Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. 1 Corinthians 9.13, 14

Here the Apostle Paul makes use of the ancient laws concerning priests and Levites to establish a principle of right order for local churches. We will note two aspects of this principle. The first is the need for God’s people to have shepherds to watch over their souls.

From the beginning of the Christian movement it was important that shepherds be established in the churches, men appointed to the ministry of the Word and the care of the souls of God’s people. Called, variously, “elders”, “overseers”, or “pastors and teachers”, these men – and they were all men – were identified, trained, ordained, and established as possessing divine authority and responsibility for the care of the Lord’s flocks.

Jesus Himself led the way in this by choosing twelve apostles and teaching them what was necessary for the right shepherding of His people. Upon His departure and the pouring out of the Spirit, the Christian movement grew rapidly, thus creating the need for more capable shepherds in the flocks which were coming into being throughout the Roman world.

Paul saw divine sanction for this work in the laws establishing the office of shepherd in ancient Israel. God knew that His chosen and saved people would continue to need pastoral oversight in order to live within the framework of His covenant. He had also foretold the coming of a Good Shepherd Who would bring other shepherds with Him to continue this important work of blessing and growing the flocks of the Lord (Ezek. 34; Jer. 23).

Thus Paul saw divine sanction for the work of shepherds, such as himself, and for the authority they bore, ordained by God, to minister among the people for their edification and blessing (cf. 1 Cor. 16.15, 16; 1 Thess. 5.12, 13). As surely as the Law of God established the institution of pastoral leadership and oversight in ancient Israel, so that same Law, now fulfilled and clarified in Jesus Christ, established the role of pastors as shepherds in the flocks of God within the New Covenant.

The religious laws of ancient Israel, though brought to an end through our Lord Jesus Christ, yet continue to speak to us concerning the right ordering of God’s flocks so that they might love Him and their neighbors.

T. M. Moor

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