Prophecy: God is accustomed to use shepherds to lead His people - including Jesus.
09 IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW
The Bible gives few details surrounding the actual birth of Jesus. Matthew writes about Joseph taking Mary as his wife, but skips from there until after Jesus has arrived. He writes of the Magi, but indicates that whole story takes place after Jesus’s birth.
Luke tells the reasons why Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem, and that there was no guest room available for them. When the baby was born, Mary wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.
Many assume Mary wrapped Jesus tightly in cloth because that was probably the custom at the time. The manger was a small feeding trough, likely filled with fresh straw. It might have looked like a modern baby bed in size. It isn’t known whether they were staying in a cave or a barn-like room.
Luke 2:8-20 tells the story of the shepherds, angels, and the shepherds’ trip to Bethlehem to see the child who had just been born that day. Some speculate the shepherds were awake because it was lambing season in the spring, while others guess the shepherds were in charge of the sacrificial lambs owned by the Temple and priests. Most see a parallel of the birth of Jesus taking place in the city of David, who was famously a shepherd himself.
Abraham. Father of the Hebrew nation. Father Abraham. Did you know he was a banker? Nah, I’m just teasing. He was a priest. Nope, teasing again. What did the mighty Abraham do? He was a nomadic shepherd. He had other kinds of animals, too. But he was a sheep herder.
Jacob, re-named Israel. And his sons. They were rich. They were probably bankers… or lawyers, right? Nope, shepherds. In fact, when they settled in Egypt, the Pharaoh and Joseph sent them to the far away, remote sparse lands of Goshen because that land was bad for farmers, but good for shepherds. Egyptians despised shepherds.
Moses, the greatest of all prophets. Giver of the Law. Surely, he was a trained… lawyer or judge. Nope. A shepherd. For forty years. Tending sheep when he saw the burning bush.
Stunning coincidence. Three of the greatest Jewish men of all time. Revered by every Jew! They were all shepherds.
SHEPHERDS
Now, let’s discuss King David. The preeminent king of Israel. Maybe the richest man who ever lived. The blessed Messiah is supposed to come from his family. King David was surely a banker, a doctor, a lawyer….You know where I’m going with this...Maybe traded stocks and bonds. NO. NO. NO. Not only was he a shepherd, BUT He thought of himself that way, even after he was King.
The four greatest, most influential, infamous, illustrious, renowned, greatest Jewish men in the history of our people. Shepherds, all shepherds. With that in mind, you would guess that the Jews of my day revere shepherds.
Watch the episode “If You Know, You Know.”
From "Light Through an Eastern Window", re "salted and swaddled" Ezekiel 16:4, and the birth of Jesus.
"The sons of kings and princes in the East today are still salted and swaddled. A tiny bit of salt is rubbed on the baby to indicate that the parents intend to teach the child to be truthful. The baby is then wrapped in swaddling clothes...This is a sigh to God that the parents will rear the child to be straightforward the Lord and free from crookedness...The child is left in this position from 15 minutes to 2 hours while the parents meditate and make their vows to God concerning their sacred trust which was given them when they received the child...(Mary) rightly treated him as royalty and used swaddling clothes."