Goats

I’ve mentioned that my Dad raised Suffolk sheep while I was growing up and I experienced some challenges as a “volunteer” helper. Today, I was considering the application of the parable of the Talents when I saw the Final Judgement section in Matthew directly thereafter.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” - Matthew 25:31-46 ESV

This made me think about a combined flock of sheep and goats.  Often, I’d have to help my Dad corral the sheep to do something to some of them…worming, castrating, de-tailing them, separating the pregnant ewes so that they could be put in a pen to birth, etc.  It was always challenging because they didn’t know why we needed to separate them even though most of the time it was for their ultimate benefit. My Dad would say, often, that if he could only get one sheep up the ramp, the rest would follow without reservation.

How much harder would it have been if there were goats and sheep grazing together to separate them?  We had a goat at one point (in fact, I have a goat now) and I can tell you that goats and sheep don’t think or act the same.  Sheep, in my assessment, are much more of a herd thinking animal than I imagine from my limited goat experience. Goats appear much more independent in thought and action than sheep.

Taking this Anthropomorphism (attributing human behaviors to animals) to the next level, it would be extremely difficult to separate a group that included both independent thinkers and group followers.  The independent thinkers would go against what the herder wanted and the group thinkers wouldn’t know who to follow. 

This must have been implied in the Matthew passage. Even through the separation might be difficult, if the prescribed action is different between the two groups, the need to separate them necessitated the effort.

Praise God, he chose me to be among the sheep and not the goats.