Page 22 - Radical Love by Linda Robinson

SESSION 1 : Who is This Shepherd-King?

Did you know that Jesus chose to become King of the most despised

group of people? Shepherds were considered to be the lowest of the
low in biblical times. look what is written in Genesis 46:31-34, when

Joseph's family had just left Canaan to join him and live in Egypt,
where there was no famine:

“Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, 'I will

go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, my brothers and my
father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come

to me. The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have
brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ When

Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should
answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on,

just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region

of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.”

At first glance, this seems to be a sorry state of affairs, but actually,

Goshen was a place of provision with green, lush pastures. Even more
than that—Goshen was a point of intimacy and separation unto God

(See Genesis 45:10-11). The very fact that they were Shepherds— and

considered by the sophisticated and proud Egyptians to be complete
lowlifes—qualified them to live separate from the opulence and

excesses of Egyptian life. Furthermore, it enhanced their sense of
needing to stick close together and also ensured their safety from the

influences of the pagan worship practises of Egypt. What more did they

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