Lesson 7 - Jer. 23:1-8 - THE RIGHTEOUS BRANCH
INTRODUCTION: Last week, In Jer. 18:1-12, 17, we covered one of the best-known sections of Jeremiah's prophecy, the story of the Heavenly Potter. The Lord instructed Jeremiah to go to the potter's house, where God would give him His word. When he arrived there, the prophet saw the potter making an object on his potter's wheel. As he watched, something happened that spoiled what the potter was shaping, so he stopped, crumbled the clay back into a solid lump, and began making it into a new vessel, one that would please him-a destructive process that he turned into a creative process. While observing Jeremiah learned that what he saw symbolized a foundational spiritual truth. So what did Jeremiah see? First, Jeremiah saw the clay, and as he watched, he realized that it was a picture of himself, and also of every person and nation on this earth. Second, Jeremiah saw the potter, and he realized that God was the Great Potter having the absolute right to make and re-make the clay into what pleased Him. And third, he saw the potter's wheel moving constantly. Jeremiah learned that the wheel symbolized the turning circumstances of our life, because it's the potter foot that moves the wheel, and the wheel of circumstance brings us again and again under the control of the potter's hands. From this symbol, Jeremiah (and us, too) learned that people and nations are clay in the Great Potter's hands, giving Him the sovereign right to make it into whatever He wants it to be.
This week, in Jer. 23:1-8, 23-29, we will study another analogy in which God compares the kings, rulers, and leaders in Judah to shepherds who scatter God's sheep; the prophet also revealed God's plan to gather a remnant of His flock. To understand this section, we need to briefly review the last five kings of Judah: (1) Josiah (640-609 B.C.) was the last good king and is best known for the religious reforms he instituted after finding a hidden copy of the Torah. He tore down all the places of pagan worship and led his people to worship the Lord God. He was killed when he led his army against Egypt. (2) Jehohaz (609 B.C.), Josiah's fourth son. ruled only three months before being deposed by the Egyptians. (3) Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) was installed by Egypt and later became a vassal (subordinate to) when Babylonia defeated Egypt. (4) Jehoichin (598 B.C.) ruled only three months before being exiled to Babylon. And (5) Zedekiah (597-586 B.C.) was installed by Nebuchadnezzar and ruled eleven years during which time he rebelled against Babylon but only succeeded on provoking the siege that led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of most of the population in 597 B.C. He was the last king of Judah. Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry during the reign of Jehoiakim and continued all the way into the exile. So, that's the picture.
Read Jeremiah 23:1-2 - YOU HAVE SCATTERED MY FLOCK AND DRIVEN THEM AWAY
1 Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: "You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds," declares the LORD.
v. 1: "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares the LORD." -Shepherding was an unglamorous occupation, requiring long hours of work for modest pay, and people respected good shepherds who took good care of their sheep. It's because Sheep are very dumb animals that are prone to wander off if not tended, and they are defenseless against larger predators. So, they are completely dependent upon a good shepherd who will lead them to water and pasture and guard them against a host of dangers. By analogy, shepherds became a common metaphor for leaders such as kings, priests, and prophets, although when used to depict kings, the connotation was most often negative. In this verse, the lord pronounces a "Woe" (serious trouble) on the shepherds who have scattered His "sheep," a metaphor for the people of Israel.
v. 2a: "Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: 'You have scattered My flock and driven them away,'" -Notice the personal tone-"My people...My flock"-showing that our God cares for us personally and intimately. Scattering the sheep is something a good shepherd would never allow because it's impossible to care for or defend sheep that have gone astray. A shepherd who allowed this would be shameless, like a police officer committing a crime or a judge taking a bribe-an obvious betrayal of the one's duty.
v. 2b: "and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,' declares the LORD.'" -The word "attended" (Heb. pa·qad) means to take care of. Since the kings and leaders had failed to take care of the people, God would take care of-severely punish-for failing in their duty to God's people.
Jeremiah 23:3-4 - I MYSELF WILL GATHER THE REMNANT
3 "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD.
v. 3a: "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out" -Since the human shepherds have utterly failed in their responsibilities, the Lord Himself will undertake the job of gathering the sheep-His people together and bringing them back into the fold where they will be secure. We know from the later Books of Ezra and Nehemiah that king Cyrus of Persia will defeat Babylon and allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 538 B.C.
v. 3b: "out of all the countries them where I have driven them" -The revelation of this verse is that the Lord admits to having "driven them" out of their land. In v. 2, where God criticized the shepherds for scattering the flock, He didn't contradict Himself: The Lord drove the people into exile as a means of cleansing them-to purge them of their idolatrous, sinful ways. So, we can say that the bad shepherds were the immediate cause and that the Lord was the final cause. And the reference to "all the countries" indicates a much larger, future return of the Jews. We know that 49,607 people returned with Nehemiah (see, Ezra 1 and 2), but that a majority of them elected to remain in Persia.
v. 3c: "and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply." -To the Judahites in exile, this could mean only one thing-a return to their homeland.
v. 4a: "I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them;" - The Lord would not only re-gather this remnant; He would also "raise up shepherds" to care for them. From the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we can remember the major figures who led the return and participated in the rebuilding: Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and Ezra, and the prophets Haggai, and Zechariah to name some of them. See Ezra 2:1-59 for a more detailed list.
v. 4b: "and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD." - The principal enemies of Judah-Assyria and Babylon had been vanquished and could no longer threaten them. Like sheep tended by responsible shepherds, none of the 49,000+ returnees would go "missing" over the course of their 900-mile trek back to their homeland. Still, they would not be truly free, insofar as Judah would be a province of Persia, and later of the Greeks and Romans.
Read Jer. 23:5-6 - I WILL RAISE UP A RIGHTEOUS BRANCH
5 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.'
v.5a: "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD," -Jeremiah uses this preface 16 times to express a message of hope to these returnees.
v. 5b: "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;" - The Lord promised to send a king from the line of David, whom God would later "raise up" (or sprout) like a shoot sprouting up from an apparently dead tree stump.
v. 5c: "And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land." -Note the capital 'H,' denoting deity. This new king's character virtues would be "justice and righteousness." In Hebrew these two words (mis·pat and seda·gah) are related ideas: Justice involves bringing people into a right relationship with God and other people, and these right relationships, in turn, produces righteous lives. This king will lead as a true king and spiritual example to the people, unlike the last four kings of Judah, who were no more than puppets. Conservative scholars identify this king as the coming Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Scholars note that this is one of very few Messianic references in the Book of Jeremiah.
v. 6a: "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely;" - The reference to both "Judah" and "Israel" strongly indicates that Jeremiah isn't referring to the returned remnant from Babylon but to a future, far larger restoration during the end-times, when Jesus Christ, as the Messiah King, will return to re-gather Jews of the Diaspora from all over the world (Zech. 13:1-9; Matt. 24:1-25:46). Therefore, during the reign of Christ, these Jews will not only experience physical security but will be "saved" spiritually by faith in Him as their Lord and Savior.
v. 6b: "And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness." -Here, Jeremiah is using a Hebrew play on words: The name Zedekiah, who was the last and one of the worst kings of Judah, translates to 'the Lord is my righteousness.' The point the prophet makes is that the coming Messiah king, Jesus Christ, would be a complete contrast to Zedekiah in every conceivable way.
Read Jer. 23:7-8 - THEN THEY WILL LIVE ON THEIR OWN SOIL
7 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when they will no longer say, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' 8 but, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.' Then they will live on their own soil."
v. 7: "Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when they will no longer say, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt," - Throughout the history of Israel (and Judah), the Jewish people had looked back to the Exodus from Egypt as the defining moment in their history, when they became a nation of people.
v. 8: but, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.' Then they will live on their own soil." Again, the references "the descendants of the household of Israel...from all the countries" denote the re-gathering of the Jewish Diaspora by Jesus Christ as their Messiah king. In those "coming" days (v. 7), however, the Jews of the Diaspora would no longer mention their deliverance from Egypt, but will talk about the far greater deliverance when Jesus Christ, at His second coming, will subdue His enemies and re-gather these Jews to "their own soil," which implies that all the ancestral lands allotted to the 12 tribes by Joshua would be restored (see, Joshua 13-19).
APPLICATION-The World Needs Good Shepherds to Gather and Protect Their Flocks
1. The people of God have always needed good shepherds to lead and protect them. This was true for the exiles in today's lesson and still holds true for modern Christians. As believers in Jesus Christ, the Lord, as our good shepherd, promises that He knows His "own, and My own know Me, and just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:14-15). And in this context, our churches function as sheepfolds where believers can be spiritually led, nourished, and protected by human pastors who function as our earthly good shepherds. Our churches also function as sanctuaries where lost sheep (i.e., all people) can be gathered into the fold.
2. Jeremiah's prophecy offers a ray of hope to Both Jews and Gentiles (us). At the end of the Great Tribulation, we Christians believe Jesus Christ will return with the hosts of heaven as well as the raptured Church to establish the Messianic Kingdom on earth, and His Kingdom will last for a 1,000 years (Matt. 24:36; John 6:39). In addition to this, for the Jews, Israel will be restored to her land, never more to be removed (Jer. 23:5-8; Ezek. 34:28). Christ will reign with firmness and equity and His kingdom will be marked by material and spiritual blessings, since the curse upon the earth will be removed (Rom. 8:19-21)
