The Lamb Redeemed

By Ray Eichenberger

New for Christmas, 2023.  A shepherd boy in Bethlehem is a participant in the awe and wonder of the night of the birth of Jesus.  All good Christmas stories end at the cross and the first Easter, and the same adult shepherd follows the ministry of Jesus, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and Pentecost.  This work employs humor, memorable characters, Biblical history, Scripture, and a salvation message to narrate the first Christmas, and the life and mission of Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Foot Racing Stables
• Release date: Nov 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223447818

Ray Eichenberger

Ray Eichenberger is a retired attorney, and lives in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.  Ray has a B.S. in Education from Miami University, a B.A. in HIstory from Miami University, and a Juris Doctor from Capital University.  Ray's hobbies are golf, travel, and racing and breeding standardbred horses for racing.  Ray is a Christian author with twenty books to his credit, including non-fiction Christian themes, and fictional works.  Ray can be contacted at [e-mail].

Book preview

PROLOGUE

A twelve year old boy named David looked up at the night sky and grinned to no one in particular.  He was feeling very important and full of himself at the moment, because his father had finally told him that he was old enough to begin working in the family business.

David’s forefathers were shepherds, going all the way back to his great, great, great grandparents and beyond.  In fact, David was named after one of the most famous shepherds of all, the shepherd boy of Israel who became its second king, King David.  Family legend stated that the boy David was distantly related to the famous David ruler, but the boy always thought that it was a family legend which could not quite be proven, and might in fact not have much truth to it.  David mused that if his family were indeed related to the Biblical king and his namesake, that they would be far wealthier in their lifestyle.

David was standing in the rolling hills outside of Bethlehem on this cold fall night in the Hebrew month of Tishri, the equivalent of our modern calendar September.  A high tower stood nearby, made of rocks, called Migdel Eder.  There were a few rock walls to protect the sheep and to provide them with some cover and safety, but much of the land was open fields.  A few caves also were nearby so that the shepherds and sheep alike could be protected from the elements if the weather was rainy or if it became freezing cold.  Mainly, the caves were used for another purpose though.

But, chiefly, David felt very important and mature because of the gravity of his job.  The vast flocks of sheep and lambs in the field were being raised and tended for very specific purposes.  Bethlehem stood on a series of hills about forty furlongs south of the city of Jerusalem, and King Herod’s Temple which stood in that Holy City.  The sheep in these fields had very specific uses.  Many of them, if they were free of blemish and physical defects, were destined to go the temple in Jerusalem and to become sacrifices used in the Temple rituals which worshipped and honored the one true God believed in by David’s family and the other Jews in the area.  The other sheep in the field were being raised as food for the nearby populations, and for the wool that they produced to make clothing.

The reign of Caesar over the occupied area of Israel, and the government of Herod on behalf of Rome kept nearly half a million people living in the area of Jerusalem.  And, those half a million people and their families needed sheep to offer as sacrifices for the Passover season, the other ritual holidays of celebration declared by God, and to atone for the sins of the Jewish people.  Sacrifices had to be made at the Temple in Jerusalem at the altar of God and under the supervision of the Priests of the Temple.  As a result, Bethlehem, due to its close proximity to Jerusalem, had become the center of the sheep raising activities in order to provide the animals needed for the Temple sacrifices.

As David’s wandering mind proudly reviewed the importance and necessity of his job, and his newly respected position in life of finally being old enough to care for the sheep, there was a sudden movement of the flocks put in his charge, bleating cries from the sheep, and a terrifying wail coming from one of the young lambs.  David had quickly learned that a young sheep in danger sounded amazingly like a human baby when crying- a loud waaaaa or baaaaa which could be heard a far distance over the sparse grass of the rolling hillsides.

David was jolted back to his reality in the dark gloom of the night, and he ran towards the agitated flocks and the terrifying screams of the young lamb.  The sounds of plaintive bleating filled the grassy knoll, and, as he ran, David immediately recognized what had occurred.

One of the newest lambs, already deemed worthy to be sacrificed in the temple as a perfect specimen, was in the jaws of a large wolf, who had begun his exit from the area of the sheepfolds and was making a beeline for the untended hills with his prized catch and dinner.  David caught a glimpse of the terrible red hue of blood as the wounds of the young lamb already soaked the swaddling clothes he was wearing.

David cursed under his breath as he ran towards the wolf, or at least uttered the words which he believed that his father and older brothers spoke when they were exasperated and upset.  As he ran, the young boy also looked up to the tower of Migdel Eder, where there were supposed to be older shepherds who also kept watch over all of the fields from their lofty posts in the sky.  As he chased after the wolf and its intended prey, the more experienced backups atop the tower were nowhere to be found.

CHAPTER ONE

Isaac, David’s father, was a man in his late forties.  He had four other sons, exclusive of David, and a lone daughter, Sara.  Isaac used to joke that his life was almost exactly like that of the patriarch Jacob in the Bible- he was blessed with many sons, but missed the blessing of many daughters.

As he always taught his children, shepherding was the family business for hundreds of years, maybe even more.  He was a shepherd because his father was a shepherd, his grandfather was a shepherd, and his great grandfather was a shepherd.  Isaac’s wife, Ruth, always proclaimed that sheep were in the family blood- and that their aroma followed the family everywhere that they went.

Tending over and keeping the lambs and sheep to be used in the sacrifices in the great Temple in Jerusalem was a very important job.  These shepherds were honored by some as being thought of almost as assistant priests with a specific holy mission.  But, in reality, the priests and assistants from Jerusalem were the supervisors of the operation and came out to Migdel Eder almost daily.  David and his family were a step above ordinary shepherds due to their more prestigious duties, but they were still only shepherds to most of Israeli society.

Isaac and twelve year old David stood at the top of a small hill overlooking the sheepfolds and fields surrounding the tower of Migdel Eder.  Isaac had a very serious expression on his face, but David’s face was full of excitement and expectation- his brothers had told him that they were sent out into the sheep fields to work when they were David’s age.  But, the older brothers also teased him quite often that he was too small, too clumsy, and too bothersome to ever be trained in the family business.

Isaac put his hand on David’s shoulder and began what in the family was affectionately and somewhat reverently known as the talk.  The content of the speech had not changed much in his family from generation to generation for hundreds of years.  Isaac began his comments by invoking Israeli and local history.  David, our forefather Jacob, the patriarch of Israel, came to these very fields during his lifetime.  It was a tragic time for him.  His favorite wife, Rachel, had just died in child birth, when she bore his last child, Benjamin.  The Torah says that Jacob pitched his tents and settled himself on the other side of the tower Edar.  Always understand that God gave this land to us through Jacob.  As he ended, Isaac pointed to the rock tower, Eder, which loomed overhead where they were standing.

Isaac continued, Son, you are now twelve years old, and it is time that you become involved in the family business.  Isaac immediately noted the look of glee and joy on David’s face, and at once said, This is not fun and games.  This is a serious and dangerous occupation.  Our family livelihood depends on keeping these lambs and sheep safe, so that they can either be sold as sacrifices in the Temple, raised for their wool, or provided to families for food.  Your mother and I, your brothers, and your sister depend on the money from the animals for our very existence.

Isaac’s tone became even graver.  More importantly, we do a great service to God here in these fields by carefully choosing and inspecting the young lambs for sacrifice in the Temple.  You have been taught since you were little that the sacrificial lambs need to be the firstborn and free from blemish or other defects in their bodies.  We keep careful birth records here, and the young lambs are quickly inspected for their suitability to be taken to the Temple.

Isaac then steered David over to one of the caves that were in the area of the hills outside of Bethlehem.  The father and son entered a cave, which was empty in the early morning dawn and in this month because it was not time for the sheep to lamb, and looked at the working area of the cavernous room.  Mangers were scattered throughout the cave at various spots in the large room, and by each manger a wooden table or rock platform stood which bore strips of clean and pure clothing which were free from dirt or stain. 

The mangers were normally meant to be feeding troughs for animals.  They were pedestals hewn from rock, and were tall enough for a man to comfortably put feed into them, but not so tall that an animal could not reach the food with his mouth.  Each manger was constructed so that the top of the pedestal was a hewn and fashioned large looking bowl, which could hold the hay or grain used to feed the animals

Isaac took David over to one of the manger pedestals and the tables.  Each year during lambing season, this room is busy with activity.  Only the first born lambs are brought into the cave for sorting, as God has commanded us in the Torah.  Each lamb is small enough that they are placed into the feeding trough of the manger, where an experienced shepherd carefully inspects the individual animals under the supervision of a priest to see if they have any blemishes or defects.  Lambs which don’t pass this test are taken out of the cave and sent back to the fields to be raised for food or to be wool producers.

When the lamb passes this inspection, the shepherd takes the cloth strips that you see on these tables, and carefully wraps the limbs and body of the lambs in the linen.

David was listening intently, and interrupted his father to ask him a question.  What’s the purpose of the swaddling clothes then, Father?  Why do they have to be wrapped like that?

Isaac smiled and was impressed at the interest that his youngest son was showing as he listened to the talk.

It is believed that the act of swaddling the lambs in the cloth protects them from being damaged or injured when they are returned to the field.  It’s also a way for all of us shepherds to distinguish the sacrificial lambs from the food and wool lambs, as they are all ultimately returned to the field and they all graze and live together.

Isaac paused to determine the interest of his youngest son in the information, and was pleased to discover that David was still fascinated by the lesson.

He continued, The lambs can also be hurt, injured or attacked while they are grazing in the fields, and I have always been told that it is hoped that the swaddling clothes serve to protect the bodies of the lamb from injury and blemishing mark as well.

Isaac was only in the middle of the talk, but paused to ask his son, Do you have any other questions before we start to discuss your duties and what you will be doing with the sheep?

David had a million things rolling through his head at all of this information, but he carefully chose his questions so as not to exasperate or annoy his father.  He asked, I have never understood or heard anyone explain.  When our lambs and sheep are out in the field, how do we tell them apart and identify them from the animals owned by other families?

Isaac quickly replied, "Each sheep bears an identifying mark, a kind of a brand unique to our family, and the swaddling clothes can bear the mark of the family as well.  You have seen the sheep in the field.  We try to keep our animals within the confines of our own sheepfold which is separated from the fields of other families