'
So Israelites who are saved have a shepherd and Gentiles who are saved don't. OK, if that's what you want to believe. Because Jesus didn't ever stop being a shepherd.
Notice something about TF's theology? I've read them here for these many pages.
TF won't answer a direct question with a direct answer. They answer a question with a question so as to obfuscate the fact they're not telling you what they believe. They're appointing the converse argument to what you show them you believe.
If you read through this thread you'll see they've been thought to be Calvinist and followers of other doctrines as well.
Some argue Jesus wasn't sent to save Gentiles but only the lost Jews. This due to what is in Matthew 15.
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith
21 After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A[
x]
Canaanite woman from that area came[
y] and cried out,[
z] “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” 23 But he did not answer her a word. Then[
aa] his disciples came and begged him,[
ab] “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.” 24 So[
ac] he answered,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and bowed down[
ad] before him and said,[
ae] “Lord, help me!” 26 “It is not right[
af] to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,”[
ag] he said.[
ah] 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied,[
ai] “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then[
aj] Jesus answered her, “
Woman,[ak] your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
What separated the pagans aka Gentiles from God's sheep? Circumcision. Gentiles were not those sheep because they were not in circumcision/covenant. Ah, but don't dare think that means Jesus came to save just the Jews as some would hope to teach you. The first "Christians" were Jews. That doesn't remove the Gentiles from God's plan of salvation though. No, not at all.
Remember Paul's teaching about the circumcision of the heart. )
(Here's a fun tidbit. Atheists most commonly, and others of course, insist America was not grounded in any way in Christian/Biblical values from our inception, founding, as a country. In 2020 America, unless you note it on your intake form when in labor, your male child is circumcised. Not to establish God's covenant as in the OT but for health reasons. Still....)
A Covenant Established with Abraham
For the Jews, circumcision was more than a rite of passage. For them it was a sign of their covenant with God. Circumcision marked them as the chosen people – God’s special treasure.
Others in their time practiced circumcision, particularly in Egypt. But it seems that
only for Israel did it have the significance of marking a covenant relationship with their national deity.
Shortly before Isaac was born, God directed Abraham to circumcise all the males of his household, including himself, Ishmael, and his servants (
Gen. 17:1-14). This was to be an ongoing practice.
Every male born into his family was to be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth.
During their stay in Egypt, the Jews became deeply immersed in Egyptian culture and religious practice (
Jos. 24:14). And along with that,
the practice of circumcision likely fell by the wayside. But the practice was renewed on the banks of the Jordan shortly after Israel crossed the river – but before beginning the conquest of Canaan (
Jos. 5:2-9).
Genesis 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan—the land where you are now residing[
v]—to you and your descendants after you as a permanent[
w] possession. I will be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep[
x] the covenantal requirement[
y] I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep:[
z] Every male among you must be circumcised.[
aa] 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder[
ab] of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old[
ac] must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 13 They must indeed be circumcised,[
ad] whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant[
ae] will be visible in your flesh as a permanent[
af] reminder. 14 Any uncircumcised male[
ag] who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off[
ah] from his people—he has failed to carry out my requirement.”[
ai]
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai;[
aj] Sarah[
ak] will be her name. 16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations.[
al] Kings of countries[
am] will come from her!”
17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed[
an] as he said to himself,[
ao] “Can[
ap] a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old?[
aq] Can Sarah[
ar] bear a child at the age of ninety?”[
as] 18 Abraham said to God, “O that[
at] Ishmael might live before you!”[
au]
(Continued below)