The shepherds are to keep watch over their assemblies of believers or churches just as Adam and Eve were to guard the borders of the Garden of Eden. As the Kingdom of Yahweh God was within the borders of the Garden, the Kingdom of Yahweh God is within the border of each individual believer and each assembly, gathering or church of individual believers. As Adam and Eve were to keep predators away by continually eating from the Tree of Life, which is Yeshua Jesus and the pure Word of God, and by keeping their covenant with God, the shepherds of the churches are to guard against predators by continually eating and feeding their flock the
Tree of Life, Yeshua and the pure Word of God, and by guarding their covenant with God of the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua Jesus on the cross and their testimony of it.
Adam and Eve failed in their mission to guard the borders of the Garden and allowed the serpent Satan in because of their disbelief in the Word of Yahweh God and the covenant they had made with Him. The Apostles continually warn about this happening yet again; they warn about these coming predators, often referred to as vipers, snakes and wolves throughout the New Testament. The Apostle Paul says:
"...keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock." Acts 20: 24-29
Yeshua Jesus warns:
"watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Matt 7:15
The Apostles describe the strategies that these false shepherds, wolves and snakes will use to cause deception.
The Apostle Paul says:
"...and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." Acts 20:30
"I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause division and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them." Romans 16:17
The Apostle Peter says:
"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them..." 2 Peter 2:1
Timothy says these predators "...having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." 2 Tim 3:5
In Yeshua Jesus' letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation, Yeshua speaks of what some of the false shepherds and wolves look like. Yeshua says he hates the Nicolaitans. Nikos in Greek means triumph or dominance (as in the Nike sporting goods line). Laos means people in Greek and laiton means laity. It is speaking of when the overseers or shepherds of the church use their position to oppress other members of the church. The Apostle Peter speaks of this:
"Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock." 1 Peter 5:2
Yeshua also talks about the church coming under the influence of the woman Jezebel. Yeshua says:
"Nevertheless, I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols...now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets." Rev 2:20
The Jezebel teaching is the mixing together of the pure Word of God with the teaching of mystery Babylon and the occult: the mixing together of the Tree of Life (the good fig tree) with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (the bad fig tree).
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