Shepherd Stories: The Wolf
Wolves hunt in packs and are so successful at the kill that humans have imitated them in war. In World War II German “U-Boats” (Submarines) were formed into what they called “wolf packs” in order to sink the allied ships before they could reach England. Devastatingly effective the German wolf packs dominated the sea lanes for the first part of the war. They had an uncanny ability to pick off single lagging straggling ships and send them to their watery graves at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
The “wolf” is only mentioned six times in the Bible. Four of the six times it is mentioned as something to be frightened of. For example…”A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them.” (Jere. 5:6b [NKJV]). It is stated as if it is something to be feared. Along a long-rutted dirt road out of Lima, Montana I once saw a lone wolf running along the road about a quarter of a mile off. He kept up with the vehicle. A magnificent creature of God, he was beautiful. I have heard them howl at night as they direct the pack to the prey.
Raising sheep for about 30 years has had its moments. The most frightening are when a canine comes into the yard and attacks our sheep. All canines are in some way related to the wolf and after the devastation I have seen on my own sheep, I would have to agree. About ten years ago a rancher in Wisdom, Montana had c156 sheep killed in one night by a wolf pack. Wolves hunt by biting the snout of an animal, grabbing the neck to cut the artery and bleed its prey or when possible, they will grab the back tendon of a leg, thus crippling its victim. The 156 sheep were not eaten, just killed. It was thought the older wolves were teaching the younger wolf pups how to hunt. It was devastating.
Jesus even mentions the wolf in an unflattering way. “I am the good shepherd; The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is hireling and does not care about the sheep.” (John 10:11-13 NKJV). Jesus is telling us He will never flee when we, His sheep are attacked by the wolf. It is a fitting analogy, as He is our Shepherd and He is not an imposter who will flee at the first sign of the wolf.
How do shepherds try to protect their flock from the wolf? Keep the flock together, do not let any sheep or lamb become a straggler away from the flock. The wolf will stealthily pick off the out-side straggler. As Christians, we are instructed on how to not get picked off by the wolf at our door. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. “(Heb. 10 24-25). We must stay close to the flock and with the Shepherd. We must be with and help each other every day to stand guard against the wolves of society who stand and growl at our Christian door. Beware, for the wolf is cunning.
Mike Wallace
