Who is Paul comparing believers to in Romans 8:36 when he says we are counted as sheep for the slaughter?
Paul compares believers to sheep counted for the slaughter, not squealing hogs. The analogy pictures sheep that are led silently to death by a goat, while hogs make commotion. Believers may likewise go to the slaughter quietly, because that is how God works, and even the Lamb of God answered not a word.
Les explains that Romans 8:36 says, "For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." He points to a meatpacking account: hogs squeal loudly, but sheep are silent. Sheep are led to slaughter by a goat, which leads them down the alleyways, then slips out a side door and returns for another bunch. Les says this is the analogy Paul draws of the believer. Believers may someday go like sheep to the slaughter, but they should not scream and squeal like pigs, because that is not the way God works. Even the Lamb of God Himself, as Isaiah said, answered not a word.
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
More Questions
What does Romans 8:36-37 say about being sheep for the slaughter and more than conquerors?
Despite being counted as sheep for the slaughter, believers are in all these things more than conquerors.
In Romans 8:36, what does it mean that we are counted as sheep for the slaughter?
Paul's analogy of the believer as a 'sheep for the slaughter' means sheep go to their death in utter silence, and that is the picture of the believer.
Will believers someday be led like sheep to the slaughter?
Because believers are the sheep in Paul's analogy, they may someday come to the place where they too will just go like sheep to the slaughter.