Sheep And Goats

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

Matthew’s message is self-evident.  There’s no need for elaboration.  However, this sheep versus goat stark difference regarding their fates does need some explanation.  I say this because I prefer goats that have been much maligned over the centuries.  Satan has been pictured as a goat.  The poor goat.  What follows is not my own.

(begin) Goats represent a number of things in Scripture, but to go to the source, we need to explore one of the most famous Jewish Holidays: Yom Kippur, otherwise known as The Day of Atonement.

During this holiday, two goats would be used (Leviticus 16). One, the azazel goat, would have all the sins symbolically placed on it when the high priest laid hands on it. Once the sins “were placed” they would drive the goat out into the desert, thus driving out Israel’s sins into the desert. For more information on the two goats used during Yom Kippur, check out this article here.

The goat here, the azazel goat, represented Satan, or evil. No wonder Jesus found Satan out in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). Deserts represent cursed places, devoid of God’s blessing. God’s blessing often comes through the form of rain.

Azazel is a much-debated topic, but many believed it to be a desert demon or force of evil out in the desert. Apart from the scapegoat azazel, where do we find goat symbolism in Scripture?

Aside from the Matthew parable we will discuss in a moment about the goats on the left and the lambs on the right, Scripture doesn’t have many explicit negative connotations for goats. For those, we have to explore what they mean in paganism…

So, what actually differs between sheep versus goat? Apart from the fact they look different, the characteristics of these animals may hint at the reasons why believers are sheep and unbelievers are goats. Sheep are dependent on their shepherd. They have a reputation for not topping the lists of the most intelligent animals, but they do trust and depend on their shepherd. Goats on the other hand have a reputation for self-reliance and stubbornness. This could, perhaps, reflect the worldly idea of leaning on oneself for support and guidance, rather than God.

Goats also have destructive tendencies. Shepherds protect sheep from their environment, whereas goatherds protect the environment from their goats. (end)

I still prefer the inquisitive, self-reliant, and stubborn goats.  Sheep are easy pickings for the wolves and need protection.  Of course, we turn to God for protection – as do many people throughout the world – but that protection often is wishful thinking.  Consider the millions of people who die from starvation each year and those killed in unjust wars by dictators [Putin, for example].  It’s up to the goats to step in and fight for what is right and just and to fend off evil, not unfairly be labelled as evil.

Of course, we all need to be good shepherds, but considering the damage we do to ourselves, our neighbors and our precious Earth environment, we must be goatherders.  

Deacon David Pierce