Voice of the Shepherd

For centuries it was the custom for shepherds in the holy lands to bring their separate flocks together in the village overnight and keep them in a common corral or fold. This was done for protection and convenience. In the morning when the shepherd came for his sheep he would call them to come to him. His sheep would lift their ears and listen. When they were convinced that the voice they heard was the voice of their shepherd, they would move toward the familiar, trusted voice. None of the sheep from other flocks would budge, but the sheep of that one shepherd would edge their way through the sheep of other herds. Finally, the shepherd would have them gathered and take them back into the hills to graze. This helps us understand the passage in John 10:16 which reads: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.”

Paul L. Harmon
Monument Park Eighth Ward, Salt Lake Foothill Stake