PART II. Shep herds. Goats. Dogs. Scripture thorns, which the prowling wolf will rarely attempt to scale. The nimer, however, and fahed-the leopard and panther of this country-when pressed with hunger, will overleap this thorny hedge, and with one tremendous bound land among the frightened fold. Then is the time to try the nerve and heart of the faithful shepherd. These humble types of Him who leadeth Joseph like a flock1 never leave their helpless charge alone, but accompany them by day, and abide with them at night. As spring advances, they will move higher up to other mârâhs and greener ranges; and in the hot months of summer they sleep with their flocks on the cool heights of the mountains, with no other protection than a stout palisade of tangled thorn-bushes. Nothing can be more romantic, Oriental, and even Biblical, than this shepherd life far away among the sublime solitudes of goodly Lebanon. We must study it in all its picturesque details. See, the flocks are returning home as the evening draws on; and how pretty the black and spotted goats, with their large, liquid eyes, and long, pendant ears-now in bold relief on the rocks, now hid among the bushes, but all the while rolling along the hill side like a column of gigantic ants! If some sharp-witted Jacob should take all the spotted, ring-streaked, and speckled of these flocks, he would certainly get the lion's share; 2 nor do I wonder that the countenance of that money-loving father-in-law of his should not be toward him as yesterday and the day before.3 These bushy hills are the very best sheep-walks, and they are mostly abandoned to herds and flocks. They are now converging to this single point from all quarters, like the separate squadrons of an army. The shepherd walks before them, and they follow after, while the dogs, that Job talks of, bring up the rear. These Oriental shepherd dogs, by the way, are not, like those in other lands, fine faithful fellows, the friend and companion of their masters, and fit to figure in poetry. This would not suit Job's disparaging comparison. They are a mean, sinister, illconditioned generation, kept at a distance, kicked about, and half starved, with nothing noble or attractive about them. Still, they lag lazily behind the flocks, making a furious barking at any intruder among their charge, and thus give warning of approaching danger. As you mentioned at the Damûr the other day, I notice that some of the flock keep near the shepherd, and follow whithersoever he goes, without the least hesitation, while others stray about on either side, or loiter far behind; and he often turns round and scolds them in a sharp, stern cry, or sends a stone after them. I saw him lame one just now. Not altogether unlike the good shepherd. Indeed, I never ride over these allusions. hills, clothed with flocks, without meditating upon this delightful theme. Our Saviour says that the good shepherd, when he putteth forth his own sheep, goeth before them, and they follow.5 This is true to the letter. They are so tame and so trained that they follow their keeper with the utmost docility. He leads them forth from the fold, or from their houses in the 1 Ps. lxxx. 1. 2 Gen. xxx. 35, 3 Gen. xxxi. 2. 4 Job xxx. 1. 5 John x. 4. XIV. beasts. and pan villages, just where he pleases. As there are many flocks in such a place as CHAPTER this, each one takes a different path, and it is his business to find pasture for them. It is necessary, therefore, that they should be taught to follow, and John, not to stray away into the unfenced fields of corn which lie so temptingly on ch. x. either side. Any one that thus wanders is sure to get into trouble. The shepherd calls sharply from time to time, to remind them of his presence. They know his voice, and follow on; but, if a stranger call, they stop short, lift up their heads in alarm, and, if it is repeated, they turn and flee, because they know not the voice of a stranger. This is not the fanciful costume of a parable; it is simple fact. I have made the experiment repeatedly. The shepherd goes before, not merely to point out the way, but to see that it is practicable and safe. He is armed in order to defend his charge; and in this he is very courageous. Many adventures with wild beasts occur not unlike Wild that recounted by David,1 and in these very mountains; for, though there are now no lions here, there are wolves in abundance; and leopards and panthers, Leopards exceeding fierce, prowl about these wild wadies. They not unfrequently thers. attack the flock in the very presence of the shepherd, and he must be ready to do battle at a moment's warning. I have listened with intense interest to their graphic descriptions of downright and desperate fights with these savage beasts. And when the thief and the robber come (and come they do), the faithful shepherd has often to put his life in his hand to defend his flock. I have known more than one case in which he had literally to lay it down in the The good contest. A poor faithful fellow last spring, between Tiberias and Tabor, shepherd instead of fleeing, actually fought three Bedawîn robbers until he was hacked life. to pieces with their khanjars, and died among the sheep he was defending. Some sheep always keep near the shepherd, and are his special favourites. Each of them has a name, to which it answers joyfully; and the kind shepherd is ever distributing to such choice portions which he gathers for that purpose. These are the contented and happy ones. They are in no danger of getting Variety of lost or into mischief, nor do wild beasts or thieves come near them. The great among body, however, are mere worldlings, intent upon their own pleasures or selfish interests. They run from bush to bush, searching for variety or delicacies, and only now and then lift their heads to see where the shepherd is, or, rather, where the general flock is, lest they get so far away as to occasion remark in their little community, or rebuke from their keeper. Others, again, are restless and discontented, jumping into everybody's field, climbing into bushes, and even into leaning trees, whence they often fall and break their limbs. These cost the good shepherd incessant trouble. Then there are others incurably reckless, who stray far away, and are often utterly lost. I have repeatedly seen a silly goat or sheep running hither and thither, and bleating piteously after the lost flock, only to call forth from their dens the beasts of prey, or to bring up the lurking thief, who quickly quiets its cries in death. 1 Sam. xvii. 34-36, giving his character sheep. PART II. Isaiah xl. 11. Feeding Isaiah has a beautiful reference to the good shepherd: "He shall feed his Yes, in every particular. In ordinary circumstances the shepherd does not feed his flock, except by leading and guiding them where they may gather for themselves; but there are times when it is otherwise. Late in autumn, when the pastures are dried up, and in winter, in places covered with snow, he must furnish them food, or they die. In the vast oak woods along the eastern sides the flock. of Lebanon, between Baalbek and the cedars, there are then gathered innumerable flocks, and the shepherds are all day long in the bushy trees, cutting down the branches, upon whose green leaves and tender twigs the sheep and goats are entirely supported. The same is true in all mountain districts, and large forests are preserved on purpose. Life in these remote and wild woods is then most singular and romantic. The ring of the axe, the crash of falling trees, the shout of the shepherds, the tinkling of bells and barking of dogs, wake a thousand echoes along the deep wadies of Lebanon. I have ridden five hours at a stretch in the midst of these lively scenes, and the mere remembrance of them comes back now like distant music dying out sweetly along the solemn aisles of the wood. From early boyhood there has been within me an earnest sympathy with the mighty forest-something ever ready to sigh for such boundless continuity of shade as these wide sheep-walks Shepherd of Lebanon and Hermon afford. Can anything be more poetic than this life of life in the Syrian Shepherd! It ought to be religious too. Far, far away, out on the lone mountain, with the everlasting hills around, and heaven above, pure, blue, and high, and still,-there go and worship, free from the impertinence of human rhetoric, and the noisy cadences of prima donnas courting applausein spirit and in truth worship-in solemn silence and soul-subduing solitude worship the most high God in his temple not made with hands. There Lebanon. Carrying the lambs in the bosom. "His varied works of wonder shine, And loud declare the hand divine That made the day, and made the night, And mountains bathed in golden light, The ever-present God proclaim— Holy and reverend be his name!" Did you ever see a shepherd gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom? Often: and he will gently lead along the mothers, in those times when to overdrive them even for a single day would be fatal, as Jacob said to his brother when he wanted to get rid of him: "My lord knoweth that the flocks and herds with young are with me, and if men should overdrive them one day, 1 Isa. xl. 11. all the flock would die."1 This, by the way, proves that Jacob's flight was CHAPTER late in the autumn, when alone the flocks are in this condition. The same is XIV. implied in his immediately building booths at Succoth for their protection during the winter.2 vii. 14. Micah, perhaps, had noticed the flocks feeding in the wilderness somewhat Micah as you describe them along the slopes of Lebanon. He says, "Feed thy people with thy rod-the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old." 8 No doubt the reference is to the same thing. Large parts of Carmel, Bashan, and Gilead, are now covered with just such forests, which, at the proper season, are alive with countless flocks, which live upon the green leaves and tender branches. How do you explain the expression, "Feed-with thy rod?" The word signifies both to feed and to rule; and both ideas are natural. The The rod. shepherd invariably carries a staff or rod with him when he goes forth to feed his flock. It is often bent or hooked at one end, which gave rise to the shepherd's crook in the hand of the Christian bishop. With this staff he rules and guides the flock to their green pastures, and defends them from their enemies. With it, also, he corrects them when disobedient, and brings them back when wandering. This staff is associated as inseparably with the shepherd as the goad is with the ploughman. David, in the 4th verse of the 23d Psalm, has an extended reference to the shepherd and his kind offices, and among them is an allusion to this rod: "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me"-in every way in which these are employed by the good shepherd in the discharge of his office. And now the lights are out in the village, the shepherds are asleep by the side of their flocks, the tinkling bell from the fold falls faintly on the still night air, and the watch-dog bays drowsily from his kennel at the gate. Good night, fair world; 'tis time to seek repose, and "The timely dew of sleep, Now falling with soft slumb'rous weight, Let us first read, and meditate a while upon that delightful chapter in John, where our blessed Saviour appropriates all these characters of a good shepherd to himself. 1 Gen. xxxii. 13. 2 Gen. xxxiii. 17. 3 Micah vii. 14. 4 John x. 1-29. Morning. EITHER from association of ideas, or from the barking of dogs, the wailing of jackals, and the tinkling of bells, my head has been crowded with visions of shepherds, and flocks, and wild beasts, and wild Arabs, all night long. Then, ere it was fully light, the reality was before me, and I have been out watching an Oriental village wake into life as the morning comes on. There were some astir long before the dawn, loading donkeys and camels, and setting off as if going to market. Then came ploughmen, goad in hand, and plough and yoke on the shoulder, driving their tiny oxen afield. Later still, women and girls descended to the fountain with their "pitchers" to draw water; and as the sun rose over these dark mountains of Naphtali, the doors were thrown open, and forth from the folds poured thousands of goats, sheep, and young cattle, radiating in all directions, and spreading themselves over the hills in eager haste to crop their fragrant food while the dew lay upon it. The whole scene has been one of entire novelty in my experience. Shep herds' tents. Here, now, is another, equally novel, perhaps, and quite as agreeable. Salîm has placed our breakfast, smoking hot, on this great rock, that the muleteers, while we enjoy it, may strike the tent and prepare for marching. In a few minutes our tabernacle will disappear from its place entirely and for ever. It is to this that Hezekiah compares his life in the cutting off of his days: "Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent" 1 -suddenly and wholly, leaving not a trace behind. And such is life at the best and longest—a pilgrimage in tents soon to be struck, folded up, and vanish away, "till the heavens be no more." * [Neither Tibnîn nor Hunfn is a Scriptural name. They are or were strong fortresses, that figure in the history of the Crusades, and in later history. In this chapter we cross the boundary between Asher and Naphtali. Naphtali is remarkable for striking highland and sylvan scenery. The words of Jacob, "Naphtali is a hind let loose," have been also translated, "Naphtali is a spreading terebinth,"-quite the aspect of this district. Though the tribe of Naphtali was not a distinguished one, its territory was the scene of some great events, such as Abraham's defeat of the Mesopotamian kings, and Joshua's defeat of the confederate Canaanites of the north.-ED.] 1 Isa. xxxviii. 12. |