This week the world was caught off guard by the Crowdstrike computer glitch and many industries are still trying to recover from a technical inconvenience. The travel, banking, and medical industries suffered delays and outages around the world.
We shouldn’t be surprised by this failure of technology. In recent years there have been numerous computer outages, software glitches, and cyber-attacks that have impacted millions of people around the globe. More and more we are learning technology isn’t perfect.
- Technical glitches
- Cyber attacks
- Susceptible to the weather
Mankind has become too dependent on technology. In a lot of ways, technology has become another man-made god. We put our hope in technology to make our lives better.
We think the more complex our things become, the simpler life will be, only to eventually get let down or become lost. In just a few generations we have gone from following the stars, using compasses and reading maps to relying on GPS to guide us. We depend on technology more than we depend on God to be our Shepherd.
What Is a Shepherd?
Most of us today do not need shepherds or understand what they do. Shepherds are defined as, “One who cares for or guides sheep; pastor.” Shepherds have a spiritual significance for God’s people also.
Today many consider preachers shepherds, but the symbolism and terminology is lost on most of us in the 21st-century church because we don’t live like the early church lived. One of my favorite authors explains why in his classic book.
Philip Keller explains in his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, “City people, especially, are often unfamiliar with such objects as livestock, crops, land, fruit or wildlife. They missed much of the tooth taught in God’s word because they are not familiar with such things as sheep, wheat, soil, or grapes.”
The early church understood a shepherd’s role and responsibilities. They understood how shepherds lead, feed, and protect sheep, even from themselves (Acts 20:28, Ephesians 4:11, Hebrews 13:20-21, 1 Peter 2:25.) The Apostle Paul remembered his Jewish education and the importance of shepherds.
Ra’ah
Israel was a nomadic people who lived off of the land. Often they were led by shepherds turned patriarchs who understood how to Shepherd sheep who couldn’t take care of themselves.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, as well as Moses were all humble shepherds whom God exalted into great places of leadership to lead His people ( Genesis 48:15, Exodus 3:1 -22.)
The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for Shepherd is Raah and it is derived from Rô’eh which means to watch, care for, or lead, depending on the context used. Israel relied on God to lead and protect them, so He was given the name Jehovah Raah.
As King David, another Jewish shepherd God used, probably aknowledged God as his shepherd in Psalm 23. God fulfilled the role of Shepherd for His people.
- Guide
- Protect
- Feed
- Mark them as His own
There is a reason Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10, 11-18.) He was the other Son of David Who would lay down His life to save the world. Jesus called out the religious leaders and other shepherds because they were bought.
He knew religion and man could not save God’s people. Jesus died to show us how to live. Fallen mankind wants to be great and live life to the fullest before it dies. Jesus wasn’t swayed by the popularity contest of His day.
Biden News
This week was a tough week for Pres. Biden. He humbled himself and reached out to Mr. Trump to check on his political rival and also paused his own campaign in the days after Mr. Trump was shot.
Although all the while, Democratic leadership has been calling for Pres. Biden to drop out of the presidential race, because they didn’t think he was popular enough to beat Mr. Trump.
It doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle you are on, people put their faith and hope into man to lead and guide them. By the end of the week Pres. Biden had tested positive for COVID-19 and retreated to his home for rest.
Many Republicans attacked him, instead of praying for him and only revealed just how ungodly many conservatives can be.
- Proud
- Greedy
- Uncompassionate
The simple truth is we will act like and believe like the person we follow. When your leader calls for unity and then attacks others over political beliefs, sadly the people will follow.
When the leader believes his own lies over the truth, the people will follow. God’s people cannot bow to the ways and idols of this world. As God’s people, we need to follow Jehovah Raah!
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