No Ordinary Shepherd

This morning's bible reading was from the book of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah…the prophet of doom and gloom. Much of his book is filled with telling people things they don’t want to here, particularly the people of God. He is upfront in speaking to them of their persistent disobedience to God, calling them to turn back to God before it is too late.

Too late? Too late for what?

Too late to avoid receiving from the hand of God the consequences of their disobedience. Consequences that will take shape in their defeat and exile, as God uses the enemies of God's people for God's own purposes.

But when it comes to Jeremiah and unpopular things to say, as the TV announcer used to proclaim, That's not all! Jeremiah also speaks God's judgment on those enemies. This morning I read Jeremiah 47-50, with judgment declared against the Philistines, against Moab, against Ammon, and, in chapter 50 against Babylon, the granddaddy of Old Testament bogeymen.

As chapter 50 was drawing to a close, in the midst of judgment against Babylon, a phrase in verse 44 literally jumped out at me,

"What shepherd can stand before me?"

On the one hand, that’s a rhetorical question. Facing the power of God, no shepherd could stand against God. No shepherd, no pastor, no president, no Babylonian, no nobody.

Perhaps the greatest showdown with a shepherd in the Bible was when David faced Goliath. Goliath, seemingly invincible, mocked anyone who dared approach him in combat. But David, the shepherd, had the edge, being God's man and on God's mission.

On the one hand Jeremiah's brief question is a rhetorical one, but on the other hand…

On the other hand we turn to David, again, but this time to his words in Psalm 23.  From the opening words of "The Lord is my shepherd…" through the ending of  "…and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever" we see a shepherd unlike any other. We see a shepherd who faithfully cares for his sheep, guarding and guiding them through all of life.

As we read Psalm 23 today in the light of God's full self-revelation in the Bible we see Jesus as the fulfillment of David's psalm. And then we read John 10:11, where Jesus says:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

There is a shepherd who can stand before God. A shepherd who can stand before God because he is God's ordained shepherd of God's people. 

With saving faith in Jesus we can read Jeremiah's question and no that no ordinary shepherd can stand before God.  And we can also know that as God's dearly loved children, we are shepherded no ordinary Shepherd.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.