a Priest of Truth, from the bad shepherds at the well and watered the sheep (Exodus 2:15-19).  So while Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, the Father of Truth called him to deliver His flock and lead the sheeple of Israel into His pastures (Exodus 3:1-10).

The Father of Truth led the sheeple of Israel like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron (A'haron) (Psalm 77:20). They guided His flock though the wilderness and led them to safety from their enemies (Psalm 78:52-54).

Yet, the sheeple would not listen to His voice and provoked Him to wrath (Psalm 95:7-11).  They did not enter into His resting place, because their unbelief caused them to fall into sin (Hebrews 3:7-19).

Later, David was raised up to be a shepherd over the sheeple of Israel in His pasture.

While David was tending the flock of his father, when he was called to tend the flock of the Father of Truth (1 Samuel 16:10-13).  He was tending the flock of Jesse (Yishai), when King Saul (Shaul), called him to his court (1 Samuel 16:18-20).  He went back to defending the sheep, when King Saul left to defend Israel (1 Samuel 17:12-15).

David made sure that the sheep were protected, before he went to the battlefield as instructed by his father (1 Samuel 17:17-20).  He did not neglect the flock of Jesse when he took up the challenge to defend the flock of the Father of Truth (1 Samuel 17:26-32).  David protected the sheeple of Israel from the champion of their enemies, just as he had protected the sheep of Jesse from the lion and the bear (1 Samuel 17:33-37).

So, the Father of Truth made King David His shepherd over His sheeple, instead of the sheep of his father (2 Samuel 7:8-9).  Like His shepherds before him, King David fed His sheeple like he had fed the sheep of Jesse (1 Chronicles 17:6-8).  King David had been chosen to feed His flock, because he had been faithful to feed the flock of his father (Psalm 78:70-72).

However, even King David failed to obey every commandment of the Father of Truth and brought disaster upon the sheeple of Israel (2 Samuel 24:17-25).  Still, he was willing to lay down his life to protect the flock and sacrificed to save as many of the sheeple as he could (1 Chronicles 21:16-28).

Then came the Bad Shepherds.

Unfortunately, like all human professions, not every shepherd does their job well.  When there are bad shepherds, the sheeple suffer.

The bad pastors (which literally means shepherds) of Israel transgressed against the Father of Truth and the sheeple were led into worshiping worthless idols (Jeremiah 2:8-11).  The wicked among the sheeple of Israel had been prepared to be slaughtered (Jeremiah 12:1-3).

So, wolves came into the flock and devoured the sheeple of Israel (Ezekiel 22:25-27).  They then gnawed on their bones (Zephaniah 3:3-4). 

The sheeple were devoured by wolves and the like, until they were scattered from their pastures (Psalm 44:11-14). The sheeple were devoured by wolves and the like, because the bad shepherds of Israel were getting drunk, instead of guarding the flock (Isaiah 56:9-12).  

Since the bad shepherds of Israel had stopped seeking after the Father of Truth, the place where He was worshiped fell into disrepair, and the sheeple of Israel had became scattered (Jeremiah 10:20-21).

His flock was being destroyed!

So, the Father of Truth brought in a Gentile bad shepherd to destroy the bad shepherds of Israel and take over the flock (Zechariah 11:15-17).

Gentile bad shepherds came to destroy the dwelling places of the bad shepherds of Israel (Jeremiah 6:3-7).  Since the bad shepherds of Israel did not protect the flock from wolves and the like, but only fed themselves, the Father of Truth took the sheeple of Israel away from them (Ezekiel 34:7-10). 

Soon, the bad shepherds of Israel were taken away like dust in the wind (Jeremiah 22:21-22).  The Father of Truth brought them into mourning along with the principal of the flock (Jeremiah 25:34-37).  He became angry with them for neglecting his flock and punished the goats among the flock as well (Zechariah 10:1-3).

This had come upon the bad shepherds of Israel for destroying the flock and scattering the sheeple (Jeremiah 23:1-2).  This had come upon them because they had fed themselves while neglecting and abusing the sheeple of Israel (Ezekiel 34:2-4). 

This led to the sheeple of Israel becoming lost.

Since the sheeple of Israel had followed the bad shepherds away from the Father of Truth, many of the sheeple were also slaughtered and no longer fed by Him (Zechariah 11:3-9).  

Gentile bad shepherds made the pastures of the sheeple of Israel desolate (Jeremiah 12:10-12).  Then the sheeple were carried away from their pastures to another land (Jeremiah 13:17-20).

The sheeple of Israel had trusted in wealth to deliver them from death, so they were delivered to the grave (Psalm 49:6-14). They had been cast out of their pastures, because the Father of Truth was angry with them as well (Psalm 74:1-2).

The sheeple of Israel became lost because the bad shepherds of Israel had led them astray, causing the sheeple to be devoured by wolves and the like in unfamiliar lands, where they could only rely on the goats for protection (Jeremiah 50:6-8).

However, the Father of Truth had not abandoned the sheeple of Israel.

The Father of Truth remember that Moses had led His flock, so He was determined to bring Israel back to Himself to make His name glorious (Isaiah 63:10-14).  He would cause them safely to dwell in His pasture after He took away their sins, so He could fulfill His promises to Abraham (Abram) and Jacob (Yah'acov aka Israel) (Micah 7:14-20).

Therefore, the Father of Truth will come to feed His flock and carry them in his arms as he gathers them together (Isaiah 40:10-11).  He that scattered the sheeple of Israel will gather them from the ends of the Earth (Jeremiah 31:7-11).  He will bring back the sheeple that were driven away by the lions sent against them, so they can be fed again in His pastures and their sins will be forgotten (Jeremiah 50:17-20).

Therefore, the Father of Truth will search for His sheeple to feed them in His pasture (Ezekiel 34:11-15).  The sheeple of Israel will no longer be devoured by wolves and the like, because they will brought into His pasture (Ezekiel 34:28-31).  The cities of Israel will be filled with flocks of the sheeple of Israel (Ezekiel 36:36-38).

The Father of Truth will surely gather the sheeple of Israel into one place like a flock in a fold (Micah 2:12).  He will save the flock of His sheeple in that day (Zechariah 9:16).

So, the Father of Truth promised to raise up a Good Shepherd to restore the sheeple of Israel.

The Father of Truth said that He would raise up good shepherds to feed His flock with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:14-15).  He would bring the sheeple of Israel back to His pasture and raise up good shepherds to feed them (Jeremiah 23:3-4).

So, the Father of Truth sent a good Gentile shepherd to bring back some of the sheeple of Israel back to His pasture and begin to rebuild the Temple (Isaiah 44:26-48).  He sent Prophets of Truth to act as good shepherds to lead the sheeple of Israel away from destruction (Jeremiah 17:13-16).

However, these were temporary shepherds until the Good Shepherd would be raised up from among the descendants of King David to watch over His flock and bring all the sheeple of Israel back to His pasture (Jeremiah 23:5-8).

Then more bad shepherds came to lead the sheeple of Israel astray again.

Yet, the Father of Truth was determined to seek after the lost sheeple of Israel (Ezekiel 34:16).  

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to be born at Bethlehem (Bethlechem) in the pastures of Judah (Micah 5:2).

So, the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) was born there (Matthew 2:2-6).  His birth was witnessed by the shepherds of Bethlehem.

The Man of Truth was then sent to the lost sheeple of Israel, even though other sheeple sought after him (Matthew 15:22-24).  The Father of Truth had sent him to save the sheeple that were lost, because He did not want one of them to perish (Matthew 18:10-14).

In like manner, the Man of Truth sent his twelve shepherds, the original twelve Apostles of Truth, to only go to the lost sheeple of Israel (Matthew 10:5-7).

The Man of Truth healed and restored the sheeple, even when they fell into a pit on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10-13).  He spent his time among the sheeple, to save them from being lost in sin (Luke 19:7-10).

The Man of Truth was willing to leave the ninety sheeple that were in safety, to save the one that was lost (Luke 15:4-7).

The Man of Truth was the Good Shepherd, who was willing to lay his life down to protect the sheeple of Israel from the wolves (John 10:11-13).  

Yet, he could only protect the sheeple of Israel who were willing to hear his voice and follow him (John 10:25-28).

So, the Good Shepherd laid down his life to save the sheeple of Israel.

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to be betrayed in the house of his friends, struck down, and his flock to be scattered (Zechariah 13:6-7).  

So, the Man of Truth was betrayed in the house of his friends to be stuck down (Matthew 26:25-31).  When this betrayal came that led to his arrest, all of his sheeple fled (Mark 14:27-50).

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to be silent as a sheep led to the slaughter when he was unjustly condemned to die for the sins of the sheeple of Israel (Isaiah 53:7-8).

So, the Man of Truth did not say a word in his own defense when when he was unjustly condemned to die (Acts 8:32-35).

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to be stuck on his cheek with a reed (Micah 5:1).  

So, the wolves sent by the Gentile bad shepherd dressed him in a royal robe, placed a crown of thorns upon his head, put a reed in his hand, and mocked him for being the Good Shepherd, before they hit his head with the reed (Matthew 27:27-30).  They also spit on the Man of Truth and mockingly worshiped him when they hit him with the reed before leading him off to be executed (Mark 15:19-20). 

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to be wounded in his hands (Zechariah 13:6).

So, the bad shepherds of Israel had demanded the Man of Truth to crucified, because they had rejected the Good Shepherd (John 19:15-21).  

Then the Good Shepherd was crucified (Matthew 27:35-37).  The hands of the Good Shepherd were wounded (Mark 15:24-26).

The wolves and the bad shepherds of Israel mocked the Good Shepherd as he was dying for the sheeple from the wounds in his hands (Luke 23:32-39).  The Good Shepherd had been sent by the Father of Truth, but the wolves and the bad shepherds killed him by the wounds in his hands (Acts 2:22-23).

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to die among the wicked and be buried among the rich (Isaiah 53:9).

The Man of Truth promised to meet one of the wicked crucified with him in Paradise that very day (Luke 23:39-43).  The Good Shepherd was soon joined in death by two thieves who were on each side of him (John 19:30-34).

Then the Man of Truth was buried in the tomb of a rich man (Matthew 27:57-60).

However, this was not the end of the Good Shepherd.

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to live forever after dying in the place of His flock (Isaiah 53:10-11).

The Man of Truth laid down his life and then took it back up again (John 10:17-18).  The Father of Truth brought the Good Shepherd back to life from the dead, after he had sealed the everlasting covenant with his own blood (Hebrews 13:20-21). 

After he rose from the dead, the Good Shepherd showed his sheeple the wounds in his hands (Luke 24:36-40).  He told them to put their fingers in the wounds in his hands (John 20:19-27).

The wounds in his hands showed that he had been rejected by the bad shepherds of Israel, but they also showed that he was the Good Shepherd sent to save the sheeple of Israel (Acts 4:8-12).

The Good Shepherd then went back to Heaven to be with the Father of Truth who had sent him, after the bad shepherds of Israel had wounded his hands (Acts 2:34-36).

However, the Good Shepherd came to save more than just the sheeple of Israel.

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to gather other sheeple besides the lost sheeple of Israel (Isaiah 56:6-8).  He said that the Gentile sheeple that the sheeple of Israel lived among, would live among the sheeple of Israel in His pasture (Jeremiah 12:14-17).

The Father of Truth appointed the Good Shepherd to not just feed the sheeple of Israel in His pasture, but to feed the Gentile sheeple in their pastures across the Earth (Micah 5:3-4).

So, the Man of Truth was the Good Shepherd who laid down his life to bring the Gentile sheeple into the same fold as the sheeple of Israel (John 10:14-16).

The Father of Truth had appointed the Good Shepherd to suffer for the sheeple who went astray and became lost (Isaiah 53:4-6). 

Even those who loved the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) had gone astray as lost sheeple (Psalm 119:173-176).  The Man of Truth suffered on the cross, so the lost sheeple could come back to the Good Shepherd (1 Peter 2:21-25).

So, the Good Shepherd raised up good shepherds to lead his sheeple until he comes back for them. 

The Father of Truth appointed that other good shepherds would feed both the sheeple of Israel and the Gentile sheeple (Jeremiah 3:15-17).

So, the Man of Truth appointed other good shepherds to feed the sheeple of his flock (Ephesians 4:8-12).

He started by appointing Peter the Jew (Sh'mon aka The Apostle Peter) to feed his sheeple (John 21:14-17).  Peter the Jew later appointed other good shepherds to feed the sheeple of Israel that he had fed (1 Peter 5:1-4).

In like manner, Paul the Jew (Shaul aka The Apostle Paul) later appointed other good shepherds to feed the Gentile sheeple that he had fed (Acts 20:27-28).

The Father of Truth appointed these good shepherds to die for the sake of His flock (Psalm 44:18-22).

The good shepherds died for his sake because they could not be separated from the love of the Good Shepherd (Romans 8:35-39).

Wolves have come into the flock disguised as part of the sheeple, but their actions always reveal their true identity (Matthew 7:15-20).  So, the good shepherds have been warning the sheeple to look out for wolves in the midst of the flock (Acts 20:29-31).

The Good Shepherd sent out these good shepherds as sheeple in the midst of the wolves, to expose the wolves (Matthew 10:16-18).  He sent them as sheeple among the wolves, so they could gather his sheeple to him (Luke 10:1-3). 

However, the Good Shepherd will return to take care of the flock himself.

The Good Shepherd will stand against a multitude of Gentile bad shepherds when they come to destroy the sheeple of Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:4-6).  The Man of Lies (The Antichrist aka The Beast), the King of Babylon, will be terrified when the Good Shepherd appears (Jeremiah 50:43-46).

The Good Shepherd will raise up seven shepherds of Israel and eight of the principal among the flock of Israel against the Man of Lies, the Assyrian, to destroy his land, because he polluted the pasture of his sheeple (Micah 5:5-6).  The Gentile bad shepherds of the Man of Lies will be slain, and his Gentile sheeple will be scattered without a shepherd (Nahum 3:18-19).

The Good Shepherd will save the flock of His Father and make King David to be the shepherd over the sheeple of Israel, so they can remain safely in His pasture (Ezekiel 34:22-25).  They will be gathered together into one flock and no longer be divided into two flocks, after the Good Shepherd cleans them of their filth and appoints King David to be their shepherd (Ezekiel 37:21-25).

The Good Shepherd will remove the goats from among the sheeple of Israel (Ezekiel 34:17-20).  He will also remove the goats from among the Gentile sheeple when he reigns over all the Earth (Matthew 25:31-46).  

So, will you be part of the sheeple of the Good Shepherd?

Let the Good Shepherd guide you in every decision because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).  The Good Shepherd will save you, whether you are part of the sheeple of Israel or part of the Gentile sheeple (Romans 10:11-13).  The Good Shepherd has removed the barrier of separation between the two, so that they can all be part of the same flock (Ephesians 2:11-14).

Come into the House of Truth!