He showed me many trees that did not have leaves but appeared to me to be withered.  And they were all alike.  He said to me, "Do you see these trees?"  "I see them, Lord" I replied.  "They are like one another and withered."  He replied, "These trees you see are the people who dwell in this age". 
...
He showed me again a number of trees, some of them budding, others withered.  And he said to me, "Do you see these trees?"  "I see them, Lord" I replied.  "Some of them are budding and others withered."  "These trees that are budding," he said, "are the upright who are about to dwell in the age that is coming.  For the coming age is a summer for the upright, but a winter for sinners. ... For just as the fruits of each individual tree appear in the summer and their species are recognized, so too the fruits of the upright will appear, and they will all be known in that age because they will be blossoming."

The shepherd referred to here is an angel that appears to Hamas as a shepherd in a series of visions.  The term "Lord" can be confusing as used in this book.  When Hamas is speaking, he is referring to the angel.  When the angel is speaking, he is referring to God.  The angel is telling Hamas of a coming age when the righteous, the servants of God, will triumph, and the wicked will be destroyed.  This book was written in the first century, so many will assume these events must have happened long ago, but an "age" can be thousands of years.  The age in which Hamas received this vision is the age we are still in, but this age will soon be over and a new age of Light will began.  And those who insist on living in the dark will, obviously, not be welcomed in an age of Light.