But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn. 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, The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” – Genesis 48:14-16 (NASB)

As I continue reflecting on what it means to be the shepherd God wants me to be, the verses above represent the second contextual reference I found.  Israel (Jacob) is coming to the end of his life.  He has been reunited with his lost son Joseph in Egypt.  Joseph has had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, from his Egyptian wife Asenath (Genesis 46).  In Genesis 48 Israel calls upon Joseph to bring his sons to Israel so he can bless them before he dies.

There are a few lessons for the shepherds of today in these verses.  First, in many ways Israel is a type of shepherd.  He is the patriarch of the family, he is a man of God, and he understands the responsibilities that come with filling each role.  Shepherds of today should also understand their roles and responsibilities with the clarity of Israel.

Second, Israel passes on God’s blessing as he adopts Joseph’s sons as his own.  One component of Israel’s blessing is his desire for the family name to live on in his grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim.  Likewise, we shepherds should be asking God to bless our children and we should be doing all we can to pass on the family name of Christian on to subsequent generations.  One piece of wisdom I’ve kept in my rucksack over the years is you don’t really know how you did raising your children to become Christians until you see if they do the same for your grandchildren.  I’ve not reached that point in my life yet, but it is a fervent prayer of mine that not only will my children continue in their walk with God, but also that they will pass that heritage on to my grandchildren.  It is a sobering thought.

Finally, it is significant how Israel describes God.  James Burton Coffman comments:

One of the great things of significance in these verses is the triple designation of God, who is extolled as, “Deum Patrem, Deum Pastorem, and Angelum.” This means God of My Fathers, Shepherd God, and Angel of Jehovah. There are many names of God in the Bible; and, as always, the name chosen signified not some special “source” but some special significance. Hab. 1:12 also uses three names for God in a single verse! The Angel mentioned here is the Angel of Jehovah, identified with God Himself in the prophecies. Looking back over his life, Jacob was conscious of the guiding hand of God.[1]

I can’t say it any better.  All I can do is echo what Coffman wrote, in that just as Jacob was conscious God had guided his life, I too must remain conscious that, if I let Him, God guides mine as well (Acts 20:28)

May your blessings exceed mine. – DEM

Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” He took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.  Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.”  They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. “The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.” – Genesis 47: 1 – 6

In my last post I discussed our recent Dynamic Deacons seminar.  Prior to the seminar my fellow shepherds and our lead minister spent months developing a document describing each ministry we wanted our deacons and other servants in the church to lead.  Through the course of the discussions we began referring to the ministry descriptions as job descriptions.  Fortunately, our most experienced elder pointed out these are ministries, not jobs.  They are callings associated with an individuals gift(s), not something they are hired (or paid for that matter) to perform.  Finally, he pointed out the church is an organism (see the “body” in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27), not an organization.  That was a very profound statement, one I’ve meditated on quite a bit, and one I am not ready to blog about.  However, as part of our discussion, the question of elder or shepherd job descriptions came up.  We quickly turned to the Bible and said it already contained our “job description”, a term we consciously avoid because we realize job descriptions belong to organizations and the roles we, our ministers, our servants, and our members fill are just that – roles.  Still, the discussion prompted contemplation and reflection on my part, so I decided to study every reference to shepherds in the Bible and determine what I could learn from them about my role.  This is the first of many such reflective lessons I hope to share.

The first reference to “shepherd” or “shepherds” I found in the NASB is actually in Genesis 46 but leads directly to the verses at the top of this post.  I drew the following lessons from the verses in Genesis 47 above.

First, it took more than one shepherd for Jacob’s flocks.  These flocks all belonged to the same family.  In similar fashion, congregations tend to have flocks that develop naturally based on relationships.  Many of these flocks are interconnected, for example they may possess a “vertical slice” (a term we use to connote age demographics) formed around common interests or, like in our verses here, around family relationships.  However, these “flocks” are really part of the same family of believers that assemble together and form a single flock (church body) at a particular location.  Like the shepherds of Jacob’s family, there is a need for multiple shepherds for the local church body.  Not to represent a particular “flock” within the body, but to guide the entire flock.  Wranglers of the American West knew it took several of them to move a herd across this great land.  Likewise, more than one shepherd is needed to guide a flock, which is consitent with Acts 14:23.

Second, these shepherds were looking out for the welfare of their flocks.  Famine reigned in Canaan and Jacob’s family knew to save the flock they must find better land, which they did in Goshen by Pharaoh’s grace.  In other words, the shepherds guided the flock to a better place where they could flourish.  We have the same responsibility today to look out for the flock’s welfare and guide them to a better future in God’s Kingdom so they too can enjoy the ultimate better future we can only find in God’s presence in Heaven.

Third, when talking to Pharaoh the shepherds referred to themselves as servants.  Shepherds of today are also servants.  Fortunately, we are servants of God rather than Pharaoh.  We serve our flock by protecting them both from both within and without and guiding them to fulfill their purpose in God’s Kingdom.

Finally, I think it is interesting that Pharaoh is willing to let these shepherds be in charge of his livestock.  To me that speaks to the character of the shepherds and the respect Pharaoh had for Joseph and his family.  Would that our lights would shine (Matthew 5) to influence those outside the body in such a way that they too would want their livestock, whatever the equivalent of that might be, to also be under the guidance of the congregation’s shepherds.

Blessings to you all.

DEM

“Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” – Johsua 24:14-15

We just finished an incredible weekend of education and encouragement.  Our congregation partnered with another congregation along Colorado’s Front Range to host the Dynamic Deacons (www.dynamicdeacons.com) seminar facilitated by Aubrey Johnson.  We were also able to hold seminar sessions facilitated by his wife Lisa.  They are wonderful servants of God, with wonderful abilities, and it was a joy to have them share their decades of experiences as leaders in God’s kingdom.  We were blessed to share in great fellowship with our brothers and sisters from another congregation, share meals, and reflect upon and learn about the Word of God and what he wants from his servants.

A few years ago I had a Chief of Staff who would always ask if what we were about to do was going to give us a good “return on investment”.  He always wanted us to consider if the course of action we were about to pursue was going to be worth the resources it would cost.  Most of you are probably familiar with the term in the business world.  It is not a phrase you typically hear in the military.  I would guess it is heard even less often in the context of a church congregation.

Joshua’s life, like that of Moses before him, was one of investment, specifically investment in leadership development.  God invested in Moses over the span of 80 years to turn him into the leader of the Israelite nation.  Likewise, at some point Moses determined he would invest in developing Joshua into the man who would eventually lead the Israelites to conquer most of the Promised Land.  Numbers 11:28 tells us Joshua served Moses from his youth.  In Exodus 17:8-16 we learn Joshua commanded the Israelites during the battle against the Amalekites in Rephidim.  Exodus 32:17 tells us he accompanied Moses part of the way when he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the law from God.  He was also one of the twelve who were sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan (Numbers 13).   Finally, Moses publicly invested Joshua with authority over the people as his successor (Deuteronomy 31 – 34).

Each one of these developmental acts had a good return on investment.  A life of service to Moses prepared Joshua for a life of service to God.    Joshua experience as a spy led him to send his own spies into Canaan 40 years after Moses did the same thing, this time with different results.  Leading the Israelites at Rephidim prepared Joshua to lead the Israelites in conquering Canaan.  Finally, by publicly naming Joshua as successor in front of the Israelite nation Moses solidified Joshua’s role as the next Israelite leader.  As you can see, these all had a good return on investment.

However, the best return on investment was not realized until years later when Joshua is giving a final address to the Israelites.  Joshua recounts Israel’s history and reminds them what God has done for them.  He concludes his final address with the words at the top of this post and lets the entire Israelites nation know he and his family will serve God.  It is at this point we see how  Moses’ return on his investment in Joshua had reached maturity.

Several months ago my fellow elders and I made the conscience decision to equip our deacons with the tools, education, and motivation to succeed in their ministries.  We pledged to our congregation that we would deliberately focus on our relationship with our deacons to equip them to build up the body at Castle Rock.  In other words, we are determined to invest in our deacons, and thus invest in our congregation.

The Dynamic Deacons seminar was just one of many steps we are taking toward building stronger relationships between the elders, ministers, deacons, and congregation.  Our deacons will likely not lead a nation in military conquest, or spy in another country, or see first hand the awesome and mighty power of God on a mountaintop (although you can get close to that here in Colorado’s mountains).  However, if given the right leadership, tools, and opportunity, our deacons will still do mighty work in the kingdom of God.   The Dynamic Deacons seminar was one of those tools and we are confident it and other steps we take in the near future will result in a tremendouse “return on investment” for our deacons and our congregation.  We know the Lord will bless our investment as long as we stay true to His word and His will.

May the Lord bless you as He has me and may we all equip the saints for the building up of the body of Christ. -DEM