If Curly in front goes left, so will Portly. So they tend to just mindlessly follow the one in front of them. Sheep have poor eyesight (but excellent hearing). So, as someone once said, you won't find many sheep acts in the circus! They will fall into a bog or river, need to be rescued, and the next day go and do it all again. A university found that they are good at recognising faces and voices so they get a tick there. What are some of the characteristics of sheep? Baaaa! Before delving into it too far it is fair to say that in choosing sheep to illustrate you (and possibly me, but definitely you), God is not trying to stroke our ego! Let's have a quick recap on sheep. Not the soaring eagle, nor the peaceful dove. God could have used anything but He chose the humble sheep to illustrate what we are like. It's not surprising that God would use this to illustrate the relationship between Himself and His people. So whether it is famous characters occupations, the most well loved Psalm or the most famous prophecy, the imagery of the Shepherd and the sheep runs deep in the Bible. Secondly for Jesus: 'He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.' (Isa 53:7) The greatest Old Testament prophecy of the Lord Jesus is Isaiah 53 which contains two separate images of sheep:įirstly for us: 'All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him' (Isa 53:6) The most well known and arguably the most well loved chapter in the Old Testament (if not the whole Bible) is Psalm 23 about God our great Shepherd - 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.' The three greatest names of the Old Testament, Abraham, Moses and David, were all shepherds. Sheep are named in the Bible more than any other animal. This imagery of the shepherd and the sheep goes back a long way. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (16) I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. (14) I am the good shepherd I know my sheep and my sheep know me- (15) just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep. (13) The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. (12) The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. We'll read the amazing promise connected with Jesus being the good Shepherd.We'll delve into what it means that He is the 'good' shepherd.We'll look at the Old Testament prophecy that this passage draws on.We'll explore the imagery of sheep and a shepherd.