In “The Cult of Competitive Purism,” Watson maintains that those of us who take this position are “elitist” and guilty of “purism.” Watson takes aim at those of us who make the point that there is absolutely no morally significant difference between killing animals for sporting pleasure and killing animals for palate pleasure, and that our objecting to the killing of Cecil requires us to reject killing the other 60+ billion animals (not counting sea animals) we kill to eat. The OT portrays God as a shepherd who does all of these roles.Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd has weighed in on the controversy over Cecil the lion.
He puts his life on the line for the sheep. In sum, the roles of the shepherd include feeding, watering, grooming, leading, and protecting the flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness‖ (34:11-12). As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. The Lord God says: ―I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. In the midst of Israel‘s false leaders or shepherds who have exploited their positions to serve themselves, the prophet Ezekiel gave an assurance of the one shepherd God will provide, a messianic descendant of David who will feed his flock and be their shepherd (Ezek 34). His instruments of rod, a symbol of vigilant protection, and his staff, a symbol of care, reassure the flock. The shepherd had to fight back, because he had to make good any losses‘ to the owners (Genesis 31:39 Exodus 22:10-13). In the Book of the prophet Amos, the Lord says, ―As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who lived in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed‖ (Amos 3:12). The shepherd David is said to have protected his own flock from lion and bear (1 Samuel 17:34-36). Lions and bears were common (Judges 14: 8 2 Kings 2:25). The sheep needed constant protections there were plenty of dangers to the flock from the wild animals that came up from the jungle surrounding the Jordan River gorge. When the grass is gone, and new growth appears, and the herbage of the mountains is gathered, the lambs will provide your clothing and the goats the price of a field there will be enough goats‘ milk for your food, for the food of your household and nourishment for your servant-girls. Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds for riches do not last forever or a crown for all generations. The shepherd metaphor is reflected in Proverbs 27:23-27 to teach people to be responsible stewards acting with foresight in what we do with our riches: This divine shepherd restores my soul.Ī true shepherd needs to know the condition of his flock for it brings the shepherd a lot of benefits. Psalm 23 portrays the shepherd as meeting all the needs of his sheep: ―Because the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. The flock Israel is safely sheltered in God. The shepherd God goes before his flock leading them to the pastures and to places where it may rest by the waters, who protects it with his staff and gathers the dispersed. This familiar metaphoric title for God actually appears in only two other psalms (28:9 80:1). Toni Craven and Walter Harrelson in their commentary on Psalms state, ―The claim that God is my shepherd is unparalleled in Scripture. Another example is the Shepherd Psalm, found in Psalm 23. Susan Ackerman thinks that this ―image may have helped inspire Christianity‘s image of Jesus as the ‗good shepherd‘ (see John 10:11-18). One good example of this is found in Isaiah 40: ―He will feed his flock like a shepherd he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep‖ (v. There are a number of passages that use the rich imagery of shepherd vocabulary in reference to God. The application of the shepherd image to Yahweh is embedded in the living piety of Israel. In the OT the description of Yahweh as the Shepherd of Israel is ancient usage, but the surprising paucity of references in which the title is used of Yahweh shows that this is not just a formal oriental divine predication.
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