The Goat.
IN the eleventh chapter, of the book of Leviticus we read, “And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, . . . that shall ye eat.” If we examine the goat, we shall find that he is, according to this Scripture, a clean animal, therefore was in much request among the Israelites, both for food, and for sacrifice. The land of Canaan was a land of “valleys and hills,” and on the steep crags of those hills the goats delighted to feed, while the quieter sheep were content to feed on the soft grass of the valleys. The sheep and goats never mixed together, while the, former would follow the shepherd in the pathway, and were glad of his help over rocks or holes, the venturesome goat never remained upon the road, but climbed and skipped on the highest and most dangerous places he could find. Often at nightfall, the shepherd would lead his flocks into one of the large, lonely caves in the mountains, there to be safe from the wild beasts.
We read in 1St Sam. 24, of David, hiding himself in a cave, which was among the “rocks of the wild goats.” This cave is mentioned in connection with the sheepcotes, and no doubt, was one in which sheep were kept at times.
When the shepherd took his sheep and goats to the water, they always remained apart, on either side of the well; so we can understand our Lord’s parable in Matt. 25, where He speaks of the Son of Man, sitting upon the throne of His glory, with all nations before Him, “And He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” We know that this parable refers to the judgment of the living nations, and that we shall not have part in it, but still we may ask ourselves if we should be among the sheep or the goats. The Lord often speaks of His children as sheep, but never as goats, and He says of the sheep, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,” John 10:2828And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28), What a safe, happy place a sheep of Christ is in, as the little hymn says, “A sheep may fall and smear its coat,” “But never can become a goat.” The goat was an exceedingly useful animal to the Israelites. First, it was largely used for food. The old goats were seldom eaten, but the kids were a constant article of food.
We read in Judges 6, that Gideon brought a kid to the angel who appeared to him. “The flesh he put in a basket and the broth in a pot.” To this day the same manner of cooking is usual, in the Holy Land, and if you or I went to an Arab’s tent, he would probably kill a young kid, and it would be cooked for us in this way.
You remember, too, how Rebekah made savory meat of the flesh of the kid, (Gen. 27) and in the well-known story of the prodigal son, the elder brother says, “Thou never gayest me a kid to make merry with my friends.” Luke 15. The milk of the goat was also largely used for food, and still is in these same countries. From the hair, cloth was manufactured of a finer or coarser kind, according to the quality of the breed. Some goats, as the Merino goat, having very long, silky hair, from which fine and beautiful cloth was made. One of the four coverings of the Tabernacle was made of goats’ hair. “Thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle.” Ex. 26:77And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make. (Exodus 26:7).
Another part of the goat which was used, was its skin, and of this many things were made—amongst others, the bottles, of which we so often read in Scripture. The skin was taken off the animal with as little cutting as possible, and carefully tanned. The places where the cuts had been made, were doubled over and sewed, and the bottle was complete. We can think of many places in the Bible where bottles are spoken of. Hannah, the mother of little Samuel, brought a “bottle of wine” to the tabernacle, when she presented her child to the Lord. 1 Sam. 1. Joel opened a “bottle of milk” to give drink to her enemy, Sisera, whom she afterwards slew with the nail (or peg) of the tent. Judges 4:99And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. (Judges 4:9); and Abraham gave a bottle of water to Hagar, when she and her son, Ishmael, were driven forth into the wilderness, on account of Ishmael mocking his little brother, Isaac. Gen. 21.
ML 12/05/1909