Cast Sheep

You don’t have to look too hard or too far to find references to sheep throughout the scriptures. A brief search of the New American Standard Version from Genesis to Revelation turns up 191 uses of the word “sheep,” 105 uses of the word “shepherd,” 196 uses of the word “flock,” and 129 uses of the word “pasture.”  From the factual accounts of professional sheepherders like Abraham, Moses, and David, to the poetic and parabolic depictions of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the Bible is replete with details, illustrations, and teachings centered around tending a flock of sheep.  

The firsthand experiences of shepherding were tangible and observable to the people who existed contemporaneously with the penning of scripture.  In fast-paced, digitally-saturated, commercialized America, it is easy to forget that in various parts of the world today, that way of life – herding and caring for sheep or other livestock – still exists. Through the living, breathing Word of God, that pastoral imagery of sheep and their relationship to the shepherd transcends time and culture and can be just as vivid, understandable, and relevant to us today. But the nuanced details of shepherding and their beautiful application to our spiritual lives could easily be missed by those of us who do not possess the specialized knowledge and skill it takes to care for a herd of woolly livestock. Real-life shepherds understand their sheep in a way that the average churchgoer in the Western world just cannot fully appreciate without digging a little deeper. 

The spiritual parallels between people and sheep are myriad, but one particularly fascinating behavior is that of a cast sheep. When a sheep rolls over onto its back, it becomes difficult or impossible for it to get back up without assistance, much like a tortoise being flipped over onto its shell.  That’s a cast sheep.  This can happen quite frequently and can result in the poor creatures becoming distressed, often panicking and flailing around, making the predicament even worse.  In fact, a cast sheep can actually die within a very short period of time if not properly aided.  Casting can happen for a number of reasons.  Most commonly, the culprits are uneven ground or simply the sheep’s own body condition.  When a sheep lies down on an unlevel patch of ground and then shifts around to find a comfortable position, it runs the risk of shifting itself right into a hole, a dip, or down a slope.  A sheep’s body condition, though, could also increase its risk of casting.  Sheep that are particularly overweight (from pregnancy or otherwise) or that have a fleece coat that’s too thick or heavy could cause unbalanced top-heaviness that results in casting. 

The beginning lines of Isaiah 53:6 are perhaps the most direct scriptural simile involving people and sheep, declaring that, “[w]e all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.”  (NIV)  The word transliterated “astray” in that passage is the Hebrew tāʿâh, and the root of that Hebrew word means “to vacillate,” which is literally “to sway unsteadily.”  What an apt correlation!  How often do we find ourselves swaying unsteadily in the spiritual sense?  We vacillate between the desires of the flesh and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Paul knew well this spiritual sway and describes it clearly in Romans 7:15-20, where he writes:

“ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who does it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” 

This is the same vacillation that we experience in our Christian life, and it’s what so often results in us becoming spiritual castaways. We attribute this unsteady, back-and-forth condition to many things, but in the simplest sense, it can be boiled down to the same two culprits that affect our livestock counterparts: Uneven ground and our own condition. 

We frequently find ourselves traversing unlevel, uncertain roads in life.  David, the shepherd-king, knew well the literal, physical difficulties of leading sheep – and later troops of soldiers – along dangerous ways fraught with pitches, pitfalls, and peril of all sorts.  So many of the Psalms are written in acknowledgment of the Lord’s protection at times when David was treading uneven ground spiritually.  “When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.” (Psalm 94:18)  “He makes me like a deer that does not stumble; he helps me stand on the steep mountains.”  (Psalm 18:33, NCV)  “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”  (Psalm 40:2)  We will probably never lead a flock (much less an army) along treacherous paths like David.  But we will most certainly walk on ground that could cause us to slip, stumble, or sink along the way. 

Our own condition of being spiritually “overweight” can also lead to unsteadiness and vacillation, causing us to go “astray” and become like cast sheep.  Scripture confirms that this can be a hindrance to our persevering in the faith, when the Hebrew writer says, “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.” (Hebrews 12:1, NKJV)  Psalm 55:22 encourages us, saying, “[c]ast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.”  (NASB)  Jesus beckons, “Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28, NCV)  Like a sheep that’s grazed a little too long or that just needs the extra heft of its fleece trimmed back, we may be carrying around extra pounds spiritually.  The burdens and cares and baggage we choose to cling to cause us to be unbalanced, making us prone to casting, just like a wobbly sheep.   

When a sheep becomes cast, it is in a dire circumstance. The unnatural position of being cast can cause the sheep’s stomach to fill with so much gas that the circulation can be cut off to its legs, leading to a quick death.  Not only that, but a sheep on its back is highly vulnerable, making it an incredibly easy target for predators like wolves or coyotes. In addition to all that, being upside down causes the sheep extreme distress, exhaustion, and even shock. 

To bring it back into a normal, healthy position, the shepherd must take action.  Struggling against the shepherd may be naturally instinctive to a cast sheep in the fright and distress of the situation, but any sense of aggression quickly diminishes in light of the sheep’s relationship with the shepherd and its trust in his care.  The shepherd comes to his animal’s aid by very tenderly and carefully rolling the sheep onto its side.  He then lifts it to a standing position and proceeds to stand over the sheep, evaluating its stability and gently rubbing its legs to help the circulation return.  The process is a beautiful picture of loving care that is so aptly termed restoring.

Aren’t we all cast sheep at one time or another?  Maybe we find ourselves cast – distressed, flailing, upside down, exhausted – more often than we care to admit.  We’ve gone on our own course, strayed away.  We’re weighed down, and we unsteadily sway under the burdens we choose to cling to rather than surrender.  We vacillate in a spiritual teetering to and fro as we trek along the uneven ground, laden with dangers and snares.  We lie down in those perilous places and we begin to shift ourselves in an effort to get comfortable with the world, but soon discover we’ve slipped into a slimy pit.  It’s a dire spiritual situation; a predicament of eternal proportions.  As Paul emphatically concluded in testifying of his tug-of-war struggle in Romans 7:24:  “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”  He doesn’t end there, though.  He follows up in verse 25 with the answer to his dire circumstance, and ours:  “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”  We need the restoring process that can only be accomplished by our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  He is the author of restoration.  He can tenderly reach down and lift us from our distress and, as David wrote in Psalm 40:2, set our feet on the rock.  Our relationship with the Good Shepherd leads us to surrender the weight of our burdens to Him and to trust in His care, His provision, and His leading, regardless of the dangers that may exist on the path ahead. 

Peter quoted Isaiah in his first epistle, reminding his readers of the striking similarity between people and their pasture-dwelling parallels and explaining exactly how Jesus restores us. “’ He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’  For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”  (1 Peter 1:24-25)  You see, not only is Christ our Good Shepherd, He is also, as John writes in Revelation 13:8, “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”  So take heart, cast sheep!  The Shepherd of your soul is also your sacrificial Lamb and, when you find yourself stumbling on uneven ground or burdened under the weight of the world, He is more than able to lovingly restore you and to gently lead you all along the way.