Sheep for the Slaughter

Lamb

So he had them into the slaughter house, where a butcher was killing a sheep. And behold the sheep was quiet, and took her death patiently. Then said the Interpreter, “You must learn of this sheep to suffer and to put up wrongs without murmurings and complaints. Behold how quietly she takes her death; and without objecting, she suffers her skin to be pulled over her ears. Your King doth call you his sheep.”

Notes and Commentary

The Interpreter continues to instruct the pilgrims by taking them into the slaughter house. There they saw a sheep being butchered, yet “the sheep was quiet, and took her death patiently.” The sheep signifies several important truths from God’s Word.

1. The sheep signifies Christ.

Jesus came to suffer and die for His people, “to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). When Isaiah prophecies of Christ’s crucifixion in the Old Testament, he compares Christ to a lamb being led to the slaughter. He faced His suffering willingly, without murmurings or complaints. He was oppressed, afflicted, and stricken, “yet He opened not His mouth.”

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
(Isaiah 53:7–8)

Continue Reading Notes and Commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress is public domain.
Image above created from Unsplash

Notes and Commentary for Part II ©2014, 2023 Ken Puls

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from 
the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc
.

Return to A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress Part 2

Rest in Christ

Road through Autumn Trees

Pages from My Prayer Book

Over the past many years, I have compiled a Prayer Book. It includes people I remember in prayer (family, church members, students and colleagues at the college where I teach), lyrics to songs (songs I have written, songs I find meaningful), Scripture passage (for meditation and memorization), as well as other notes and quotes.

One of the pages I visit often is an encouragement to learn patience and rest in Christ. On the page is a list of truths to remember (and preach to myself!) when facing difficult and uncertain times. I wrote down the list many years ago while taking notes in a Sunday School class. I don’t remember the date, but the class was taught by Steve Garrick when my family and I were at Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas.

The notes have been valuable in pointing me many times back to God’s Word. In the uncertain times we face today, I hope you find them valuable as well.

Rest in Christ

Help me, Lord, to grow in patience and longsuffering, to learn more and more to rest in Christ.

Help me to remember:

  1.  God is absolutely sovereign. I must trust Him fully and not lean on my own understanding.
  2. God is always good—always. I must look to the cross and remember: He loves me and will do everything needed to complete the good work begun in me.
  3. God gave me my life for His glory, not the pursuit of my own pleasure. I must walk in contentment, submissive to His will.
  4. God never reveals my future or explains His decrees. I must walk by faith and not by sight.
  5. God hold me responsible for all my thoughts, actions, and reactions. I must walk in humble obedience to His Word. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22–23).

Here is a link to a PDF of the page from my Prayer Book.

Find more writing and resources from Ken Puls