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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What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Shepherd of the sheepfold
56-0403 §36
And that's the way the human race is: We are absolutely, totally, helpless without the Shepherd of the fold. We can't find our way back. We've tried to educate our way back; we've tried to reform our way back; but we will never be able. Education will never do it. Reformation will never do it. We're not reformers. The police out here are reformers. We're preachers of the Gospel. Not to try to put people on penalty and crawl on your knees and so forth, but to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ: deliverance to the peo...
Make the valley full of ditches
52-0719 §24
Now the anointing of the Holy Spirit is on me. See? Now It is. I don't know how long I'm going to stand tonight, because it--that weakened me. But now there isn't a thing but what our heavenly Father could not reveal at this minute, friend. That's exactly true. All right. Bring the--bring the lady on and let her--let her come. All right. The first thing, I want you to believe with all your heart that God is here present to make known His deeds among the people. You believe now? All right. The woman... There's a dea...
The Good Shepherd of the sheep
57-0308 §7
...his sheep real well, it's hard to tell the difference between the bleating of a goat and of a sheep. They're a whole lot alike. But the nature of them proves what they are. That's the way with confessed Christians and real Christians. The goat represents the world. They'll lead you right down the wrong road to your eternal separation from God. They'll lead you into trouble. So, if we are sheep, we better watch what kind of shepherd we got. Sheep are funny little creatures in one way. Here's another thing we might l...
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision
49-0718 §30
Bow your head every one now. Be in prayer, all of you. Bring your--your patient... Look here, friend. Just a minute... Oh, this little boy is afflicted. That's because he had polio... Is that what makes him walk like that?... Spastic. All right. Now, do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ can make this little boy to walk normally? You do? Oh, he... All right. I want you to believe with all your heart now. Now, the little boy is--doesn't speak, or hear, or walk right. He doesn't walk right. He just swings his lit...
Why it had to be shepherds
64-1221 §67
Notice, He said, "As the Father sent me, so send I you." The Father that sent Him, went in Him to confirm the Word. And the same Jesus that sends His people, goes in the people that He sends; that's saying, "The works that I do, shall you do also." Sure, He prayed that we might be one; one with Him, not one with an organization. Not one with a system, but one with God. For God and His Word is one, and Jesus and God was one, and you and I and the Word must be one. That's right. We must be one in agreement with the W...