4th Advent- The Shepherd’s Candle

The 3rd Advent- The Shepherds Candle

The Lord leads his people by the hands of shepherds. He put metaphorical shepherds in place in the Old Testament, calling the kings and religious leaders “the shepherds of Israel” (Ezek. 34:2), but he also put actual shepherds over the Israelites: Jacob and Joseph both kept flocks or tended the flocks of others. Moses was tending his father-in-law’s sheep when the Lord called him to lead his people—with a staff, no less—out of slavery and into the Promised Land (Ex. 3:1). David was keeping his father’s sheep when his father called him in to meet Samuel, who anointed him King of Israel (1 Sam. 16:11–13).

His shepherds guide their sheep faithfully, know them individually, tend to them gently, and go to great lengths to protect them—even risking their lives to defend their flocks against predators. It is a privilege to be under the care of one of Lord’s shepherds. Even David, the celebrated Shepherd King, recognized that he was under a shepherd when he wrote, “The Lord is my Shepherd / I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1).