In this chapter we will look at people who are described in the Bible as "wolves." Previously we looked at how some people are called "dogs" in scripture. It is natural therefore to next speak of how some people are labeled as "wolves" as in the above words of Jesus.
Nietzsche was a man who greatly disliked and opposed the Christian religion. He is famous, or infamous, for declaring that "God is dead." He used the "sheep and wolves" metaphor to describe two fundamental types of human behavior and morality: sheep-like individuals are herd animals who conform to societal norms and fear the strong, while wolf-like individuals are independent, create their own values, and embrace strength and risk. This dichotomy relates to his ideas on the Übermensch, the herd instinct, and the "master-slave" morality where "sheep" (the herd) define morality based on their own weakness and fear, naturally condemning the "wolf's" strength as evil.
It is not surprising that wolves, like Nietzsche, would create such a paradigm and glorify wolf-like behavior and justify it. Nietzsche often used to describe himself as an "immoralist," and it is no wonder that he contracted syphilis due to his sexual sins. His hatred for Christianity no doubt gave him a license to ignore God's commandments. He also was a nihilist. His philosophy gave rise to Hitler and to the rise of the Nazis and Fascists, people who were evil, who were wolves in the sense spoken of in the Bible.
In the text at the head of this page, Jesus warns of "wolves" who seek to devour the sheep, to religious hucksters, and those who prey on others, such as kidnappers and human traffickers, murderers, rapists, etc. False teachers, both within and without the Christian community, are wolves who seek to devour the sheep of the Lord. This is why sheep need shepherds who can protect the flock from the wolves. Christ is the "great" and the "good" and the "chief" shepherd of the sheep. (John 10: 11; Heb. 13: 20; I Peter 2: 25; 5: 4) Elders or Pastors are also under shepherds. (I Peter 5: 1-4; Acts 20: 17, 28; etc.) Said the "chief shepherd":
"But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep." (John 10: 12-13 nkjv)
A "great" shepherd will protect the sheep from the wolves and prevent their being devoured. This is what Christ does, thus none of the sheep will be caught by the wolf and devoured. If you are not sheep of Christ's flock, but sheep of some other shepherd, then you will be easy prey for the wolves.
A "ravenous" wolf is an extremely hungry wolf, and this will increase the wolf's ferocity. A sheep without a mighty shepherd has no chance to withstand the attack of wolves. The very survival of sheep depends upon a shepherd. It would be cruel to place sheep into an area where wolves are present and active when there is no shepherd. Recall that Jesus said:
"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." (Matt. 10: 16 kjv)
So, what should the sheep (Christians) do to protect themselves from the wolves? In the above words of the great shepherd he says, in order to ward off the wolves, that the Lord's disciples should be "wise as serpents," yet "harmless as doves." Christians are not ordered by the Lord to go out and hunt wolves and kill them. They are rather to exercise wisdom in their dealings with the wolves without harming anyone in the process. This is not always easy to do. It is our nature to defend ourselves from attacks, whether foreseen or occurring. Jesus is not telling us to just let the wolves devour them without resisting them. So wrote Peter about Satan the "roaring lion" and admonished Christians to "resist" him, and the wolves, by being "steadfast in the faith." James the Lord's brother said "resist the Devil and he will flee from you." (James 4: 7) The disciples of Christ have armor so that they can (Eph. 6: 13-18) "withstand" the evil of devils, and by the "shield of faith" to defend against the "fiery darts" of the Devil. In fighting off the wolves, we use this armor of the Lord and heed these words of the apostle Paul:
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." (II Cor. 10: 3-6 nkjv)
Religious leaders, as well as governmental or political leaders, are often compared to wolves. In the old testament we read:
"Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain." (Eze. 22: 27 kjv)
"Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law." (Zeph. 3: 3-4 kjv)
In the above words of the prophets we see where various kinds of corrupt and oppressive leaders are described by various kinds of beasts. Jesus said the "false prophets" were wolves. In our opening chapter in this series we cited the words of Paul where he said he had "fought with beasts at Ephesus." (I Cor. 15: 32) He fought with princes, judges, prophets, and priests in their hatred of Christ and persecution of his followers. Paul warned of such people who sneak into the Christian community under the guise of sheep but who are actually wolves. He said to the elders (shepherds) of the church at Ephesus:
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." (Acts 20: 29 kjv)
The history of the people of God, or the "little flock" (Luke 12: 32), is also a history of the wolves who have sought to devour and destroy the flock. Many of these are professing Christians. They are as Jesus described, "wolves in sheep clothes." They are pretenders, hypocrites, "false teachers," "false brothers." (Gal. 2: 4; II Peter 2: 1) They are the "heretics." (Titus 3: 10; I Cor. 11: 19)
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