John 10:8 All That Ever Came Before Me Are Thieves and Robbers: but the Sheep Did Not Hear Them.?
Jesus is saying He alone is the Door and the true Shepherd, and every one who tries to lead God’s people without coming through Him and His Word is a thief and a robber. The true sheep don’t follow such voices.
Now notice the context. The Bible says, “He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). Then He declares, “I am the door” (John 10:7,9) and “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). So when He says, “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers,” He is not condemning the prophets God sent, because those prophets pointed to Him. He Himself said, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39), and, “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). John the Baptist was also sent from God (John 1:6–8). So who are the thieves and robbers? Those who “climb up some other way”—self-appointed leaders, false messiahs, and religious systems that bypass Christ the Door and the revealed Word. That’s exactly what the Lord rebuked in passages like Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34—shepherds who feed themselves and scatter the flock.
“You see,” the proof that the sheep are God’s own is this: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). The elect have an ear for the Word; they won’t be carried by strange voices. Christ leads by His Word and Spirit. Anyone who draws attention to himself, adds another door, or offers life apart from the new birth through Christ is robbing the flock.
Simple logic makes it plain. The same Lord who affirmed Moses and the Scriptures would not call His own sent servants thieves. The “all” of John 10:8 is qualified by the context—“all” who came another way, not through the Door.
Clear conclusion: John 10:8 exalts the exclusiveness of Christ as the only Door and exposes every leader or system that bypasses Him as theft and robbery. The true sheep do not hear them; they follow the Shepherd’s voice in the Word.
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Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The sign of this time
63-1113 §68
You know, "Faith cometh by hearing, hearing the Word of God." Not hearing that we're Methodist, Baptist, of Pentecostals; but hearing the Word of God, see. "Faith cometh by hearing." And when she would hear, hunger set in. Well, now, she decided, that after she had heard all this, before she would say anything about it, that she would go see for herself before she passed her comments. Oh, wouldn't that be nice if we'd all do that? See? Though no doubt that she got up many scrolls, the Bible, of the prophets, of wha...
Thirsting for Life
57-0613 §96
All right, would you come, son? What do you want God to do for you, sir? Nerves... He has thirty percent loss of hearing, and real nervous. Let us bow our heads, will you, and pray. Blessed Lord, Thou can give him his hearing, and Thou can take the nervousness away from him. If You could stop a nervous sea one night, You said, "Peace, be still." The winds and the waves obeyed You. God, grant that the nervousness leave this man's body and his hearing is restored normal. I ask this blessing in Jesus Christ's name. Am...
Do you now believe?
54-0725 §50
Bow your heads just a moment, will you? Reverent. Almighty God, a deaf spirit moving over this woman... It's the enemy's business to do this: cause her to be killed. But Thou art here to deliver her. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing of the Word. She cannot ... she cannot hear; how could faith come? I ask that You deliver the woman. Come out of her, Satan. I adjure thee to leave the woman; in the name of Jesus Christ, leave her. Can you hear me? Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? I'm just a whisper. You're he...
God's Provided Way
53-0613 §19
He likened here ... He said to the prophet, "All we like sheep have gone astray." I like that. God likened us unto sheep. I wonder why? Anybody ever raise any sheep? Well, you know that a sheep is the most helpless thing in the world when it's lost. It just can't find its way home at all. Is that right, sheep-raisers? And I've helped raise them myself, out on the Western prairies. And herded them a many. But, notice! A sheep when it's lost ... when he's lost, he'll just stand and bleat. That's all. The wolves will...
The Good Shepherd of the sheep
57-0308 §4
Now, we're going to read tonight, the Lord willing, for just a little text, maybe the Lord give us a context, out of the Gospel of Saint John the 10th chapter. I want to read the 7th and the 14th verses of Saint John 10: And Jesus said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. And in the 14th verse: I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of them. Now if you notice how that 7th verse read: ... Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. And over her...