REPOSTToday’s Spiritual Food for Thought, first posted on February 18, 2018, is provided by Pastor Shan Gian. Shan, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania (BA) and Gordon Conwell Seminary (M.Div.), is the Lead Pastor of Remnant Westside Church in Manhattan.
Spiritual Food for Thought for This Weekend
“Dirty Job”
Genesis 46:31-34
Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
There used to be a TV show on the Discovery Channel called Dirty Jobs. The title gives the basic premise of the show. The host would go around the country and join actual workers for a day, doing their “dirty jobs,” jobs that were uncomfortable, hazardous, or disgusting and sometimes all of the above. Some of the examples of the dirty jobs that he did were sewer inspector, pig farming, mosquito control officer, and diaper cleaner. None of these jobs are at all appealing, but they are all necessary because someone has to do it.
If the Egyptians had TV and had their own version of Dirty Jobs, they definitely would’ve aired an episode involving shepherds. We’re told in verse 34 that “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” We don’t know why exactly the Egyptians so disliked shepherd, but we can guess that it was mostly due to the fact that shepherding was a dirty job. Shepherding was a tough job. It was physically taxing as shepherds were outside all day long and likely slept in tents at night, still tending their flocks. They were separated from most of the general society, outside city walls. The work of a shepherd was constant because sheep are very needy and not the brightest of animals. Shepherds had to lead the sheep to food and water, they had to defend them from predators, help them if they had fallen into a ditch, keep them away from danger. And of course the job itself was dirty because sheep aren’t exactly the fluffy and white animals that we see in children’s books; they are dirty and smelly and thus so were the shepherds. We don’t have to wonder too much about why the Egyptians despised shepherds.
When we consider how despised shepherds were, it’s amazing to think that one of the most prominent and important descriptions of who Jesus is to us is that he is our shepherd. We can understand that Jesus is our king or that Jesus is our judge. He is God so he has authority and power, and he is to be revered and honored as such. And yet, Jesus is our shepherd. What the Scriptures tell us is that Jesus took on the dirtiest and toughest job and it didn’t just last for one day. He leads us, his flock, from danger and to food and water. He helps us when we fall down. He attends to our needs. Jesus himself got “dirty” when he took our sin on the cross and he was despised by humanity and separated from God. Jesus is the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep.
This Lord’s Day, let us remember our great shepherd who loves us and did the toughest and dirtiest job imaginable so that we could be with him.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for being the good shepherd who laid down is life for us. You have come into the messiness of my life to show me your love for me. Thank you Jesus for your amazing love and care for me. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: 2 Timothy 6