I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD

I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD

In a pastoral society like ancient Israel, sheep and shepherds were used to describe the relationship of God with his people: ‘the Lord is my shepherd’ and ‘we are his people, the sheep of his pasture’ (Pss. 23:1; 100:3). Good leaders were ‘shepherds of the people’, such as David (2 Sam. 5:2; Ps. 78:71) but when he had Uriah killed and took his wife, he was exposed as a bad shepherd by Nathan the prophet (2 Sam. 12:1–7). The prophets denounced Israel’s leaders as bad shepherds who do not care for their sheep (e.g. Ezek. 34; Jer. 23:1; 50:6; Zech. 11)…