“The LORD bless you and keep you.” – Numbers 6:24
Shamar
The LORD keep you. The word translated keep in the original Hebrew is shamar. Literally, it means to guard or protect. Being nomadic, the Hebrews were a livestock raising people. In order to protect their flocks in the open, the shepherds would construct a corral of thorn bushes. A hedge of thorns. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew word for thorn is shamiyr, a word derived from shamar. We see an illustration of this in Hosea when the prophet wants to “corral” his wayward wife, “Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths.” As wayward sheep prone to wander and susceptible to dangers, it is comforting to know that our great Shepherd wants to protect us. He wants to put a hedge of thorns around us.
Jesus our Guard
In John chapter ten Jesus uses this illustration of a shepherd guarding His sheep, “So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.'” Jesus, our Shepherd is in an open field with His sheep. He has built a hedge of protection around them. Instead of putting up a door, Jesus Himself acts as the door. Nothing can enter the fold without going “through” Him. Jesus says He is not a hired hand. Instead, the sheep belong to Him. If a wolf comes He will not flee. No wolf will be snatching any sheep from His fold. He will indeed keep them. I feel sorry for any predator that tries to harm His sheep!!
As a child, nothing drives away fear like the presence of our father. We view our fathers as flesh and blood Supermen. In their presence, ghosts disappear. Storms seem to calm. Spooky sounds are quieted. We have the confidence our fathers can protect us no matter what the threat. With the passing of time, we progress from protected to the protector. As a father, perhaps nothing is so “ingrained” in us as the desire and passion to protect our children. Even a man with a reputation for being mild will become animated if he feels his children are threatened. If you think I am exaggerating open your Bible. Even Jesus used pretty strong words in defense of children, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). Threaten my children? Happy swimming. Not exactly Mr. Rogers.
Cannot Fail
To this day this is the area I struggle with most in regards to losing our daughter. I “feel” like I failed her as her protector. I still replay the decisions that were made throughout her struggle to survive. Logically, I don’t know what, if anything, I could have done differently to save her life. Yet this inherent passion trumps logic. We may fail our children in other Fatherly “roles” in other areas, but to fail as their protector leaves a scar like nothing else. A good father, like the Good Shepherd, will lay down his life for his children. We not only want to guard them physically but more importantly, we want to protect them spiritually. We pray for their spiritual protection. We pray a hedge of thorns around them to keep them from wandering. We try to shelter them from ungodly influences. We pray that they will be protected from the evil one. While we may fail as earthly fathers, our Heavenly Father never will. As strong as our passion to protect and guard may be, His is even greater. His words as always are backed by action.
In order to “keep” us, God had to “sacrifice” our Great Shepherd. Our Great Shepherd, laid down His life for us. When He did so He went to Calvary wearing a crown of thorns. How ironic. Even on the cross, our Shepherd wore a crown twisted from the thorns a shepherd would have used as a hedge of protection. Christ died wearing our “hedge of protection.” He bore our sins. He rose from the dead. He sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. Guarding us. Protecting us. Keeping us.
There is no danger our Father cannot protect us from. Our Father that has the humility to get on His knees and present us with gifts, has the strength to protect us as well so we can enjoy the blessings He has bestowed upon us. When it comes to keeping His children, He will never fail. No more need for thorns, He has placed His Spirit within us to make sure we arrive safely home.
The LORD bless you and keep you!
“The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” – Psalm 121:5-8
“Keep them in your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one. While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” – John 17:11b-12