Yeshua as the Good Shepherd and the Lamed

The ancient pictograph of the lamed — a staff — prods and goads, giving direction to the sheep, leading them in the right way. This is deeply symbolic of what Yeshua does as the Good Shepherd described in John 10:7–18:

*Then Yeshua said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd — the Lamed. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd; and I know my sheep, and am known by my own. As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep — the Lamed. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock and one Shepherd."*

He is telling us plainly that he is the Lamed, the Shepherd of both Jew and Gentile. He has another flock — the Gentiles — and he must bring them in as well.

Jesus spoke of Israel as his flock, but he also has another flock — the Gentiles — and he said it will be one flock and one Shepherd. This connects to Exodus 12:49: there is one Torah for the citizen and the stranger, Jew and Gentile alike. As Paul tells us in Ephesians 2, you were once strangers from the Covenant, aliens from the Commonwealth, but through the blood of the Lamb you are no longer strangers — you are citizens. There is one way to worship, not two: Jews this way, Gentiles that way. That was never the intent, and it will not be that way in the Millennial Kingdom or throughout eternity. There is one Torah for the citizen and the stranger, and no one came after to change God's holy word — not Jesus, not Paul, no one. According to Galatians 3:26, you are a seed of Christ, a seed of Abraham, and therefore part of Israel and part of the Abrahamic Covenant. Romans 11, which every Jew and Gentile needs to read carefully, makes clear that everyone is grafted into the Kingdom of God — Jew and Gentile alike.

The letter *lamad* is one of the most meaningful letters, not only for what we have discussed, but because it is deeply symbolic in our own lives. He leads us, guides us, protects us, and leads us on a journey of intimacy with him. He guides us through his Spirit to his Word. He abides in us and we abide in him — John 14 through 17 are beautiful chapters on this divine union. Spend time with the lamad: with its value, with its ordinal number 12, and with the number 30. These numbers point back to the scriptures. Consider King David and Joseph — both began their ministries at age 30. The number 30 speaks of the perfection of governmental order, and 12 of complete governmental structure. Both will certainly be on display when he returns on the Feast of Trumpets, on the new moon, beginning a new millennium and a new seven-year shemitah cycle.

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