Names of God Series, Proven Path Ministries

Names of God: Jehovah-raah

 

Jehovah-raah… this name of God means the Lord our Shepherd.

He blessed Joseph, and said,
   “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
Genesis 48:15
These words were spoken by Jacob right before he went home to be with his Lord. Jacob was a man who had struggled with submission to God his whole life and because of it his life had been tumultuous. In his old age as he looked back on his life he now recognized that God had been there all along. The whole time, his whole life, God had been there guiding him, shepherding him, even when he did not know it.
Precious one, whether you have recognized it or not… the Lord has been your shepherd all your life to this day.
Jacob knew the job of a shepherd. He was one. David also knew the job of a shepherd. David also wrote that the Lord was his shepherd…
The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows. 
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever
Psalm 23
Here’s the thing. If the Lord is our Shepherd, then we must be His sheep.
Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Psalm 100:3
I don’t know about you, but I am not around alot of sheep. So I may not be able to grasp the full impact of what it means for the Lord to be my Shepherd and what it exactly means that I am His sheep… so here are a little bit of sheep facts.

 

Sheep are the dumbest of animals. They are helpless and get scared very easily. They have very little self-defense and will walk right into danger. They won’t even run to safety. Instead, they will freeze and not even cry out. Sheep also do what all the other sheep are doing. If one gets scared and runs, the others will, too!

Sheep are very stubborn animals. They need a shepherd to guide them. If they are left on their own, they will go the wrong way, eat the wrong food, and drink the wrong water. If a shepherd doesn’t lead them to new pastures, they will live in a rut. Sheep will even eat themselves right off a cliff. They will plunge over the edge to injury or death just to get that last mouthful of grass.

Sheep can become cast down. They can get turned over and stuck on their backs and die in a state of panic  if the shepherd doesn’t turn them right side up right away.

Sheep are bothered by pest. They get flies and gnats up their nose, and these pest lay eggs in there. When the eggs hatch, the growing larvae irritate sheep’s nose. Sheep will beat their heads against trees or rocks to try to get these pests to stop bothering them. The shepherd puts oil on the sheep’s head and around its nose to kill these pests.

~ info gathered from A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller 

 

Well how much of yourself did you see in these sheep facts?
Do you see why we need a Shepherd?
How thankful I am that God is Jehovah-raah.

The shepherd puts oil on the sheep’s head to kill the pests that threaten it… what pests threaten us?
Yes, sin.

Sin and the enemy of our soul  threaten to creep in and destroy us. Just like these pests in the sheep nose, little sins can creep in our minds and our heart and if it is not destroyed it will lay eggs and grow and multiply within us. And we just like these sheep will beat our head up against stones trying to destroy and fight these pests on our own and we will accomplish nothing but a bigger headache… we will kill ourselves trying to fight these sins and our adversary in our own strength… how thankful I am that God has anointed my head with oil;…

Just like these sheep we can become cast down… depressed… we can feel like our whole world has been flipped upside down and the only one who can set us on our feet again is our Shepherd…

Just like these sheep… I am stubborn. Just like sheep if I don’t choose to listen to God and obey His Word I will eat the wrong things, drink the wrong drinks, I will go the wrong way …

 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
Isaiah 53:6
Just like these sheep I will walk myself right into danger thinking it’s no big deal… what’s one look, what’s one taste, what’s one time… it’s not technically wrong anyway… right?
Then just like these sheep I will eat myself right off a cliff trying to indulge in just one more bite… we are all our own worst enemies.
Oh how thankful I am that the Lord is my Shepherd.
I am the good shepherd;
the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 
He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd,
who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming,
and leaves the sheep and flees,
and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 
He flees because he is a hired hand
and is not concerned about the sheep. 
I am the good shepherd,
and I know My own and My own know Me, 
even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father;
and I lay down My life for the sheep.
John 10:11-15
You see the shepherd doesn’t abandon his sheep because he knows they are helpless without him… and our Shepherd does not abandon us. The sheep also know their shepherd, just as the shepherd knows them. They will not go to another’s voice… only to the one to whom they belong.
Watch as this shepherd leads his sheep:
Did you notice who crossed the street first?
Our Shepherd does not remove us out of this world, but He will guide us through it. We may be surrounded by the rush of horns and distractions and danger… but if we will listen to only our Shepherd, walk when He says walk, go where He says go, follow Him… we will safely make it through the  the valley of the shadow of death…

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