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.
About Jesus
55-0612 §88
You see the man's got a trumpet in his ear; let's bow our heads just a minute. I don't know; it's a deaf spirit on him. There may be other things; that I can't say. Let's bow our heads and no one look up 'till I--you hear my voice saying, "Look up," now, because this has to be driven out. So keep your heads bowed. And just wait here. Do you believe with all your heart? Our heavenly Father, in the Name of the Lord Jesus bless this man who I bless in Thy Name, and may this evil spirit that's trying to take his life,...
Questions and Answers
61-1015M §39
In other words, like this. If you look out here, here this morning, that's what I'm doing. Now, sheep will only grow as you give them sheep food. Now, if you'd fry up a big hamburger and give it to a sheep, he couldn't grow on that, because, see, that's not sheep food, see. And if I would fry up or have a nice T-bone steak fixed up, and give it over to a sheep, it's not sheep food. He just couldn't eat it, that's all, because he's a sheep. But sheep like sheep food. Well, then, when you're to feed the flock of God,...
The Easter Seal
65-0410 §39
But you know, one day ... his mother knew that she had laid an egg. There had to be a child somewhere. So she throwed her big wings into the winds, and she searched and she searched, screaming to the top of her voice. One day she passed over the barnyard. Then when this little eagle heard this familiar scream... He'd never heard it before, but he realized that it fit him like a glove over a hand and he knew that was his mother. She knew that was her son. She was looking for him. So has God in every age ordained his...
Convinced then concerned
62-0118 §23
Now, you that like to take the texts, or wants to read in the Scriptures with us, if you will turn in your Bibles to St. John, the 1st chapter, I want to read quite a portion of the Word out of St. John, the 1st chapter. And now we're going to begin with the 15th verse of St. John, the 1st chapter. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. And the law wa...
Hear ye Him
60-0712 §16
...And if the Lord willing, I want to use, or draw a context, from them last three words of fifth verse: "Hear Ye Him." Three words. Like I said last evening, these are very small texts, but it's all that we to know. It's of value. If we'll just do as this little text bids us to do, there will not be one disappointed person in this building tonight. Just hear ye Him. Whatever He says do, you do it. And then, if you're sick, hear ye Him. If you're sinful, hear ye Him. If you need something, hear ye Him. He has all that...