Discernment Series [Prologue]: Thief in the Sheepfold

“Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘Listen to this eternal truth: The person who sneaks over the wall to enter into the sheep pen, rather than coming through the gate, reveals himself as a thief coming to steal. But the true Shepherd walks right up to the gate, and because the gatekeeper knows who he is, he opens the gate to let him in. And the sheep recognize the voice of the true Shepherd, for he calls his own by name and leads them out, for they belong to him. And when he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them and they will follow him, for they are familiar with his voice. But they will run away from strangers and never follow them because they know it’s the voice of a stranger.’ ”

~ John 10:1–5 TPT

One thing I often get reminded of during my faith journey regarding the harmonious workings between the spiritual realm [i.e., systems, laws, principles] and the natural world is that there is always more happening than meets the eye. Much like converting intangible ideas into tangible results, everything we perceive in the physical with our senses is the harvest of what we have been sowing in the spirit [or our mind]. So even while we lie asleep in our beds at night, there is constant activity in the spiritual realm. And the thief often pounces on the opportunity to plunder the goods we are responsible for stewarding when we are unaware & uninformed about his tactics.

Given that all earthly creation dwells within the confines of time, we naturally follow the organic system of the four seasons [i.e., winter, spring, summer, and fall]. Now with each season comes a set of responsibilities that builds on the work done in the previous season. Take, for instance, the system of how labor gets shared on an assembly line in a factory setting. The labor done by one worker gets passed down to the next so they can add to the project. Everything will flow smoothly as long as everyone is attentive & intentional about doing their part. But all it takes is for one careless worker to disrupt the workflow of the other workers. Not only does it affect the performance of the collective, but time gets wasted because the focus of that idle worker consistently gets stolen. Hence, Winston Churchill puts it best when he once said,

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

What is a loss for the one who fails to learn their lesson is a win for the thief because they did the crime, stole your time, and got away with the valuables entrusted to you for stewardship. It sucks to be a sucker — trust me, I know, especially when you are up against an adversary that is unruly and ghetto. Thieves do not play fair because there is nothing for them to gain from doing so. Nevertheless, there is a way to beat a crook at their own game without getting pulled into their muddy pigsty. Throughout this 12-part spiritual discernment series, we are going to be unraveling the mystery of the eternal truth mentioned in the opening quote by honing in on these questions regarding the thief and their motives:

I. Who is the thief that Jesus is referring to?

II. What valuables are stored in the sheepfold that the thief aims to steal?

III. How does the thief gain access to the private sheepfold?

IV. How does one catch this thief?

V. What happens when the thief gets caught?

Decoding the answers to these questions is critical for those tired of being the sucker. Those who are determined to learn from their history of shortcomings. Those serious about living out their divine calling & purpose over their lives. So without further ado, understanding the answers to the first two questions will serve as the foundation for which the following questions will make sense. However, it starts with ascertaining a basic comprehension of the spiritual forces at play on a macro-level and the role mankind plays as active participants in helping to manifest what got provoked in the unseen realm.

Here is where we submerge deep into an eternal truth that existed long before the creation of the world as we know it today. There are two spiritual forces, ever opposing one another over divine positions of authority and the warrant it gives them to bring to pass their preferred governing system. We understand these dichotomies as light [i.e., good] & darkness [i.e., evil]. The standard for how each force got measured rests in the sovereign hands of the Almighty: Yahweh. In His knowledge & wisdom, God remains unwavering in his resolve to stand in favor of the goodness of the light. He has concluded that the other side only produces chaos & self-destruction, which goes against the essence of His life-giving, orderly nature. Hence, the original account of the creation of Heaven and Earth mentioned in the book of Genesis builds off the foundation that favors the governing forces of light.

As far as the Heavens are concerned, Yahweh sits on His throne as the Supreme ruler of all creation, a permanent spot that no one can occupy. Now, regarding rank within the Kingdom of Heaven, cherubim are among the highest orders of angelic beings that serve directly next to the throne of God through praise & worship. Since they are guardians of the throne of God, the power and splendor these class of angels received from the Almighty are more considerable than that of their underlings. And among them was one named Lucifer, who used his free will to distinguish himself in the worst possible way. The account got recorded by the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 28:15–18 VOICE:

“You were entirely pure from the day you were created until wickedness crept in and was found in you! Too much buying and selling- a greedy obsession! You became motivated to violence and did wicked things. Polluted and disgraced, I drove you off the mountain of God! I expelled you, O guardian protector, from the fiery stones. Your heart swelled with pride because of your beauty and talents. Your hunger for fame, your thirst for glory corrupted your wisdom. This is why I drove you to the ground and made an example out of you before a company of kings. You desecrated your sanctuaries by pursuing sin after sin and cheating in business. I set a flame inside of you, and it devoured you completely. I reduced you to a pile of ashes on the ground, a sight for all to see.”

Despite the shame of being cast down extremely low after having once occupied one of the highest-ranking positions among the angels, Lucifer, now known as satan or the devil, continues in his wickedness. After Yahweh filled the barren & formless Earth with nature and its respective animals, the first two humans created perfectly in the image of God received the authority to govern the Earth and its natural resources. Their names were Adam and Eve. The intention & purpose behind His decision to entrust Adam & Eve with such responsibilities were to provide them with the privileged opportunity of stewardship. Through the excellent work of their hands concerning their divine assignments, they will be walking in the integrity of their authentic identity as the image-bearers of the Almighty Creator. Only then will the glory of God and his divine splendor will shine ever so brightly. To Yahweh, this return on His investment is a precious gift that never gets taken for granted. Hence when it comes to the business of our divine purpose, God is earnestly invested in every aspect of its fulfillment. That said, with great power comes great responsibility.

Since their main base of operations was the Garden of Eden, Adam was to act as the gatekeeper of that territory and Eve as his intimate helper. Never before have they encountered evil let alone learned the depth of its existence, given that they dwelled in the holy presence of God. Their nakedness reflected their innocence, and they were not self-conscious about their true identity. They lacked nothing due to all of their needs getting met perfectly. As for food, Yahweh allowed his beloved human creation to eat the fruits from the trees in the garden, including the tree of life. But in His wisdom, He gave them one condition:

“I only require that you abstain from eating the fruit of one tree–the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Beware: the day you eat the fruit of this tree, you will certainly die.”

~ Genesis 2:17 VOICE

Now there are a few things to unpack regarding these specific instructions given to the man and the woman:

I. If Yahweh did not desire Adam and Eve to eat from that specific tree, why did he put it in the garden in the first place?

This question is one that I genuinely pondered on more than one occasion. But taking into consideration the character & nature of Yahweh, my intimacy with Him, and the reports of the intimate connection my fellow saints share with Him, I believe the reason was to test whether or not the man and woman will freely obey His command amidst the sight of what they were not permitted to have.

II. What is the significance of knowing good & evil?

On the surface, you would think that knowing good & evil is more of an advantage than a disadvantage, given that you will at least know what to avoid and why. Right? Well, not quite. That is a stance viewed only from one side of the apple. According to the revelation received from the Holy Spirit, the proper perspective is to look at the apple in its entirety while considering how the order of creation collectively gets impacted. Again, since Adam & Eve were made holy & pure, everything from how they stewarded their authority to what they allowed to enter into their domain was a reflection of their nature. Not having the knowledge of evil was designed to work in their favor as that would eliminate the possibility of their being influenced by it.

The significance of the boundary set by Yahweh was to keep the man and the woman within His supernatural covering & protection, yielding to Him as the superior force through their obedience. But bound people [or entities] hate boundaries. That said, satan, who remains bound to his prideful ambitions, enters the body of a serpent, infiltrates the Garden of Eden, and discreetly initiates contact with the woman. Now, approaching the woman was a cunning strategy to avoid direct contact with the strong man who possessed the keys. Who else would be in the best position to influence Adam than his intimate helper? See the dark psychology behind knowing evil through the serpent’s actions? Deceptive & manipulative tactics are his primary methods of exploitation.

But how did satan manage to degrade the woman’s perspective of herself, one may ask? He implanted the idea of lack in her mind. I encourage you, in your leisure time to further examine their conversation in Genesis 3. So after satan convinced Eve to eat the fruit, the latter gave some to Adam, which he blindly accepted because he trusted in his partner. Now sharing this information is not meant to shame the woman or even the man, only to highlight this vital detail: pay attention to the content you consume because you never know what you are relinquishing out of your hands. Although Eve was the first to eat the forbidden fruit, the deal was sealed when Adam ate it. As a result of their ignorance & lack of spiritual discernment, satan managed to usurper Adam’s rule over the world.

III. What did God mean when He said, “the day you eat the fruit of this tree, you will certainly die”?

When Adam & Eve used their free will to disobey Yahweh’s command, it was not a physical death they experienced, as one may assume, but a spiritual death. As a result, the complete revelation they had of being the image-bearers of God was stolen from them by the thief: satan. Without that divine disclosure, they could no longer relate to Yahweh on that deep spiritual level, which could suggest that they also got robbed of their inherited power. That said, I could only imagine their minds being kept in disarray as their judgment of good & evil gradually became enmeshed. However, I believe it is safe to assume that the aftereffects of their downfall were not as potent as that of their descendants since they did know God intimately and lived in perfection for some time.

With the evil of sin running rampant throughout the world, what the Most High prophesied long ago is still happening today. Wickedness is the standard perpetuated by a demonic governing system functioning under satanic authority. But hope is certainly not lost! In His knowledge & wisdom, Yahweh created a loophole for overcoming the oppressive powers of sin & the evil forces behind them once and for all, and the answer is the Lord Jesus Christ. To save humanity from their fate of self-destruction, John 3:16 NIV reveals,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

The spilling of the blameless, holy, & pure divine blood of Jesus was the key to breaking the stronghold satan had over mankind, given that “the wages of sin is death” [Romans 6:23 NIV].

Hence, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who is the True Shepherd, is how the authority that Lucifer usurped from Adam long ago got reclaimed & transferred over to the King of kings and Lord of lords. In His grace and kindness, Jesus desires His sheep to follow Him as co-heirs to the true Kingdom of God that is being established here on the Earth day by day. And until Christ returns to the world to finalize the establishment of His Kingdom, there remains an ongoing spiritual battle for territory throughout different parts of the world between those who labor for the forces of darkness and those who do so for the light. To that point, the former is doing everything they can to resist their inevitable fate. This includes stealing the valuable inheritances allotted to those who only serve the True Shepherd, be it the revelation of their true identity, their spiritual gifts & talents, their ability to reclaim stolen territory by functioning in their divine purpose, or their desire for deeper intimacy with the Holy Trinity.

With all that said, this concludes the first part of the 12-part spiritual discernment series. In the next post, we will divulge the specifics of the question: How does the thief gain access to the private sheepfold? Particularly, how we, as the sheep, give the thief access to our minds because that is where it all begins. On that note, thank you for your focus. Until next time, ✌🏽Peace.

Notes:

Hodge, Bodie. “Was Satan the Actual Serpent in the Garden?” Answers in Genesis, 18 Feb. 2015, answersingenesis.org/angels-and-demons/satan/was-satan-the-actual-serpent-in-the-garden.

Smyth, Dolores. “Why Was Lucifer, Satan, Cast Out of Heaven and Banished to Hell?” Crosswalk.com, 2 Oct. 2020, www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/why-was-satan-banished-in-the-bible.html.