{"id":4502,"date":"2024-02-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/reading-plan\/february-18\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T08:07:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T13:07:56","slug":"february-18","status":"publish","type":"reading-plan","link":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/reading-plan\/february-18\/","title":{"rendered":"February 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

Insight from Mark 6:30\u201356<\/span><\/p>\n

The phrase \u201csheep without a shepherd\u201d is first used by Moses in Numbers 27:17. Moses is about to die. Therefore, Moses asks God to raise up a \u201cshepherd\u201d who will \u201cgo out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd\u201d. Joshua is a temporary answer to Moses\u2019 prayer. God uses Joshua to lead his people across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. However, Joshua has many limitations. He only has some of Moses\u2019 authority (see Numbers 27:20). And, unlike Moses, he doesn\u2019t speak with God face-to-face (see Deuteronomy 34:10-12). Instead, Joshua needs to go through a priest in order to speak with God (see Numbers 27:21). And, even though Joshua is able to help the people defeat many of their external enemies, Joshua cannot deliver the people from themselves. Joshua\u2019s other problem is that he eventually dies (see Joshua 24:31). In summary, Joshua is not able to give the people true rest\u2014rest from their enemies and rest from their struggles (see Hebrews 3 and 4). After Joshua\u2019s death, other \u201cshepherds\u201d, many who were not as faithful as Joshua, begin to lead Israel. Israel follows these shepherds. Thus, if a judge or king is good, the people will follow this \u201cshepherd\u201d into what is right. But if a judge or king is bad, the people usually follow him into what is bad. Even David, while he is a great king, isn\u2019t a perfect shepherd. The people need a better shepherd than David. Moses\u2019 prayer in Numbers 27:17 isn\u2019t ultimately fulfilled by any of the \u201cshepherds\u201d in the Old Testament. That is why the Old Testament prophets declare that a new shepherd is coming who will perfectly care for God\u2019s people (see Ezekiel 34:1-31). The New Testament proclaims that Jesus is the Good Shepherd (see John 10:1-30, Hebrews 13:20-21, 1 Peter 2:25, and 5:4). As the Good Shepherd, Jesus feeds, comfort, and protects his sheep. Jesus lays down his life for his sheep. He brings his people to full and final rest (see Matthew 11:28-30).<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the ways Jesus provides on-going care for his people is through the elders of the church. Elders in the New Testament are also called shepherds. They serve under the chief shepherd, Jesus. Like Jesus, they are to feed, comfort, and protect Christ\u2019s sheep. Like Jesus, the elders are to feed the sheep the word of God. The elders, like Jesus, are to lay down their lives for the sheep (see Acts 20:17-38 and 1 Peter 5:1-4).<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4502","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}