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Nahum 3:18-19 Sleepy shepherds Day 339

Good morning fellow sheep of His pasture,

Its probably been awhile since you were greeted as a sheep.  But writing this devotional this morning made me thankful for our Good Shepherd above and beyond the world political stage.

Blessings,

Jeff

Interesting that Israel and Judah are not the only ones who were afflicted with bad shepherds.  Jonathan's look at John 10 and the Good Shepherd is the background for thoughts today.

Nahum's pronouncement of woes to Nineveh are really shocking to me.  Assyria had destroyed northern kingdom. Judah was on the decline. Yet here is a prophet telling the king of Assyria, the most powerful empire of the day, that the men looking out for the empire are asleep at their posts. 

The curse of perceived invincibility - when a nation has been successful in conquering others, leaders can become convinced that they can do no wrong. That whatever they do will preserve the empire. They stop being attentive to the true condition of their people. They fall asleep. They think they are awake, but they are deceived. 

Is Nahum speaking only to Assyria?  Hasn't history of Israel been full of sleepy shepherds and nobles?  Isn't this also a call to Judah and her shepherds and nobles to wake up?  While Assyria is the dominant power militarily, they don't have the Great I Am as their God. The nobles and shepherds over the Lord's people have a higher calling than those over a "superpower". 

In theory, history should teach all people everywhere that they need a Good Shepherd who neither slumbers nor sleeps.  Yet the world system opposed to God's kingdom continue to offer cheap imitation shepherds and nobles for people to run after. 

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

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