Bible Question:

In John 10:16 Jesus said, “I have other sheep, too, in another fold. I must bring them also. ” Where is that other fold?

Bible Answer:

John 10 is a favorite chapter for those who believe in Jesus Christ because in this chapter Jesus said, “I am the door” (v. 9),  “I am the good shepherd” (v. 14), and ” I lay down My life for the sheep” (v. 15). When He made these last two statements, He declared that He alone is a good shepherd and all other shepherds are self-centered. He alone would die for His sheep.

Then in John 10:16, Jesus announced,

I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. John 10:16 (NASB)

Jesus refers to two flocks. One flock He calls “this fold,” and the other flock is the “other sheep.”  He said, “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.” So, who are the other sheep not of this fold?

Other Sheep I Have Which Are Not of This Fold

Other Sheep I Have Which Are Not of This Fold

 

The Old Testament helps us identity the other flock. An important clue is given to us in the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3). For God promised Abraham that,

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. Genesis 12:3b (NASB)

Abraham was a Gentile and not a Jew when God made this announcement. Later he would become the father of Ishmael and Isaac (1 Chronicles 1:28). Ishmael had twelve sons (Genesis 25:12-16). He was the ancestral father of the Arabs who lived in the northeast (Genesis 16:11-12; 28:9; 37:25; Psalm 83:5-8). Isaac was the father of Jacob, the ancestral father of the twelve sons of Israel. God renamed Jacob as Israel (Genesis 32:28). The point of this lengthy explanation is that Abraham was a Gentile and the forefather of both the Arabs and Jews. So, when God promised that all the families of the earth will be blessed in Abraham, that included everyone, not just Israelites. That is, it included every Gentile.

Isaiah 49:6 adds that Israel was supposed to be God’s light to the nations so that all the nations of the earth would be saved. That included and still includes all Jews and Gentiles.

I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6 (NASB)

In the New Testament, Romans 9:24-26 quotes Hosea 2:23, which states that God called people from among the Jews and Gentiles to be saved. That is why God sent His prophet Jonah to preach to the Ninevites, and they responded, repented, and were saved from destruction.

This helps us identify the “other sheep, which are not of this fold.” They are Gentiles who were and would become believers in Jesus because Jesus was speaking to some Pharisees. When Jesus said, “they will become one flock with one shepherd,” that means every believing Jew and every believing Gentile would become one flock. That is, they would all become saints and have eternal life.

The next chapter, John 11, contains a prophecy about the two flocks of sheep. In John 11:49-52, Caiaphas, the high priest, said that it would be good for Jesus to not only die for the nation Israel, but for the other nations. The Jewish perspective was that there were only Jews and Gentiles. Caiaphas did not know that he had just prophesied by the Holy Spirit.

And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.  John 11:51-52 (NASB)

Notice that in John 10:16, Jesus said that there will be only one shepherd and only one flock. There will not be two folds but only one! There is not a shepherd for Jews and another one for the Gentiles. Romans 9 tells us that there is only one flock or fold – “My People.”

And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.” Romans 9:23-26 (NASB)

Who are the other sheep not of this fold? The other sheep are the believing Gentiles, or Christian Gentiles.

Conclusion:

Jesus is the Great Shepherd of the sheep – our Friend of friends.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21 (NASB)

Suggested Links:

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd
What is the Abrahamic Covenant? — Genesis 12:1-3