Shephard and sheep?

Well yeah, like I said I understand the whole caring for the flock thing, but just wondering if the SLAUGHTERING part to make lambchops had any significance. Guess not.
 
Christ also referred to His people as His bride. Now try to reconcile the two (sheep and bride).

Metaphors can only go so far. They are generally only given to illustrate one or two points (i.e. laying down one's life for their sheep or seeking after the one lost sheep). If you take any metaphor to the extreme of interpretation, without the context of what the speaker is referring to, you will end up with a skewed version of what the speaker was trying to convey.

What metaphors do accomplish is a quick visual image of what the speaker is trying to say. To a group of people who either owned sheep or were very familiar with the practice of owning them, these statements Jesus made were a quick visual of the concepts he was trying to convey.
 
One thing We should always keep in mind is the fact that there are those that only see words where We see the Living Spirit in the words. Note the difference between an animal and you is who. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV. Lol imagine A shephard, a whole flock of white sheep and slim standing in the middle of it all with a black cowboy hat on. Stands out huh! Now picture A shephard, a gathering of people from every nation in every color and slim standing in the middle with his black cowboy hat on. Now you no longer see an individual, you see whosoever gathered as one. See the drawing? A flock of birds, a school a fish, a gaggle of geese if you wish, its all the same in one spirit. One God, one shephard, one gathering. Humans are animals by what they see so Who sees more than what they see. You see what I mean or do We have to have a stampede? Feel the drawing he's calling! hehehe me silly.
 
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silverleaf said:
Well yeah, like I said I understand the whole caring for the flock thing, but just wondering if the SLAUGHTERING part to make lambchops had any significance. Guess not.
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Well Christ is referred to as a lamb in the sacrificial sense too so the metaphor is used in a different way.

I'm also not sure how often Shepherds actually killed their flock for food anyway. I'd have to look it up but dead sheep don't make milk or wool so it would be a costly endeavor every time you killed one, I'd imagine it would be rare. Maybe for special occasions or only once they where past a certain age IDK (but I'd think the meat on old ones would not be that good)?

One thing is never perfectly identical to another in life. We use imperfect comparisons in life if we are to communicate any concept. Comparing God to being father could be interpreted as God being abusive if one had an abusive Earthly father or if one wanted to believe that. Without a willing spirit reading the Bible will profit a person nothing as he will find things to object to when the intent is obvious and intents are what should be understood. It's like the way people interpret law to their own ends discarding the intent of it in favor of technical loopholes which serve their purpose.

A lot of different metaphors are used in the Bible so if a person doesn't understand one they may another. Salt, light, lion, lamb, Israel being a bride, it's got a lot. As Earthly things are never identical think how much more Heavenly things are different from Earthly ones, yet that's all we have to describe them. Metaphors also have to do with willingness to listen, at one point Christ explains why he used some parables (Mathew 13).
 
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A lot of different metaphors are used in the Bible so if a person doesn't understand one they may another. Salt, light, lion, lamb, Israel being a bride, it's got a lot. As Earthly things are never identical think how much more Heavenly things are different from Earthly ones, yet that's all we have to describe them. Metaphors also have to do with willingness to listen, at one point Christ explains why he used some parables (Mathew 13).
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Excellent - Excellent point, Gerbil
 
I personally connected to the father and son metaphor best, the part about fish and snake thing. But yeah thanks for sharing :D
 
That is a good one, too, silverleaf.

That story always reminds me of Jim Varney in Ernest Saves Christmas - when he plays the guy with a truck full of snakes, who, "Got one for my boy."
 
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