Nor did his labours always end with sunset. (Psalm 23:2-3).Īt night he brought the flock home to the fold, counting them as they passed under the rod at the door to assure himself that none were missing. (Luke 15:3-6).Īfter eating, the sheep needs to digest what he has eaten by lying down, but sometimes he won’t lie down on his own. Because they are so absorbed in nibbling grass, all day, all the time, one or two usually tend to wander away from the flock and get lost. Sheep eat a lot of grass, they are totally focused on eating.
If the shepherd moves his flocks to the pasture early enough in the morning, the dew-laden grass would contain enough moisture for the sheep. (Psalm 23:2-3).ĭrinking from puddles would give the sheep parasites and they become ill. If a sheep falls into running water, it will drown, their wooly coats soak up quickly and sheep cannot swim. The shepherd is not only always on guard against predators (of which are also the human kind, thieves) but he or she must protect the sheep from themselves. They prefer still water, but it also has to be clean. And it couldn’t be just any water, running water as in a stream or river would spook the sheep. That is why it was a special trouble for Isaac when the Philistines, who envied his healthy flocks and herds, stopped up the wells. Water was always in short supply in desert lands. In those lands sheep require to be supplied regularly with water, and the shepherd for this purpose has to guide them either to some running stream or to wells dug in the wilderness and furnished with troughs. Wolves are often mentioned in scripture as a symbol of treachery. They rarely left off trying to invade the fold and make off with a lamb or young sheep. They were more numerous than lions or bears. Wolves were the worst enemy of the flock.
EPrata photoĭavid said he had protected the flock from lions and bears, single-handedly fighting off both at different times (1 Sam 17:34-37). Instead, when a predator appeared, they gather together, giving the predator a big choice on which sheep to pick for his dinner. Lions, bears, wolves, hyenas, and leopards were all interested in a sheep dinner. King James Bible Dictionaryĭavid mentions that one duty of the shepherd was to protect the sheep from predators, of which there were many. Here he watched them all day, taking care that none of the sheep strayed, and if any for a time eluded his watch and wandered away from the rest, seeking diligently till he found and brought it back. In early morning he led forth the flock from the fold, marching at its head to the spot where they were to be pastured. The duties of a shepherd in an unenclosed country like Palestine were very onerous. It is therefore poignant that God chose to send angels to shepherds for the first announcement of the Savior’s appearance on earth. Shepherds were relegated to the lower socio-economic strata of society. Even so, by the time of Jesus, that profession was considered unskilled. Life in Palestine was lived mainly outdoors, and animal husbandry was a major occupation. Of course we know the angels came to announce the birth of Christ to unnamed shepherds protecting their flocks by night near Bethlehem. Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot, Laban, Moses, Rachel, David, Amos are a few examples of shepherds in the Bible. Many of the men and women of the Bible were shepherds. Genesis 4:2 says, “ Now Abel was a keeper of flocks…” God told Adam to keep the Garden (Genesis 2:15). Shepherding is one of the oldest professions in the Bible. Today I’m interested in what a day in the life of a shepherd would be like. Then we looked at tanners, such as Simon the Tanner whom Peter lodged with. The first time I looked at the woman of Thyatira, Lydia, a seller of purple. What was a day in the life like for a person who lived in New Testament Bible times? It depended on what trade the person made their living.
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