One cannot fully understand the CONTEXT of the New Testament unless one is grounded in the Old Testament. There are promises, prophecies, covenants, the law, patriarchs, the Kingdom, genealogies, and this ENTIRE BACKSTORY that gets FULFILLED in the NT. Plus, NT references the OT over 1000 times. One will be completely lost in NT, if they do not know the context of those OT passages!!!
JACOB (ISRAEL) is known as God's sheep in Scripture.
God doesn't have Samoan, Mexican, Filipino, Irish... sheep. - I used to give these great teary eyed lost sheep evangelist alter calls. Oh well, I was wrong and duped for manipulating the masses with unbiblical shat, so I don't do that anymore! Not even a wannabe "Christian" anymore. LOL
Scripture teaches only ISRAEL was God's lost sheep!
Kingdom is divided.
House of Israel is cut off and scattered into the nations.
God promises to seek and regather His lost sheep.
Christ says He came to seek and save The Lost.
Holy Spirit Empowered Apostles & Disciples to FULFILL The Great Commission.
Bible ends with 12 Tribes of Israel aka ALL ISRAEL SAVED and The Kingdom RESTORED with a BIG PARTY CELEBRATION of Israel singing a NEW SONG!
1 Kings 22:17, 2 Chronicles 18:16
Then Micaiah answered, “I SAW ALL ISRAEL SCATTERED ON THE HILLS LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”
Psalm 78:70-72
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep he BROUGHT HIM TO BE THE SHEPHERD OF HIS PEOPLE JACOB, OF ISRAEL HIS INHERITANCE.
72 AND DAVID SHEPHERDED THEM WITH INTEGRITY OF HEART; with skillful hands he led them.
2 Samuel 5:1-2
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. AND THE LORD SAID TO YOU, ‘YOU WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, AND YOU WILL BECOME THEIR RULER.’”
“MY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LOST SHEEP; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.
Ezekiel 34:6-31
MY SHEEP WANDERED OVER ALL THE MOUNTAINS AND ON EVERY HIGH HILL. THEY WERE SCATTERED OVER THE WHOLE EARTH, AND NO ONE SEARCHED OR LOOKED FOR THEM.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: I AM AGAINST THE SHEPHERDS AND WILL HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR MY FLOCK. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I WILL RESCUE MY FLOCK FROM THEIR MOUTHS, AND IT WILL NO LONGER BE FOOD FOR THEM.
11 “‘FOR THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: I MYSELF WILL SEARCH FOR MY SHEEP AND LOOK AFTER THEM. 12 AS A SHEPHERD LOOKS AFTER HIS SCATTERED FLOCK WHEN HE IS WITH THEM, SO WILL I LOOK AFTER MY SHEEP. I WILL RESCUE THEM FROM ALL THE PLACES WHERE THEY WERE SCATTERED ON A DAY OF CLOUDS AND DARKNESS. 13 I WILL BRING THEM OUT FROM THE NATIONS AND GATHER THEM FROM THE COUNTRIES, AND I WILL BRING THEM INTO THEIR OWN LAND. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
17 “‘As for you, my flock, THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: I WILL JUDGE BETWEEN ONE SHEEP AND ANOTHER, AND BETWEEN RAMS AND GOATS. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I WILL SAVE MY FLOCK, AND THEY WILL NO LONGER BE PLUNDERED. I WILL JUDGE BETWEEN ONE SHEEP AND ANOTHER. 23 I WILL PLACE OVER THEM ONE SHEPHERD, MY SERVANT DAVID, AND HE WILL TEND THEM; HE WILL TEND THEM AND BE THEIR SHEPHERD. 24 I THE LORD WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND MY SERVANT DAVID WILL BE PRINCE AMONG THEM. I THE LORD HAVE SPOKEN.
25 “‘I WILL MAKE A COVENANT OF PEACE WITH THEM AND RID THE LAND OF SAVAGE BEASTS SO THAT THEY MAY LIVE IN THE WILDERNESS AND SLEEP IN THE FORESTS IN SAFETY. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 THEN THEY WILL KNOW THAT I, THE LORD THEIR GOD, AM WITH THEM AND THAT THEY, THE ISRAELITES, ARE MY PEOPLE, DECLARES THE SOVEREIGN LORD. 31 YOU ARE MY SHEEP, THE SHEEP OF MY PASTURE, AND I AM YOUR GOD, DECLARES THE SOVEREIGN LORD.’”
Ezekiel 37:15-28
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ 19 say to them, ‘THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: I AM GOING TO TAKE THE STICK OF JOSEPH—WHICH IS IN EPHRAIM’S HAND—AND OF THE ISRAELITE TRIBES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM, AND JOIN IT TO JUDAH’S STICK. I WILL MAKE THEM INTO A SINGLE STICK OF WOOD, AND THEY WILL BECOME ONE IN MY HAND.’ 20 HOLD BEFORE THEIR EYES THE STICKS YOU HAVE WRITTEN ON21 AND SAY TO THEM, ‘THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: I WILL TAKE THE ISRAELITES OUT OF THE NATIONS WHERE THEY HAVE GONE. I WILL GATHER THEM FROM ALL AROUND AND BRING THEM BACK INTO THEIR OWN LAND. 22 I WILL MAKE THEM ONE NATION IN THE LAND, ON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL. THERE WILL BE ONE KING OVER ALL OF THEM AND THEY WILL NEVER AGAIN BE TWO NATIONS OR BE DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS. 23 THEY WILL NO LONGER DEFILE THEMSELVES WITH THEIR IDOLS AND VILE IMAGES OR WITH ANY OF THEIR OFFENSES, FOR I WILL SAVE THEM FROM ALL THEIR SINFUL BACKSLIDING, AND I WILL CLEANSE THEM. THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD.
24 “‘MY SERVANT DAVID WILL BE KING OVER THEM, AND THEY WILL ALL HAVE ONE SHEPHERD. THEY WILL FOLLOW MY LAWS AND BE CAREFUL TO KEEP MY DECREES. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I WILL MAKE A COVENANT OF PEACE WITH THEM; IT WILL BE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’”
Go rather to THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL.
He answered, “I WAS SENT ONLY TO THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL.”
FOR THE SON OF MAN CAME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THE LOST.”
JOHN 10:16
I HAVE OTHER SHEEP THAT ARE NOT OF THIS SHEEP PEN. I MUST BRING THEM ALSO. They too will listen to my voice, and THERE SHALL BE ONE FLOCK AND ONE SHEPHERD.
JOHN 11:49-52
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “YOU KNOW NOTHING AT ALL! 50 YOU DO NOT REALIZE THAT IT IS BETTER FOR YOU THAT ONE MAN DIE FOR THE PEOPLE THAN THAT THE WHOLE NATION PERISH.”
51 HE DID NOT SAY THIS ON HIS OWN, BUT AS HIGH PRIEST THAT YEAR HE PROPHESIED THAT JESUS WOULD DIE FOR THE JEWISH NATION, 52 AND NOT ONLY FOR THAT NATION BUT ALSO FOR THE SCATTERED CHILDREN OF GOD, TO BRING THEM TOGETHER AND MAKE THEM ONE.
EPHESIANS 2:16-18
and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of THE ETERNAL COVENANT BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD OUR LORD JESUS, THAT GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP,
For “you were like sheep going astray,” BUT NOW YOU HAVE RETURNED TO THE SHEPHERD AND OVERSEER OF YOUR SOULS.
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