Jehovah-Rohi
Jehovah-rohi means Jehovah my Shepherd.
The term Ro'eh meant to feed or lead to pasture, as a shepherd does his flock. Ro'eh is used in relationship to rulers and their people. Ro'eh is also translated "companion" or "friend" with the idea of intimately sharing life, food and the like. It signifies to associate with, take pleasure in and to cherish something as treasured. Though not a direct name of God, the description is one of the most intimate and heartfelt in all of Scripture.
Psalm 23:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
God's tireless care looking over the welfare of His people throughout the day and in sleepless nights was related in Jacob's care of Laban's sheep in the fields (Genesis 31:37-40). God's watchful eye and constant protection even in the face of danger are depicted in David going up against the lion and the bear to protect his father's sheep (I Samuel 17:34-37). Here, in unaided combat against the wild beasts (except for the aid of his heavenly Father), and later against Goliath, David showed himself to be resolute, resourceful and strong. This is Jesus on the cross, and thereafter as our good shepherd, fighting for those He would redeem.
Isaiah 40:10-11
Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Our good shepherd is both strong and gentle. He has both collective and individual relationship with us, calling us each by name. Thus, each of His people can say that Jehovah is my shepherd.
Ezekiel 34:11-16 (esp. v. 15-16)
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
"Shepherding does not change much in Palestine where wild beasts may descend still upon unprotected sheep and suddenly destroy them. The Palestine shepherd lives night and day with his animals. He establishes a degree of intimacy with them that is touching to observe. He calls them all by their names and they, knowing his voice and hearing his only, heed. He protects the sheep from thieves and preying animals who would devour them at night, by sleeping in the opening of the often makeshift sheepfold and they, sensing his watchfulness, fear 'no evil.' He provides pasture and water even in the wilderness and the presence of enemies, and they, casting all their anxiety upon him, are fed. There is a singular communion between the shepherd and his sheep which, after one has visited Palestine and observed it, makes the symbol of the good Shepherd peculiarly apt and the Twenty-third Psalm strangely moving."
- Harriet Louise Holland Patterson in Around the Mediterranean with My Bible
John 10:1-18 (esp. v. 11-17)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
We have now come to understand that everything the shepherd is with his sheep, our Jehovah Rohi is with us, His people. This intimate relationship with the shepherd is the greatest privilege that the sheep have. It is what Jesus made available to us through the cross, taking our sin and removing hostility. You do not follow or obey a voice that you do not recognize. To know our Jehovah Rohi and His voice, as the sheep know the shepherd and his voice, we must have long, abiding and ongoing time in His presence to become familiar with His voice so that like wandering sheep we might not go astray. Jesus is the shepherd of Isaiah 40 who gently leads those with young ones, the good shepherd of Ezekiel 34 who goes looking for the lost sheep. It is the message of reconciliation that marks His life as He brings those He loves back home, into His fold. The gospel is entrusted to His under-shepherds, those who've come to know Him, to do the same.
Revelation 7:15-17
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017