Strike the shepherd.. and the sheep will be scattered

[Ebn Barbara]

Today’s reflection is not a mere teaching, it is an eager need that the Holy Spirit is showing us in this period of time where the church is fighting wars to win new territories, to win souls, to fulfill its vision, to save the country, to, to, to…

Usually through what’s going on in the whole world, through what we hear and live, we know very well that the pastors, the leaders and the ministers, are always facing hostile wars, and more important is that most of the believers, not to say all, fall in 2 common mistakes:
First: they fight and criticize their leaders all the time, naming continually their weaknesses and mistakes, whether intentionally or not intentionally.

Second: they don’t protect their leaders as they should.

strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered..
and because Satan knows this principle very well, he fights those leaders, continually and with hostility, to weaken and hurt them, and the sheep get scattered, this is what Jesus himself warned us about saying:
“ … for it is written, I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered “ (Mark 14 : 27).

Not to mention a lot of what the Bible says about this subject, we will mention the most important incident only, it is when they caught the Lord to judge him, the Word says:
“ … Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled “ (Matthew 26 : 56).

strike the Shepherd or the leader, And the sheep will be scattered..
who then will protect the leader?

Maybe most of us will immediately say:
Let him protect himself.. and walk faithfully before the Lord.. let him be blameless.. vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, rules well his own house, having children in subjection in subjection with gravity..
Aren’t these the attributes that anyone who likes to become pastor of a church or a leader should have, as the apostle Paul tells us? (1 Timothy 3 : 2 – 7).
Yes.. but they are part of the whole truth..

The word of God when talking about protecting the Leader in some passages, said:
“ Behold, it is Solomon ’s couch , With sixty valiant men around it, Of the valiant of Israel, They all hold swords, Being expert in war, Every man has his sword on his thigh Because of fear in the night “ (Song of Solomon 3 : 7 – 8).
sixty valiant men.. guard their leader.. They refuse to sleep.. they learned how to defend and protect him.

Other words:
“ Then he commanded them, saying: This is what you shall do, One-third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall be keeping watch over the king ’s house, one-third shall be at the gate of Sur, and one-third at the gate behind the escorts. You shall keep the watch of the house, lest it be broken down. The two contingents of you who go off duty on the Sabbath shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord for the king, But you shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within range, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in “ (2 Kings 11 : 5 – 8).
Strict and meticulous orders, their goal is to protect the king.. protect the leader.. protect the shepherd..

Let’s listen to what the King David said when Saul the king fell into his hands:
“ Then Abishai said to David: God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time, And David said to Abishai: Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless? David said furthermore: … The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed, But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go… And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying: … Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king, This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the Lord’s anointed, And now see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head “ ( 1 Samuel 26 : 8 – 16).

The king’s spear that symbolizes the authority was stolen, and the water that symbolizes the Holy Spirit, the anointing also was stolen.
But the remarkable thing is that the word of God didn’t blame the king, but his men, the ones who were supposed to protect him, but didn’t, and David said to them even more:
“ As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the Lord’s anointed ”.

Do you protect your leaders?
Do you guard them and guard what the Lord has put in their hands?
Are you willing to sacrifice, not with your life, but with your time, your comfort, your money…
To fulfill their demands, wishes and directions, so you make their hearts rejoice and encourage them?
Or you don’t have time to do so, but you have time to gossip about them with evil revealing their nakedness, delightfully?
I leave these questions in your hands !!!

What’s the meaning of sons of death?
What’s the meaning of this phrase that David said to those who didn’t protect their king?
Do you think that if you were on the board of a ship and the captain died that you will be rescued in the middle of the sea?
Do you think that if you were on a plane and the captain died that you will be rescued?
Do we really understand what the Lord said clearly in Ezekiel?
“ as I live, says the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd… “ (Ezekiel 34 : 8).

the flock became food for beasts, an easy goal to Satan and his army, if there is no Shepherd..
whatever the reasons were for not having a pastor, or for him not do his role, the result is what matters, that we will be sons of death, a prey to the attacks of the kingdom of darkness.. so let us be careful !!!

Sleeping men.. their leader was robbed !!!
The same story happened in the New Testament with the Lord, in the last hours before His crucifixion, when He said to His disciples:
“ … What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? “ (Matthew 26 : 40).

You might say:
Even if they watched they couldn’t do anything, for the Lord was going to be crucified no matter what to fulfill God’s plan for redemption. But I tell you that the Lord knew this at that time and still He said so to them, so you better ask Him why did He do so?

# between David and Saul.. and David and Absalom.
Saul.. a king refused by God.. and God sent Samuel the prophet to David’s house and anointed him king in his place.. in God’s eyes David became the real true king..
But David was different.. and in his words mentioned earlier.. he says to the commander of his army who offered him to kill the king Saul after he felt in their hands, he said to him:
" Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?
The Lord forbids that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed ”.

He had a loving heart.. and a wise heart at the same time..
A loving heart.. that says: The Lord forbids that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed..
And a wise heart.. that says: who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless..
Do you have this heart? The heart that loves his leader and protects him no matter what.. and the wise heart that knows that it can’t be guiltless if it tried to harm or betray his leader? Do we all know the meaning of these words:
“ He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, Saying: Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm “ (Psalms 105 : 14 – 15).

Absalom David’s son, didn’t have the loving heart.. nor the wise one..
He betrayed the king.. not any king.. but his father.. and death was his destiny !!!

Adam and Eve doubted in God’s goodness, in His love toward them, in His directions, they made Him a liar, and they believed Satan, so they rebelled against God a disobeyed Him..
Did God have any weaknesses or mistakes to justify what they did toward Him?
Beloveds: we all have this tendency to criticize our leaders, to criticize others no matter what their position is, to justify ourselves and blame others whoever they are..
Beloveds: let us permit our leaders their weaknesses and nakedness, like the Lord permits us too, and He deals with us with His rich mercy and grace, and don’t expect your leaders to be perfect, they are humans, and more subject to weakness because of Satan’s hostile wars against them, and because of the ministry burden and pressure..
Let us understand what the Lord said to those who want to take out the stick from the eyes of others, that they should first take out the branch that is in their own eyes, so they might be able to see well, and then they can deal with things according to God’s way..

Noah was mistaking for sure.. when he got drunk and naked in his tent.. but we notice that God’s word didn’t focus on his sin, but on his sons’ behavior toward his sin..
Ham uncovered the nakedness of his father and went telling what his father did..
But Shem and Japheth took the garment and laid it on their shoulders and walked backward and covered their father’s nakedness with their faces toward the front, they didn’t see their father’s nakedness (Genesis 9 : 22 – 23).
So Ham was cursed and this curse is still on his descendants..
But Shem and Japheth were blessed, and their blessing is still on their descendants till date..
A garment in the Old Testament that covers the nakedness so they won’t be seen, and a fraternity love from the Lord poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that covers all guilt, weaknesses and sins:
“ Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins “ (Proverbs 10 : 12).

“ And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins “ (1 Peter 4 : 8).
Beloveds: our leaders are subjects to the most violent attacks.. the church’s pastor is subject to the most violent attacks, the intercession leaders are subjects to attacks.. the ministers are subjects to attacks.. all the people are subjects to attacks..
So will we stop uncovering each others nakedness, and focusing on our leaders weaknesses, not protecting them, so the Shepherd got strike, And we will be scattered and become food for the beasts of the field.. and be called sons of death? Or what?

Beloveds: this is the war, in all the meaning of the word.. and in wars people get united as one man.. and they stand as a strong wall in the face of the enemy.. protecting each others, defending each others, fighting side by side, to win the battle..

Let us protect our leaders.. love them.. strengthen them.. encourage them.. cover their nakedness.. pray for them.. intercede for them.. because our success is from theirs.. and our failure is from theirs.. and when they fail.. we will fail with them.. even more we will be scattered and become food to the beasts of the field.. and loose the war.. loose the land.. and loose the souls..