Out Our Way: Seven shepherds and eight wise leaders

     Out our way, the impossible is sometimes possible and what cannot happen sometimes does. I remember that day with Charlie on the Tiger Ridge when the cattle were so rangey that they would not bond into a herd. It was late fall and our task was to drive Big Mike's cattle down from the summer pasture where the grass was overgrazed and the reservoir early dry; to the good pasture and water that awaits them in the winter pasture below. Unfortunately, cattle are not overly bright and after a summer roaming fairly free, were less than cooperative.  

Usually cattle will stay together, but sometimes bossy cows gather their own little groups of followers who will blindly follow the leader, even when the leader has no idea where to go. We picked up some 40 head near the gate where we dropped the truck and horse trailer, but there were hundreds of cattle out there and mostly in small bands scattered all over the range. As we pushed the main body, Charlie or I would go after smaller gatherings in the arroyos and across the prairie and try to get them to hook up with the main herd. At first we had some success, but after a bit the "bossy" cows broke ranks and tool the young and gullible calves with them. We would go after one group and another would break away. It seemed hopeless.

So many cows decided they were wiser than we were and so many followers just went where the "boss" cows demanded, we had our hands full. We would pick up a band of 30 cow-calfs, and while bringing them in, some cow would lead another bunch out. We got help. Some five other cowboys came up to help and with the extra horses and riders we were able to bunch the stragglers together , bring them to the main herd, and get them all safely to winter pasture. 

I was thinking of that time as I read the text in my daily devotions from the prophet Micah. His prophecy about Christ being born in Bethlehem is well-known to most of us, especially at Christmas time, but what intrigued me was the rest of the prophecy that follows, especially about how the Messiah will counter Assyria's invasion with seven shepherds and eight wise leaders.

I did some digging and was reminded how the Assyrian Empire, hundreds of years before Christ, had absorbed the 10 tribes of Israel in the north of the Kingdom who had become indifferent, lazy and foolish over the years. They weren't conquered so much by armies as by political and cultural indifference. They simply ceased to be Israel long before the Assyrians arrived and so "bowing the knee to Baal" was no big deal. Their king did it and the religious leaders were ok with it, so why shouldn't they? Thus they were absorbed into the pagan culture and ceased to exist as God's people. They weren't lost, they simply committed "spiritual suicide."

Micah saw all this and also that. Despite their unfaithfulness, some would not bow the knee. Some would remain faithful despite all the pressure from pop culture, politics, and secularized religion. Isaiah, Jerimiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc., all spoke of the "faithful remnant" from whom God would rebuild Israel. They all looked ahead to God overcoming the darkness of secularism, paganism and betrayal by both government and religion .

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, as Micah prophesied, but also in a time of "Assyrian" dominance - i.e. secular/paganism - replacing God. Recall who was "king of the Jews" when Christ was born. King Herod who, although part Jewish, was 100 percent pagan in his loyalties. He worshipped Rome, not God, and Rome made him king. Consider how the high priest of the Holy Temple was chosen by Rome, not Israel, and whose power was from Caesar and rather than God.

Michah foresaw this and saw that the might of "Assyria" - secularists and pagans - would prevail for a time, but their power would not last. The "seven shepherds and eight wise leaders" represent the "faithful remnant who would not " bow the knee to Ba'al" - secularism, pop culture, etc. - but resist and stand firm.

10 of the 12 tribes of Israel gave up and gave in, and only a few remained faithful. The ones who gave up and gave in were absorbed by the dying pop culture and died with it. The ones who remained firm survived and thrived.

Micah's message is not simply about Christ being born in Bethlehem but about why He was born. The Christmas message is not simply about a baby born in a stable, but of the King of Kings come to save the world. The "Assyrians" - the dominant secular culture - shall seem to rule and claim to be invincible, but like the night, they will fade before the Light. The darkest nights and deepest shadows cannot blot out a single candle. The seven shepherds and eight leaders represent the followers of Christ, who, though few in number, light more candles and so, in time, overcome the darkness. If you do not read your Bible, read your history. And remember those who survived the darkness, like that Russian priest I often quote who shared his faith even in the darkest times of the USSR.

He reminded his people and anyone else who would listen that while Neitsche, Marx, Lenin and Stalin all said God was dead and the modern "Assyrians" applauded, in the end, they were the ones who died as did their political views, but the Church and the faith remained.

Modern "Assyrians" assault us today and demand we bow the knee to the "Ba'al" of pop culture, and many do so. But the "seven shepherds and eight wise leaders" - the faithful remnant who will keep Christ in Christmas all year round - will not give in. Micah's prophecy is not just that Christ would be born in Bethlehem , but that the Messiah will "deliver us from the Assyrians and conquer them."

Up on the Tiger Ridge, the idea of getting those rangey, bone-headed critters to good pasture seemed impossible at first. Indeed, by ourselves, Charlie and I could never have managed to get it done. But in the end, we were not by ourselves. Even when the tree is taken down and the ornaments put away remember that, like Charlie and me, you are not by yourself. The "seven shepherds and eight wise leaders" are on the job.

Blessings!

Brother John Bruington