Subject:  The "other sheep" of John 10:16

Question:  Who are the "other sheep" of John 10:16?

Answer: 

Christ said:  "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:  them also I will bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and ONE shepherd:  (John 10:16).  "This fold" refers to Judah (the Jews) who were living in Palestine.  Christ came to His own (the Jews) and His own received Him not (John 1:11).  Christ was born of the tribe of Judah, but the Jews rejected Him saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14).

Who are the "other sheep" then?  The "other sheep" are the other tribes of Israel.  Israel (Jacob) had more than one son -- he had TWELVE sons!  The "other sheep" then are the descendants of the other eleven sons of Jacob.  Christ referred to them (the other tribes of Israel) as the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6).  The Jews referred to the other tribes of Israel as "the dispersed" among the Gentiles (John 7:35).  Israel and Judah became two separate nations (houses) during the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon's son.

For proof of where the other tribes of Israel were at that time and where they are today, read Mr. Armstrong's booklet "Europe & America in Prophecy.”  The "other sheep" of the lost tribes of Israel were not in Palestine.

Some have thought the Gentiles represent the other sheep.  Yet, it must be remembered that only the descendants of Jacob (Israel) are referred to as SHEEP in the entire Bible.  The Gentiles can obtain salvation through Christ but nationally they are never referred to as sheep (see Ephesians 2:11-13).

Ephesians 2:11-13
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Christ concluded by saying:  "And there shall be ONE fold, and ONE shepherd."  When will the house of Israel AND the house of Judah be ONE FOLD and have ONE KING and ONE SHEPHERD?  The prophet Ezekiel gives the answer (Ezekiel 37:22-23).  David, resurrected, will be that KING with Christ, the CHIEF SHEPHERD (verses 24-26). 

Ezekiel 37:22-28
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Ezekiel 34:23, Jeremiah 30:9, and Psalm 89:27 explain that David is to be RESURRECTED from the dead and made king. 

Ezekiel 34:23
And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

Jeremiah 30:9
But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Psalm 89:20, 27
20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

The resurrection from the dead occurs at Christ’s second coming to this earth (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Hebrews 11:13, 39-40; 1 Corinthians 15: 20-23, 50-53).  Christ will then establish the new covenant with the house of Israel AND the house of Judah (Hebrews 8:8; Jeremiah 31:31-33). 

Hebrews 8:8
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Jeremiah 31:31-33
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Thus, the "other sheep" are the other tribes of Israel that left the land of Palestine but who will return again along with Judah and come under the rule of Christ through the resurrected David (see Jeremiah 50: 4-6).

Jeremiah 50:4-6
4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

 
back to the top