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Jehovah, the Great Overseer and Shepherd of His PeopleThe Watchtower—1969 | July 1
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often influenced by the people. Many kings proved they were not capable men, fearers of God, trustworthy and haters of unjust profit. Their selfish inclinations at times led them and the entire nation into great difficulty and oppression. Instead of shepherding the people as Jehovah’s earthly representatives, they became unjust, unkind and led Israel in false paths.—Isa. 1:4.
19. (a) What did Jehovah continue to do even though Israel was unfaithful? (b) How did Jehovah condemn the shepherds of Israel through his servant Jeremiah?
19 For many hundreds of years Jehovah showed patience and long-suffering with Israel’s visible shepherds and with the people he had chosen to shepherd as his representative nation on earth. Jehovah’s forbearance and love continued even though Israel turned from him to follow the false religious practices of the nations roundabout. Finally, however, the long-suffering and endurance on the part of Jehovah came to an end. In the days of Jeremiah, Jehovah spoke to the appointed shepherds who had become exceedingly lax, saying: “‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasturage!’ . . . Therefore this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said against the shepherds who are shepherding my people: ‘You yourselves have scattered my sheep; and you kept dispersing them, and you have not turned your attention to them. Here I am turning my attention upon you for the badness of your dealings,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.”—Jer. 23:1, 2.
20, 21. Even though so many in Israel turned from Jehovah, why did Jehovah continue to show loving-kindness and mercy, and what did he promise?
20 Due to their not imitating the fine qualities of the Great Shepherd Jehovah, in caring for those in whom he showed great interest, Jehovah was indeed against such ones and warned of their coming destruction. However, Jehovah well realized that even among his people there were those who wanted to do the proper thing and who wanted to continue under his watchful care and serve him with a pure heart. These he did not forget. His words were: “‘And I myself shall collect together the remnant of my sheep out of all the lands to which I had dispersed them, and I will bring them back to their pasture ground, and they will certainly be fruitful and become many. And I will raise up over them shepherds who will actually shepherd them; and they will be afraid no more, neither will they be struck with any terror, and none will be missing,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.” (Jer. 23:3, 4) Then, looking forward to a time in the distant future, Jehovah said: “And I will raise up to David a righteous sprout. And a king will certainly reign and act with discretion and execute justice and righteousness in the land.”—Jer. 23:5.
21 While Jehovah’s chosen nation of Israel came to a disastrous end in 607 B.C.E., for not following the Great Shepherd’s advice, still Jehovah remembered the righteous ones among the people. He made the promise that they would one day have over them a righteous shepherd, one who would deal with them even as he himself dealt with them in righteousness.
22, 23. Whom did Jehovah select as his fine shepherd, and how did the fine shepherd make sure Jehovah’s sheep would be properly cared for?
22 The Bible clearly shows that with the coming of the Lord Jesus as Messiah, Jehovah had his appointed shepherd of the sheep for the benefit of his people. Jesus said of himself, “I am the fine shepherd.” During the three and a half years of Jesus’ earthly ministry he set about to show how well qualified he was as the fine shepherd of Jehovah, and how, in turn, he was able to select from among mankind those who had proved to be capable men, fearers of God, trustworthy, not seeking unjust profit. The first of these were the apostles whom Jesus selected from among his disciples to be the foundation stones of the Christian congregation. Truly those whom Jesus chose proved to be fine undershepherds, working in close harmony with the Lord Jesus, the fine shepherd, and his Father, Jehovah, the First or Great Shepherd of the sheep.
23 To appreciate the great responsibility that these apostles knew fell upon their shoulders, as shepherds of the sheep, we will leave to the next article to relate.
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Jehovah Shepherds the Christian CongregationThe Watchtower—1969 | July 1
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Jehovah Shepherds the Christian Congregation
1. Like whom was Jesus and thus like whom would those he chose as qualified men be?
JESUS CHRIST gave a fine example to his followers of what a shepherd should be like in caring for the sheeplike people of the earth. Jesus one time said that those who had seen him had seen the Father, because Jesus bore such an outstanding resemblance of the Father in all he said and did. Not only did the early congregation of the Lord’s people have qualified men who were indeed interested in them, but some of these men had had the unique privilege of close association with Jesus in his earthly ministry.
2. Cite the example Jesus gave of a concerned and loving shepherd.
2 One illustration that Jesus gave of the type of shepherd he was, as a representative of his Father, and that his followers should be, is shown in Matthew 18:12-14. There Jesus gave this illustration: “What do you think? If a certain man comes to have a hundred sheep and one of them gets strayed, will he not leave the ninety-nine upon the mountains and set out on a search for the one that is straying? And if he happens to find it, I certainly tell you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that have not strayed. Likewise it is not a desirable thing with my Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.” How forcefully Jesus made the point that a shepherd truly cares for each sheep, especially for one that might stray from the fold and be endangered.
3, 4. (a) How did Peter admonish shepherds to be like Jesus and his Father, Jehovah? (b) How would such care by these earthly shepherds be strengthening to the congregation?
3 One of the twelve chosen by the Lord Jesus, and who became a shepherd of the flock of God, was a man named Peter. In his writings we are told that Peter was an apostle of Jesus Christ and his first letter was penned to the “temporary residents scattered about in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” In this letter Peter gives many words of encouragement concerning the activity and conduct of Christians. When coming to the close of this letter Peter says: “Therefore, to the older men among you I give this exhortation, for I too am an older man like them and a witness of the sufferings of the
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