450 Sheep Jump to Their Deaths in Turkey

sermonindex Jul 11, 2005

ISTANBUL, Turkey - First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported.In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned, Aksam reported."There's nothing we can do. They're all wasted," Nevzat Bayhan, a member of one of 26 families whose sheep were grazing together in the herd, was quoted as saying by Aksam.picture: Yahoo News

sermonindex Jul 12, 2005

were these possessed??? just like the swine in the bible? Or is this a wake up call ? :/

D

dohzman Jul 12, 2005

When I read this I thought the same thing, about the swine that is. But then as I read it I started thinking about scripture like the blind leading the blind. It seems that we have so many christians in the church who refuse to check out the scriptures for themselves, they seem content to just follow leaders without looking into God's word, Like the bereans who were more noble and searched dilingently to see if what Paul spoke was acturate. Story was interesting to say the least.

M

mtembezi Jul 12, 2005

Another angle:Praise God our Shepherd never leaves the flock––for breakfast or anything else! :-) Halelujah!

G

GaryE Jul 12, 2005

When loading animals, sometimes other animals are used to lead the rest of the animals up a ramp. The animals used to lead the others are called Judas Goats. The Judas Goat is used over and over to load other animals onto equiptment that is taking them to be butchered. Maybe the sheep just followed the first sheep like animals follow a Judas Goat.We had better follow the Shepherd and not other sheep.I'm not sure if Carter Conlon's sermon on wolves is on this site but his on hands experience with sheep and goats is very interesting to hear.In Christ,GaryE

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Petertutu Jul 12, 2005

Dohzman: I think you hit the nail on the head. Like Jesus always says; "follow me." In Christ

R

RobertW Jul 12, 2005

Some years ago I did a study of sheep in order to more fully understand how it plays out as we are often referred to as 'sheep' in scripture. One thing that sticks out as pertains to this case is that sheep are very "monkey see- monkey do" oriented. I learned that if a sheep were to be startled by something under his feet and jumped strait into the air- all would follow suit and begin jumping in the air also. If one sheep starts eating poison- they will all eat the poison. So on and so forth. I also learned that if a sheep were to somehow fall onto a ledge of a cliff or some other dangerous place the shepherd had to wait until the sheep wore down from not eating and was so weak it could no longer get up. If the shepherd tried to grab it- before then it would jump to its death. It is likely that the one sheep jumped for whatever reason and they just followed after like sheep to a slaughter. This is one of the reasons why sheep are sometimes called the dumbest and most defenseless animals on earth. They have no means of defending themselves whatsoever. They can't run away fast- they have no weapons, etc. It makes me think of the blind leading the blind and they all fall into a ditch. We need the Great Shepherd.

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GaryE Jul 12, 2005

Pastor Carter Conlon once owned sheep. In one of his sermons he tells of sheep they call fencers. They continually look for a way to get out of the fields they are fenced in. When they find a way they lead other sheep outside.In Numbers 35:27 the Word speaks about a border around the cities of refuge. As long as I'm in that border of Christ I'm safe, but if I follow some sheep outside that fence you can bet I'm in for trouble.In Christ,GaryE