HAVE NO FEAR, LITTLE FLOCK
Socializing with the people, in the presence of the disciples, Yeshua calls His faithful followers: The little flock: “Have no fear, little flock! “ Luke 12:32. The disciples did not understand at first, to whom the Teacher was referring to and Peter asks: Lord, are these words said to us only, or to all men? And then Yeshua then explains what He means by “little flock”. These are those, who are obedient to Him and do what He says: Have no fear, little flock! For it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell all your possessions, and give the money to the poor. Prepare yourself for eternal life and store your treasures up in heaven, which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not steal nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also…So make yourself ready, for the Son of man will coming at a time when you are not expecting him… Blessed is that servant, who, when his master comes, finds him, doing the will of his Lord.
We can see that Yeshua sets apart a special people, out of the flock, who are faithful and obedient to Him; and He calls them the little flock, and it is especially to them, that the Father has permitted to grant them the Kingdom. The Scriptures, often times, compare people to a flock. What does God want to emphasis when He comparing us to flock? What are the similarities? Can we recognize where we stand, looking at the image of the flock, which is
mentioned in the Holy Scriptures? This is what Isaiah says, prophesying about Yeshua, “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.” Yeshua, himself, says that the flock consists of sheep of two courtyards, “I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.” (John 10:16).
The sheep that will inherit the Kingdom are those, who know their Shepard, hear His voice and obey Him. Yeshua says: I am the door; if any man goes in through me he will have salvation, and will go in and go out, and will find its pasture. The true Pastor enters through the door, enters legally and teaches his sheep and leads them to the pasture where he gives them healthy food, giving life. Nevertheless, he who starts to teach secretly (he has climbed over the fence), Yeshua calls them: thief and robber.
Those who have been to the Middle East, could see, how the flock is grazing. Sheep graze together with goats, but the sheep stay close to each other and the goats are at some distance away from the flock, reaching higher ground, with their heads held high, and looking from a high altitude at the flock. There are also, within the herd, sheep that are fattened and they suppress the other sheep. When the herd moves from pasture to pasture they often move to the side, falling behind the flock, and the goats, with their horns, force them to cling to the flock. The Lord God will judge all the flock, “I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats. Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Why must my
flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled? …I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep. For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.” (Ezekiel 34:17-21)
All those who are meek and obedient to their Lord, He calls them the little flock, and which will enter into the promised Kingdom. Those, who God called fat and aggressive, will never see the Kingdom, even though they were in flock. They will perish because they rebelled; seduced those who were weak, behaved insolently against their shepherd, trampled the truth, substituting it with a lie. They poisoned the flock with their speeches, smashing into the heads of the sheep. They will perish for their violent behavior. What is the purpose of the Shepard in a flock? Someone assigned him this job. And he does his job not for his own sake, but for the sake of the flock, fulfilling the will of the one who assigned him this position. In humility, the little flock accepts the shepherd, and confidentially nestles at his feet, knowing that he leads them to Green Pastures.
