Scottish pastor and theologian, Herbert Lockyer, wrote a 21-volume “All” series (ie. All the Angels in the Bible, All the Apostles in the Bible, All the 2s in the Bible, etc.) An interesting study for someone might be to locate all the animals of the Bible. This is one that Lockyer didn’t write. If you like the zoo, you would love a study like that. An article about one particular animal sparked my interest so I decided to investigate to discover which animal appeared the most in the pages of Scripture. What do you think?
Lions? Fish? Eagles? Doves? Goats? Snakes? All of these get honorable mentions as having numerous appearances in the Bible. However, the animal that gets the most mentions is sheep (sheep, ewe, lamb, ram). There are at least 565 references to this animal.
Sheep have some unique features. For instance, on average a sheep will produce about 10 pounds of wool per year, however, it can range from 2 to 30 pounds, depending on the breed. According to the International Textile Wool Organization, that is enough wool to produce “six sweaters, three suit and trouser combinations, or the fabric to cover one large sofa…Australia, China and New Zealand are the top three producers of wool.”1
Look at a photo of a sheep and notice their pupils. While ours are oval, theirs are rectangular and that’s the reason you cannot easily sneak up on sheep. This is a defensive mechanism, allowing them to see 270-320 degrees peripherally. Humans with their oval pupils have 160-180 degrees of peripheral vision. God certainly knew what he was doing to protect them!
Sheep have played a significant role in genetic studies. Dolly the Sheep was the first mammal cloned from one cell of another sheep. Dolly made the news in 1986, proving that a single cell contained all the genetic mapping information to produce another of its kind. It also started a firestorm of ethical and moral debate. Dolly was oblivious to it as she munched some grass in a pasture somewhere.
“In a 2017 study conducted by the University of Cambridge, researchers showed sheep pictures of various celebrities such as Barack Obama and Emma Watson. The animals were then shown the images alongside similar-looking people as well as images of the celebrities taken at various angles. In the end, the sheep were able to successfully identify the celebrity they’d been trained to recognize eight out of 10 times.”2 I’m not really sure why this study was conducted nor what value it could offer. Cambridge, though, was quite excited about this discovery.
Typically, sheep have received a lot of derogatory insults. They’re stupid and lack intelligence. They’re easily led astray. They follow the leader. They’re easily spooked. They always have their heads down. They go the wrong way when you try to corral them.
Interestingly, studies have been done that have debunked most of these stereotypical myths. I’m glad for that, especially since the Lord compared us to sheep. At least six times, the Bible records a familiar phrase as found in Psalms 95:7. “For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand…”
John 10 is the Sheep and Shepherd passage of Scripture. Consider some select passages from this chapter. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (2) But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. (4) And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice…(7) Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep…(9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture…(11) I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep…(14) I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (15) As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. (16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one 
fold, and one shepherd…(27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (30) I and my Father are one.”
When we see a pasture full of sheep, try to push from your mind the ways we usually think about sheep and remember these passages of Scripture.
“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (21) Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)
1https://iwto.org/sheep-wool/
2https://interestingfacts.com/sheep-facts/
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