Judas Goat

A Black Goat Named Judas The holding pens for the cattle, hogs, and sheep were on the river bank. A fenced bridge spanned the river and connected with a ramp that angled up to the top story of a processing plant on the other bank. Since the animals to be butchered had to be herded across the bridge and up the ramp, the men who managed this operation developed a clever solution. They trained a black goat to enter the sheep pens, mingle with the sheep, and then lead the way across the bridge and up the ramp through the door of the processing plant. Once inside the doorway, the goat stepped aside, and the sheep pressed on to their ultimate fate. I remember watching this scene as my dad explained the operation. He paused, then added, "Let that be a lesson to you; be careful who you follow. Make sure your know where you are being led." Neil J. Flinders THE ENSIGN/JULY 1976 It is in mortality that these Judases eventually show their true colors. They cannot long persist in righteousness and correct principles, but will succumb to temptation and the allurements of sin. Once this happens, they fall from the high station they once attained, to the deeper depths of sin and crime. The higher men rise within the light of the gospel, the lower they fall. God often allows sheep and goats to mingle together. But gradually, under the testing and temptation associated with the Gospel of Christ, men prove to be either sheep or goats. Goats will gather with other goats, but true sheep will not follow them, for Jesus said, "My sheep know my voice and another they will not follow." But the Judas goats are constantly leading blind sheep to their damnation, thereby proving themselves unworthy of exaltation with God.