Among the Flock: What Are You Really Wired For?

I honestly don’t know why sheep are the most common animal mentioned in scripture, but I have a hunch that it’s no accident. Though sheep are not specifically mentioned in the account of Creation, God made these animals as a valuable source of food and clothing. Because of their usefulness, disagreements soon followed. From Abel to Abraham and Rachel to King David, we see many men and women caring for flocks. They are a normal part of life in the ancient agrarian society and often became crucial to a family’s—and even an entire village’s—survival.

Many of the prophets, including Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Nahum, and Zechariah use shepherd imagery. Even Amos, one of the most offbeat guys in the Bible, was a shepherd turned prophet. Waiting for the Messiah, the people eagerly anticipated the one who would “shepherd” Israel. This promised one was Jesus, the Son of God, the Good Shepherd.

With more than 600 references to sheep and shepherds and flocks throughout scripture, it raises the question: Shouldn’t we get to know more about these wooly creatures? That’s one of the reasons I travelled to Oregon to spend time with the shepherdess, Lynne, and wrote Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, & Wild Honey. The scripture is just so much more alive when you see these wooly creatures in their context. 

Surprised By the Relationship
Throughout my time with the shepherdess, I was amazed by just how much sheep know their shepherd. The sheep responded to Lynne’s presence, her movements, her voice. Sheep are simply wired to know their shepherd.

Gary Burge, a Wheaton professor, tells one of the most remarkable stories that I’ve ever heard relating to this principle. He describes how Israeli soldiers visited a poor village outside of Bethlehem after a Palestinian uprising and demanded that the people pay the taxes they owed. They refused.

The officer in charge gathered up all the animals of the village—primarily sheep and goats—and placed them into a huge pen. A poor woman approached the officer in charge begging him to release her animals. Because the poor woman’s husband had been imprisoned, her sheep were all she had.

The officer laughed at her request. How could she possibly find her dozen sheep in a pen of more than one thousand animals?

The woman challenged the officer. If she could find her animals, could she keep them?

Intrigued, the soldier agreed.

The woman invited her ten-year-old son to stand before the pen. He pulled out a flute and began to play a simple tune. As he walked through the fenced in area, a dozen sheep gathered behind him following him all the way home.

The officer and soldiers were impressed. They broke into applause, shut the gate and then announced that no one else could use the trick to get their sheep back. 

Why did the sheep follow the boy? Because they knew he was their shepherd. And they knew he was a good shepherd. The sheep were not only familiar with his voice, they knew the very tunes he played on his flute—songs he had played in the fields many times before.

That portrait of a sheep knowing its shepherd so well gives me hope that I, too, can know God intimately and live in response not only to God’s voice but the melodies He places on my heart.

4 Comments »

1. Margaret:

   I just loved your book and devoured it immediately after Catalyst. I connected with your writing, I have a heart for adventure! I would have LOVED to call people up and say, “Can I just stay with you for a while and learn about what you do?” My husband would think I’ve lost my mind, but that’s just how we are with a heart for adventure and a yearning to learn more and more!

   Your book inspired me to find my own answers for things in the Scripture. I lived through your experience and in turn understand what Jesus was saying a whole lot more clearly.

   Thank you for the time and investment you put into this experience and then turning it into something we all can learn from!

   I look forward to reading more of your writing!!

   Fellow-adventurer and God Chaser,
   Jenny

   Comment by Jennifer Miller - Nov 06, 2009 @ 07:56 AM

2. Jenny,

   I’m thrilled you enjoyed the book—that means a ton! Keep running after Him!

   Blessings, Margaret

   Comment by Margaret Feinberg - Nov 06, 2009 @ 03:25 PM

3. Hi.  Where can I get your book?

   Comment by Anne - Nov 19, 2009 @ 01:18 AM

4. Your book has been a blessing to me and my ministry, as soon as a got home to (PR)  from Catalyst I began to read it and ina few days I read it the first time then I went back and read it over, this time translating some notes to spanish… I had to share with my husband as senior pastors how God has talked to me and refreshed me to take a close look at understanding my “flock” and my self as a pastor. After that in our next meeting with our pastor’s staff I shared 7 pages of notes that I had written ( only on your part of shepherdhood) Then in a general staff meeting with all of our leadership I shared ( almost a bible study) your writings on Bees and team work…. To sum things up, God has spoken to us all, with your book and I can’t wait til it is published in spanish so that way a lot of my congragation and friends can buy and read first hands your book, Knowing it will be a spiritual blessing to all!!!
   I read The organic God, and the Sacred Eco…. Love the way you write, cause I see my self living each chapter, ( I feel like I know you)  and everytime I’m enriched with not only knowledge but an anoiting and I’m renewed as God speaks and the Holy Spirit fills me with blessings!!! May God bless you and your husband with new adventures and enrich your souls always. Your In our prayers!!!
   Ygri

   Comment by Ygri Vicario - Nov 19, 2009 @ 08:58 AM

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