Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 23:1
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
1. the shepherds ] See on Jer 2:8, Jer 22:22, and for the figure of sheep cp. Psa 74:1; Psa 95:7; Psa 100:3; Eze 34:31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 23:1-8 . See introd. summary to section. We should have expected, as the natural sequel to the three preceding passages, a direct reference to the reign of Zedekiah. Probably we may attribute the absence of it to Jeremiah’s unwillingness to attack one whom he recognised as merely a weak tool in the hands of the princes, the “shepherds” of Jer 23:1. But see further on Jer 23:5-8.
Du. and Erbt make the whole passage to be late, while individual parts have been disputed, e.g. 7, 8 by Gi. and with some hesitation by Co. Others than Du. reject the most striking vv., viz. 5, 6, but Co. (so Gi.) emphatically maintains their genuineness. See notes below.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The pastors – shepherds, i. e., civil rulers Jer 2:8.
The sheep of My pasture – literally, of My pasturing, the sheep of whom I am shepherd. The people do not belong to the rulers but to God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXIII
Sequel of the discourse which commenced in the preceding
chapter. The prophet denounces vengeance against the pastors of
Israel who have scattered and destroyed the flock of the Lord,
1, 2.
He concludes with gracious promises of deliverance from the
Babylonish captivity, and of better times under the Messiah,
when the converts to Christianity, who are the true Israel of
God, shadowed forth by the old dispensation, shall be
delivered, by the glorious light of the Gospel, from worse than
Chaldean bondage, from the captivity of sin and death. But this
prophecy will not have its fullest accomplishment till that
period arrives which is fixed in the Divine counsel for the
restoration of Israel and Judah from their various dispersions,
of which their deliverance from the Chaldean domination was a
type, when Jesus the Christ, the righteous Branch, the Root and
Offspring of David, and the only legitimate Heir to the throne,
shall take unto himself his great power, and reign gloriously
over the whole house of Jacob, 3-8.
At the ninth verse a new discourse commences. Jeremiah
expresses his horror at the great wickedness of the priests and
prophets of Judah, and declares that the Divine vengeance is
hanging over them. He exhorts the people not to listen to their
false promises, 9-22;
and predicts the utter ruin that shall fall upon all pretenders
to inspiration, 23-32,
as well as upon all scoffers at true prophecy, 33-40.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII
Verse 1. Wo be unto the pastors] There shall a curse fall on the kings, princes, priests, and prophets; who, by their vicious conduct and example, have brought desolation upon the people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There is the like woe against the
pastors denounced Eze 34:2. Interpreters judge that by the pastors are to be understood the civil magistrates, for Jer 23:9 he denounceth the judgments of God against their ecclesiastical officers. The civil magistrates at this time in Judah were great tyrants; and whereas God had committed his people (whom he calls the sheep of his pasture) to them in trust, that they should protect and govern them, and that they might live under them godly and peaceable lives, in all prosperity, they had acted quite contrary to their trust, and worried the people like wolves, instead of feeding them like shepherds. God took notice of their oppressions, and by the prophet denounceth this woe against them, to verify that of Solomon, Ecc 5:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. pastorsShallum, Jehoiakim,Jeconiah, and Zedekiah (Eze 34:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Woe be unto the pastors,…. Or, “O ye shepherds” or “governors”, as the Targum; the civil rulers and magistrates, kings and princes of the land of Israel; since ecclesiastical rulers, the priests and prophets, are mentioned as distinct from them in Jer 23:9; whose business it was to rule and guide, protect and defend, the people: but, instead of that, they were such
that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord God; set them bad examples, led them into idolatry and other sins, which were the cause of their ruin, and of their being carried captive, and scattered in other countries; and their sin was the more aggravated, inasmuch as these people were the Lord’s pasture sheep, whom he had an interest in, and a regard unto, and had committed them to the care and charge of these pastors or governors, to be particularly taken care of.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The gathering again of the flock, scattered by the evil shepherds, by meant of the righteous branch from the stock of David. – Jer 23:1. “Woe to shepherds that destroy and scatter the flock of my pasturing! saith Jahveh. Jer 23:2. Therefore thus saith Jahveh, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and not visited them; behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings, saith Jahveh. Jer 23:3. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all lands whither I have driven them, and bring them back to their pasture, that they may be fruitful and increase; Jer 23:4. And will raise up over them shepherds that shall feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor be lacking, saith Jahveh. Jer 23:5. Behold, days come, saith Jahveh, that I raise up unto David a righteous branch, that shall reign as king, and deal wisely, and do right and justice in the land. Jer 23:6. In his days Judah shall have welfare, and Israel dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called: Jahveh our Righteousness. Jer 23:7. Therefore, behold, days come, saith Jahveh, that they shall no more say: By the life of Jahveh who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, Jer 23:8. But: By the life of Jahveh who brought up and led forth the seed of the house of Israel out of the land towards midnight, and out of all the lands whither I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.”
This portion is the conclusion of the prophecy concerning the shepherds of Israel, Jer 22. In Jer 23:1 and Jer 23:2 what has been foretold concerning the last kings of Judah is condensed into one general sentence, so as thus to form a point of connection for the declaration of salvation which follows at Jer 23:3, consisting in the gathering again of the people, neglected and scattered by the evil shepherds, by means of the righteous branch of David. The Lord cries woe upon the shepherds. without article, because the matter concerns all evil shepherds, and is not applied till Jer 23:2 to the evil rulers of Judah. Venema rightly says: Generale vae pastoribus malis praemittitur, quod mox ad pastores Judae applicatur . It is so clear from the context as to have been generally admitted by recent comm., that by shepherds are meant not merely the false prophets and priests, nor even these along with the kings; cf. on Jer 3:15; Jer 25:34., and Ezek 34. The flock of my pasturing, in other words, the flock, which I feed; for sig. both the feeding (cf. Hos 13:6) and the place where the flock feeds, cf. Jer 25:36; Psa 74:1. Israel is called the flock of Jahveh’s pasturing inasmuch as He exerts a special care over it. The flock bad shepherds, the ungodly monarchs on the throne of David, have brought to ruin and scattered. The scattering is in Jer 23:2, cf. with Jer 23:3, called a driving out into the lands; but the “destroying” must be discovered from the train of thought, for the clause: ye have not visited them (Jer 23:2), intimates merely their neglect of the sheep committed to their charge. What the “destroying” more especially is, we may gather from the conduct of King Jehoiakim, described in Jer 22:13.; it consists in oppression, violence, and the shedding of innocent blood; cf. Eze 34:2-3. With , Jer 23:2, is made the application of the general sentence, Jer 23:1, to the shepherds of Israel. Because they are such as have scattered, driven away, and not visited the flock of the Lord, therefore He will punish in them the wickedness of their doings. In the is summed up all that the rulers have omitted to do for the flock committed to their care; cf. the specification of what they have not done, Eze 34:4. It was their duty, as Ven. truly says, to see ut vera religio, pabulum populi spiritual, recte et rite exerceretur . Instead of this, they have, by introducing idolatry, directly encouraged ungodliness, and the immorality which flows therefrom. Here in “ye have not visited them” we have the negative moment made prominent, so that in Jer 23:3 may follow what the Lord will do for His scattered flock. Cf. the further expansion of this promise in Eze 34:12. We must note “I have driven them,” since in Jer 23:2 it was said that the bad shepherds had driven the flock away. The one does not exclude the other. By their corrupting the people, the wicked shepherds had occasioned the driving out; and this God has inflicted on the people as punishment. But the people, too, had their share in the guilt; but to this attention is not here directed, since the question deals only with the shepherds.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Evangelical Predictions. | B. C. 590. |
1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. 5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
I. Here is a word of terror to the negligent shepherds. The day is at hand when God will reckon with them concerning the trust and charge committed to them: Woe be to the pastors (to the rulers, both in church and state) who should be to those they are set over as pastors to lead them, feed them, protect them, and take care of them. They are not owners of the sheep. God here calls them the sheep of my pasture, whom I am interested in, and have provided good pasture for. Woe be to those therefore who are commanded to feed God’s people, and pretend to do it, but who, instead of that, scatter the flock, and drive them away by their violence and oppression, and have not visited them, nor taken any care for their welfare, nor concerned themselves at all to do them good. In not visiting them, and doing their duty to them, they did in effect scatter them and drive them away. The beasts of prey scattered them, and the shepherds are in the fault, who should have kept them together. Woe be to them when God will visit upon them the evil of their doings and deal with them as they deserve. They would not visit the flock in a way of duty, and therefore God will visit them in a way of vengeance.
II. Here is a word of comfort to the neglected sheep. Though the under-shepherds take no care of them, no pains with them, but betray them, the chief Shepherd will look after them. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord taketh me up. Though the interests of God’s church in the world are neglected by those who should take care of them, and postponed to their own private secular interests, yet they shall not therefore sink. God will perform his promise, though those he employs do not perform their duty.
1. The dispersed Jews shall at length return to their own land, and be happily settled there under a good government, Jer 23:3; Jer 23:4. Though there be but a remnant of God’s flock left, a little remnant, that has narrowly escaped destruction, he will gather that remnant, will find them out wherever they are and find out ways and means to bring them back out of all countries whither he had driven them. It was the justice of God, for the sin of their shepherds, that dispersed them; but the mercy of God shall gather in the sheep, when the shepherds that betrayed them are cut off. They shall be brought to their former habitations, as sheep to their folds, and there they shall be fruitful, and increase in numbers. And, though their former shepherds took no care of them, it does not therefore follow that they shall have no more. If some have abused a sacred office, that is no good reason why it should be abolished. “They destroyed the sheep, but I will set shepherds over them who shall make it their business to feed them.” Formerly they were continually exposed and disturbed with some alarm or other; but now they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed; they shall be in no danger from without, in no fright from within. Formerly some or other of them were ever and anon picked up by the beasts of prey; but now none of them shall be lacking, none of them missing. Though the times may have been long bad with the church, it does not follow that they will be ever so. Such pastors as Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, though they lived not in the pomp that Jehoiakim and Jeconiah did, nor made such a figure, were as great blessings to the people as the others were plagues to them. The church’s peace is not bound up in the pomp of her rulers.
2. Messiah the Prince, that great and good Shepherd of the sheep, shall in the latter days be raised up to bless his church, and to be the glory of his people Israel,Jer 23:5; Jer 23:6. The house of David seemed to be quite sunk and ruined by that threatening against Jeconiah (ch. xxii. 30), that none of his seed should ever sit upon the throne of David. But here is a promise which effectually secures the honour of the covenant made with David notwithstanding; for by it the house will be raised out of its ruins to a greater lustre than ever, and shine brighter far than it did in Solomon himself. We have not so many prophecies of Christ in this book as we had in that of the prophet Isaiah; but here we have one, and a very illustrious one; of him doubtless the prophet here speaks, of him, and of no other man. The first words intimate that it would be long ere this promise should have its accomplishment: The days come, but they are not yet. I shall see him, but not now. But all the rest intimate that the accomplishment of it will be glorious. (1.) Christ is here spoken of as a branch from David, the man the branch (Zech. iii. 8), his appearance mean, his beginnings small, like those of a bud or sprout, and his rise seemingly out of the earth, but growing to be green, to be great, to be loaded with fruits. A branch from David’s family, when it seemed to be a root in a dry ground, buried, and not likely to revive. Christ is the root and offspring of David, Rev. xxii. 16. In him doth the horn of David bud,Psa 132:17; Psa 132:18. He is a branch of God’s raising up; he sanctified him, and sent him into the world, gave him his commission and qualifications. He is a righteous branch, for he is righteous himself, and through him many, even all that are his, are made righteous. As an advocate, he is Jesus Christ the righteous. (2.) He is here spoken of as his church’s King. This branch shall be raised as high as the throne of his father David, and there he shall reign and prosper, not as the kings that now were of the house of David, who went backward in all their affairs. No; he shall set up a kingdom in the world that shall be victorious over all opposition. In the chariot of the everlasting gospel he shall go forth, he shall go on conquering and to conquer. If God raise him up, he will prosper him, for he will own the work of his own hands; what is the good pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in the hands of those to whom it is committed. He shall prosper; for he shall execute judgment and justice in the earth, all the world over, Ps. xcvi. 13. The present kings of the house of David were unjust and oppressive, and therefore it is no wonder that they did not prosper. But Christ shall, by his gospel, break the usurped power of Satan, institute a perfect rule of holy living, and, as far as it prevails, make all the world righteous. The effect of this shall be a holy security and serenity of mind in all his faithful loyal subjects. In his days, under his dominion, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely; that is, all the spiritual seed of believing Abraham and praying Jacob shall be protected from the curse of heaven and the malice of hell, shall be privileged from the arrests of God’s law and delivered from the attempts of Satan’s power, shall be saved from sin, the guilt and dominion of it, and then shall dwell safely, and be quiet from the fear of all evil. See Luk 1:74; Luk 1:75. Those that shall be saved hereafter from the wrath to come may dwell safely now; for, if God be for us, who can be against us? In the days of Christ’s government in the soul, when he is uppermost there, the soul dwells at ease. (3.) He is here spoken of as The Lord our righteousness. Observe, [1.] Who and what he is. As God, he is Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God, denoting his eternity and self-existence. As Mediator, he is our righteousness. By making satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man, he has brought in an everlasting righteousness, and so made it over to us in the covenant of grace that, upon our believing consent to that covenant, it becomes ours. His being Jehovah our righteousness implies that he is so our righteousness as no creature could be. He is a sovereign, all-sufficient, eternal righteousness. All our righteousness has its being from him, and by him it subsists, and we are made the righteousness of God in him. [2.] The profession and declaration of this: This is the name whereby he shall be called, not only he shall be so, but he shall be known to be so. God shall call him by this name, for he shall appoint him to be our righteousness. By this name Israel shall call him, every true believer shall call him, and call upon him. That is our righteousness by which, as an allowed plea, we are justified before God, acquitted from guilt, and accepted into favour; and nothing else have we to plead but this, “Christ has died, yea, rather has risen again;” and we have taken him for our Lord.
3. This great salvation, which will come to the Jews in the latter days of their state, after their return out of Babylon, shall be so illustrious as far to outshine the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt (Jer 23:7; Jer 23:8): They shall no more say, The Lord liveth that brought up Israel out of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth that brought them up out of the north. This we had before, Jer 16:14; Jer 16:15. But here it seems to point more plainly than it did there to the days of the Messiah, and to compare not so much the two deliverances themselves (giving the preference to the latter) as the two states to which the church by degrees grew after those deliverances. Observe the proportion: Just 480 years after they had come out of Egypt Solomon’s temple was built (1 Kings vi. 1); and at that time that nation, which was so wonderfully brought up out of Egypt, had gradually arrived to its height, to its zenith. Just 490 years (70 weeks) after they came out of Babylon Messiah the Prince set up the gospel temple, which was the greatest glory of that nation that was so wonderfully brought out of Babylon; see Dan 9:24; Dan 9:25. Now the spiritual glory of the second part of that nation, especially as transferred to the gospel church, is much more admirable and illustrious than all the temporal glory of the first part of it in the days of Solomon; for that was no glory compared with the glory which excelleth.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 23
A DENUNCIATION OF JUDAH’S LEADERS
The word “pastor,” in verse 1, is actually “shepherd” – the consistent biblical symbol for kings and civil leaders. Jeremiah denounces the off-spring of Josiah who, failing to develop a true shepherd-character, failed to fulfil the shepherd function in the nation. From its first usage, in the prophetic song of Jacob, (Gen 49:24), the figure is progressively developed until it becomes crystal-clear, in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah, that it refers to those civil rulers who are responsible for the welfare of the nations.
Though Zedekiah is not specifically named in this passage, there can be little doubt that these words are addressed to him and to his false counsellors.
Vs. 1-8: A CONTRAST BETWEEN FAITHLESS SHEPHERDS AND THE TRUE
1. A “woe” is hurled at those shepherds who practice what is the exact OPPOSITE of true shepherding, (Eze 13:3; Eze 34:2; Zec 11:17); instead of gathering and providing for the needs of the flock, they scatter and destroy the sheep of Jehovah’s pasture (vs. 1; Jer 10:21; Jer 50:6).
2. Jehovah, the God of Israel, is, therefore, AGAINST these shepherds who misattend His people, (vs. 2, 30; Psa 34:16; comp. Eze 13:8).
a. They are responsible for the scattering.
b. Their misdeeds are responsible for the captivity of the. Lord’s flock and their displacement in an alien land.
c. Since they have not attended to the needs of His people, He will attend to the punishment the faithless shepherds so richly deserve, (vs. 2; Jer 21:12; Jer 44:22).
3. In a NEW EXODUS, the Lord will “gather” the remnant of His flock from all the countries whereunto they have been scattered -bringing them back to their own folds and making them fruitful, (vs. 3; Jer 31:7-8; Jer 32:37-38; comp. Isa 11:11-16).
4. After visiting judgment upon the faithless leaders, Jehovah will raise up shepherds that will faithfully attend to the needs of His flock, (vs. 4; Jer 3:15; Eze 34:23).
a. No longer will there be any reason for them to fear or be dismayed, (Jer 30:10; Jer 46:27-28; comp. Isa 43:5-7).
b. Nor will they suffer want, (Psa 23:1; Psa 34:9-10).
5. Verses 5-8 consist of a far-reaching Messianic prophecy of Hope, (comp. Jer 30:8-9; Jer 33:15-16; Luk 24:27).
a. “The days come” (an expression used 15 times in Jeremiah’s prophecy) when the Lord will raise unto David a RIGHTEOUS BRANCH – “shoot” or “sprout”; a rightful and honorable heir to the throne, (comp. Jer 33:15; Isa 4:2; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12; Isa 11:1).
1) As King, He will reign and prosper, (Isa 9:7; Isa 52:13; Luk 1:32-33).
2) His reign will be characterized by the exercise of judgment and justice in the earth, (Psa 72:1-2; Isa 11:2-5; Isa 32:1).
3) In His days Judah will truly find deliverance from her enemies, and a re-united Israel will dwell in safety, (vs. 6a; Deu 33:28 -29; comp. Zec 14:11).
4) In contrast to Zedekiah (“the Lord IS righteous”), His name will be called “The Lord OUR righteousness,” (Jer 33:16; Isa 45:24-25; Isa 54:17; 1Co 1:30)
a) No longer will the nation struggle to attain UNTO a righteousness of her own, (Rom 9:31).
b) ALL will find satisfaction in the imputed righteousness of Jehovah Himself, (Rom 3:21-22; 1Co 1:30; 2Co 5:21; comp. Php_3:9).
b. So great and marvelous will be the “new exodus,” when the Lord again redeems His people from the hand of their enemies, that no further mention will be made of the exodus of their fathers from the land of Egypt, (vs. 7; comp. Jer 16:14-15; Isa 43:18-19).
c. The nation will then rejoice in Jehovah Who has turned back their captivity and restored them to their own land – in peace and prosperity, (vs. 8; Isa 14:1).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the Prophet promises the restoration of the Church; but he reminds hypocrites that there was no reason for them on that account to flatter themselves, especially the king, his councillors, and the priests. Then this prophecy is a mixture of promises and threatenings, for God promises that he would be propitious to the miserable Jews, after having chastised them, so that the seed of Abraham might not be entirely cut off: he yet deprives hypocrites of vain confidence, so that they might not falsely apply to themselves the hope of salvation, from which they had excluded themselves by their impiety. And this is what ought to be noticed, for as soon as God’s mercy is offered, hypocrites apply to themselves whatever God promises, and become more and more insolent, as though they held him bound to them; for impunity leads them to take more liberty to sin. Hence it is that they boast that they are safe, for they consider themselves to be the people of God. The Prophet, therefore, teaches here that whatever God promises belongs to his elect, that it does not appertain indiscriminately to all, nor ought to be extended to hypocrites who falsely pretend his name, but that it peculiarly belongs to the elect, though they may be small in number, and though they may be despised.
He says first, Wo to the pastors who destroy, (73) etc. Here are contrary things — a pastor and a destroyer! But he concedes to them the name which was honorable; and yet he derides their false boasting, for they thought that they could hide their crimes under this shade, falsely claimed. Though then he calls them pastors, he yet removes the mask, and thus shews that they in vain boasted while they assumed the name of pastors. “Ye are pastors,” he says, ““and ye are destroyers! who dissipate or scatter the flock of my pastures.” (74)
Here God shews the reason why he was so grievously displeased with these pastors; for by exercising tyranny over the people, they not only injured men, but also injured and dishonored God, who had received under his own protection his chosen people. It is indeed true that they deserved such a scattering; for we have already seen in many places, that the people could by no means be excused when they were deceived by wicked and unfaithful leaders; for in this way was rendered to them all their past reward for having provoked God’s wrath against themselves, from the least to the greatest. But the impiety of wicked pastors was not on this account excusable; for they ought to have considered for what purpose this burden was laid on them, and also by whom they had been appointed. God then intimates that great injury was done to him, when the people were thus so ignominiously scattered. He was himself the chief pastor; he had put as it were in his own place the king and his counsellors and also the priests. Justly then does he now condemn them, because they had destroyed the flock of God, according to what is said in another place,
“
That they had destroyed his vineyard.” (Jer 12:10; Isa 5:3)
In short, when God calls the Jews the flock of his pastures, he does not regard what they deserved, or what they were, but he, on the contrary, sets forth the favor bestowed on the seed of Abraham. He has respect then here to his gratuitous adoption, though the Jews had rendered themselves unworthy of such a benefit.
(73) It is an exclamation in the Sept. and Syr.; “Oh! the Pastors,” etc., but a denunciation in the Vulg. and the Targ., “Wo to the Pastors,” etc. The original may be rendered in either way; the latter is the most suitable here. — Ed.
(74) The word is singular in Hebrew, “pasture,” or feeding. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.1. Chronology of the Chapter.The chapter is an epilogue to the denunciations of the three kings in chap. 22. It must have been written and proclaimed about the beginning of Zedekiahs reign, for a warning to him, from the examples of his predecessors, of the consequences of unrighteousness. Cf. notes on chap. Jer. 21:11-14.
2. Contemporary Scriptures.2Ki. 24:17-19; 2Ch. 36:10-12. Comp. Jer. 52:1-3.
For 3. National Affairs, and 4. Contemporaneous History. See notes on chap. Jer. 21:11-14.
5. Geographical References.Jer. 23:13. Samaria: here alluded to as the territory of the ten tribes of Israel, in contrast with Jerusalem (Jer. 23:14), the territory of Ephraim and Judah. Jer. 23:14. Sodom and Gomorrah: two cities of the plain, standing close together, in or near the vale of Siddim (Gen. 10:19; Gen. 13:10); overthrown B.C. 2064, for their atrocious wickedness (Gen. 18:20; Rom. 9:29). Their doom is held up as a warning to the children of Israel (Deu. 29:23), and forms a standing illustration of abandoned iniquity (Deu. 32:32; Isa. 1:9-10😉 and in this verse. Josephus states that the Dead Sea now fills the valley in which these cities of the plain stood (Ant. i. 9), but elsewhere affirms (War, iv. 8, 4) that the site of Sodom was not submerged, but remains a burnt and charred scene. Pilgrims to Palestine formerly saw, or thought they saw, ruins of towns at the bottom of the Dead Sea, not far from the shore.
6. Personal Allusions.Jer. 23:5. David. Comp. Homily on Jer. 23:24 of chap. 22 for the lineal royal connection with David.
7. Natural History.Jer. 23:5. Branch. This word Tsemach occurs also in chap. Jer. 33:15; Zec. 3:8; Zec. 4:12, and denotes a springing or budding planta sprout. Dr. Payne Smith remarks: A tree has many branches, and these can be pruned away without killing the tree, but the sprout is that in which the root springs up and grows, and which, if it be destroyed, makes the root perish also. For its use, see Gen. 19:25; Isa. 61:11, in both which places it springs directly out of the ground; also Eze. 16:7; Eze. 17:9; Hos. 8:7, where it is translated either bud or spring.
Jer. 23:15. Wormwood and gall: cf. notes on chaps. Jer. 9:15, and Jer. 8:14.
Jer. 23:28. Chaff and wheat: cf. Homily on verse infra.
8. Manners and Customs.Jer. 23:25. I have dreamed, I have dreamed: Professional dreamers early appeared (see Deu. 18:1), for superstitious people in all ages have given ready credulity to these false visionists.
9. Literary Criticisms.Jer. 23:5. A King shall reign and prosper. Rather, He shall reign as king and prosper; as contrasted with chap. Jer. 23:30.
Jer. 23:6. His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. He shall be called is more properly he shall call him: i.e., either God shall, &c., or he shalleach shall. Several MSS., however, read, plural, they shall call him, instead of singular. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS: Jehovah Tsidkenu. Criticism has attempted to make Jehovah the nominative of shall call,Jehovah shall call him, our Righteousness: thus destroying the compound name, and depriving the Messiah of the title of Deity: but Henderson affirms, and in this is sustained by the consensus and weight of modern scholarship, that to make the nominative of the verb (shall call) is to contradict all Hebrew usage, according to which the name given, and not the person who gives the name, immediately follows the verb.
Jer. 23:15. Profaneness gone forthprofanation, desecration.
Jer. 23:17. Imaginationstubbornness.
Jer. 23:19. Behold, a whirlwind, &c. The verse should read, Behold, a tempest (storm wind) of Jehovah! Fury is gone forth (or, even hot anger is gone forth); and a whirlwind ( a tornado, whirling storm) shall be hurled (or burst) upon the head of the wicked.
Jer. 23:29. Is not My word like as a fire? The presence of the word , thus, in this sentence gives rise to the suggestion that formerly it was , strength or power. The Targum reads: Are not all My words strong like fire? Probably this suggested the word in Heb. 4:12, quick and powerful.
Jer. 23:31. That use their tongues and say, He saith. Not , saith Jehovah, but only saith.
Jer. 23:33. What burden? The LXX. divide the words , What burden? into only two sections, thus, , Ye are the burden; and with this reading, which is more rational, the following words accord: Ye are the burden, and I will cast you away, saith the Lord. Forsaken you, should be, refused you, thrown you off.
HOMILIES ON SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 23
Sections
Jer. 23:1-8.
Judahs restoration under Jehovah Tsidkenu.
Sections
Jer. 23:9-40.
False prophets and national levity denounced.
Section, Jer. 23:1-8. JUDAHS RESTORATION UNDER JEHOVAH TSIDKENU
Through the dark clouds gathering over Jerusalem there broke occasionally gleams of sunshine. The judgments which the prophet foretold were so terrible, and the ruin awaiting Judah so overwhelming, that Jeremiah and the small remnant of the true Israel remaining might have abandoned all hope.
But God relieved their despondency by the promise that, notwithstanding the judgments and calamities, He would again visit and redeem His people.
I. The prediction assumes that all the calamities which the prophet foretold would overtake Judah. These calamities threatened the kingdom, and also the very house of David: for the expression, I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, conveys the idea of a tender sprout springing from the root of a tree cut down or seemingly dead.
II. Yet the prediction assured them that the promise would certainly be fulfilled. The positive fulfilment of the threatening would encourage the hope in the sure realisation of the promise, and give them encouragement amid the calamities.
III. There is here an obvious contrast between this promised King and all who ever held Davids throne. He was to be righteous, to reign, to act wisely. How different from all kings before Him! Their impiety and folly had entailed ruin upon the people.
IV. The description of their future King could not fail to astonish them. It began by comparing Him to a bud, or tender shoot, from a tree cut down, and ended by ascribing to Him the great and fearful name of JEHOVAH! It must have awakened their admiration, reverence, confidence: for
1. His being the offspring of David assured them of His tenderest sympathy in the well-being of Israel and Judah; and
2. His being Jehovah gave still stronger assurance that nothing was too difficult to accomplish, and nothing would be left undone. And
3. They were assured that His righteousness, power, and wisdom would be made available for securing the peace and prosperity of His people, as He was to be their Righteousness.
V. This promise has been fulfilled, and its hidden meaning unfolded. To Gods ancient people obscurity must have hidden the true character of their king. The prophets themselves diligently sought a private interpretation of their own predictions. The Church at large was in mystery. But to us the mystery is all revealed.
VI. The great principle on which the whole scheme of redemption rests is here stated. Righteousness.
1. It is only on the ground of perfect righteousness that God can accept and approve an intelligent creature.
2. Yet a sinners restoration to righteousness was impracticable by and of himself. He fell under the power as well as condemnation of sin.
3. The two conditions of mans deliverance were, punishment due to sin already committed must be borne, and perfect compliance with the demand of the law must be rendered. Man was wholly incompetent.
4. The manifold wisdom of God is seen in His provision of what seemed impossibleperfect righteousness. He shall be called Jehovah our righteousness.Robert Gordon, D.D., F.R.S.C.Christ as made known to the Ancient Church.
Here is
I. A word of terror to the negligent shepherds (Jer. 23:1-2). The day is at hand when God would reckon with them concerning the trust committed to them.
1. They were not owners of the sheep. God calls them the sheep of My pasture.
2. They had neglected the sheep. Scattered the flock, &c.
3. They would be visited with vengeance. They would not visit the sheep; God would visit upon them the evil of their doings. See Addenda: NEGLIGENT PASTORS.
II. A word of comfort to the neglected sheep.
1. The dispersed people should be gathered happily into their own land, and under good government (Jer. 23:3-4).
2. Messiah, the good Shepherd of the sheep, would be raised up to bless and be the glory of His people Israel (Jer. 23:5-6).
3. This great salvation should far outshine Israels deliverance from Egypt (Jer. 23:7-8).
III. An illustrious description of the promised Messiah.
1. Christ is here spoken of as the Branch from David. Mean in appearance; His beginnings small; His rise seemingly out of the earth, but growing to be green, to be great, and to be loaded with fruits.
2. He is here spoken of as the Churchs King. He shall reign on the throne of His father David, and he shall prosper, and not, as the degenerate kings had done, go back in their affairs. He shall set up a kingdom in the world, which shall be victorious over all opposition. And in these days of Christs government, Judah shall be saved, &c. When He reigns uppermost in the soul, the soul dwells at ease.
3. He is here spoken of as The Lord our Righteousness. (1.) Who and what He is. As God, Jehovah; denoting His eternity and self-existence. As Mediator, our Righteousness. All our righteousness has its being from Him; and we are made the righteousness of God in Him. (2.) The profession and declaration of this. This is the name by which, &c. Not only shall He be so, but He shall be known to be so. God shall call Him by this name: and Israel shall so call Him: and every true believer shall know and call upon Him by that name.Matthew Henry.
Section, Jer. 23:9-40.FALSE PROPHETS, AND THE NATIONAL LEVITY DENOUNCED
Jeremiahs deep distress under the necessity of declaring the dreadful woes which God bade him utter (Jer. 23:9).
I. Delusive prophesyings.
1. Criminal teachers (Jer. 23:13-14). Their wicked teachings had led to apostasy in Samaria, and effrontery in Jerusalem.
2. Deluded hearers (Jer. 23:16-17). They hearkened readily; were rendered vain; grew to despise God; and still expected peace.
3. A demoralised nation (Jer. 23:10-11). Abandoned to vileness of conduct; to profanity of speech; perversity of life (course evil); and resolute defiance (their force is not right).
4. Gods revulsion at such scenes (Jer. 23:13-14). The conduct of the Baal-priests in Samaria stirred Gods contempt; but the vile corruptions of the Jerusalem priests aroused His loathing and wrath.
5. Gods remonstrance with the nation (Jer. 23:16). Though men mislead, God interposes with earnest appeals and honest counsels.
6. Gods charge against the prophets (Jer. 23:18; Jer. 23:21-22). They had neglected the counsel of the Lord; had spoken without a commission; and therefore misled Gods people.
7. Sins cruel seductions (Jer. 23:12). God gives them over to strong delusions; to inherit the miseries of their perversity.
8. Fierce anger against transgressors (Jer. 23:19-20). Mighty forces of destruction; working furious disaster upon the wrong-doers; allowing of no escape.
9. Bitter woes against the prophets (Jer. 23:15). Inward bitterness: enforced bitterness: God would fill them with the pangs of woe.
Note:
i. False teachers will taste the full bitterness of their wicked delusions.
ii. Wilful sinners shall be driven on in the slippery ways they prefer.
iii. No teachings which lead men to sin can have the sanction of God.
II. Frivolous dreamers.
1. False pretenders to Divine communications (Jer. 23:25-27). These dreamy surmisings are (1.) Traced to their origin (the deceit of their own heart); and (2.) Their baneful purpose is exposed (they think to cause My people to forget My name, &c.).
2. A bold distinction between Gods messages and such deceits (Jer. 23:28-29). The dream beguiles to delusions; the word burns all conceits and breaks all false confidences.
3. An all-observing Eye (Jer. 23:23-24). Deceivers are watched. Men cannot see through their fallacies, but God can. None deceive Him.
4. Stern denunciations of lying prophets, (1.) Their sinful practices; they steal Gods words from true prophets and pervert or misapply them; they simulate a Divine authority for their false words, saying He saith; and they lead Gods people to err by their lightness. (2.) Gods severe remonstrance; I am against the prophets, and the dreamers; He would requite them for their deceptions and for the consequent errors of the people.
Note:
i. Promises of peace from men who lead us astray from God are mere chaff which the wind shall drive away.
ii. The faithfulness of Gods Word distinguishes it from the delusions of human teachings.
III. Profane jesting. This charge is thrown upon the whole nation (Jer. 23:33-34). They so treated the messages of Gods true prophet.
1. Retorting with banter and levity. Taking up Jeremiahs solemn words with derision, and tossing them about as if it all were a jest.
2. Trifling with messages from God (Jer. 23:35-36). Chaffing one another with being bearers of Gods burden; and perverting Jehovahs words.
3. Rejected by Jehovah with contempt (Jer. 23:39-40). God had forbidden this levity (Jer. 23:38); and now would cast off the nation as a grievous and loathsome burden (Jer. 23:39), and leave them to the lasting shame they so richly deserved (Jer. 23:40).
Note:
i. Jesting with Gods Word indicates the most daring impiety.
ii. Such lightness and profanity will prove a woful burden to the sinner and his everlasting reproach.
HOMILIES AND COMMENTS ON VERSES OF CHAPTER 23
Jer. 23:1-4. Theme: FAITHLESS PASTORS: FAITHFUL SHEPHERDS.
I. Woful neglect of the flock of God.
1. On whom God charges this faithlessness. These pastors were the secular rulers, the unrighteous kings, mentioned in chap. 22, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah. Note, the responsibility of civil rulers to God; for By Me kings reign, &c. Hence argue: the obligations of all in power, whether that power be royal, civil, ecclesiastical, or pastoral, to rule and work for the highest good and the spiritual advantage of the people.
2. For what God threatens these shepherds. The flock was destroyed; i.e., it was no longer the flock of God, for the nation was a wilful and wicked herd of goats; its pastoral simplicity had been ruined. And the flock was scattered; driven away from fidelity to God; equally from His nutritious pasturage; and literally from the fold they should have occupied, the land they should have continued to inhabit (Jer. 23:3). Negligent Shepherds harm the people temporally and spiritually; despoil them of the choicest blessings of this lifetheir spiritual comforts and heavenly hopes.
3. With what judgments God would visit such faithlessness. Woe be to the pastors. I will visit upon you the evil of your doings. With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. The ruin of the flock would be requited by the ruin of the shepherds. (See Ezekiel 33.)
II. Benignant promise of faithful pastors.
Note that the words pastors and shepherds are different translations of the same Hebrew word (rim).
1. To that nation this was fulfilled in the raising up of religious and righteous rulers, Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Maccabees, who were not hereditary kings of the seed of David, but men raised up by God to govern His flock.
2. To the spiritual Israel this was fulfilled in the orders and ordinances of the Christian Church. No more have we the tyranny of secular kings within the Church; but Christ Himself is King. No longer have we the impiety of priests and Pharisees within the Church (as in the Jewish Synagogue); for the apostles of Christ began a line of earnest teachers and preachers who minister within the sanctuary: faithful pastors who love and tend the flock of God over which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers.
3. To every soul within the Saviours fold these assurances are now verified: they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord (Jer. 23:4): for believers in Christ have Him for Shepherd (Psalms 24); and He both guards His fold from harm, and nourishes the souls of His flock.
Fear no more: it pledges a sense of security. Such is the luxury of Christian restfulness within the fold of and under the rule of Jesus our Lord. Safe in Christ.
Nor be dismayed: it guarantees protection from such neglect and exposure as a flock, faithlessly shepherded, would suffer. Saved by Christ.
Neither shall they be lacking: this means, not one sheep shall be missing. This is therefore a prophecy of Judahs restoration from Babylon; yet its fulness of significance can only be realised in the final restoration of both Judah and Israel (comp. Jer. 23:6) out of all countriesa prophecy never yet accomplished. While spiritually it foreshadows the gathering together of all Christs redeemed, under the One Shepherd of the sheep.
See Addenda: NEGLIGENT PASTORS.
Jer. 23:5. Theme: THE KINGDOM OF THE MESSIAH.
The prophetic writings are replete with appropriate and sublime descriptions of the personal appearing, redeeming works, and mediatorial offices of the promised Messiah. The text describes the Redeemers character, as assuming human nature and establishing His kingdom of grace; and directs our attention to the following important truths:
I. The person of the Messiah.
Behold the days come, &c. In these words we may observe three things relative to the coming Messiah:
1. His human incarnation. A Branch. This term is often used by the prophets to represent Christs assumption of our nature as the seed of the woman, according to the Divine promise (Gen. 3:15). To accomplish this and similar promises, the Lord declares in the text, Behold the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. The Father loved the world, promised, and actually sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that we might live through Him. Thus, the Lord raised in the royal house and lineage of David a Branch; as it is written, There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of His roots. The scheme of redemption rendered it necessary for Christ to take on Him the seed of Abraham, that He might suffer and die for our sins (Heb. 2:10; Heb. 2:17).
2. His personal perfection. A righteous branch. In His essential nature as God, Jesus Christ was infinitely pure, holy, just, and good. And in His human nature as man He was perfectly righteous and sinless. Had not Christ been sinless, He could not have atoned for our sins.
3. His sovereign character. A King shall reign. The Jews were taught to expect their Messiah as an illustrious Prince and prosperous monarch. But, in general, they mistook the precise meaning of the prophets, and expected Him as a temporal, and not as a spiritual, sovereign. He possessed every qualification requisite for the dignity of His character. He is infinite in wisdom, righteousness, power, and goodness. He is not only a Prophet to instruct, a Priest to atone, but also a King to rule and save His people.
II. The nature of His kingdom.
A King shall reign and prosper, &c. The empire of Christ is of a complex character, and comprehends His vast dominion over all things, as the Creator and Preserver of mankind, and as the Redeemer and Saviour of them that believe. In this extended view the Messiah possesses:
1. A universal kingdom. His presence fills all space, and His power is unlimited. He reigns in His providence over all His creatures, and is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is the sovereign proprietor of all things, and sways His sceptre both in heaven and in earth. All things are dependent on His power, and subject to His control, who is over all, God blessed for ever.
2. A mediatorial kingdom. This refers to Christs official character, as the mediator between God and man. When Christ engaged in the cause of our redemption. He founded a kingdom of mediation for the redemption of mankind. The Saviour reigns as the conqueror of all our enemies as the Prince of Peace and the King of Zion, in His redeeming and mediatorial character (Php. 2:5-11).
3. A spiritual kingdom. The kingdom which Christ established in the work of redemption is designed in its personal influence to destroy sin, that grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life. Our Lord declares the kingdom of God is within you. It is an eternal empire of grace, producing righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
4. A celestial kingdom. Heaven is often denominated a kingdom, and is the promised inheritance of the Lords faithful people (Luk. 12:32). The kingdom of grace here prepares and leads to the kingdom of glory hereafter. Christ waits to receive and welcome His followers into His everlasting kingdom, that they may participate His glory, dwell in His presence, and reign with Him for ever.
III. The character of His reign. A king shall reign and prosper, &c.
1. Christs reign is legitimate. He is no impostor. He reigns by rational and eternal right as Sovereign of the universe; and as mediator He reigns in the kingdom of grace by Divine appointment, authority, and sanction. The kingdom of Christ is founded on principles of sound reason, and therefore all rational beings ought to submit to His government.
2. Christs reign is righteous. He is a merciful and gracious Sovereign, and though He executes judgment and justice in the earth, it is in mercy and love to mankind.
3. Christs reign is prosperous. Whatever opposition His kingdom meets with, He shall prosper. All the schemes He adopts, and the means He employs, are devised by infinite wisdom and accompanied by omnipotent energy; and therefore His reign must succeed. His perfections, declarations, promises, gospel, and Spirit, secure the prosperity of His cause (Heb. 1:8; Dan. 2:44; Joh. 16:8).
4. Christs reign is everlasting. All other kings are mortal, and therefore die and leave their dignities to their successors. All temporal kingdoms rise and fall, and will ultimately perish in the wreck of worlds; but Christ is the King eternal and immortal, and His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.
To improve the subject, consider: The dignity of Christs person and character, the folly and misery of His enemies, and the duty and happiness of His subjects.Sketches of Sermons.
Theme: THE NATURE AND PROSPERITY OF MESSIAHS REIGN.
Christ is described in His distinct and dissimilar parts of His character by Jeremiah: A branch, to denote His human nature and origin: the righteous branch, to denote His essential righteousness in Himself, and the source of righteousness to believers: and their King, to direct attention to His spiritual dominion.
I. The character of Christ. There are three things we look for in a king:
1. Supreme power (Eph. 1:21; Rom. 9:5).
2. Legislative authority. Christs right to legislate, as being proprietor of all (Joh. 1:10; Col. 1:16) and redeemer of all; for He bought us with a price.
3. Righteous administration. There must be wisdom, or the monarchs reign would be one of folly; justice, or tolerate licentiousness; mercy, or be despotic (Mat. 12:20).
II. The nature of Christs reign.
1. Spiritual. Seat of His government is in the human spirit (Luk. 17:20; Rom. 14:17).
2. Equitable. Prohibits all evil, enjoins all good (Heb. 1:8).
3. Benevolent. Alexanders and Csars were warriors with confused noise and garments rolled in blood; but Christ (Isa. 42:2).
4. Perpetual. Earthly kingdoms may rise and fall (Isa. 9:7; Heb. 1:8).
III. The prosperity with which His reign shall be attended. To prosper as king, implies:
1. To have an increase of willing subjects.
2. To have adequate provision for supply of all their wants.
3. To secure their real happiness (Psa. 72:7-8).
4. To subjugate or destroy His enemies (Isa. 60:12).
Observe:
1. If Christ shall reign and prosper, how great is the folly of being His adversaries!
2. This subject should inspire the Christian with joy and gratitude (Act. 15:3; Rev. 19:6-7).
3. We should do our utmost to extend the Redeemers triumphs.From
Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.
Jer. 23:6. Theme: A BRIGHT ERA FOR MANKIND. In His days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely.
Eagerly we scan those prophecies which open a gracious future for humanity. Especially when our Lord Jesus is predicted as being the author of that blissful change. For it is so desirable both for human good and the Saviours glory.
(a.) The present prevailing irreligion, with all the force of a dark contrast, makes the outlook alluring to contemplate.
(b.) The slow progress of evangelisation gives zest to the anticipation of the grand success which shall come in those days through the direct interposition of Heaven.
HAS THIS PROPHECY BEEN FULFILLED? Does it allude to the spiritual salvation of the spiritual Judah as the result of gospel preaching in this Christian era? Or, to the final gathering together of Jews into their own land? Or, to the millennial day when the spiritual Israel will be made triumphant over all the forces of evil, and reign in peace and safety on the earth?
I. An age anticipated which shall belong to Christ. Called His days.
1. Have those days been realised in the Christian era? Certainly Christianity in some sense has fulfilled this prediction. It is an era when, not Moses, but Christ gives the impress to, and dwells supreme in, the dispensation. Jesus is now the Lord our Righteousness. And if we may interpret Judah and Israel spiritually, then He has saved us.
But the ancient people of God are here literally meant. And they have not as yet come to call Jesus the Lord our Righteousness; they do not dwell safely, for they are wanderers upon the earth. The promise in Jer. 23:8 has not yet been fulfilled even in a spiritual sense: Israel has not been all won to Christ.
2. Those days have yet to dawn. For when they come Israel shall acknowledge Christ.
(a.) There may be an actual fulfilment of this promise for the tribes of Judah and Israel. And who would not welcome it? for they have been a sad people long afflicted. Yet even more because of the promises which attend the time of their restoration (Rom. 11:11-12; Rom. 11:15; Rom. 11:25-26).
(b.) But the allusion may be to the millennial age: when (Jer. 23:5) the King shall reign. We cannot say these are the days of Christ; for the devil rules a wider dominion! But the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. For this grand future pray, work, and hope.
II. The days of Christs ascendancy shall be distinguished by the enjoyments of salvation.
(a.) Oppression and destruction marked the days of despotic monarchiesthe Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzar, Frederick the Great, Bonaparte.
(b.) Safety has not hitherto been the experience of the Jewish nation. Every age finds them a wronged and outraged people. But when Messiah comes they will be molested no more.
(c.) Neither has Israel, spiritually considered, dwelt safely. The souls of Christs people are always imperilled and assailed by the forces of evil.
1. What do safety and salvation here mean?If the Hebrew interpretation be correct, it means deliverance from the nations, and possession of their own country, where they would dwell in peace. If the spiritual interpretation be correct, it means, Christs followers ransomed from the enemy, piety victorious over sin, earth won for Christ. Then the foe disturbs our peace no more, threatens our safety no more, either by insinuating doubt, planning temptation, or chilling love. What days those! when all will be blessed in Jesus; when all shall know the Lord, &c., and the Church shall be happy in Jesus favour, free from the dread of ills!
2. In the individual believer these promises are already fulfilled. He is saved, and dwells safely in Christ. But that personal bliss is the possession of few now. Christs days shall spread it far and wideto Jew and Gentile.
III. For the coming of Christs days we may well with eagerness yearn.
1. They are desirable. What a joyous outlook! Ended our sowing precious seed with tears, our grief over the desolations of sin, our shame for the scorn and rejection of Christ, our struggles with evil around.
2. We live amid danger now. Therefore anxiety and watchfulness: therefore peace is disturbed and joy marred. Then shall we realise rest and delight. How long, O Lord, how long? Not long, if we speed the time by diligent workfor the conversion of the heathen and the salvation of those who are near. Not long, if we speed the time by earnest prayer. Thy kingdom come. Let us give Him no rest till He arise and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
Jer. 23:6. Theme: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. We may view this as
I. An announcement of an important truth.
1. The Lord is our righteousness inasmuch as the purpose and plan of justifying sinners originated with Him.
2. Inasmuch as He Himself has alone procured righteousness for us.
3. Inasmuch as it is through His grace and by His free donation that we receive righteousness.
II. An utterance of personal belief and confidence.
The language of faith, hope, joy, gratitude.
III. A directory to the spiritual inquirer.
Anxious sinners wish to know the way of acceptance with God. The text is a brief but satisfactory answer.Dr. W. Lindsay-Alexander (of Edinburgh), The Hive.
Theme: CHRISTS SUPREME NAME.
Redemption by a crucified Redeemer is the capital theme of Divine revelation. It is completely interwoven with the golden network of the prophetic pagefor to Him give all the prophets witnesswhilst the evangelists echo and re-echo the exhaustless theme.
The Gospel is not known as a system of promises simply, though these are exceedingly great and precious; not as a system of morals, though its morality is of the highest kind; nor as a system of legislation simply, though it contains the code of Gods moral government; but it is pre-eminently known as a system of reconciliation.
This doctrine forms the key to the Christian system. To this one work all dispensations point. This all sacrifices illustrate. This all promises embody. This all Providence is bowed to subserve. This all heaven stoops to witness. This all hell resists and opposes. This all bad men revile or neglect. This all good men venerate and love. Surely shall one say, In the Lord Jehovah have I righteousness and strength. This is the name by which He shall be called, etc.
It is common with the prophets to console the Jews under their calamities with the prospect of Messiahs approach, as a proof that if the Church was to be preserved till His coming, it should not be destroyed in its present exigency. Here the transit is easy from the corrupt pastors that destroyed Israel to the true Shepherd who should redeem it. He was to be the descendant of their shepherd-king.
1. Exhibit the delightful character under which Christ is portrayed.
2. Specify some of the circumstances that put an emphasis and value upon the redemption He has achieved.
I. Exhibit the delightful character under which Christ is here presented. The Lord is our righteousness.
Every title which Christ bears opens a source of consolation to His people. They are so many beautiful notices of Himself, and shadow forth blessings.
i. In His essential dignity. The Lord. Jehovah. Incommunicableness.
We are thus led up before the springs of Time. His goings forth have been of old from everlasting. Before the dayspring knew its place. All things were derived from Him; He was before all things were; He shall be when they cease to exist. The message to the seven churches begins with, Grace, mercy, peace, from Him THAT IS, and WAS, and is to COME, the Almighty: and He who there speaks says, I am Alpha and Omega. The JEHOVAH of the Old Testament is the LORD of the New: the seed of David: over all God.
All the evidence concurs in this, that the Redeemer of the world was to be Divine as well as human. This was necessary that He might transact our salvation on equal terms, and that the virtue of His offering might be available and efficacious on our behalf. Take away His humanity, and He would have no sacrifice to offer: take away His divinity, and His sacrifice would have no inherent merit. The doctrines of Christs merit and of Christs Divinity are inseparable, for if the one be removed, the other must fall, of course; and with them the whole fabric of our redemption.
ii. His mediatorial office. Our righteousness. So important is this that our Lord takes His name from it. It is the title by which He loves to be distinguished, and all who would speak to His honour must make mention of His righteousness. It was no unusual thing for the warriors, princes, and great men of antiquity to take their names from the countries conquered, or the exploits they had achieved. As Scipio from his conquest of Africa, and Coriolanus from his over the Corioli. So Christ from redemption. In the name of Jesus the whole Gospel lies hid.
The necessity for this scheme of substitution arose out of human depravity, and the inflexible rectitude of the Divine government. It was necessary that as we had lost our righteousness it should be restored in Christ. Die He, or justice must. To fulfil the high condition Jesus interposed. Here was glory for our meanness, suffering for our ransom. It was exacted.
Here we see the grand reality to which all the shadows of the Jewish law pointed. It became Him, etc.
iii. In the spiritual relation in which He stands to His peopleintended in the term our righteousness.
A spiritual union is presupposed between us and Him, of which faith is the connecting linkin consequence of which the penalty we incurred is borne by Him, and the righteousness He wrought out on Calvary is applied to us. The inheritance was to be redeemed by the GOEL or near kinsman. Both He that sanctifieth, etc.
Rest not till you can rest in Christ, as made of God to you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It is the personal experience and the personal application of Christs benefits which we need. I know whom I have believed. I know my Redeemer.
II. Specify some considerations which put an emphasis and value upon redemption, and heighten our sense of its importance.
i. The work of redemption has ennobled our nature and shed a lustre over the annals of our world. He took not on Him the nature of angelslaid not hold on them. Those first-born sons of immortality were left in their sins. No mighty to save appeared for them. No ark in their deluge: no refuge city in their land: no brazen serpent in their camp: no star of Bethlehem in their sky!
Christ ennobles all with which He comes in contact. The very place is memorable. Thou Bethlehem Ephrata. The times are memorable. Jesus fills an era of His own. In HIS DAYS Judah saved. We date from His deathwe memorialise His deathshow forth the Lords death.
ii. It eclipses and throws into the shade the greatest of the Divine works. No more say the Lord liveth, who brought Israel from Egypt. Babylon was to eclipse the deliverance from Egyptand Calvary that of Babylon.
iii. It enhances the value of temporal blessings following in its train. Judah shall be savedwhen God is known as her righteousness.
iv. It forms a permanent bond of union among subjects of grace. Judah and Israel.
Finally, judge of the grandeur of the work by the doom denounced against those who despise and reject it. Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish. Of how much sorer punishment, &c.S. Thodey, A.D. 1838.
Jer. 23:5-6. Theme: THE CHRISTIAN CREED SUMMARISED.
The ancient fathers agreed that this prophecy was not fulfilled on the return of the Jews under Zerubbabel, but is accomplished by the restoration of all true Israelites in Christ.
I. The manhood of the Messiah is here declared. I will raise unto David a righteous branch (comp. Isa. 11:1).
II. Christs royal majesty and judicial authority are prophetically announced. And a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
III. His saving power and love as our Redeemer are also affirmed. In His days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely.
IV. Here is a clear assertion that He who has been pre-announced as Very Man of the seed of David, and as an Eternal King and Righteous Judge, and as a mighty Saviour and Deliverer, is also the LORD, JEHOVAH, Very God, and, being Very God as well as Very Man, is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.Bishop Wordsworth.
Theme: CHRISTS RIGHT TO THIS NAME VINDICATED.
To speak of a person as THE LORD OUR RIGHTNEOUSNESS, and to say that His name was to be called JEHOVAH, would be very dangerous unless His name really was Jehovah.
I. According to the whole teaching of the Christian Scripture, it cannot be predicated of Jehovah, regarded as a name of God the Father, that He is our righteousness. On the contrary, the Father is our righteous Lawgiver and Judge, and we are liable to Him for the punishment of our sins.
II. We may safely predicate our righteousness of Christ, who is here called the Lord our righteousness.
For the Apostle has expressly taught us that Christ is made unto us righteousness (1Co. 1:30). As Man He was able to suffer for us: as God He is able to reconcile the Father to us.
Not only, therefore, may Christ our righteousness be called JEHOVAH, but by being also called OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS he is thereby distinguished from God the Father, and becomes our Jehovah and our righteousness: the God-Man consecrated to mans redemption.Comp. Bishop Pearson on this text, Art. ii. p. 148.
Theme: JEHOVA JUSTITIA NOSTRA.
This name is compounded of these three wordsall of them essential: and it makes a threefold cord which cannot be broken; which, except it be entire, and have all three, it loseth the virtue, it worketh nothing.
i. JEHOVA. Why that must be a part of this name. David shows (Psa. 71:16), because only His righteousness is worth remembering; and no other is fit to be mentioned. For our own righteousness is odious (Isa. 64:6, and Php. 4:8).
ii. JUSTITIA. Why righteousness rather than salvation or peace? Because salvation and peace are the fruits which grow on Righteousness as the Branch (Isa. 33:7).
iii. JEHOVA JUSTITIA. Why is Jehovah here associated with righteousness rather than with some other attribute, as of power or mercy? Because it is God with us (Isa. 7:10), chiefly in this property of righteousness as above all other Divine properties.
David calls Him Jehova misericordia (Psa. 59:17), and true it is that mercy is ours. But justice is against us; and except justice also be made ours, all is not as it should be. But if justicethat in God which only is against usmight be made for us, then are we safe. Therefore, all our thought is how we may get mercy to triumph over justice (Jas. 2:13), or how we may get them to meet and be friends (Psa. 85:10). Hence, therefore, neither Jehova potentia nor Jehova misericordia are enough, but it must be Jehova justitia.
iv. NOSTRA. Without this Jehovah alone doth not concern us, while Jehovah justitia is wholly against us. But if He be not alone righteousness, but ours too, we have our desires. Verily this possessive word of application is all in all.Bishop Andrewes (Works, vol. v. Sermon 5). See further Noticeable Topics.
Jer. 23:7-8. Repeated from chap. Jer. 16:14-15. See Homily in loc. But see Noticeable Topics below: THE LOST TEN TRIBES.
Jer. 23:9. Theme: HORROR OVER FAITHLESS PROPHETS. The Prophet seems beside himself for God as Paul was; a mad enthusiast; like a man whom wine hath overcome. He had sufficient cause.
I. Intense grief over false teachers. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets. 1. Their wickedness in teaching delusions. This incensed his pious soul. 2. Their ruinous misleading of the nation. This disturbed his patriotic spirit.
II. Profound terror over approaching disasters. All my bones shake, I am like a drunken man. For, 1. He himself clearly knew the disasters which false prophets sought to obscure and hide. 2. He vividly apprehended the agonies into which his nation would speedily be plunged. See Addenda: NEGLIGENT PASTORS.
III. Deepest awe over Gods terribleness. Because of the Lord and the words of His holiness. 1. He knew with whom these prophets were trifling. And knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men. 2. He realised the compulsion of Gods holy words. God never threatened willingly; but when necessity led Him to pronounce doom, it was appalling to think of what it meant.
Jer. 23:10-12. Theme: GODS WRATH OVER NATIONAL VICES. Here is a catalogue of criminalities, together with their penalties.
I. Outrages by man against God. Sin has manifold names and shapes, all offensive. Here is a specification of some especially odious.
1. Immorality. Land full of adulterers. Literal: for fornication was the common attendant of idolatry. And this by prophets, and by the people throughout the land, who were encouraged thereto by the example of their leaders. Spiritual adultery also; Israel had forsaken her Husband for idols (Jer. 3:8-10; Jer. 3:20).
2. Foul speech, swearing. Margin, cursing. [This interpretation can only be given by licence, for the text most probably means, because of the curse (of God) the land mourneth]. Yet Hosea (Jer. 4:2-3) warrants the use of the text as it stands in the E.V. God hears and hates blasphemous language.
3. Persistent wrongdoing. Their course is evil, and their force is not right. 1. The current of their life is bad. Low public tastes and manners. 2. The intention of their life is dishonourable; they use their personal powers (force) and civil powers and ecclesiastical powers, not for rectitude, but deceit and oppression and impiety.
4. Sacrilege. 1. Religious officers were themselves profane (Jer. 23:11). 2. Holy scenes were degraded by wickedness.
II. Disasters from God upon man.
Sin has manifold penalties and punishments; here is an enumeration of some especially disastrous.
1. Pleasures all desolated. Pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up (Jer. 23:10). For it should be recognised that men occupy a wilderness. Earth is not naturally fruitful of luxury and pleasure. All its pleasant places are Gods gifts, specially provided for us. Therefore He can easily turn its pleasures into drought, and He will do so if we abuse His grace. Then life becomes a blank waste, and the heart is left without comfort.
2. False ways made fatal. God will allow them to pursue their way (Jer. 23:12); give them up to their hearts desire; not arresting them, simply let them alone to become befooled, besotted, benighted. In the darkness they should not be shown their peril so as to become alarmed, and certainly should not find escape, but slide down into the blackness of darkness for ever.
3. Forces of evil should seize them. Sin when indulged in the heart and habits assumes a tyrannical despotism, and drives on the sinner (Jer. 23:12). Once sin merely pleaded and decoyed, now it forces and masters the soul; and the sinner shall fallwhere? Therein, i.e., into the depths of woe, which end the slippery ways of darkness.
4. God Himself will visit sinners with evil (Jer. 23:12). Though God delays the judgment, yet, (1.) There comes a time of judgment, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. (2.) Then God will Himself bring evil upon them. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die?Comp. Homily on chap. Jer. 11:15.
Jer. 23:13-14. Theme: COMPARATIVE SINFULNESS. Folly in the prophets of Samaria, in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing.
I. Sins are not regarded by God as of equal magnitude.
1. Some evils are mistakes. Folly, and they cause to err.
2. Others are malignant. Horrible thing, wickedness.
II. Sins take their colour and degree from circumstances.
1. The location of our life affects the moral qualities of conduct. The same acts done in Samaria had less wrong in them than when done in Jerusalem, because there was more religious light in Jerusalem.
2. Guilt is guiltiest when done in the face of God. It was stupidity when done in Baal, in connection with Baal. It was absolutely horrible when done in the Temple in Jerusalem, the seat of Gods Holy Throne and Shekinah glory. Thus exalted unto heaven, they should be thrust down to hell.
III. Sins involve all wrong-doers in pitiable distress.
1. Though proportioned to the degree of guiltiness, yet the lightest punishment of sin must be appalling. The few stripes involve banishment from God and heaven, for the unclean shall not dwell therein.
2. The heaviest woes of sin are terrifying to contemplate. They are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Overwhelmed with ruin, and destroyed with fire and brimstone.
Jer. 23:14. Theme: STRENGTHENING THE HANDS OF THE WICKED. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing. They strengthen the hands of evil-doers, that none doth return from his wickedness.
I. All sin is horrible in its nature. It is contrary to the character and will of an Infinite Beinga Being of glorious purity, supreme authority, and almighty power; a Being who cannot be tempted with evil, nor even look on iniquity, &c.
II. To strengthen the hands and hinder the repentance of sinners is to oppose the great plan of the Divine government.
III. It tends to the misery of mankind, and is the reverse of that bene volence which ought to govern us in all our conduct.
IV. It is to operate with that evil spirit who works in the children of disobedience.
V. It is a horrible thing, because we thus become partakers of their sins.
VI. It is directly contrary to Gods commands, and marked with His peculiar abhorrence.
Application:
To teachers of religion; to Christians in general; to heads of families; to the young. It is also horrible to be strengthened in evil-doing.Dr. Lathrop.
Jer. 23:16. Theme: PREACHERS TESTED BY THEIR HEARERS.
I. False preaching may be discovered.
1. It is here described. A vision of their own heart, &c.; entertain with fanciful theories.
2. It may be detected. They make you vain; deceive with false hopes. In Jer. 23:17 their preaching is further described.
(a.) To despisers of God peace is promised.
(b.) To wilful sinners immunity is assured.
II. Hearers must refuse wrong teaching. The Church, and not her ministers, is the pillar and ground of the truth.
1. The exercise of the right of trying the spirits whether they be of God has its perils and difficulties. Ignorant, misguided, and narrow-minded men may make a preacher an offender for a word. Timid souls may take quick alarm. Impatient listeners may judge in haste and without ample reasons.
2. Yet the non-exercise of this right is a grave misdemeanour on the part of the Church. God commands hearers to take heed how they hear, and to try the spirits, &c. Not to do so indicates spiritual inertia, intellectual indifference, and neglect of highest trusts. It exposes the Church to the grossest misleading, and leaves the pulpit to reckless adventurers.
III. Gods truth is perceivable by the common people. Rome and arrogant priests would have us believe that hearers are to receive what is taught them, being incapable of judging their teachers.
1. The doctrine of the Law was sufficient to guide Judah concerning the teachings of prophets. He who ran might read, if he sought to know.
2. Certainly, therefore, the doctrines of the Gospel are plain to mens understanding. God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.
LESSONS
1. Seek to know Gods truth by personal study.
2. Suffer no authority to usurp your own judgment.
3. Challenge any teacher who speaks not according to Gods Word.
4. Take alarm at the preachers messages which continually quiet the conscience and lull the heart.
5. Encourage and strengthen the earnest and outspoken preacher who may seem to become mens enemy because he tells them the truth.
6. Make no truce with the sins which an honest preacher must denounce.
Jer. 23:20. Theme: GODS ANGER UNDERSTOOD AT LAST.
I. Because sinners will not duly consider their wickedness, therefore they misunderstand Gods displeasure.
1. God sees our sin in its most awful aspects. This abominable thing that I hate.
2. Sin blinds the judgment of sinners to its heinousness.
3. Divine anger is rightly fierce towards conduct which would ruin the order and happiness of the whole intelligent and moral world.
4. Men not understanding what sin is, and what it would despoil, think God harsh in His denunciations, and its penalties unduly severe.
II. Because sinners defy the forewarning of Gods anger, therefore it will overwhelm them at the last.
1. God may defer the infliction, yet it cannot be delayed for ever.
2. Men may defy the threatenings, yet cannot thwart the thoughts of the Lord.
3. The full purposes of God upon wrong-doers will be ultimately performed.
4. When God begins with punishment, His anger will not stay till it execute fullest vengeance.
III. When sinners feel the final woes their sins deserve, they will then awake to their just deserts.
1. With this nation it was so; Jerusalem was destroyed, and the exiles, taught by the sore adversity of captivity, saw then how their sin brought woes on themselves and ruin on their country.
2. Even in this world God makes sinners realise that their guilt is the cause of their misery of heart and life. As in perilous illness, or sudden calamity.
3. But it is in the future that the ungodly will learn their full iniquity, and justify the ways of God with them.
Jer. 23:22. Theme: THE SECRET OF A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY. The true prophet will be characterised by no indecent haste (Jer. 23:21) in assuming his office; but when commissioned, will faithfully perform its duties.
I. Gods messengerwhence he gains his message. Stood in My counsel. The Hebrew word counsel (sd) means a confidential meeting of private friends. In Psa. 25:14 it is rendered the secret, i.e., confidential fellowship.
1. The preacher in private converse with God.
2. Coming from that hidden fellowship with a message to men.
3. Solemnity and grandeur of the office.
4. The majestic force of conviction thus sustaining the preacher while delivering his message.
II. Gods messengerwhat he preaches to men. Caused My people to hear My words.
1. Divine truths gained from Gods mouth (Jer. 23:16).
2. Messages which foster no delusions (Jer. 23:17).
3. Human theories (visions, Jer. 23:16) kept in abeyance that only Gods words may gain heed.
4. Gods utterances preached with the fervour which causes the people to hear.
III. Gods messengerwhat effects crown a true ministry.
1. What is the Divine preachers supreme aim? To turn men from their evil way, &c.
2. What are the Divine teachers best credentials? That his preaching does accomplish this result. Then they should have turned them, &c.
3. What are the Divine preachers richest rewards? Not worldly favour or power, but sinners turned from the error of their ways; souls won for Christ, his crown of rejoicing.
Jer. 23:23. Theme: GODS NEARNESS EVERYWHERE.
Sinners, amid iniquitous doings, often resort to atheistical subterfuges. God seeth us not. Needful, therefore, that they be confronted with the very first principles of religionGods omnipresence and omniscience. National religion affirms these attributes of Deity. Revelation confirms and enlarges the doctrine. God everywhere: seeing all, near all.
I. All space is pervaded by God Himself. He is at hand: but equally He is afar off. Near us on earth, as He is near those in heaven.
1. Near us in personal presence. God stands before the door. Compasses our path, &c.
2. Near us in minute perception. His eyes behold, &c. Run to and fro.
3. Near us in mighty power. Doing according to His will among the inhabitants of the earth, as well as amid the armies of heaven. No place can either include Him or exclude Him. (Henry.)
II. All actions are performed in Gods full gaze.
1. The thought of secrecy is a delusion. We live, move, think, act in the full blaze of the searching light of omniscience.
2. The deeds of human life are Divinely scanned. He reads them through and throughmotive and method, all keenly and completely discerned.
3. The judgments of God are based upon perfect knowledge of facts. This is consolatory to the righteouswho are often misrepresented and maligned. This is admonitory to the irreligiouswho will be destitute of all hope of excuse or covert in the day of decision.
4. Such universal knowledge, from personal supervision of the universe, throughout all time, is both necessary to a proper idea of a Godthe worlds Ruler, Sustainer, and Judge; and it is a guarantee of rectitude in the administration of Divine providence now and of Divine rewards and punishment hereafter. He will depend on no secondary source of knowledge of usnot even on the reports of angel ministers: all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
III. All scenes are equally favourable to revelations of God.
1. In heaven, where He seems locally near, pure and redeemed souls may look upon Him, and glory in His cloudless presence.
2. On earth, though clouds and darkness hide Him, and we think of God as afar off, He can yet make Himself known to our souls.
3. Even in hell, the scene of banishment from Him, God maycertainly He canshow Himself to outcast souls whose desire it will be to hide themselves from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.See Addenda: GODS OMNIPRESENCE.
Jer. 23:23-24. Theme: THE ALL-PRESENT GOD.
Always present and everywhere present. Three interrogations are here submitted: but not to imply a question or doubt as to the facts interrogated, but to emphasise the truths brought thereby upon attention.
i. The sublime fact of Gods omnipresence is affirmed (Jer. 23:23); God is near at hand, and is present afar off.
ii. The co-ordinate truth of Gods omniscience (Jer. 23:24). There are no secret places to God.
iii. The spirituality of GodHis immaterial essence is likewise affirmed:for He fills the universe, heaven and earth; the Great Spirit present everywhere.
I. Verily this omnipresent Spiritual Being is worthy of human worship. If we had to search out whom to adore and obey, who can compare with God.
1. Such attributes constrain our homage.
2. Such greatness impresses on us the thought that it is well that we be reconciled to One so majestic and mighty.
3. Such a God, everywhere near, it is easy to worship and wise to trust. He can know all things on our behalf and do all we need.
II. Equally clear it is that any lower object of worship is an error.
1. Idolatry is reprehensible. It elevates inferiors (even if idols had any real existence) into ascendancy. It wrongs God; it gives His glory to another; and it angers Him.
2. Divided affections are inconsistent with true homage. We can have but one God. He will not be placed on a level with another object of regard. Beside Me is none else.
III. The loftiest reverence and truest loyalty become us in relation to a God so glorious.
1. What thoughts and feelings can be too elevated as we think of Him.
2. What devotion can exceed His claims.
3. What a privilege to be permitted to hide our life in such a God! Hid with Christ in God.
IV. Security and peace are assured to the godly soul in the fact of the Divine omnipresence.
1. God will guard him from the lurking forces and subtleties of sin. Can any hide, &c. God sees His saints in all scenes and circumstances, and will keep them safely.
2. God will be ever near him; his solace and sufficiency. He is at hand to cherish, to guidein life and death; till the redeemed soul reaches Him in heaven.
Jer. 23:28-29. Theme: FIDELITY REQUIRED IN MINISTERS.
He that hath My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.
No order is more influential on society than ministers. The old prophets, if faithful to their God, diffused incalculable blessings through the land; if false, hardened the people in their wickedness. Ministers to-day produce like effects.
I. A solemn injunction to all who bear the office of the ministry.
The Word of God is put into our hands, and a dispensation is committed to us to preach it. This office we must execute faithfully; we must speak the Word
1. Unreservedly, without concealment (Act. 20:20; Act. 20:27). Our object must be (Pro. 11:30) our manner (2Co. 4:2); and our motto (2Co. 2:17).
2. Impartially, without respect of persons. All idea of pleasing men must be abandoned (Gal. 1:10). We must follow the fidelity of Paul (1Th. 2:3-6), using great plainness of speech (2Co. 3:12-13).
3. Boldly, without fear. The prophets were so enjoined to speak (Jer. 1:8; Jer. 1:17; Eze. 2:6-7). We must expect hatred (Joh. 3:19-20): but our answer to opponents must be (Act. 4:19-20): and we must account suffering in this work our glory (Act. 5:41; Philip. Jer. 2:17-18).
This injunction is further enforced by
II. A solemn appeal to the whole world.
1. To our judgment. What is the chaff? &c. Of what use were the assertions of false prophets? They only deceived the people to their ruin. Contrast with this the labours of Moses, David, Elijah, Paul. So the true minister (1Ti. 4:16; Jas. 5:20). God declares the good effect of faithful teaching (see Jer. 23:23).
2. To our experience. Gods Word, if faithfully declared, is quick and powerful (Heb. 4:12). Let any who has observed its effects say whether it is not like fire, which dissolves the hardest metal, and like a hammer, &c. Illustrate by Nineveh (Jon. 3:4-10), and the scene at Pentecost (Act. 2:37, &c.) Verily, it is mighty through God (2Co. 10:4-5).
There are cogent reasons for ministerial fidelity. False doctrines save no man; but a simple preaching of Christ crucified is the power of God unto salvation (1Co. 1:23-24; Rom. 1:16). Many are thereby turned to God from idols, &c. (1Th. 1:5; 1Th. 1:9-10).
i. Let me now discharge my duty to you. To me is committed the Word of God for you, and woe is unto me if I preach it not with all fidelity (1Co. 9:16-17; Eze. 33:6-8).
ii. Let me call on you to make a due improvement of my testimony. Pray; seek Gods blessing on the word preached, that it may prove to you a savour of life unto life, and not of death unto death. It is He who can make the fire burn, and the hammer so mighty that no rock can withstand its force.C. Simeon.
Jer. 23:28. Theme: THE CHAFF AND THE WHEAT.
What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.
We may regard this question as suggestive of the superiority of the real to the superficial, and of the substance to the shadow, &c.
I. There are those who make more of the ritual and ceremonial in religion than they do of the spirit and power. But, What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.
II. There are those who make more of the speculative, theoretical, mysterious, and mystical in religion, than of the plain, practical, experimental, and useful. But, What is the chaff? &c.
III. There are those who make more of the name, profession, and show of godliness than they do of godliness itself. But, What is the chaff? &c.
IV. There are those who attach more importance to words, style, manner, appearance, and persons in preaching, than they do to the truth of Scripture. But, What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.Lay Preacher.
Jer. 23:28. Theme: LYING COMMUNICATIONS AND GODS TRUTH.
What is the chaff to the wheat?
Jehovah had contrasted the godless inventions of false teachers with the truth of His own assertions, and having desired that each message might be stated as each deserved (Jer. 23:28), proceeds to compare the lying communications of men with the true sayings of God.
In the corrupt heart within us there exists and labours so perverse and destructive a tendency to prefer the chaff to the wheat, as to incur the peril of choosing the false rather than the true. Therefore the attempt is here made to expose some of these misapprehensions.
I. What are worldly maxims compared with the Word of God, but as the chaff to the wheat? The whole world lieth under the power of the father of lies.
1. Regard the conduct of men of the world, and by what maxim are they governed? to what authority do they bow? Of Him who created, sustains, redeemed them, or of him who deceived our first parents, and has ever since been spreading snares for their posterity?
2. What lessons does the world teach its disciples? To be lovers of pleasure more than the lovers of God; to worship the creature more than the Creator; to spend the precious season of mercy in laying up deceitful treasure for self; to say to the ensnared soul, Soul, take thine ease, &c.; or, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Does not the world stigmatise all true religion, the privileges of Christian life, &c., as dreams of enthusiasm and inventions of hypocrisy; and a zealous pursuit of the one thing needful as the miserable error of being righteous overmuch?
But what is the chaff to the wheat?the authority of the world compared with that of the Supreme Lord and King; the ridicule of the world with the indignation of God; the present judgment of men with the decisions of the Book which shall be opened at the last day; the worlds standard of morality with Christs requirement of a new birth?
There are vain dreamers (Jer. 23:26). Suffer them not to mislead you from an atoning Saviour, &c. Love not the world, &c.: but heed the faithful teachings of the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever.
II. What is the value of that legal righteousness in which carnal man delights, compared with the righteousness of Christ Jesus, as a ground of justification with God? The carnal man is at enmity with God. He may deem himself, as touching the righteousness of the law, blameless, and ask, What lack I yet? But this delusion results from ignorance of the spirituality of the Divine law. Let the Spirits illumination come to him, and he will see himself no longer rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing; but wretched, miserable, &c.
The terrors of the law will sweep away all refuges of lies in which the sinner has sheltered himself, and drive him to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Repentance for sin will not form that wedding garment which fits for a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Nor is it by works of righteousness which we have done that we are accepted with God. Christ alone is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, &c. In Him must all the seed of Israel be justified.
What is the chaff to the wheat? Who that knows himself to be a sinner, who knows anything of the self-sufficient salvation of Jesus, would hesitate a moment between leaning on the broken reed of his own goodness, and coming in faith to Christ Jesus?
III. What is the happiness of the worldling compared with that of a child of God, but as chaff to the wheat? There be many which say, Who will show us any good, &c.
1. An eager desire after happiness is implanted in us all.
2. Men pursue phantoms of enjoyment as children might attempt to grasp a rainbow which has allured them.
3. But while all creature-joys elude, godliness is profitable, &c. The believer has a joy which no man taketh from him. Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him.
IV. What are the present pleasures of sin compared with the glories of heaven?
1. This glad prospect sinners have forfeited for the mocking indulgences of life. Thou hast had thy good things.
2. Christ Himself will effectually forbid heavens joys to Christless souls. His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge, &c.
Has a deceived heart turned you aside? Oh, seek the Spirits illumination that ye may escape the delusion of earthly vanities and find rest in the Divine love now, and a part in the inheritance with the saints in light.Partly taken from an old and nameless MS.
Jer. 23:28-29. Theme: SYMBOLS OF GODS WORD.
WheatFireHammer.
I. In its own essential properties Gods Word is thus manifold.
1. A vital and vitalising substance: Wheat. (a.) Life inheres in it. (b.) It nourishes life in the eater.
2. A refining and devouring element: Fire. (a.) It imparts warmth. (b.) It purges from impurities, from dross. (c.) It consumes rubbish.
3. A subduing and destroying force: Hammer. (a.) Beating down all resistance in the regenerate heart. (b.) Crushing and destroying the hard and defiant life.
II. In its changeful aspects and revelations Gods Word assumes these diversities. It comes in various forms to mankind.
1. Corn covered with husk. The Divine truth covered with the human exterior. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Also the God-given message and doctrine mingled with the chaff of human theories and interpretations.
2. Fire in its various forms and degrees. Attractive, as the domestic fire which draws us around its genial glow. Beneficial, as the warmth to a chilled traveller, &c. Terrible, as the fiery furnace to those it would consume.
3. A Hammer applied to different uses and with different force. Fastening a nail in a sure place, i.e., enforcing Divine truth upon the conscience. Breaking in pieces the rocky vessel, i.e., crushing the alien and antagonistic heart.
II. In the ministries it effects, Gods Word needs to be thus diverse.
1. Men, to whom Gods Word is addressed, are in such utterly dissimilar conditions. (a.) Some need wheatnourishment; food to sustain the Divine life within them. Men are as soils of various conditions, into which the wheat-grain is cast by the sower. (b.) Others are as metalgold and silver, which need refining; or as wood, hay, stuble, only fit to be burned. (c.) Others are as the rockeither requiring the stroke of affliction to disclose their hidden treasures and graces; or as destined to the stroke of destruction, being valueless for any good end.
2. Men, to whom Gods Word is addressed, must respond to its manifold purposes. For Gods Word is to be utilised in all its various formswheat, fire, hammer. (a.) Cleanse the corn of the chaff, and eat the precious wheat. (b.) Welcome its purifying mission, and live in its warm glow. (c.) Submit to its strokes, and become compliant to its powerful appeals.
Observe:
i. Gods Word can be refused as wheat, but cannot be evaded as fire, nor resisted as a hammer.
ii. If we receive not the life it can bring as food, we must feel its consuming and destroying force.
Theme: GODS WORD AND MANS WORD.
i. The former is life and power (wheat, fire, hammer); the latter pretence and weakness (dream, straw).
ii. The two are not to be mixed with each other. Why (add) the chaff to the wheat? This rendering is admissible.Lange.
This shows,
i. The vanity of all human imaginations in religion. (a.) What do they afford to man? (b.) How much do they hinder!
ii. The energy of spiritual truth. Let us entreat God that our estimate may be practical.Cecil.
Jer. 23:30-32. Theme: GOD THE ANTAGONIST OF FALSE TEACHERS. Behold stands in front of each of the three declarations: it commands notice; the subject is serious.
I am against: God in opposition to their wicked work, to their baneful influence, and to their very persons.
I. God repudiates stolen teachings. They were plagiarists (Jer. 23:30). (1.) They stole the words they uttered from Gods true prophets: (2.) They stole away the Divine meaning from those words by their perverse rendering: and (3.) They stole one anothers fictitious messages, thus reiterating and propagating lies.
II. God denounces spurious messages. Having no message from God, the second class used the solemn formula by which Jehovah confirmed the validity of His messages through His own prophets; but in using it they misused it: only employing the form Saith, instead of Jehovah saith. (1.) Yet this gave emphasis to their delusive inventions: and hypocrites glibly revel in such free use of solemn asseverations. (2.) They thereby deceived their hearers into the belief that God said what they uttered. So with all who preach human fancies and theories instead of the Divine Word.
III. God contemns lying frivolities. (1.) They acted a solemn part with shameful levity. (2.) They caused the people to err by their spurious teachings.
Notice here:
i. What is a teachers qualification for his work. That God should send and command him.
ii. What is the test by which to try all preaching. If it profit not, it has no Divine origin or authority.
Jer. 23:33-40. Theme: THE BURDEN OF THE LORD ON TRIFLERS.
Burden (Massa) means hear oracle, prophetic discourse, and there is a play on this double sense of the Hebrew.
I. Mens scoffing inquiry, What is the burden of the Lord? (Jer. 23:33).
1. How they estimated Gods message. Another burdenoppressive oracle. So are all Gods messages and demands to those who stumble at the Word, being disobedient. And so will always be Gods prohibitions and threatenings to those who love their sins and rebel against reproof.
2. How they reviled Gods messenger. A mere burden-bearer. Not a messenger of good tidingsnot even an ambassador from Godnot greeted with respect as one who authoritatively taught them their duty. No! he only brought them troublesome words, tidings of disaster: and they taunted him therewith (comp. chap. Jer. 20:8-10; see also Mal. 1:1).
II. Gods derisive answers. You ask, What burden? Ye are the burden (see Lit. Crit. supra on Jer. 23:33). And for you the burden shall be this:
1. God will cast you of as being a burden to Him. Or, since My word is burdensome in your eyes, you shall have no more of it, and that will be a far worse burden to youdeserted by God and denied His prophetic word!
2. God will deal seriously with those triflers (Jer. 23:34). They used Gods word in derision, but it would prove dreadfully literal in its fulfilment. Whosoever shall in mockery call the Lords word a burden, shall be visited in wrath.
3. God will turn His messages which were intended to prove blessings into burdens, which shall press heavily on every man.
On Jer. 23:40 comp. chap. Jer. 20:11.
NOTICEABLE TOPICS IN CHAPTER 23
Topic: JESUS, OUR LORD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jer. 23:6.)
Christians believe these words fulfilled in Jesus; Jews look for One to come. All acknowledge they refer to the Messiah: and we may form a judgment from this description as to what religious system they are suited best, that of the Jew, the Unitarian, or the Christian.
i. The Christ, or Messiah, of THE JEW. They believe a man of admirable wisdom will be born, descended from Royal family of David, shall go round the world to where Israelites are now in banishment, and persuade or compel Gentile rulers to let His people return to their native land. There, having rebuilt Temple, and re-established ancient worship, they will be exposed to envy of nations, who will invade and make war upon their country; but, at last, delivered from all their troubles under the anointed Prince, all the world shall become Jews like themselves, and send every year gifts and sacrifices to Temple of Jerusalem.
ii. The Messiah of the UNITARIANS. Already come; Jesus of Nazareth the Saviour, foretold by ancient prophecy. But, when Christ came, He was nothing more than a man; born (so many argue), not of a virgin, but of Joseph and Mary his wife; sent by God to preach to mankind a holy life, and that all men hereafter should be raised from the dead, and be rewarded according to their works.
iii. The Messiah of CHRISTIANS. Jesus; formed as man, but God Himself, eternally one with Father; came from heaven, preached righteousness and resurrection, but these only subordinate ends; by His obedience, merits, and atonement by blood to take off from the world that curse under which, since Adam, it had been.
Examine meaning of language in text.
I. This prophecy is fulfilled to the Jews, who expect in their Christ an earthly monarch, and to Christians, who believe that Christ is a Divine and heavenly monarch. Jews suppose Christ will be man like ourselves, prophet like Moses, but also a mighty conqueror and king. Christians believe that Christ from all eternity has been, together with the Father and Holy Ghost, the Creator and Governor of the world; that He now sitteth in human form at right hand of Fathers glory; will be Judge of world at last. But to Unitarians, with whom Christ was a mere prophet, having no power to rule world, no privilege of doing good to His Church, how can this prophecy be fulfilled in Christ? On earth, and in human nature, He was very unlike a king; and if He were nothing beyond man, these words are inapplicable to Him.
II. This prophecy points out the salvation Christ would effect. In His days, saith the Lord, Judah shall be saved. Jews and Christians have reasons, though different, for applying prophecy to Messiah. They suppose He will save them from worldly troubles; we believe that He saves all who trust in Him from burthen of sins and wrath of God. But with what salvation do Unitarians accredit Christ? They answer: By bringing a more perfect moral law, He taught us to avoid sin, and thus saved us from sin; that by teaching resurrection and rising Himself, He saved us from fear of death; that by abolishing law of Moses, He saved us from burdensome ceremonies. In answer: Morality was equally enforced under Old Testament; resurrection believed in; and Christ did not destroy and abolish the law.
III. This prophecy gives a Divine title to the Messiah: The Lord our Righteousness. Both Jews and Unitarians must be perplexed, since neither allow the Saviour foretold was to be other than mortal man. But the word Lord is in Hebrew JEHOVAH. Accordingly, we accept this as proof that the Messiah must not only be man but God. This is not refuted by the attempt to show from Jer. 23:16, that it is not the Saviour who should bear this awful name, but Judah: for that text should read, He, who calleth Jerusalem, is the Lord our righteousness; and also, in this present verse, both Judah and Israel are united in blessing by Messiah; so that, if Judah be meant by this title, Israel must also; and the word should be, not He shall be called, but they shall be. Turn it as we may, this passage remains unconquerable by those who deny Jesus to be GOD and LORD; for it is allowed He is Messiah, and Messiah is no other than JEHOVAH.
IV. This prophecy further gives to Christ the title of Our righteousness. Jews and heretics cannot explain this away; they deny that the blood of Christ is a sacrifice, or satisfaction, for the sins of the world; that we are justified by His death. Yet here, the Man, Messiah, is not only JEHOVAH, but in His own Person He is our righteousness. But how can man or God become the righteousness of sinful creatures, unless He suffer in their stead the punishment of their sin, and in their stead obey and fulfil the law? How can He make another being righteous, except by proving him innocent of faults, or obeying the laws on behalf of the offender, bearing the faults on Himself, and suffering his punishment? Hence it is by the imputed merits, obedience, and death of Christ that we are cleansed from sin and made righteous in the sight of God.
We are herein called to acknowledge in Christ a mighty God and most merciful Saviour: Advocate, pleading on our behalf His own merits; High Priest, who offered up His own life for us; Lamb, whose blood washed us clean. Let us by every action and affection show our faith, love, and thankfulness. Remember that Christ is our righteousness alone; no merit in us; and in Him is the sinners hope.Condensed and arranged from BISHOP REGINALD HEBER, A.D. 1838.
Topic: THE RECOVERY OF THE TEN LOST TRIBES FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY. (Jer. 23:8.)
Israel, or the Ten Lost Tribes, were carried captive into Assyria in 725 B.C. Their captivity was complete in number and timeto this day they have not returned. The captivity of Judah in 588 was partial in number and time; they returned and remained until finally scattered about the year 70 A.D. Now they are all in exile, but they are to return again to their own land. And as surely as the Jews now say, The Lord liveth which brought up His people out of Egypt, so will they by and by say, The Lord liveth which brought up His people out of the North country, and from all the countries whither He had driven them.
I. This is, and has been, the expectation of the Church for ages. From earliest centuries this has been a prevailing idea. Six years after the destruction of Jerusalem, as foretold by the prophets and the Saviour, a child was born who in his life was to confront this idea in prophecy. Hadrian, the Roman Emperor, born in 76 A.D., died in 138. He hated, with a deadly hatred, the Jews and the Christians. What of the city of Jerusalem was standing in his day he destroyed, and built a new city on the old site and called it after himself, Elia Capitolina. Then he forbade Jew or Christian, under penalty of death, to enter the same, declaring that he would show them the weakness of their hope and falsity of their prophets.
Again, there was born in Constantinople another child, Nov. 17, A.D. 331, who died June 26, A.D. 363, named Flavius Claudius Julinus, surnamed Julian the Apostate. He said that he would make God a liar and prophecy false, for he would gather the Jews and build the Temple. Some of the Jews he did gather, and he began to build the Temple, but God was against him by earthquake and by balls of fire out of the ground, so he ceased to fight against God. Even England has sought to bring back Israel before the time. Three successive times she has conquered Palestine, and given it over to the Turks for keeping. Nay, for a time the whole Christian world sought to force Providence in this matter. You have read of the wonderful crusades; no less than eight of them, from 1095 to 1272; the time was not yet, but it will come.
II. Let us remember there is a Goda God who has a purpose and design both for His people and this land of Palestine. Hear Him speak: The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is Mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me (Lev. 25:23).
1. Men write, talk, and speculate, but they leave out the Divine quantity in their calculations. It is this that has confused the nations and the press. The science of algebra has been passed by, or this quantity could have been found. There is in nature a force, or something, which science names Catalysis. It is the name for the presence of some force or power that acts on other things, rendering precision in the chemical laboratory many times impossible. How much this catalytic power is in any compound or combination it is difficult to tell. It is a Divine quantity. It is present in the analysis, but not in the synthesis. The physiologist meets it everywhere, but the anatomist nowhere. Science can pull to pieces, but cannot put things together the same, for this catalytic power escapes.
2. Nations, kings, rulers, and governments forget that the earth is the Lords. They think they can part it as they like, but they cannot. This Divine force or quantity enters and vitiates their conclusion. Listen to Jehovah: Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask thy father and he will show thee; thy elders and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel (Deu. 22:7-8; comp. also Isa. 44:7, and Act. 17:26).
III. But when will Israel and Judah return, and how? That they have to return some time, surely all will agree. The time of the end we believe to be near
1st. By the general expectation.
2d. By the grand revelations and teaching of the Great Pyramid, this pillar and witness spoken of by Isa. 19:19. In this remarkable structure the year 1882 is very significantly denoted. Many great facts in Israels history have been incorporated in this building and have come to pass; so for Israel something is in reserve for 1882perhaps it is the great deliverance spoken of in the text. This year is also the wonderful prophetic year. The time and times and dividing of time makes 1260 years, which, added to the first year of Mahomet, is equal to our 622, which added makes 1882.
3d. By the Church witness. For the Gospel was to be preached as a witness unto all nations before Israel are gathered. This sign is now complete. But how will this great deliverance be brought aboutin Gods own way, as from the Egyptians? The overthrow and destruction of Turkey may be the preparatory cause. The Jews now feel specially moved, for at their late council in New York they had letters missive from Berlin, Paris, London, on how best to promote the return of those Jews who desire to return to Palestine.Joseph Wild, D.D., Brooklyn, A.D. 1878.
ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 23: ILLUSTRATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE EXTRACTS
Jer. 23:1. NEGLIGENT PASTORS.
Probably many who are called Gospel ministers are more chargeable with concealing truths than affirming direct error; with not properly building the house than wilfully pulling it down.Dr. Witherspoon.
Unfaithfulness is to undo our own souls as well as our peoples.Bridges.
But the unfaithful priest, what tongue
Enough shall execrate!.
By solemn, awful ceremony, he
Was set apart to speak the truth entire,
By action and by word; and round him stood
The people, from his lips expecting knowledge.
They stood, for he had sworn, in face of God
And man, to deal sincerely with their souls;
To preach the Gospel for the Gospels sake.
Most guilty, villainous, dishonest man!
Wolf in the clothing of the gentle lamb!
Dark traitor in Messiahs holy camp!
Leper in saintly garb! assassin masked
In virtues robe! Vile hypocrite, accursed!
I strive in vain to set his evil forth.
Pollock.
Jer. 23:23. GODS OMNIPRESENCE.
During the American war a British officer, walking out at sunrising, observed an old man with his arm upraised as if in adoration. The officer interfered with rude disregard, and demanded what he was about. The old native replied, I am worshipping the Great Spirit. The officer asked derisively, Where is He? To which taunt the old man replied, Soldier, where is He not?
The question was once asked of a little boy, How many gods are there? One, be replied. How do you know there is only one? He answered, Because there is no room for any more; for the One God fills heaven and earth.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
D. The Promise of an Ideal Ruler Jer. 23:1-8
TRANSLATION
(1) How sad it is that shepherds are destroying and scattering the flock of My pasture! (oracle of the LORD). (2) Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who are caring for My people; you have scattered My flock and driven them away, and you have not visited them; behold, I am about to visit upon you the evil of your deeds. (3) Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have driven them and I will cause them to return to their pasture; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. (4) And I will raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not fear anymore nor shall they be terrified, nor shall they be lacking (oracle of the LORD). (5) Behold, days are coming (oracle of the LORD) when I will raise up for David a righteous Shoot and He shall reign as king and he shall act wisely and execute justice and righteousness in the land. (6) In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely; and this is His name which He will be called, The LORD our Righteousness. (7) Therefore behold, days are coming (oracle of the LORD) when they will no longer say, As the LORD lives who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, (8) but, As the LORD lives who brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where I have driven them. Then they shall dwell in their land.
COMMENTS
It is a sad situation which the prophet is describing in Jer. 23:1. The shepherds, the national leaders (cf. Jer. 2:8; Jer. 10:21), are responsible for the impending destruction of the flock which God has committed into their care. Under the leadership of these unscrupulous men the people of the land had strayed from the paths of fidelity to God. Not only did these leaders set the wrong example for the people, they also condoned and encouraged the violence and corruption which was rampant in the land. These leaders had not visited the flock of God. Therefore God is about to visit these corrupt leaders (Jer. 23:2). The Hebrew word translated visit has a wide variety of meanings. It may mean to attend to, to visit, muster, appoint, pay attention to, etc. The word can be used in a positive or a negative sense. One can visit for the purpose of aiding or helping, or one can visit for the purpose of judging or punishing. The verb is used in both senses in Jer. 23:2. The spiritual leaders of Judah did not visit the flock, i.e., they did not care for or aid them or pay attention to them. Therefore God will visit on them their evil deeds, i.e., God will punish them for their wickedness. This type of word play is common in the prophetic books. By pointing the finger of blame at the national leaders Jeremiah does not mean to excuse the populace from any responsibility for the condition of the nation. The people are guilty for having tolerated and followed their wicked leaders.
The corrupt shepherds who governed Judah were responsible for the impending national deportation and dispersement. But sometime in the future the Good Shepherd would again assemble His flock. Only a remnant, a small portion, of those who were carried away into captivity would ever return. Apparently the majority would be lost during the period of exile. God will gather His people from the various landsEgypt, Assyria, Babylonwhere He had scattered them. Upon returning to their homeland the remnant of Judah will be made fruitful and they will multiply (Jer. 23:3).[223] After their return God will raise up for His people a new kind of ruler. The wicked shepherds took care of themselves and not the flock; but the new shepherds will have the interest of the people at heart. The old shepherds had left the flock of God exposed to the ravishes of wild beasts (cf. Eze. 34:8); under the new shepherds the flock will contentedly graze without fear. Not one of them will be lacking or missing due to any neglect on the part of the new shepherds (Jer. 23:4). Who are the new shepherds of whom Jeremiah speaks? Some contend that he is referring to leaders like Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah whom God raised up to care for the remnant of Judah following the return from Babylon. Others think the prediction is Messianic and points to those leaders who serve under the glorious Ruler who appears in the following verse. As is frequently the case in prophecy prophecies of restoration blend in with prophecies of the Messiah and His kingdom.
[223] Compare Eze. 34:12-15.
The word behold indicates that a noteworthy announcement is about to be made. Jeremiah uses the formula behold days are coming sixteen times to introduce messages of reassurance. After the days of humiliation at the hands of Babylon, God will raise up an ideal King to rule over the land. This ruler is of course none other than the long-awaited Messiah. Jer. 23:5-6 are of such importance that nearly every phrase is deserving of comment. The following information can be gleaned from these verses concerning the coming Messiah.
1. The promised Messiah is to be the descendant of David.[224] Through the prophet Nathan, God had promised David that his progeny would sit forever on the throne of Israel (2 Samuel 7).
[224] Cf. Isa. 9:7; Isa. 11:1; Mic. 5:2.
2. The Messiah is called in the standard English version a branch. However the Hebrew word is never used of a twig or individual branch of a tree. Rather the idea is a sprout or shoot which grows directly out of the ground. The title shoot is here applied unmistakably to the Messiah for the first time. In Zec. 3:8; Zec. 6:12 shoot becomes a proper name for the Messiah.
3. The Messianic Shoot is raised up by direct action of God. This was necessary because the old stock of David was worn out, incapable of reproducing from itself a mighty tree.
4. The Messiah will be a righteous Shoot. All other descendants of David had to confess their sins and ask divine forgiveness. The Messiah would be sinless (Isa. 53:9). He did not become righteous; he was righteous (Isa. 53:11).
5. The Messiah shall reign as king. Jeremiah looks forward here to the rule of a second David. That the reign of Christ has already begun is the clear testimony of the New Testament.[225]
[225] See Heb. 1:3-13; Heb. 10:12-13; Rev. 3:21; 1Co. 15:20-28; Act. 2:19-34.
6. He shall deal wisely. The same Hebrew verb could be translated he shall prosper. But in the light of Isa. 11:2 probably the former translation is preferable. The Messiah will have the insight and the intelligence to bring Gods plan of salvation to a successful completion. He will rule His kingdom in such a way as to bring joy, happiness and well-being to all His subjects.
7. The Messiah will execute justice and righteousness. This sums up the function of the ideal ruler (cf. 11 Samuel Jer. 8:15). He is able to create or establish a new norm, a new standard, a new righteousness.[226]
[226] Seven times Jeremiah uses the Hebrew verb meaning do or make with the word for justice. Thus the Messiah creates or makes justice and righteousness.
8. Israel and Judah will be reunited under the rule of the Messiah. Ezekiel held out a similar hope (Eze. 37:19). The salvation and deliverance spoken of in Jer. 23:6 are spiritual blessings. Reunited Judah and Israel never regained political independence except for one brief period under the Hasmonean rulers in the second century before Christ.
9. The Messiah shall bear the name The LORD our Righteousness. In Jer. 33:16 Jeremiah gives this same name to the city of Jerusalem. Laetsch has pointed out the unique manner in which this name is introduced here. The Lord does not merely say: His name is or shall be (as is said of AbrahamGen. 17:5 b); nor does he say: Call His name (as in the case of IshmaelGen. 16:11; Gen. 16:13); nor yet does he say: This shall he be called (as is used of JerusalemJer. 33:16). The phraseology used here is unique in the entire Old Testament: And this is His name which one shall call Him. According to Laetsch two facts are underscored by this construction:
(1) The name given the Messiah here is not a mere label or tag. Rather it designates the very nature or essence of the Messiah. He IS righteousness! (2) God desires that mankind should refer to the Messiah by the title here given, Yahweh, our Righteousness.
In Jer. 23:7-8 the prophet moves back from the distant Messianic future to the more immediate future. Using essentially the language of Jer. 16:14 f. Jeremiah speaks once again of the return from Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah never wavered on this proposition: God would bring a remnant of His people home from Babylon. This return from Babylon would overshadow the Exodus from Egypt. The promise is introduced by the word therefore. One noted expositor has suggested that whenever one sees in Scripture a therefore he ought to try to discover what it is there for. The suggestion here is that God lets His people return to their homeland as a preparation for the coming of the great Messianic savior of whom Jeremiah has been speaking in Jer. 23:5-6. Since the Exodus from Egypt was foundational to the establishment of the old covenant and to all the theology of the Old Testament, it is no small matter for Jeremiah to state that the New Exodus from Babylon will supersede that earlier event in importance. Only when the Exodus from Babylon is seen as foundational to the establishment of the New Covenant is such a comparison justified.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXIII.
(1) Woe be unto the pastors . . .The message that follows in Jer. 23:1-8 comes as a natural sequel to that of Jeremiah 22. The unfaithful shepherds who had been there denounced are contrasted with those, more faithful to their trust, whom Jehovah will raise up. As before, in Jer. 2:8 and elsewhere, we have to remember that the pastors are (like the shepherds of the people in Greek poets) the civil rulers, not the prophets or the priests, of Israel. The parallelism with the prophecy of Ezekiel 34, delivered about the same time in the land of exile, is suggestive either of direct communication between the two writers, or of traditional lines of thought common to the two priest-prophets.
The sheep of my pasture.The words assert the claims of Jehovah to be the true Shepherd of His people. (Comp. Psa. 79:13; Psa. 100:3.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE GATHERING AGAIN OF THE FLOCK, Jer 23:1-8.
1. Pastors Shepherds. The term seems sometimes to be used with reference to subordinate civil rulers, as in Jer 2:8; Jer 22:22, and yet, perhaps, more commonly in a generic sense, covering all leaders or persons of influence prophets, priests, and civil rulers.
Sheep of my pasture My sheep. The flock belongs to God, who only is the true Shepherd; all others derive their authority from him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Failure of the Worthless Shepherds ( Jer 23:1-2 ).
YHWH passes His verdict on the false rulers who have failed His people. Note the dual double repetition of ‘the word of YHWH’ in Jer 23:1-4 indicating the seriousness of His words, two referring to His judgments, and two to His restorative activity.
Jer 23:1
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy,
And scatter the sheep of my pasture! The word of YHWH.”
A woe is declared on the rulers who have destroyed and scattered, and are destroying and scattering, (literally ‘the destroying and scattering ones of’) the sheep of YHWH’s pasture, the people of the land. And this is the ‘sure and certain word of YHWH’. Such ‘woes’ are a common prophetic way of describing a situation which God will visit in judgment (see Jer 22:13; Isa 3:9-11; Isa 5:8-25; Isa 10:1 etc; Eze 13:3; Eze 34:2; Mic 2:1). In contrast YHWH is depicted as the true Shepherd of His people (‘the sheep of My pasture’, ‘My flock’ (Jer 23:2)). He had appointed under-shepherds, but they had failed.
Jer 23:2
‘Therefore thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people,
“You have scattered my flock,
And driven them away,
And have not visited them.
Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings,
The word of YHWH.”
But YHWH will call these under-shepherds to account. For whereas they should have been feeding His people they have in fact scattered them and driven them away, and have failed to care for them and watch over them (to ‘visit’ them). And because of that YHWH will ‘visit’ on the under-shepherds the evil of their doings. (Note the play in words on the term ‘visit’). And this is the sure and certain ‘word of YHWH’.
The scattering of His people was widespread in Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Elam, etc. See Isa 11:11. But when the land was open and available many would return.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Promise Of The Coming Son Of David Who Will Triumph And Rule Wisely ( Jer 23:1-8 ).
Having disabused the people’s minds about the likelihood of any of their current kings being the anticipated deliverer of the house of David, Jeremiah now promises that one day such a figure will come, but he only does it after he has first given his verdict on the present ‘shepherds’ (rulers) of Israel who are responsible for the fact that the flock has been or will be scattered among the nations. A ‘woe’ is declared on them and they are revealed to be worthless. They will thus be visited in judgment for their failure. But then the remnant of the flock will be restored to the land and will have good shepherds placed over them, and the days are coming when there will be raised up from David a righteous Branch (or Shoot) who will rule wisely and exercise justice and righteousness. He will be called ‘YHWH our righteousness’. And in that day men will no longer speak of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, but of Israel’s deliverance, both from the north country, and from wherever they have been driven. And they will once again dwell in their own land.
Initially, of course, this was fulfilled in the return after the exile and the establishment of the Jews in Palestine under Zerubabbel, and this in readiness for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Who was indeed YHWH our righteousness, and Who established His Kingly Rule over all who responded to Him. Comparison should be made with Eze 34:1-31 and Eze 37:21-28 which contain parallel ideas leading up to the coming Son of David.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 1. An Overall Description Of Jeremiah’s Teaching Given In A Series Of Accumulated, Mainly Undated, Prophecies, Concluding With Jeremiah’s Own Summary Of His Ministry ( Jer 2:4 to Jer 25:38 ).
From this point onwards up to chapter 25 we have a new major section (a section in which MT and LXX are mainly similar) which records the overall teaching of Jeremiah, probably given mainly during the reigns of Josiah (Jer 3:6) and Jehoiakim, although leading up to the days of Zedekiah (Jer 21:1). While there are good reasons for not seeing these chapters as containing a series of specific discourses as some have suggested, nevertheless they can safely be seen as giving a general overall view of Jeremiah’s teaching over that period, and as having on the whole been put together earlier rather than later. The whole commences with the statement, ‘Hear you the word of YHWH O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel, thus says YHWH —.’ It is therefore directed to Israel as a whole, mainly as now contained in the land of Judah to which many northerners had fled for refuge. We may divide up the main subsections as follows, based partly on content, and partly on the opening introductory phrases:
1. ‘Hear you the word of YHWH, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel —’ (Jer 2:4). YHWH commences by presenting His complaint against Israel/Judah because they have failed to continue to respond to the love and faithfulness that He had demonstrated to them in the wilderness and in the years that followed, resulting by their fervent addiction to idolatry in their losing the water of life in exchange for empty cisterns. It ends with a plea for them to turn back to Him like an unfaithful wife returning to her husband. This would appear to be mainly his initial teaching in his earliest days, indicating even at that stage how far, in spite of Josiah’s reformation, the people as a whole were from truly obeying the covenant, but it also appears to contain teaching given in the days of Jehoiakim, for which see commentary (Jer 2:4 to Jer 3:5).
2. ‘Moreover YHWH said to me in the days of King Josiah –’ (Jer 3:6). This section follows up on section 1 with later teaching given in the days of Josiah, and some apparently in the days of Jehoiakim. He gives a solemn warning to Judah based on what had happened to the northern tribes (‘the ten tribes’) as a result of their behaviour towards YHWH, facing Judah up to the certainty of similar coming judgment if they do not amend their ways, a judgment that would come in the form of a ravaged land and exile for its people. This is, however, intermingled with a promise of final blessing and further pleas for them to return to YHWH, for that in the end is YHWH’s overall purpose. But the subsection at this time ends under a threat of soon coming judgment (Jer 3:6 to Jer 6:30).
3. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 7:1). In this subsection Jeremiah admonishes the people about the false confidence that they have in the inviolability of the Temple, and in their sacrificial ritual, and warned that like Shiloh they could be destroyed. He accompanies his words with warnings that if they continued in their present disobedience, Judah would be dispersed and the country would be despoiled (Jer 7:1 to Jer 8:3). He therefore chides the people for their obstinacy in the face of all attempts at reformation (Jer 8:4 to Jer 9:21), and seeks to demonstrate to them what the path of true wisdom is, that they understand and know YHWH in His covenant love, justice and righteousness. In a fourfold comparison he then vividly brings out the folly of idolatry when contrasted with the greatness of YHWH. The section ends with the people knowing that they must be chastised, but hoping that YHWH’s full wrath will rather be poured out on their oppressors (Jer 9:22 to Jer 10:25).
4. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 11:1). He now deprecates their disloyalty to the covenant, and demonstrates from examples the total corruption of the people, revealing that as a consequence their doom is irrevocably determined (Jer 11:1 to Jer 12:17). The section closes with a symbolic action which reveals the certainty of their expulsion from the land (13).
5. ‘The word that came from YHWH to Jeremiah –’ (Jer 14:1). “The word concerning the drought,” gives illustrative evidence confirming that the impending judgment of Judah cannot be turned aside by any prayers or entreaties, and that because of their sins Judah will be driven into exile. A promise of hope for the future when they will be restored to the land is, however, once more incorporated (Jer 16:14-15) although only with a view to stressing the general judgment (Jer 14:1 to Jer 17:4). The passage then closes with general explanations of what is at the root of the problem, and lays out cursings and blessings and demonstrates the way by which punishment might be avoided by a full response to the covenant as evidenced by observing the Sabbath (Jer 17:5-27).
6. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 18:1). Chapters 18-19 then contain two oracles from God illustrated in terms of the Potter and his handiwork, which bring out on the one hand God’s willingness to offer mercy, and on the other the judgment that is about to come on Judah because of their continuance in sin and their refusal to respond to that offer. The consequence of this for Jeremiah, in chapter 20, is severe persecution, including physical blows and harsh imprisonment. This results in him complaining to YHWH in his distress, and cursing the day of his birth.
7. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 21:1). This subsection, which is a kind of appendix to what has gone before, finally confirming the hopelessness of Jerusalem’s situation under Zedekiah. In response to an appeal from King Zedekiah concerning Judah’s hopes for the future Jeremiah warns that it is YHWH’s purpose that Judah be subject to Babylon (Jer 21:1-10). Meanwhile, having sent out a general call to the house of David to rule righteously and deal with oppression, he has stressed that no hope was to be nurtured of the restoration of either Shallum, the son of Josiah who had been carried off to Egypt, nor of Jehoiachin (Coniah), the son of Jehoiakim who had been carried off to Babylon. In fact no direct heir of Jehoiachin would sit upon the throne. And the reason that this was so was because all the current sons of David had refused to respond to his call to rule with justice and to stamp down on oppression. What had been required was to put right what was wrong in Judah, and reign in accordance with the requirements of the covenant. In this had lain any hope for the continuation of the Davidic monarchy. But because they had refused to do so only judgment could await them. Note in all this the emphasis on the monarchy as ‘sons of David’ (Jer 21:12; Jer 22:2-3). This is preparatory to the mention of the coming glorious son of David Who would one day come and reign in righteousness (Jer 23:3-8).
Jeremiah then heartily castigates the false shepherds of Judah who have brought Judah to the position that they are in and explains that for the present Judah’s sinful condition is such that all that they can expect is everlasting reproach and shame (Jer 23:9 ff). The subsection then closes (chapter 24) with the parable of the good and bad figs, the good representing the righteous remnant in exile who will one day return, the bad the people who have been left in Judah to await sword, pestilence, famine and exile.
8. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah –’ (Jer 25:1). This subsection contains Jeremiah’s own summary, given to the people in a sermon, describing what has gone before during the previous twenty three years of his ministry. It is also in preparation for what is to follow. He warns them that because they have not listened to YHWH’s voice the land must suffer for ‘seventy years’ in subjection to Babylon, and goes on to bring out that YHWH’s wrath will subsequently be visited on Babylon, and not only on them, but on ‘the whole world’. For YHWH will be dealing with the nations in judgment, something which will be expanded on in chapters 46-51. There is at this stage no mention of restoration, (except as hinted at in the seventy year limit to Babylon’s supremacy), and the chapter closes with a picture of the final desolation which is to come on Judah as a consequence of YHWH’s anger.
While the opening phrase ‘the word that came from YHWH to Jeremiah’ will appear again in Jer 30:1; Jer 32:1; Jer 34:8; Jer 35:1; Jer 40:1 it will only be after the sequence has been broken by other introductory phrases which link the word of YHWH with the activities of a particular king (e.g. Jer 25:1; Jer 26:1; Jer 27:1; Jer 28:1) where in each case the message that follows is limited in length. See also Jer 29:1 which introduces a letter from Jeremiah to the early exiles in Babylon. Looking at chapter 25 as the concluding chapter to the first part, this confirms a new approach from Jer 26:1 onwards, (apparent also in its content), while at the same time demonstrating that the prophecy must be seen as an overall unity.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Subsection 7). Words Concerning Various Kings ( Jer 21:1 to Jer 24:10 ).
This subsection proceeds in logical sequence although not chronologically, and will centre on three special themes, firstly on the fact that all hope for Judah in the short term has now gone, secondly that the promises of the false prophets suggesting that any of the current sons of David will be restored to the throne are invalid, and thirdly that while final blessing ‘in coming days’ will truly be at the hands of a son of David, it is meanwhile to be stressed that that ‘son of David’ will not be one of the current regime.
The subsection commences by making clear that prior to the future coming of the exalted son of David the doom of Jerusalem under the present sons of David is certain and will unquestionably happen (echoes of Isaiah). Neither Zedekiah nor any of his current relations (Jehoahaz who had been taken to Egypt and Jehoiachin who had been taken to Babylon) are therefore to be seen as the hope of Judah/Israel.
The whole subsection may be summarised as follows:
A Jerusalem and Judah are unquestionably doomed under Zedekiah (Jer 21:1-10).
B Concerning the current sons of David. None of the current batch of ‘sons of David’ can be seen as presenting any hope for Israel. Uniquely over this period Judah had a plurality of kings. Initially Jehoahaz was hostage in Egypt with Jehoiakim reigning in Jerusalem, and this was followed by three ‘reigning’ kings, one held hostage in Egypt (Jehoahaz, although nothing is known of his fate), one reigning in Jerusalem as ‘regent’ (Zedekiah), and one who was still seen as king in Babylon, (Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah). But all of them are to be written off as presenting Judah with any hope (Jer 21:11 to Jer 22:30).
C In ‘the days that are coming’ YHWH will attend to the false rulers above and will intervene in the person of the coming Son of David, (the Righteous Shoot (Branch), ‘YHWH our righteousness’) who will rule righteously in YHWH’s Name (Jer 23:1-8).
B Concerning the current prophets. They are promising peace and that no harm will come to Judah, but they are not speaking in the Name of YHWH. There is no current hope for Judah and Jerusalem (Jer 23:9-40).
A The removal of Jehoiachin from Jerusalem has left it in the hands of second rate leaders, which includes their king (regent) Zedekiah, with the result that Jerusalem and its people are without hope and will certainly be destroyed (Jer 24:1-10).
It will be noted that the opening and closing passages form an inclusio based on the guaranteed fate of Jerusalem under Zedekiah. The inadequacy of the sons of David is paralleled by the inadequacy of the prophets (and priests). Central is the promise of the coming Son of David Who will introduce righteousness.
The question may well be asked, however, as to why Zedekiah is mentioned first rather than in the sequence in which the sons of David reigned, namely Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah. One clear answer to that question lies in the fact that Zedekiah was never sole ruler of Judah. When he died Jehoiachin was still in fact seen as king of Judah. Jeremiah is thus bringing out that Zedekiah was not even under consideration as the hope of Israel. He was a ‘bad fig’ (chapter 24). Furthermore to have placed Zedekiah after Jehoiachin would have been to ignore royal protocol and to suggest openly that Jehoiachin’s reign was over, something which would have caused great dissatisfaction in Judah.
There are in fact four reasons for putting the prophecy about Zedekiah first (quite apart from the coincidence of the name Pashhur):
1. It is intended to demonstrate that the final fulfilment of Jeremiah’s earlier prophecies will take place, regardless of the fact that the Son of David was coming, and was in order to explain why Jeremiah had had to undergo what he did as described in the previous chapter.
2. Had Zedekiah (‘YHWH is righteous’) been dealt with in chronological order, then he could have become confused in people’s minds with the coming of ‘the righteous branch’, ‘YHWH our righteousness’, as will be apparent subsequently. By dealing with him first any likelihood of confusion was avoided.
3. Strictly speaking it was Jehoiachin who was seen as the current reigning monarch, with Zedekiah merely acting as his regent in his absence. This was the position accepted both by the Babylonians, who still called Jehoiachin ‘King Yaukin of Yahuda’ on their ration lists, and in Judah where handles of vessels have been discovered coming from the final days of the city inscribed in the name of ‘Eliakim servant of Jehoiachin’ (and not ‘of Zedekiah’). This is further confirmed by the fact that Ezekiel dates his writings in terms of the exile of ‘King Jehoiachin’ (e.g. Eze 1:2). Zedekiah was seemingly simply seen in Judah as an appointee of Nebuchdrezzar rather than as the appointee of the people. His legitimacy was therefore always in doubt. So it would have been seen as fitting that Jehoiachin be presented as still the main feasible option from among the current choices to be the ‘coming Son of David’, and therefore as rightly finalising the list of options. To have presented the situation otherwise would have been seen as insulting.
4. The opening passage dealing with Zedekiah forms an inclusio with chapter Jer 24:1-10, for both deal with the final demise of Judah and Jerusalem. The intervening passages then justify and explain this coming assured judgment, while at the same time centring on Judah/Israel’s final hope. Thus by this inclusio it is made clear that Jer 21:11 to Jer 23:40 are intended to be viewed against the background of the final catastrophe which must necessarily come before there could be any possibility of restoration.
So in the initial chapter of this subsection the justification for Jeremiah having had to endure such affliction as was described in the previous chapter will first be made clear, for it confirms that such arduous continuing prophecy was necessary in the face of what was to be the future. Furthermore it describes the final ‘smashing of the vessel’ as portrayed in chapter 19, demonstrating that that came to fulfilment, and confirms the certainty of final Babylonian victory as previously asserted to an earlier Pashhur in chapter 20. Thus there were good reasons for putting Jer 21:1-10, which is so clearly out of order chronologically, immediately after chapters 19 & 20 connecting with what has gone before.
However, having initially emphasised the certainty of the doom that was coming on Zedekiah and Jerusalem the passage then goes back in time at Jer 21:11 to YHWH’s open offer of repentance to the one of the house of David (Jer 21:12) who sat on the throne of David (Jer 22:2) if only he, as king of Judah, would turn round in his ways, execute justice and fulfil the covenant (Jer 21:12; Jer 22:3), although even then it was with grave doubts about Judah’s willingness to repent. It is reasonable to see in this an open offer to all the sons of David who came to the throne during Jeremiah’s ministry, and indeed may have been specifically presented to each one by Jeremiah on his accession. In Jer 22:3 the same offer is repeated and accompanied by a promise of the certain triumph of the royal house (Jer 22:4) if only they will respond, but it is again followed by a warning of the consequences if they would not.
Following that Jeremiah then sets out to demolish the false hopes offered to the people by the false prophets. He makes clear that Shallum (Jehoahaz), appointed by the people as Josiah’s heir-apparent as the son of David, will not be returning from Egypt where he had been taken by Pharaoh Necho (Jer 22:10-12; compare 2Ki 23:31-35), and castigates the one who had been appointed in his place (Jehoiakim), because he did not follow in the ways of his father (Jer 22:15-16) and especially because he was crushing the people by his expansive building plans, with no intention of paying for the work that was done (Jer 22:13-17). For him there would only be an ignominious death (Jer 22:19). And finally he emphasises that they were not to look for the return of their reigning king Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah) from Babylon (Jer 22:20-30; compare 2Ki 24:8-17), who, as we have seen above, was still officially looked on as king both in Babylon (he is described as King Yaukin in Babylonian ration lists) and in Judah. Jeremiah is making clear that while it was true (as earlier prophets had underlined) that Israel’s future hopes did remain with the house of David, and that they would also one day celebrate their deliverance from the north country, it would nevertheless only be after they had first been exiled (Jer 23:1-8), and it would not be by the false shepherds (rulers) who had wrecked the morals of Judah, and certainly not by someone from the house of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) (Jer 22:30). He then roundly turns on the prophets who were offering precisely those false hopes and completely disposes of them (Jer 23:9-40). Following that in chapter 24 he confirms that Judah’s future hopes do not rest with Zedekiah and his ilk, for while it was true that one day the good figs (those who will repent among the exiles) would return to the land, and be built and planted, and God will again be their God, they will not include the bad figs who were running Judah in the days of Zedekiah, who as already described in Jer 15:4 would be tossed about among all the kingdoms of the earth because of their evil, and who according to Jer 21:1-10 would undoubtedly suffer great devastation and be exiled. Thus Jer 21:1-10 and Jer 24:1-10 form an inclusio for the subsection, a subsection which both demonstrates that there was no point in looking to the current sons of David, and emphasises that one day there would be a son of David who would fulfil all their hopes.
Up to this point most of Jeremiah’s prophecies have not been openly attached to specific situations (Jer 3:6 being a partial exception), but it will be noted that from this point onwards in the narrative there is an undoubted change of approach. Whereas previously time references have been vague and almost non-existent, with the result that we cannot always be sure in whose reign they took place, Jeremiah now addresses his words to various kings, usually by name, and as we have seen the first example is Zedekiah who was the ‘king’ of Judah at the time when Jerusalem was taken for the second time and emptied of its inhabitants at the same time as the Temple was destroyed. This took place in 587 BC. By its very nature it could not have been a part of Jeremiah’s initial writing down of his earlier prophecies, for that was in the days of Jehoiakim, so that this part of chapters 2-25 must have been updated by him later. Furthermore from this point on Jeremiah will openly and constantly urge submission to the King of Babylon by name and title (although compare the first mention in Jer 20:4). On the other hand it will be noted that the subsection has been opened by the same formula as that used previously (contrast the marked change in formula in chapters 26-29) and this would appear to suggest therefore that these chapters are intended as a kind of appendix to chapters 1-20, illustrating them historically and confirming their message and its fulfilment.
To summarise. The subsection opens with the familiar words, ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 21:1). It then goes on to deal with Jeremiah’s response to an appeal from King Zedekiah concerning Judah’s hopes for the future in which he warns that it is YHWH’s purpose that Judah be subject to Babylon and that Judah’s doom is sealed. Meanwhile he warns that there is no hope of the restoration of Shallum (Jehoahaz) the son of Josiah or of Jehoiachin (Coniah), the son of Jehoiakim who had been carried off to Babylon.
He castigates the false shepherds (rulers) of Judah who have brought Judah to this position, but promises that one day YHWH will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a king Who will reign and prosper, and execute righteousness and justice. He will be called ‘YHWH our righteousness’. He then castigates the prophets. For the present Judah’s sinful condition is seen as such that all that Judah can expect is everlasting reproach and shame. The subsection then closes with the parable of the good and bad figs, the good representing the righteous remnant in exile (part of the cream of the population exiled to Babylon (2Ki 24:15-16) who were experiencing the ministry of Ezekiel) who will one day return, the bad the people who have been left in Judah to await sword, pestilence, famine and exile. Destitute of experienced leadership, and under a weak king-regent, they were unstable and too inexperienced to govern well, carrying Judah forward inexorably to its worst moment.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Jer 23:1
Eze 34:2, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”
Jer 23:23-25 Comments – Jer 23:24-25 reveals one aspect of God’s divine character as being omnipresent, that is, He is present everywhere. Jer 2:25 reveals another aspect of God’s character as being omniscient, or all-knowing.
Jer 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Jer 23:29
Mat 21:44, “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Restoration of the Scattered Flock
v. 1. Woe be unto the pastors, v. 2. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people, v. 3. And I will gather the remnant of My flock, v. 4. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them, v. 5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, v. 6. In His days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our, Righteousness. v. 7. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, v. 8.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
The first eight verses form the necessary conclusion of the group of discourses summarized in Jer 21:1-14; Jer 22:1-30. Like Isaiah, our prophet follows up denunciation with consolation, and will have the mind rest on the sure promises of God for the Messianic future. A part of the people has been already scattered abroad. In Jer 24:8, “those who dwell in the land of Egypt” are a section no less important than “those who remain in this land;” and the Babylonian Captivity is an event only too certain to take place (comp. Jer 24:8). Unhappy Judah! for though not free from responsibility, it is the kings who are the prime authors of the calamity. Yet happy Judah! for “the days come” that an ideal king shall arise, even the promised Messiah. (Comp. Eze 34:1-31, which seems like a development of this section.) Some have represented the promises of this chapter as fulfilled in the return from Babylon, with perhaps the Maccabean glories in addition. The fulfillment would in this case correspond but ill to the prediction; the context, too, is equally opposed to it. For, as Hengstenberg points out, the “gathering” and “bringing back” of Israel is in Jer 24:4 closely connected with the raising up of good shepherds; and, according to Jer 24:5, that promise is to find at any rate its culminating fulfillment in David’s “righteous Branch,” the Messiah. The mistake has been partly caused by a reluctance to increase the number of prophecies still awaiting their fulfillment, and partly by the false supposition that the events described must take place simultaneously (against this view, see Jer 24:7, Jer 24:8). Hengstenberg himself thinks that the fulfillment lies in the conversion of Israel to the gospel. “Canaan had such a high value for Israel, not because it was its fatherland in the lower sense, but because it was the land of God, the place where his glory dwelt.” To be in Christ is to be in the true Canaan.
Jer 23:1
Woe be unto the pastors, etc.! This “woe” is a pendant to the” woe” upon Jehoiakim in Jer 22:13. The original form of the verse shows the strong feeling with which the prophet both wrote and spoke: “Woe I shepherds who destroy,” etc. By “shepherds” Jeremiah means rather the civil than the spiritual authorities, especially the kings , as Homer calls them. This is, in fact, the general Old Testament application of the term (see on Jer 2:8). That destroy; if it is true of all sin that no one can calculate its issues, this is specially true of the sins of rulers. Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi; or, as an inspired teacher puts it, “The leaders of this people became false guides, and those whom they led were lost men” (Isa 9:16). How these evil shepherds “destroyed” the people we are not here told; but from Jer 22:3, Jer 22:13, it is clear that sins of injustice, ranging from oppressive exaction to murder, are specially intended. Scatter; the captivities of the Jews being directly owing to the want of good government and teaching. How could the prophets stem the tide of popular corruption, when the ruling classes opposed their efforts? The sheep of my pasture; or, the sheep of my pasturingthe “pastors” are Jehovah’s under shepherds. The figure is a favorite one, especially with the psalmists of the school of Asaph (see Psa 74:1; Psa 77:20; Psa 78:52 (comp. Psa 78:70-72); Psa 79:13; Psa 80:1).
Jer 23:2
The Lord God of Israel; strictly, Jehovah the God of Israel. This national title of Jehovah suggests, in such a connection, that the crime of the kings is nothing short of sacrilege. Ye have scattered, etc.; i.e. been the cause of their scattering, Have not visited them. “To visit” often, by a natural association of ideas, means “to give attention to.” By an equally natural association, it means “to fall upon, to punish.” Hence, in the next clause, I will visit upon you. We have the same combination of meanings in Zec 10:3.
Jer 23:3
Parallel passage, Eze 34:12-15. I will gather the remnant;. For the ill usage of foreign oppressors has supplemented that of home tyrants, so that only a “remnant” is left. And they shall be fruitful and increase. The fertility of the Jewish race in modern times has been a frequent subject of observation, and supplies the best comment upon Jeremiah s prophecy.
Jer 23:4
And I will set up shepherds; e.g. rulers, not necessarily kings (see on next verse). Which shall feed them. For the evil shepherds “fed themselves, and fed not my flock” (Eze 34:8). And they shall fear no more. Ezekiel again contributes an essential feature to the description. The neglect of the shepherds left the flock exposed to the ravages of wild beasts (Eze 34:8). Neither shall they be lacking. A speaking phrase. Too many of the sheep had fallen down precipices or been carried off by lions. Yet the context rather favors a slight and palaeographically natural emendation of Hitzig, “Neither shall they be terrified.” The Septuagint omits the word altogether, which favors the supposition that they read as Hitzig would read, for they are apt to condense by omitting synonyms.
Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6
(Comp. the parallel passage, Jer 33:15, Jer 33:16.)
Jer 23:5
Behold, the days come. The use of the analogous phrase, “And it shall come to pass in that day,” would lead us to suppose that this verse describes a fresh stage in the progress of events, as if the faithful shepherds (Jer 23:4) were to precede the “righteous Branch” (Jer 23:5). Such a view, however, is not very plausible, for the Messtab, according to prophecy, is to appear in the darkest of times. The prophet simply means to impress upon us the greatness of the revelation which he is about to communicate. I will raise unto David. The promised Messiah, then, is certainly to be of the family of David (comp. Isa 9:7; Isa 11:1; Mic 5:2). A righteous Branch; rather, a righteous Plant: the root means “to bud, or sprout.” This is the first time in which the title the Plant is unmistakably applied to the Messianic King (possibly, but less probably, to the Messianic kings). It indicates that this great personage stands in connection with the divinely ordained and ancient royal family, but that he is in some way unique, and far surpasses his human ancestors. He “springs forth;” therefore he is not a sort of meteoric appearance, without any natural home among men, but rather the blossom of the Jewish nation, the embodiment of its highest qualities. And yet there is something extraordinary about him, for it is needful that Jehovah himself should “raise” this Plant from the almost worn-out stock of David. Note that the word rendered here in the Authorized Version “Branch” is not the same as that in the parallel passage in Isaiah (Isa 11:1). It is, however, the word employed in Isa 4:2, which is taken by many, especially the elder interpreters (but with very doubtful justice), to be a prophecy of the Messiah. It is also the word used by Zechariah (Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12), as a proper name of the Messiah, which is one strong reason for rejecting the view mentioned above that the word rendered “the Branch,” or “the Plant,” is to be taken collectively as equivalent to “branches,” or rather “plants” (the article is not expressed in the Hebrew). In short, this passage and the prophecies referred to in Jeremiah are exceptions to the general Old Testament usage of the Hebrew word (cemakh), which is elsewhere a collective term equivalent to “plantation.” It is true that in verse 4 “shepherds,” in the plural, are spoken of, but there is no reason why this title should be confined to kingsit may as fairly be extended to the chief rulers under a king as the term “king” itself (see on Jer 17:20); and true, further, that ill Jer 33:17 a continuous succession is promised of Davidic heirs to the throne, but this is not decisive in favor of the collective meaning, any more than Isaiah’s later prophecy that “the [reigning Davidic] king shall reign in righteousness” disproves the strictly Messianic reference of his earlier promise in Isa 11:1. All prophecy is conditional; there may have been moral reasons why a continuance of the Davidic dynasty was held out by Jeremiah at one time as a possible prospect. (It is, however, extremely probable that Jer 33:14-26 is the work of some other inspired writer; see ad loc.) The thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, which is so closely parallel to this section, appears to interpret the prophecy of a single Messianic king (Eze 34:23). And a King shall reign; rather, and he shall reign as king; i.e. he shall be the realized ideal of an Israelitish kinga second David. And prosper; or, and deal wisely. There is the same doubt as to the rendering of the verb in Isa 52:13 a. The radical idea is that of wisdom, and the analogy of Isa 11:2 favors the alternative rendering here. Shall execute judgment; in contrast to the neglectful conduct of Jehoiakim (Jer 22:3).
Jer 23:6
Israel shall dwell safely. In the parallel passage (Jer 33:16) we read “Jerusalem,” and there can hardly be a doubt that “Jerusalem” ought to be restored here. This is not the-only instance in which, by mistake, the scribe has written “Israel” instead of “Jerusalem” (see Jer 32:30, Jer 32:32; Jer 51:49; Zep 3:14; Zec 12:1). In Zec 1:19 the scribe discovered his mistake, and wrote the right word, “Jerusalem,” after the wrong one, “Israel,” but without canceling the latter. And this is his name whereby he shall be called. There is a various reading, which may be rendered either, whereby they shall call (him, or her), or, which they shall proclaim, supported by the Peshito, Targum, Vulgate, and a few manuscripts (St. Jerome, too, mentions this reading). There is also a more important difference among the commentators as to the person who was to bear the name. The older Christian interpreters contended with all their might for the view that the name belonged to the Messiah, partly on real philological grounds, partly with the illegitimate theological object of obtaining a proof-text for the orthodox doctrine of the person of the Messiah and (in the case of Protestant writers) of justification. It is much to the credit of Hengstenberg that he sets this object aside, and while maintaining the Messianic reference of the pronoun interprets the name with a single eye to the requirements of the context, “He by whom and under whom Jehovah will be our righteousness.” The objection is that in the parallel passage (Jer 33:16) Jeremiah assigns the name “Jehovah-Tsidkenu,” not to the Messiah, but to Jerusalem. The prophet must be allowed to be his best interpreter, so that we must, it would seem, at any rate, reject the Messianic reference. But then how are we to explain the pronoun? It is right to refer the parallel pronoun in Jer 33:16 to “Jerusalem,” because the pronoun there is feminine, and evidently refers to a city, but it is not natural in our passage to explain “his name” of “Israel,” seeing that the subject of the noun in the parallel line is, not Israel, but the Messiah. is the text here correct? A comparison of the parallel psalms 14. and lift; and of the corresponding chapters in Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, will show how easily errors made their way into duplicate copies of the same passage. Granting that we have such duplicate copies of this prophecy in Jeremiah, there can be no doubt which is the more original; the form of Jer 23:6 has a difficulty from which Jer 33:16 is freea difficulty of interpretation and a difficulty also of grammar. For, as Ewald has already pointed out, the contracted suffix is very rarely attached to the simple imperfect, and the clear style in which this section is written justifies us in regarding any unusual form with suspicion. “Israel” thus was probably written by mistake for “Jerusalem,” and this error soon led to othersfirst, the omission of “her,” and then the prefixing of “his name” for clearness, and (on the part of the authors of the points) the mispointing of the verb (so as to include in the form the pronoun “him”). It is some confirmation of this view that there are several other passages in which the words “Israel” and “Jerusalem” appear to have been confounded (see preceding note). Read, therefore, as in Jer 33:16, And this is the name wherewith she shall be called. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS; Hebrew, Yahveh (Jehovah) Tsidkenu. The name is formed on the analogy of other symbolic names, such as El-elohe-Israel (Gen 33:20), Jehovah-Nisei (Exo 17:15 ), and especially Jehovah-Shammah (Eze 48:35), also a name of Jerusalem. These names are, in fact, sentences; Jehovah-Shammah, for instance, means “The Lord (is) there;” and the name in the present verse, “The Lord (is) our Righteousness” (Hengstenberg’s view mentioned above seems less natural). It is singular that Zedekiah’s name should come so near to that announced by the prophet. But there is still a difference between them. Zedekiah must mean “The Lord (is) righteousness,” i.e. is ever faithful to his revealed principles of action. But Jehovah-Tsidkenu may be correctly paraphrased, “The Lord is the author of our prosperity,” or, more strictly, “of the justification of our claims in the sight of our enemies” (comp. Isa 45:24; Isa 50:8; Isa 54:17; Isa 58:8; Isa 62:1,Isa 62:2). Similar applications of forensic language are familiar, e.g. “When they speak with their enemies in the gate” (Psa 127:5).
Jer 23:7, Jer 23:8
This is another of Jeremiah’s repetitions (see Jer 16:14, Jer 16:15). Either the Septuagint translator or the copyist of the Hebrew manuscript which he used appears to have thought that the passage might, therefore, be dispensed with. In the Septuagint it is placed at the end of the chapter (being possibly supplied from another Hebrew manuscript), and the form given in this version to the close of verse 6 ( , combining the opening words of verse 9) shows that verse 9 followed immediately upon verse 6 in the Hebrew manuscript.
Jer 23:9-40
These verses form a complete prophecy, the title of which Jeremiah himself supplies in the words, “Concerning the (false) prophets” (see below); comp. Jer 46:2; Jer 48:1; Jer 49:1, Jer 49:7, Jer 49:23, Jer 49:28. It is true the rendering of the Authorized Version (Jer 49:9), Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets, is not purely arbitrary; it is favored by the exegetical tradition represented by the Hebrew accents. But it is not probable that two entirely different causes should be given for the prophet’s deep emotion (see the latter part of the verse). Besides, “breaking of the heart” is nowhere a sign of anger (as Authorized Version would suggest), but either of grief (see on Jer 8:20, or, as the context implies here, physical disturbance at the solemn message of Jehovah (comp. Jer 6:11; Jer 20:9). All my bones shake. It is a very uncommon verb, occurring only twice elsewhere (Gen 1:2; Deu 32:11, in Piel). The words of his holiness; co, his words of holiness; i.e. his holy words, the words of the Holy One on the unholy doings of the false prophets.
Jer 23:10
The land is full of adulterers. The false prophets connive at flagrant immoralities, one of which is mentioned as a typical sin. As to the nature of the adultery, see note on Jer 5:7. Because of swearing; rather, because of the curse; the curse, namely, with which God punishes the guilty earth (comp. Zec 5:3; Dan 9:11; and especially Isa 24:6, where in the original there is a paronomasia very similar to that here). The land mourneth; a figurative expression, suggested partly by the assonance of the word for “curse.” Drought is what is meant (comp. Jer 12:4; Jer 14:1, Jer 14:2). The pleasant places of the wilderness; rather, the pastures of the prairie-land (“wilderness” suggests ideas very alien to the context). Their course; literally, their running (comp. Jer 8:6). The subject is “the inhabitants of the land.” Their force is not right; rather, their might (or, heroism) is untruth. They are “mighty men” only in telling untruths (comp. Jer 9:3; Isa 5:22).
Jer 23:11
Both prophet and priest are profane; i.e. are unholy, disobeying the Divine commands (see on Jer 5:7). The same two important classes specified as in Jer 6:13. Yea, in my house, etc. Evidently some sin specially incongruous with its locality is referred to, either idolatry (comp. Jer 7:30) or the totemistic worship of figures of animals (Eze 8:10, Eze 8:11). Comp. note on Jer 5:7.
Jer 23:12
Their way shall be unto them as slippery ways, etc.; rather, slippery places. The passage has a manifest affinity with Psa 35:6 (in one of the Jeremiahizing psalms; see on Jer 18:19, Jer 18:20). They shall be driven on; or, as Ewald, taking over the last word of the preceding clause, they shall be thrust into the darkness. This involves a reminiscence, probable enough, of Isa 8:22 b. It is against the accentual tradition, but improves the rhythmical derision of the verse. If we ask who “thrusts” them, Psa 35:5 supplies the answerit is not merely external circumstances, but “the Angel of Jehovah,” i.e. Jehovah himself. As Bishop Hall says, “God wounds us by many instruments, but with one hand.” I will bring evil upon them, etc. Favorite expressions of Jeremiah (comp. Jer 11:23).
Jer 23:13, Jer 23:14
The prophets of Samaria were no doubt guilty enough, but their offences dwindled by the side of the “horrible” transgressions of those of the southern kingdom. The prophet apparently means, not only that the former, having fewer spiritual advantages, were less responsible than the latter, but also that they had not violated the moral code so conspicuously.
Jer 23:13
I have seen folly; rather, absurdity or unseemliness; literally, that which is unsavory (comp. Job 6:6). The word occurs with a similar reference to Jehovah in Job 1:22; Job 24:12. To “prophesy by Baal” was “absurd,” “unseemly,” because Baal was a “non-entity” (Isaiah’s word for an idol). In Baal; rather, by, or by means of, Baal (see on Jer 2:8).
Jer 23:14
I have seen also, etc.; rather, But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen. Horrible; as in Jer 5:30. They commit adultery, etc.; literally, the committing adultery and the walking in liesa much more forcible way of putting it. They are all of them; rather, They have become all of them; vie. either the prophets or the people in general. The inhabitants thereof; viz. of Jerusalem.
Jer 23:15
On the punishment hero threatened, see note on Jer 9:15.
Jer 23:16-22
A warning addressed to the people against the false prophecies (comp. Eze 13:1-23.).
Jer 23:16
They make you vain; i.e. fill you with vain imaginations. A similar phrase occurs in Jer 2:5, on which see note. A vision of their own heart; the heart being the center of the intellectual as well as of the moral life, according to the Hebrew conception.
Jer 23:17
Unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said. The Septuagint and the Syriac render the same text (the consonants are alone the text) with different vowels, thus: “Unto those who despise the word of the Lord.” In favor of this it may be urged that the phrase, “The Lord hath said,” is nowhere else used in this abrupt way to introduce a real or supposed revelation, and Hitzig and Graf accordingly accept it. Ye shall have peace; as Jer 6:14. After the imagination; rather, in the stubbornness (see on Jer 3:17).
Jer 23:18
For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord; rather, in the council. This verse is connected with Jer 23:16; it gives the reason why the false prophets were not to be listened to. None of them had been admitted to the secret council of the Lord; the interrogation is here a form of denial. “To stand in the council” is not the same as “to sit” (Psa 1:1); the latter phrase implies taking an active part in the consultations. It is specially applicable to the true prophets, according to Jer 23:22, and this, as we gather from other passages, m a twofold sense. Sometimes the prophets had visions, in which their inner eye was granted a sight of Jehovah in consultation with his trusted servants (Isa 6:1, comp. Isa 6:8; 1Ki 22:19); and the words of Eliphaz, “Weft thou listening in the council of God?” (Job 15:8), appear to be descriptive of a similar experience. But the phrase may also be used in a wider sense of entirely unecstatic revelations. Amos says (Amo 3:7), “Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret counsel unto his servants the prophets; ‘ and a psalmist extends the term “secret counsel” to the communion which God grants to the pious in general (Psa 25:14; comp. Pro 3:32). Thus there is no hard and-fast line between the experiences of the prophets and those of humbler believers. In so far as the latter are “disciples of Jehovah” (Isa 54:13), they too may be truly said to “stand,” at least in the doorway, “in the council of Jehovah;” just as a well-known collect inherited from the Latin Church beseeches that “by God’s holy inspiration we may think those things that he good.” Who hath marked his word? A Jewish tradition, represented by the marginal notes in the Hebrew Bible, has taken offence at this variation in the expression, and would correct the reading to “my word.” But such changes of person are of frequent occurrence, and we know that the prophets were thoroughly assured that the word which they spoke was not theirs, but that of him who sent them.
Jer 23:19, Jer 23:20
These two verses seem to be connected with Jer 23:17. The false prophets say, “Ye shall have peace.” How different the message of the true! (A duplicate of these verses occurs in Jer 30:23, Jer 30:24.)
Jer 23:19
A whirlwind of the Lord, etc.; rather, A storm of the Lord, even fury, is gone forth, and a whirling stormupon the head of the wicked shall it whirl. The hurricane has already broken out; it will soon reach Jerusalem. This seems to be the force of Jeremiah’s expressive figure.
Jer 23:20
The anger of the Lord. The prophet’s interpretation of the image. It is the judicial anger of Jehovah, personified as Divine manifestations so often are (hence “shall not return”). The form of the verse reminds us of Isa 55:11. In the latter days; rather, in future days, as Dr. Henderson rightly renders. It seems better to restrict the term “latter days” to the Messianic period (“the coming age,” Mat 12:32), to which, in fact, it is often applied (e.g. Isa 2:2; Hos 3:5). The phrase in itself simply means “in the sequel of the days,” i.e. in the future; its Messianic reference, when this exists, is inferred solely from the context. In the passage before us, and in Deu 4:30, Deu 4:30 :29, there can be no intention of pointing to the Messianic age. Precisely the same phrase occurs in an Assyrian inscription, where its meaning is clear from the context (aria akhrat yumi irib, “For a sequel of daysi.e; for a future timeI deposited”). In the present case it is no distant period to which the prophet refers, for he continues, Ye shall consider it, etc; or rather, ye shall understand it clearly, viz. that the calamities which will have come upon you are the Divine judgment upon your sins.
Jer 23:21, Jer 23:22
In Jer 23:17-20 Jeremiah has shown that these cannot be true prophets, because their message is diametrically opposed to the true revelation. He now proves it from the absence of any moral effect from their preaching.
Jer 23:23-32
Jehovah has observed and will punish the false pretensions of the prophets.
Jer 23:23, Jer 23:24
Am I a God at hand, etc.? (“At hand” equivalent to “near.”) Eliphaz may again assist us with an illustration. “And thou sayest “he is expostulating with Job”What doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; yea, he walketh upon the vault of heaven” (Job 22:13, Job 22:14). It might seem, from the preponderance of the false prophets ever the true, as if Jehovah were unaware of the mischief. Not so; Jehovah is omnipresent.
Jer 23:25
I have dreamed. Jeremiah mentions it as one of the marks of a false prophet that he appealed to his dreams (comp. Jer 29:8); true prophecy contented itself with less ambiguous media of communication with the unseen world. It may be objected that Abraham (Gen 15:12), at any rate, and Abimelech (Gen 20:3) received Divine revelations in dreams; but these were not officially prophets. Nathan and the contemporaries of the author of Job had messages from God by night, but these are called, not dreams, but visions. Deuteronomy (and this is one of its striking points of agreement with Jeremiah) expressly describes a false prophet as “a dreamer of dreams”. Two passages in the Old Testament seem inconsistent with this discouragement of dreams as a medium of revelationNum 12:6, where the Lord is said to make himself known to prophets by visions and dreams, and Joe 2:28, where the prophetic dreams of the old men are one of the features of a Messianic description; but it is noteworthy that the first of these refers to the primitive period of Israel’s history, and the second to the distant Messianic age. In its classical period prophecy kept itself sedulously aloof from a field on which it had such compromising companionship (comp. Ecc 5:7).
Jer 23:26
How long shall this be in the heart, etc.? i.e. how long shall this be their purpose, viz. to prophesy lies? But this rendering leaves out of account a second interrogative which in the Hebrew follows “how long.” It is better to translate this difficult passage, with De Dieu and many moderns, thus: “How long (quousque durabit haec ipsorum impudentia)? Is it in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and the prophets of the deceit of their own heart; are they thinking (I say) to cause my people to forget,” etc.? On this view, Jer 23:27 resumes the question interrupted in Jer 23:26.
Jer 23:27
Every man to his neighbor. Not merely one prophet to another prophet, for it is “my people” whom they cause to forget my Name (comp. Jer 23:32), but the prophet to his fellow man. Have forgotten my name for Baal; or, forgot my name through Baal.
Jer 23:28
Let him tell a dream; rather, let him tell it as a dream; let him tell his dreams, if he will, but not intermix them with Divine revelations. Jeremiah, then, does not deny that there is a measure of truth in what these prophets say; he only demands a distinct declaration that their dreams are but dreams, and not equal in authority to the Divine word. For, as he continues, What is the chaff to the wheat? What right have you to mix the worthless chaff with the pure, winnowed grain? How, he implies, can such an adulterated message produce the designed effect of a prophetic revelation? (St. Paul has a somewhat similar figure, 1Co 3:10-13.) So Naegelsbach. Keil, however, denies that there is any thought of an adulteration of the Divine word by the “false prophets.” According to him, the question in this verse is simply meant to emphasize the contrast between the false, dream-born prophecy of Jeremiah’s opponents and the true revelations. How can the false prophecy pretend to be the true? They are as different as chaff and wheat. Both views are admissible. Naegelsbach introduces a new element by suggesting the intermixture of false and true in the utterances of the “false prophets;” but his view is not inconsistent with what the prophet has stated before, and it is favored by verse 30 and by the command, Let him speak my word faithfully; i.e. in its genuine form; comp. Jer 2:21, “A faithful or trustworthy [i.e. a genuine] seed;” also, for the general sense, 2Co 2:17.
Jer 23:29
Is not my word like as a fire? As in Jer 23:19, Jer 23:20, so here, the prophet contrasts the message of the false prophets with that of the true. The former flatter their hearers with promises of peace; the latter speak a stern but potent word, which burns like a fire, and crushes like a hammer. Observe, the prophet does not define the activity of the fire as he does that of the hammer; for the fire has a twofold effectprotection to God’s friends and destruction to his enemies. On the figure of the hammer, comp. Jer 1:1-19 :23; Jer 51:20.
Jer 23:30-32
The punishment solemnly introduced by a three times repeated, Behold, I am against, etc; corresponding to three several features of the conduct of the false prophets. First we are told that the prophets steal my words every one from his neighbor. The latter part of the phrase reminds us of Jer 23:27, but the neighbor in this case must mean, at any rate primarily, a fellow-prophet, one who has really received a revelation at first-hand from Jehovah. The “false prophets,” not trusting to their “dreams” alone, listen greedily to the discourses of men like Jeremiah, not with a view to spiritual profit, but to making their own utterances more effective. We must remember that they lived by their prophesying (Mic 3:5).
Jer 23:31
That use their tongues; literally, that take their tongue, like a workman’s toolas if prophecy could be turned out to order. And say, He saith. The word rendered “he saith” is one which the prophets habitually used to affirm the revealed character of their teaching. It is the participle of the verb rendered “say.” Adopting a Miltonic verb, we might render, and oracle oracles.” The “false prophets” adopt the same forms as the true; but they are to them only forms.
Jer 23:32
That prophesy false dreams (see on Jer 23:25). By their lightness. The word is an uncommon one, and implies arrogance or boastfulness (comp. Zep 3:4); the root means “to bubble over.” Therefore they shall not profit; rather, and they cannot profit.
Jer 23:33-40
The abuse of a consecrated phrase. The prophets were accustomed to apply the term massa to their prophetic declarations in the sense of “oracle,” or “utterance”a sense derived from the use of the cognate verb for “to lift up the voice,” i.e. to pronounce clearly and distinctly. But the word massa was also in common use for “load, burden,” and hence the “false prophets” applied the term derisively to Jeremiah’s discourses. “Rightly does he call his word a massa; it is not merely a solemn utterance, but a heavy burden; as De Wette puts it, not merely a Weissagung, but a Wehsagung. The passage is important as indicating the sense in which the true prophets understood the term. It should be added that the term mused is prefixed to at least four Biblical passages which, not being of threatening import, do not admit of being entitled “burdens” (Zec 9:1; Zec 12:1; Pro 30:1; Pro 31:1; comp. Lam 2:14). How remarkable is the line adopted by Jer 1:1-19 He simply abandons the use Of the term massa, consecrated as it was by the practice of inspired men! Better to adopt a new phrase, than to run the risk of misunderstanding or, even worse, profanity.
Jer 23:33
What burden? etc. The Hebrew text, as usually read, is extremely difficult; the Authorized Version is entirely unjustifiable. It is just possible to explain, with Ewald, “As to this question, What is the burden? the true meaning of the word is that,” etc. But how harsh and artificial! By a change in the grouping of the consonants (which alone constitute the text), we may read, Ye are the burden. So the Septuagint, Vulgate, Hitzig, Graf, Payne Smith. We must in this case continue, and I will cast you off, as the same verb is to be rendered in Jer 7:29; Jer 12:7. Instead of carrying you with the long-suffering of a father (Deu 1:31; Isa 46:3, Isa 46:4; Isa 63:9; Psa 28:9), I will east you off as a troublesome load (Isa 1:14).
Jer 23:35
What hath the Lord answered? i.e. a simpler phraseology is to be used, Jehovah hath answered, saying, or, Jehovah hath spoken, according as a definite question had been put before the prophet or not.
Jer 23:36
And the burden of the Lord, etc.; i.e. ye shall no longer use the word massa at all. Every man’s word shall be his burden; rather, the burden to every man shall be his word; i.e. his derisive use of the word massa shall be a burden which shall crush him to the ground. Ye have perverted; i.e. have turned them round, and put them into a ridiculous light” (Payne Smith).
Jer 23:38
But since ye say, etc.; rather, But if ye say, etc. In case the false prophets disobey, and persist in using the old expression, the threatening already uttered shall come into operation.
Jer 23:39
I, even I, will utterly forget you; rather, I will even take you up, and east you off. This involves a slight difference in the pronunciation of the text from that adopted by the Massoretes, but is adopted by the Septuagint, Peshito, Vulgate, a few manuscripts, and most critics; it is, in fact, almost required by the figure which fills the verse. And cast you out of my presence. “And cast you” is not in the Hebrew; nor is it necessary to supply the words, if the preceding clauses be rightly translated.
Jer 23:40
With this verse, comp. Jer 20:11.
HOMILETICS
Jer 23:1-4
The character of leading men.
The character of its leading men is a matter of first importance to a people. Israel had been led astray by his kings; one of the first blessings promised to him on his return is the possession of good leaders. In the most free state there must always be leading menmen exercising influence by reason of their office, their rank and position, or their capacities. Observe this in regard to the various classes of leading men.
I. POLITICAL LEADERS. On their character depends the questions
(1) whether laws shall be justly framed and justly executed,
(2) whether the welfare of the subjects shall be honestly worked for, and
(3) whether the dealings with foreign nations shall be just and peaceable.
II. SOCIAL LEADERS. The moral influence of the court is always great and widespread; how important that this should be pure! There are people whom rank or personal attractiveness, or powers of persuasion, endow with power to influence the customs of their age. These need be well advised that their influence may be on the side of truth, purity, and humanity.
III. INTELLECTUAL LEADERS. Shall the reformer be a Luther or a Voltaire? The poet a Wordsworth or a Byron? The historian an Arnold or a Gibbon? The philosopher a Butler or a Hume? Surely for the real welfare of a people the moral tendency of its literature is more important than the intellectual brilliancy.
IV. RELIGIOUS LEADERS. Are these men barren controversialists, or earnest practical guides to their flocks? Are they loyal to truth, or merely bigoted defenders of their own crotchets? Are they spiritual-minded servants of Christ, or ambitious priests? Are they true shepherds, or wolves in sheep’s clothing? These questions touch the welfare of a people very closely. Note, the one essential is that the leading men should desire to serve the good of others and not simply to increase their own power and honor; to feed the flock, not to scatter it by reckless indifference, selfish ambition, or tyrannous cruelty. The power of leading men is a great and dangerous gift, only entrusted by Providence to those who possess it for the sake of the good it may be the means of conferring on the community at large. The state is in a healthy condition only when public characters are inspired by public spirit.
Jer 23:5
The Branch of David.
The glorious prophecy of the Messianic future which here bursts forth from Jeremiah, after his denunciation of his nation’s sin and lamentation over its approaching calamities, is necessarily clothed in the language of the age, and viewed in an especial relation to contemporary wants. The people are suffering from bad rulers and an unrighteous government. A good king, administering his kingdom happily and justly, is promised for the golden age of the future. Associated with this king is, no doubt, that succession of righteous sovereigns referred to in the fourth verse. It was not given to anticipatory visions to show how unique and solitary and eternal was to be the kingship of the Messiah. Yet even there he stands forth in marked prominence, and towers above his successors, who are only regarded as following his initiative. Regarding the prophecy with the fuller light of Christian times, we may see how it is a true foreshadowing of the nature and work of Christ, though, of course, only partial and limited, as the shadow can only indicate the general form of its object, and that in but one aspect.
I. THE ORIGIN OF THE MESSIAH.
1. He comes from a human stock. He is called a “Branch,” or, rather, a “Sprout.” Christ entered the world by birth; he was “made of a woman.” Hence his oneness with us, his human sympathy, true example, and representative character as the High Priest of the race.
2. He comes of the family of David. This historical fact is significant. Christ is a born King, a rightful Sovereign. He realizes the ideal which the kings of the Jews had failed to attain, but which the best of them had aimed at.
3. He comes quietly and gradually. The sprout springs from a bud by slow growth. Christ began his life as an infant, and grew in physical, mental, and spiritual powers (Luk 2:52). He did not astonish the world with a sudden apparition of majesty. His kingship is like his kingdom, a quiet and gradual growth as that of a tree from a seed (Mat 13:31-32).
4. He comes with close relations to the circumstances of the world. The sprout is vitally connected with the earth and the atmosphere. It grows in the natural season of growth. Christ is associated with all human interests. The ages before his advent were preparing for him. He is the representative of their highest aspirations, the satisfaction of their deepest needs. He comes in the “fullness of time.”
5. He comes from a Divine origin. God raises up the righteous Branch. The text tells us no more than that the coming of Christ is providential and through special Divine influences; but we know that God not only raised him, but was in him, as one with his very being.
II. THE OFFICE OF THE MESSIAH. He is to be a King. It was natural that the Jews should anticipate a temporal sovereign, and natural, therefore, that they should have been disappointed at the appearance and conduct of Jesus of Nazareth. Yet was he not, is he not, a King? He professed to be a King (Joh 18:37). The apostles claimed submission to him as to a King (Act 17:7). His influence is kingly. The essence of kingship is not seen in the sitting on a material throne and wearing a visible crown, but in the exercise of power over men. Christ is the one true King, because he rules the thoughts and affections and wills of men. Human sovereigns can only command external obedience. While the slave cringes before the throne he may be cursing his master in his heart. Christ is satisfied with no such superficial loyalty. He seeks the allegiance of the heart, and he wins it from all his people. We must, therefore, recognize this great factChrist is a King as well as a Savior. While he delivers us from ruin, he expects submission to his authority. He is a Savior partly by being a King, for his royal influence is one means of his deliverance of mankind. Therefore the selfish Christianity which would accept escape from ruin, but would not accord loyal obedience, is a delusion. We cannot even be safe, cannot even escape from the ruin of our sin, except by bowing to the rule of Christ. We can only find rest unto our souls by taking on us his yoke. True faith, therefore, includes trust in the kingship as well as in the redemption of Christ, i.e. active fidelity in addition to passive confidence.
III. THE CHARACTER OF THE MESSIAH.
1. He is righteous. This was much in contrast to the unrighteousness of contemporary rulers. Taking the word “righteous” in the largest sense, we have assurance of the truth, justice, holiness, and goodness of Christ. If this righteousness of the Messiah is a ground of rejoicing to the prophet, how much more shall we Christians rejoice in witnessing his gentleness, compassion, and love?
2. He rules righteously. The character of the government is necessarily determined by that of the ruler. The great King comes to live not for himself, but for his people, and not to execute stern judgments upon them, but to secure their highest good. Christ reigns for the good of his people. If we submit to his rule we find our own blessedness secured thereby.
Jer 23:6
The new name.
(See also Jer 33:16.) God’s people are to have a new name. In the epistle to the Church at Pergamos, every one “that overcometh” is assured that he will receive “a white stone, and in the stone a new name written” (Rev 2:17). This is suggestive, not only of a change of character, but of a change of reputation. The redeemed will no longer be thought of in connection with the old associations of their sin and shame. These will be forgotten, and a new name given to them, describing their holier character and happier condition. Consider the significance of this new name”The Lord our Righteousness.”
I. GOD IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS PEOPLE.
1. He justifies his people in the face of their maligners by proving the rightness of their cause. For this, like David, they may appeal to him (Psa 35:23, Psa 35:24).
2. God’s righteousness is the ideal of righteousness for his people. True righteousness is that which is after God’s mind. Men have their notions of right, which are often perverted by passion and prejudice. But the redeemed have a vision of a higher law and a purer type of goodness. God is righteousness to them. He is the Good, the only true Good (Mar 10:18).
3. God is the Source of righteousness to his people. None can make himself righteous; righteousness is an inspiration. This idea is suggested by Plato in the ‘Meno,’ where he represents Socrates as saying, “To sum up our inquirythe result seems to be, if we are at all right in our view, that virtue is neither natural nor acquired, but an instinct given by God to the virtuous;” and again, “Then, Meno, the conclusion is that virtue comes to the virtuous by the gift of God.” How singularly near is this to St. Paul’s teaching about the righteousness of God without the Law (Rom 3:21-26)!
II. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS COEXTENSIVE WITH SALVATION. When the people are saved, they receive the new name. We are not delivered on account of our righteousness, but in our sin and need and ill desert. Nevertheless, salvation brings righteousness, includes the gift of righteousnessis, indeed, essentially a restoration of righteousness, a deliverance from sin to a state of holiness. The two ideas may be separated in thought; they cannot be separated in experience. It would be unjust and unholy for God to deliver a man from the penalties of his sin while he remained in the practice of it. But when deliverance comes, no part of it is more full of joy and blessedness to the redeemed, and none reflects more glory on the Redeemer than the salvation from the power of sin and the creation of a new nature of holiness.
III. THE DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS IS CONFERRED THROUGH CHRIST. The giving of the new name follows the advent of the Messiah and the exercise of his kingly rule. Here we are carried beyond the vague and apparently casual Platonic notion of the inspiration of virtue to the definite Christian doctrine of righteousness through Christ.
1. Christ secures redemption for us by his life work and his sacrificial death, and with this comes righteousness.
2. Christ is the incarnation of the Divine righteousness, and breathes that into us by his vital contact with his people.
3. Christ rules in righteousness over a people whom he teaches to follow and obey him with righteousness. Therefore, if we crave the honor and the blessedness of the new name, let us yield our souls in trust and obedience to the claims and grace of Christ.
Jer 23:16
Uninspired prophecy.
The Jews were warned not to listen to the prophets, because they were not inspired by God. This fact was considered to be a sufficient proof of their inefficiency, and necessarily so, since the prophets professed to be acting as the oracles of God, and not merely indulging in their own speculations and conjectures. Herein lay the danger of their position. They held official rank as religious teachers, their claims were backed by venerated tradition, they boldly professed to speak with Divine authority; yet they were not sent by God. The same danger accompanies the pretensions of men in our own day, who claim a right to be heard without question by reason of their high office in the Church, and yet have no Divine commission. The appearance of this uninspired prophecy in Jeremiah’s age may, therefore, be a warning to modern times.
I. THE ORIGIN OF THIS PROPHECY WAS PRIVATE SPECULATION. The prophets spoke “a vision of their own heart.” Such a vision could only be a revelation of themselves. This is what uninspired religious speculation amounts to. It is a revelation of man, not a revelation of God. Attempts are made to arrive at truth in three ways.
1. By observation. But observation cannot reveal
(1) the future,
(2) the Divine.
2. By reasoning. This must be based on experience, and can bear no more strain than its basis. It is not found that we have sufficient data in normal experience to warrant important predictions of history and conclusions on vexed theological questions.
3. By intuition. Intuition does reveal truth, but only the truth of our own nature. We have no reason for supposing that this is always a counterpart to the facts of the larger world.
II. PRIVATE SPECULATION WAS ESPECIALLY LIKELY TO IMPORT ERROR INTO THIS PROPHECY. It was always fallible, but in the present instance it was peculiarly likely to err.
1. It was attempting too great a task. The prophets were venturing to predict the future of their nation under the most difficult circumstances.
2. It was biased by prejudice, passion, and interest. The prophets were swayed by their own inclination. In religious questions personal considerations blind men to pure truth.
III. NEVERTHELESS THIS PROPHECY WAS VERY POPULAR.
1. It was recommended by the official teachers.
2. It was recommended by the majority of the prophets. Jeremiah stood almost alone; his opponents were numerous.
3. It was flattering to the people; it represented them as less guilty, as deserving less punishment than was threatened by Jeremiah.
4. It was pleasant. The prophets spoke smooth words and promised comfortable things. Such teaching is only too popular.
IV. NO PROPHECY IS RELIABLE WHICH IS NOT INSPIRED BY GOD. The prophecy is condemned simply for want of this one fundamental condition. The history of religions speculation proves the helplessness of all attempts to solve the great problems of the future and of the spiritual by bare human intelligence. If, therefore, we believe that the Bible is inspired, weight should be given to its teaching as to an authority. In our own thought, and our meditation on the Scriptures, we need those lesser degrees of inspiration by which all Christians may be led into truth (Joh 16:13).
Jer 23:23, Jer 23:24
The omnipresence of God.
I. THE FACT. God must he thought of as fully present everywhere; not as a great Being who fills a great space with, however, only distinct parts in each section of space. The whole of God is present everywhere. He is as much present in every separate locality as if he existed nowhere else. All his infinite attributes of knowledge, power, and goodness are present, to be brought to bear on each individual of the infinite variety of things in the universe. God is as much present in the less seemly places as in those that are recognized as fitting temples for him to dwell in. He is in the earth as well as in heaven. Heaven is described as his throne, earth as his footstool. He is present with the godless as well as with the godly, in the heathen world as well as in Christendom. More particularly:
1. God is present with those who do not recognize him. The sunlight is not limited by man’s vision; it shines as clearly about the blind man as about one with keen eyesight. So, though we may not think of God’s presence, it is not the less near to us.
2. God is present with those who refuse to obey him. We cannot remove ourselves from the observation and control of God by forsaking all allegiance to him. Jonah could flee from his mission, but he could not flee from his God. God’s eyes are on the evil as well as on the good.
3. God is present with those who are far from enjoying the blessedness of the full manifestation of his presence. God is present with the Christian all through his earthly pilgrimage. Though God appears to hide himself for a season, though thick clouds intervene between the soul and that beatific vision which is reserved for the future state, God is as truly with his people on earth as he will be in heaven.
II. PRACTICAL LESSONS.
1. It is foolish to expect to escape from the judgment of God. God never abdicates his right to be the Judge of all his creatures. There is no possibility of hiding from him. God searches us and knows our deepest heart-secret. Will it not, then, be best for us to be true and open and frank with him?
2. We must not ascribe the confusion of the world to God‘s indifference. If he knows all and does not set it right, this must be
(1) partly because he gives large liberty to his creatures for the possibility of attaining higher good than would be reached by the exercise of any irresistible power, and
(2) partly because he must have higher ultimate designs than any we can conceive of in the present imperfect condition of the world.
3. No change of place will bring us nearer to God. “He is not far from every one of us” (Act 17:27). Therefore
(1) it is needless to wait for some better time for approaching God. No time will be better than the present. He will never be nearer to us than he is NOW. He only waits that we should open our eyes.
(2) It is a mistake to suppose that any outward event wilt lead us nearer to God, Death will not bring us more closely into his presence. No journey to a heavenly world will do this. We only need a change of heart to recognize and enjoy the eternal presence of God, which will make heaven wherever it is felt.
4. Christians need fear no harm. They must meet with troubles and temptations, but God is present to uphold them. They must go through the valley of the shadow of death, but God is there. They must enter the strange land of departed souls, but he is there also. And wherever God is it must be well with his faithful children.
Jer 23:33, Jer 23:34
The abuse of a word.
This is not a mere play upon a word, but a mocking abuse of the meaning of it, designed to convey a sinister insinuation. It illustrates what a dangerous and uncertain weapon language is. We are all inclined to attach too much importance to words, forgetting that they are not rigid landmarks of thought, but variable in meaning with the variations of the ideas we import into them.
I. THE WORDS OF TRUTH MAY BE USED IN THE SERVICE OF FALSEHOOD. The Jews repeated the phrase of Jeremiah, but with a new and false signification. The “burden” as an utterance, was entirely distinct from the “burden” as a weight to be borne. Of course, mendacity belongs to our thought and intention, not to our mere language. We may tell a lie by using true words in such a way as to infuse into them a false meaning. Such conduct is peculiarly mean and dishonorable. It is robbing the armory of truth to turn its weapons against itself. No condemnation can be too strong for the treachery and dishonesty of those persons who appropriate the consecrated phrases of Christianity as a subterfuge under which to attack its spiritual truths. Let us be careful in using the Bible, not to read our own thoughts into the text, but to search simply for the original meaning of it.
II. CONTROVERSY BECOMES DISHONEST WHEN IT IS MAINTAINED BY THE CONFUSION OF WORDS. This is the essence of sophistry. A word is spoken with one meaning; it is replied to with another. Often and often this is done unconsciously. Indeed, a large part of our contentions rest on nothing but “misunderstandings.” Under such circumstances we may deplore the error, but we cannot severely condemn the moral conduct of the misguided disputants. But it may be done deliberately, to throw dust in the eyes of an opponent, to raise a laugh without justification, to gain a point by mere word-fencing. When this is the case it is untruthful and ungenerous. If we must dispute, let us be frank and fair, using every effort to understand our opponent, carefully guarding against misrepresenting him. So long as a word is used as the embodiment of a thought, it is a sacred thing to tamper with which may be to murder a truth.
III. NO VERBAL BULWARKS WILL PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF TRUTH. This is just a corollary on what precedes. But it is sufficiently important to claim distinct and emphatic notice. Truth must find its expression in words, and to be intelligible these should be clear and definite. Hence the need of formulae. But nothing is more unreliable than a formula. Since it may be used against truth with all the force of its prestige if a new false meaning is foisted into it, we need to be constantly considering it afresh in the light of facts. Creeds may be useful as the expression of “views” of truth, but history proves that they are of little good as defenders of the faith.
IV. WHEN A WORD HAS GIVEN TROUBLE IN CONTROVERSY IT MAY BE WELL TO ABANDON IT. Jeremiah is bidden no longer to use the word “burden.” We are too jealous of words. There is a superstition of phrases. It is foolish to fight for a word. Anxiety about words is generally a sign of the loss of hold upon truth. If we are sure of possessing the truth and feel the living reality of it, we can afford to abandon any form of language, and can soon find other words in which to clothe it. Truth will not suffer. If it loses the aid of old associations, it loses also the hindrance of misunderstandings and antagonisms, and it gains the freshness of new suggestions. Let us be careful not to be the slaves of a vocabulary. We shall often find it wise to melt down our theological phrases and cast them in a new form, or rather to bury the old ones and let new ones naturally spring up as the embodiment of fresh living thoughts. Remember, “the letter killeth.”
Jer 23:33-40
The burden
I. IT IS A MISTAKE TO REGARD THE REVELATION OF TRUTH AS A BURDEN. It comes to lighten our burdens. At first it may seem to increase them by making us conscious of them. It opens our eyes to our own condition. The very light may serve to reveal the existence of the deep mystery all around us, which was not felt while the soul slumbered in darkness. Yet the light does not make the darkness that fringes its radiance. Revelation does not create the burdens of which it makes us conscious. It has rather the opposite effect.
1. All truth clears away some of the burden of superstition. Men people the unknown with horrors. Midnight shadows shroud dread nightmares. Daylight dispels the shadows, and the evil dreams melt away.
2. Divine truth is expressly designed to liberate the soul from spiritual burdens. It is a light of blessing, not a message of death; an evangel promising consolation to the weary. Even the darker elements of truth have this object to attain, since the evil that they reveal is only made manifest that we may see how to escape it, or be prepared to endure it, or receive it so as to profit by it. On the whole and in the end the truth of God is revealed for the loosening of the weary weight of men’s greatest burdens, the burden of unforgiven sin, the burden of impossible duty, the burden of unendurable sorrow, the burden of unintelligible mystery.
II. MEN WHO DO NOT RECEIVE THE REVELATION OF TRUTH MAY REGARD IT AS A BURDEN. Thus these Jews derided Jeremiah by mocking his language with words, however, which expressed their own sentiments if not their deeper convictions. To them his word was a weariness, a very burden. Is it not so regarded by many? We should note the causes of this sad mistake.
1. Ignorance. The word is heard, but it is not understood. On the outside it is harsh. This is the characteristic of much Divine truth. Far off it sounds like grating thunder, terrific and repellant. We must be near to hear its sweet but hidden music.
2. Want of sympathy. All truth is burdensome to those who have not sympathy with it. Spiritual truth is a weariness to the unspiritual.
3. Partial faith. Jeremiah’s words produced enough conviction to rouse fear, but not enough to lead to confidence in the wisdom, righteousness, and goodness of God in his acts of discipline and chastisement. A weak faith always makes truth a burden. To be joyous and exultant we must be trustful.
III. THE REJECTION OF TRUTH WILL BRING A BURDEN, The revelation is not a burden, but the neglect of it will make one (verse 36). Men turn from God’s truth for the trouble they think it threatens. They will find that this very act will bring the greatest trouble upon their heads.
1. This involves the loss of the blessing that truth is designed to bestow upon us. If we reject the truth we must bear the inevitable which the acceptance of it would have lightened. We then go our own way to meet unaided the crosses and toils of life.
2. This involves the addition of a new burden of guilt for the sin of rejecting truth. A willful rejection of light is, of course, wicked and most culpable in the sight of God. It must bring trouble.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Jer 23:1-4
False shepherds and the true.
The reference here is to the kings of the house of David, as the leaders of a theocratic people; and secondarily, to the spiritual purpose of all true kingship.
I. THE MISCHIEF OF FALSE SHEPHERDING. This is twofold, viz. scattering and destroying. The false shepherd has no real interest in the sheep; being but a hireling, his chief consideration is a selfish one. The kings of Judah had sought to realize their own ambitions and to indulge their own lusts. The moral and spiritual advancement of the peoplethe foundation of all real material prosperitywas not sought. The royal example which ought to have been influential for righteousness was directly opposed to this, and all classes of the people were infected with the licentiousness of prince and noble. The results appeared in crime, idolatry, and banishment.
II. ITS JUDGMENT. The calamity was to come chiefly upon those who had been unfaithful stewards of great responsibilities. Office which is thus abused will soon be taken away. According to responsibility will be punishment. He who causes to offend is worse than the offender, and will meet with corresponding severity of judgment. The nation outlives the dynasty. Unfaithful shepherds of the theocracy sink in ignominy and ruin, but God preserves a seed to serve him, and a generation to call him blessed.
III. ITS CORRECTION. The deceived of God’s people, being distinguished from the deceivers, will undergo a kindlier discipline. The shepherd’s care, as the symbol of royal responsibility, is intended as an ideal corrective. It teaches the principle that the king exists for the people, and not vice versa. It is under Christianity that popular liberties, national development, and social purity have become the aims of rulers. In modern times there have been many who have illustrated this ideal of royalty; but Christ alone is the Head of redeemed humanitythe good Shepherd that lays down his life for his flock. In him the throne of David is eternally restored. Not yet do we see all things put under him, but the time draws nigh when he shall reign from shore to shore, and from the river even unto the ends of the earth. Ancient Israel depended for its very existence upon spiritual obedience to God’s Law. The Church of Christ in all its offices must respect his authority and be actuated by love to him. Its character and influence must be purely spiritual, or its message will be neutralized and soon perverted to unholy ends.M.
Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6
The Lord our Righteousness.
I. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WOULD RULE IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE. The question of the singular or plural interpretation of the word “scion” need not trouble us. To the prophet it was enough to declare that the offspring of David would yet reign in righteousness. All lesser fulfillments of this prophecy are thrown into insignificance by the great Son of David, who so grandly fulfilled the essential conditions of the prediction.
1. Righteousness would yet become the law of human life.
2. This would be achieved through a personal influence. The King of men will wield a spiritual scepter, but his influence will be the more real. Righteousness will be manifested as a life and vindicated in sacrificial death.
3. The house of David would be restored in him as its offspring.
II. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WOULD BE TRANSFERRED TO HIS PEOPLE. “The Lord our Righteousness,” be it the title of Prince or people, is sufficiently significant to explain its own essential meaning. There would be a transfer of the righteous character of the Ruler to the ruled; their spirit and aims would be identical with his; and he would embody their ideal life and present it to God. Through him the Divine righteousness would be the possession of the least saint. This evidently could only be perfectly accomplished in Christ. Nothing less than a unity of spirit and life with Jesus Christ, through faith, could achieve such a result.
III. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THUS EMBODIED AND COMMUNICATED WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE.
1. The power of this righteousness.
2. Its desirability.
3. Its attainableness. The ideal future of Israel and the Church.M.
Jer 23:16-18, Jer 23:22
Trying the spirits.
In Jer 23:18 read, “For who hath stood in the counsel of Jehovah? Let him see and hear his word: who hath marked his word? Let him proclaim it.”
I. HEARERS ARE TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN FALSE PROPHETS AND TRUE. A very serious permission. But not for an occasion only: to be exercised whenever the witnesses conflict. The essential principle of Protestantism. The prophet is one who speaks in God’s Name and reveals his will. The question, therefore, is of interest for all time; is exceedingly important, but not morally difficult.
1. The effect of false prophecy is disastrous.
2. Earnest and prayerful discrimination is the best safeguard against religious indifference.
II. A DISTINGUISHING TEST IS FURNISHED. It is a moral one. By their relation to the Law of Moses were the different prophets to be judged of.
1. The marks of the false prophet. His influence is an unrighteous one. He encourages evildoers, either by directly unrighteous teaching or through the indirect influence which he exercises.
2. The marks of the true prophet. He is as unmistakably in favor of morality and religion. He is distinguished:
(1) By his reverence. “He who hath stood in the counsel of Jehovah.” To sit in that counsel would be to pretend to be equal and advise; but the true prophet has no word from himself. His messages proceed from God, and in his Name he speaks. In every age the messenger of God is one who has communion with him, is conscious of a living Presence and a revealing Spirit. “That which I received of the Lord, delivered I unto you:” not “I think; I am of opinion” etc. No pretence of infallibility.
(2) By diligent and devout attention to God’s revelations. In the first place the written Word, and in the next the spoken. Of the latter, only the prayerful and studious soul can be the vehicle. We have to be silent that God may speak. The Word of God already revealed will be respectfully and faithfully observed. Consecration and quietness are marks of waiting upon God. And the message delivered will be faithful to the original that was seen or heard, and agreeable to what is already known of the will of God. The careless arrogance of the false prophet is soon corrected by what God has already revealed of himself. It is the devout “hearer“ who alone has right to speak in God’s Name, and his testimony will be approved by the spiritual sense of believers and “signs following.” The spiritual character of the messenger of Godhow much of his message does it represent?M.
Jer 23:21
Unauthorized ministry.
The credentials of the ministers of God are ever a matter of consequence. Exceptional service in the Church demands exceptional qualifications, and amongst these a direct Divine call is imperative. The wickedness of those who usurp sacred office is that they ignore the necessity for such a call, and, adding deliberate falsehood to impiety, they speak in the Name of God without having heard his voice.
I. THE CONDITIONS OF LEGITIMATE SERVICE IN GOD‘S NAME.
1. Those who minister in his Name must be appointed by himself. “I have not sent them.” For the sake of order an outward and conventional human recognition of office may be requisite. But that is not the essential thing. The minister of Godprophet, priest, Christian ministermust be sent and set apart in the first instance by God. This is an immediate spiritual, Divine act. It may be performed variously, as we find in Scripture it actually was; but the original impulse and impression of obligation are from the Spirit of God. It may be impossible to define the mode, yet the fact and the nature of it cannot be mistaken. So as to the degree of intensity with which the “call” should be attended difference of opinion may exist; but the greatest ministers of God have been those who waited until the Divine ordination was certain and confirmed. A feeble impulse at the outset is less likely to result in a grand consecrated ministry. And yet there is a sense in which the “calling” cannot be made sure until after it has been acted upon. So little is it a mechanical act that sinks into historical background,the individual must ever have it present to his consciousness and crescent through active fulfillment of it. And the “call” is ever a differentiated one, having regard to special service. It is not enough for one to assume the minister’s office merely because he is fired with the general spirit of Christian enthusiasm.
2. Only as he reveals it to men can they declare his truth. “I have not spoken to them.” The prophecies of the Old Testament were the outcome of special and particular inspirations, as a reference to the descriptions of prophets themselves will prove. With some the period of active inspired utterance was comparatively brief; others were visited by the inspirations of God all through life. But even the (generally) inspired prophet might be destitute of inspiration on particular occasions, or might outlive it. In such cases silence is highest duty and truest wisdom. “The Word of God” on special occasions, as generally, is a finely organized spiritual emanation, a delicate creation or outbirth of the infinite Spirit, and may be misrepresented by unsympathetic, unenthusiastic reception. He must first be a reverent, believing “hearer” who would worthily prophesy or preach (the modern phase of the same essential work). It is only as the Spirit takes the “things of Christ” and shows them to us that we can understand, appreciate, and livingly present them to others. This necessary experience is finely expressed in the old phrase, “It was laid upon me,” or, as Jeremiah has it, “But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jer 25:9).
II. HE WHO USURPS THE SACRED OFFICE IS GUILTY OF THE GRAVEST SIN. It is instructive to observe that that which, when worthily fulfilled, is pleasing to God, is altogether otherwise if illegitimately performed. Because:
1. True prophets are thereby discredited.
2. Divine truth is misrepresented. By bald unsympathetic literalism, etc.
3. Divine truth is actually contradicted.
III. GOD WILL REPUDIATE AND DISCREDIT ALL SUCH. Through genuine revelations. In the event. By the results attendant upon faithful preaching. In the great day of account.M.
Jer 23:23, Jer 23:24
The omnipresence of God.
I. A PERSONAL ATTRIBUTE.
1. Infinitely near to all his creatures.
2. All-seeing.
3. Filling all in all.
II. A MORAL INFLUENCE. The question is asked. Every conscience confesses it. The dispensation of the Spirit which convinces the world “of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment” is the latest expression of this.
1. Deterrent.
2. Intensifying.
3. Encouraging.M.
Jer 23:25-27
Dreams that make the Name of God to be forgotten.
This is a very difficult passage, but its general sense is plain. It seems to be this: The false prophets whom Jehovah can not sent imitated the form of inspired utterancethe dream as distinct from the visionwhich could most easily and with least chance of detection be fabricated. This vehicle of communicating their false doctrines they strongly affected. “I have dreamed, I have dreamed.” Although delivering these utterances in the Name of Jehovah, they thereby sought to alienate the people from him, and to cause his Name to be forgotten.
I. PERSONS MAY SPEAK IN GOD‘S NAME WHO ARE REALLY HIS ENEMIES. These false prophets used the Name of God to commend their own deceitful doctrines and practices. The latter would have no permanent influence apart from this association. It is a favorite device of Satan to appear as an angel of light. There is nothing more diabolical, and the pretence should ever be regarded with critical suspicion, and exposed without hesitation when discovered. “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my Name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Mat 24:5).
II. IT IS EASY TO IMPART A RELIGIOUS ASPECT TO THAT WHICH IS OPPOSED TO TRUE RELIGION. Here one of the chief vehicles of inspiration is employed for quite another purpose than the revelation of God’s truth. Its mystery, vagueness, etc; imposed upon the people; and detection was rendered difficult, as no one could be sure whether the prophet dreamt or not. The real message they delivered was one of personal ambition, lust, etc. So men baptize their carnal dreams and desires with Christian names. It is very necessary to discriminate and to be sincere. Now it is a dream, an ordinance, at another time a doctrine.
III. FALSEHOOD IS MOST TO BE DREADED WHEN IT SIMULATES TRUTH.
1. Because it is essentially unaltered. By saying this is truth, it is really no more so than at first, but it gets the character of it.
2. The association thus created greatly increases its power. The sanctions of religion are given to ungodly and sinful practices. Delusion is most inveterate when it blends with superstition.
3. It destroys those whom it professes to bless. The mental habit is thereby corrupted, and the spiritual nature rendered unfit for real Divine communications. The danger is not discovered until it has made fearful advances and worked irrevocable mischief.
IV. IT SPECIALLY PROVOKES THE ANGER OF GOD. It is blasphemy; mocks him; and arrogates his place and functions, becoming more daring with apparent impunity.M.
Jer 23:28, Jer 23:29
The faithful utterance of Divine revelation.
If God in very deed reveals his will to men, it is essential that it be simply and truthfully conveyed.
I. HUMAN INTERMIXTURES WITH DIVINE TRUTH ARE HURTFUL AND WEAKENING IN THEIR INFLUENCE. The word of human origin is placed on the same level with the Divine. When the former is proved fallible or untrue, the latter is discredited. Efforts after novelty and strangeness generally ensue; and these are condemned by the Word of God (Jer 23:30, Jer 23:31).
II. THESE ARE WHOLLY UNNECESSARY, AS THE WORD OF GOD IS SUFFICIENT FOR ITS PURPOSE. “God’s Word shall not return unto him void” (Isa 55:11). It is the truth, and must prevail.
III. THE SPURIOUS INTERMIXTURE WILL BE REVEALED BY THE DIFFERENCE OF ITS EFFECTS. “What has the straw to do with the grain?”a question sure to arise in those who receive such messages. The connection of the one element with the other is evidently incongruous. The stalk sustains the ear which develops from it whilst growing; but when the field has been harvested the two are separated, and have to be used apart. To mix up the chopped straw with the grain would only be to spoil the latter. And so it is when human ideas are mixed with Divine revelations: the mixture fails to edify or satisfy. And in its effect upon the moral nature the true message distinguishes itself from the false. “Fire,” in its scorching, consuming power, cannot well be counterfeited; but such is the effect of the Word of God. The “hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces” demonstrates its legitimacy as an instrument of grace by its power upon the hard and impenitent heart (Heb 4:12).M.
Jer 23:33-40
Despising prophesyings.
I. THE HONOR OF GOD IS BOUND UP WITH HIS WORD.
1. It expresses his character. A careful, gradual unfolding of himself in his attributes and personal relations.
2. It declares his will.
(1) His Law;
(2) his gospel; both of which express his purpose.
The prophecies of God with his promises and appeals.
3. In its loftiest embodimentJesus Christit is identified with himself. (Joh 1:1.)
II. HE WILL NOT SUFFER IT TO BE TREATED LIGHTLY. To do so would be to court contempt, if not to condone the offence. As a sign of his displeasure:
1. He will give the false prophets another message to deliver. This is said satirically (Jer 23:33); their circumstances will prove that the true message is not one of acceptance but of rejection. The whole nation will be thrust out of covenant relationship.
2. Special penalties will be inflicted upon particular offenders. (Jer 23:34.) Handling the Word of God deceitfully will bring upon a man evident tokens of the Divine displeasure.
3. The word “burden“ itself will have a new and fearful significance. It was a spiritual offence to talk about “burdens” so lightly. People to whom the true message of God had no awful impressiveness would be taught reverence and fear by that which he would inflict upon them. It would be a true “burden,” not so readily got rid of (Jer 23:39, Jer 23:40).M.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Jer 23:6
The Lord our Righteousness.
How pleasant it is, after a traveler has for long days of travel been occupied in passing through a dreary, monotonous country, to come to a region where Nature puts on her loveliest and most attractive aspect; where, instead of fiat plains, unrelieved by hill or dale, or any object on which the wearied eye can fasten with delight, you find yourself in a land of noble rivers and rushing torrents, lofty mountains and exquisite valleys, flourishing cities and noble buildings! With what pleasure does the traveler enter such region after the far different and far less delightful scenes he has been fatigued with for so long! Now, akin to such pleasure is that of the persevering student of these prophecies of Jeremiah, when at length, quitting the monotonous and painful recitals of Israel’s sins, and the distressing records of the dread judgments of God which were to come upon them in consequence, with which the foregoing chapters have been mainly filled, he enters, in these verses which belong to our text, on a portion of the prophet’s writings which tells, not of sin, but of righteousness; not of the Lord the Avenger, but of the Lord the Redeemer and Savior; the Restorer because the Righteousness of his people. It is like an oasis in the desert; like what Elim must have been to the Israelites after their weary journey to Marah, where burning heat and thirst and much distress had been their continued lot. And no doubt Jeremiah and the faithful few who adhered to him were wont to solace their saddened minds by turning their thoughts, as they do here, away from the dark and terrible present to the bright and happy future when Israel should dwell safely under the rule of the Lord their Righteousness. That was a bright onlook, by means of which the heavy burden of the days in which the prophet actually lived and labored became more endurable, and their spirits were kept from being utterly overwhelmed. Now, concerning this glorious name of Jehovah, “the Lord our Righteousness,” we will first show that
I. THIS NAME BELONGS TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. It is impossible to conceive of any devout Jew ascribing the name of Jehovah to an ordinary earthly monarch, however great or famous he might be. Every Israelite would count it blasphemy so to speak of him. Moreover, the extravagance of the assertions here made, if regarded as descriptive of an earthly monarch, preclude the possibility of their having been so intended. How could any such be called the righteousness of his people? Zerubbabel was undoubtedly a noble prince, and in such measure as was possible to him answered to the prophetic description. He was a branch of the house of David, and nothing is known against him. But his power was very limited, and in no sense did he fill up the portraiture that is given here. Jew and Christian alike agree that neither he nor any of his obscure descendants could possibly answer to this name of “the Lord our Righteousness.” Both alike affirm that the promised Messiah is meant, and to him along can it belong. And that our Lord Jesus was that Messiah the Scriptures constantly assert. He was “the Root and the Offspring of David,” was born “of the house and lineage of David” according to the flesh. He was the tender Shoot, the Sprout that sprang from the original root when all the stock and branches of the stately tree that had once grown on that root had died down, decayed, and disappeared. But he was more than the Branch of Jesse: he was the Lord from heaven, the Son of God. Therefore to speak of him as Jehovah is consistent with all the Scripture representations of his Divine dignity. And although the day of his complete triumph has not yet come, nor is his kingdom fully set up, still we clearly see its beginnings, its advance, and its continual growth, so that it is not hard to believe in all those coming glories of his reign on which the ancient prophets, as Jeremiah here, loved to dwell. On all these grounds, therefore, we claim this high and sacred title for the Lord Jesus Christ. He the Church has held all along is “the Lord our Righteousness” whom the inspired prophet foretold. And
II. THIS NAME IS ALTOGETHER APPROPRIATE TO HIM. Not because of the righteousness of his character alone, nor either because of the happy condition to which he would one day bring the Jewish people. We believe that he will do for them all that is here said. We see no objection to the taking of the promises made concerning them in their literal meaning. But if this were all that is contained in this name, then St. Paul could not be justified in claiming, as he perpetually does, the righteousness of Christ to be to and upon all them that believe. This view is limited to no one age, no one country, no one people, but reaches out to all everywhere and of every age. But the true justification of this glorious title lies in such facts as these:
1. The Lord Jesus makes us righteous in God‘s esteem. God ever demands righteousness. It is his incessant appeal here in all these prophecies. But it is here that men have ever failed. They have evaded this Divine demand, and have endeavored to substitute all manner of things in its place, and so to compensate for it. They have refused nothing so long as they might be let off this. Hence the word of the Lord, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” It is in this emergency that “the Lord our Righteousness” comes forward, takes up our case, and causes us to be esteemed righteous before Godcauses us to be looked upon as what we really are not; as righteous when there is much unrighteousness in us all, and scarce aught else in some. Of course this is objected to and caviled at not a little, and many fail to see how it can righteously be. But all the while the like is occurring every day. Does not the government of a land continually do things which involve the whole people of the land, although many of them may entirely disapprove? Still it is the whole country that is regarded as acting by and through its government. And yet we assent to this arrangement, this principle of representation, as equitable, just, and necessary. And not merely in dealings between man and man, but in those between God and man, this same principle of representation may be seen perpetually at work. Assuredly the whole human race was represented in its first parents, and God held it to be so, so that the consequences of their actions have passed over to their posterity right down to the present day. And in each family the head of it involves all the members, so that there are many innocent victims of their fathers’ sin, and more, we trust, who are recipients of favors won by their fathers’ virtues and obedience to God’s will rather than their own. It is the principle of representation again. Is it, then, a thing to wonder at that a good and gracious God should devise another system of representation to meet and counteract that which has wrought so much ill? That is, is it to be wondered at that the Lord Jesus Christ should be constituted as much the Head and Representative of his people as Adam was constituted the head and representative of all who have descended from him; that there should be a second Adam as well as a first, and that Christ should be that second Adam, as St. Paul declares he is? Surely there is nothing unreasonable in all this. It is in harmony with what we perpetually see. And if he who is our Representative desired so to be, as our Lord didfor he yearned to draw all men unto and into himsurely this, his own desire, makes his being constituted our Representative more reasonable still. And because he qualified himself for this office so perfectly. He came and was one of us, lived our life, bore our burdens, submitted to our sorrows, bore the penalty of our sins, “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin; Now, if the principle of representation be just at all, surely it is still more so that the Lord Jesus should be that Representative. But if he be, then, because he is altogether righteous, acceptable, and well pleasing before God, we must be so too; yea, we are so, for he is “the Lord our Righteousness.” God looks not upon us, but he beholds Christ, who is “our Shield;” he looks on “the face of his Anointed.” “We are accepted in the Beloved.” “Christ is made unto us righteousness.”
2. And he makes us to be as the righteous in our conditions. So only can the paramount and predominant features of God’s dealing with us now be accounted for. Man being what he is, why should he be dealt with so mercifully as he is? The answer is, because it is the Lord who is our Righteousness. I see a number of poor destitute people taken, and clothed, and fed, and dealt with in all kind and beautiful ways, and I ask the explanation, I am at once pointed to some one who has secured all this favor for them, and by whose kindness it has become theirs. And when I see man, despising God, prayerless, sinning daringly day by day, ungrateful, evil, disobedient continually, destitute of all goodness, and yet treated with all kindness and love, must I not conclude that the righteousness of another is the secret of his mercies, and the real cause of the goodly portion he enjoys?
3. But Christ is “the Lord our Righteousness” because he makes us righteous in ourselves. If it were possible that God could forever esteem and deal with as righteous, not only those who were not righteous, but who never could become so, we should find it difficult to maintain the truth taught us by this name. But God’s counting us righteous in Christ is reasonable and right, because we are in the sure way to become so. For when any come to the Lord Jesus Christ in living faith, a new will is given them. They are, as our Lord says, “born again.” It is as on a railway, where by one movement of the points the whole train is turned on to another line, and proceeds afterwards in quite a different direction. So by this coming to Christ the man is placed on another line, started in a new direction; a new will is his, and he is a new man. When the turbid stream of the Rhone falls into the Lake of Geneva it loses its old character, and its waters assimilate themselves to the exquisite clearness and color of that lake, so that when they flow out at the other end they are as a new river altogether” old things have passed away, and all things are become new.” So is it in the great change when a man comes to Christ. And when we remember that whilst man looketh at the outward appearance, God looketh at the heart, it is easy to see that God may count a man to be righteous whom we should not think so at all. If the will, the heart, be Christ’s, though it may be once and again overborne by the fierce rush of temptation, as David’s was, yet, because the heart is right, God counts that man righteous still. And this new will, the new heart, ever tends to embody and express itself in act. It will be like a hidden fire, struggling and struggling on till it can find vent and work its good desire. And it shall do this in due time. Meanwhile God but anticipates; looks on to the harvest as the husbandman does even when the blade has not shown itself as yet above the ground. But he imputes the righteousness of the harvest to those fields though not a blade appears. The parent imputes the righteousness of the intelligent, loving youth to the little infant just born, not because it has it, but because he believes it will have it. And God counts us as righteous, not alone because Christ is our Representative, but because he will restore our souls. He will make us righteous in ourselves as well as before God. And he does this by setting before us in his own life the perfect example, and attracting us thereto by an ever-increasing attraction; and by imparting to us his own Spirit, who nourishes us in all goodness; and by bringing to bear upon us the mightiest motives which can ever control or influence the human heartlove, gratitude, holy fear, bright, blessed hope,all these and yet others; so day by day does he strengthen and confirm the good will which, when we first came to him, he gave us as his first gift. Thus does he make those righteous whom God for his sake now counts to be so. And now
III. CAN WE SAY THAT THE LORD IS “OUR” RIGHTEOUSNESS? We may have correct views on this great doctrine, we may believe in a general and abstract way that the Lord is the Righteousness of his people, but all this is far short of being able to say that the Lord is our Righteousness. We can only say this as we daily and habitually trust himas we “keep touch” with him, as it were, continually looking to him and. relying upon him. For faith, it is which vitalizes our connection with him. The wires of the electric cable may stretch all the way beneath the ocean, and each shore of the Atlantic be joined together by them; but there is no communication until the electric current is sent along that cable, and then the circuit is complete. And so the channel along which our faith may pass is provided; but until faith goes from our heartthat electric force of faiththe connecting bond may almost as well not be. Until then Christ is a Representative of-man before God, but he is not our Representative. It is faith that vitalizes that connection, and he is not our Righteousness until we believe. Faith brings us into real union with him, reproduces in us the mind which was in him, lays hold on the grace which he holds out to us, leads us to repent, to love, to obey, to follow him in the daily walk and conversation. Remember, the Lord demands righteousness. We have it not in ourselves. In this our destitution the Lord comes to us and offers to be our Righteousness. We have but to appropriate and claim that which he offers. Shall we be so sinful, so mad, as to refuse? The great day when the banquet for God’s saints shall be spread is hastening on, and we shall all of us be eager to crowd in and take our place there with the blessed. But what if, when the King comes in to view his guests, we have not on the wedding-garment, but are dressed in some robe of our own, which we think will answer as well? You know how he was dealt with who presumed so to do. Oh, then, that such may not be our doom, let us hasten unto Christ, and pray him now and forever to be “the Lord our Righteousness.”C.
Jer 23:25
What is the chaff to, etc.
One seems to see the flash of the prophet’s eye, the tremulous emotion, the indignant scorn, with which he bursts out with this scathing question; one can almost hear his loud, vehement tones as he taunts with it the false prophets, against whose wickedness he had been protesting throughout the greater part of this chapter. What sternness, what biting severity, characterize it! As one has said, “It cuts like the edge of a razor. As a saber flashing over one’s head; a sword gleaming to the very point; a fire lurid with coals of juniper;we are appalled as we glance at it. It strikes with implacable resentment. There is no word of mercy toward the chaff; not a thought of clemency or forbearance. He bloweth at it as though it were a worthless thing, not to be accounted ofa nothing, that vanishes with a puff.” It reminds us, as so much in Jeremiah’s character and experience does, of our Lord’s indignation against the false teachers of his day. What terrible, burning words were those which he uttered against the “scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites,” who swarmed around him! Where there is deep love of God and of man, there cannot but be such holy hatred of such as are what those were whom our Lord and the prophet denounced. Jeremiah in this chapter, from the ninth verse downwards, has been pouring out his soul against them. He declares himself broken-hearted because of themby their conduct and the woes it was bringing upon his people. He laments the grievous wickedness of the nation, but charges it all upon these faithless prophets, who taught men to sin by their bad example, and encouraged them therein by their false teachings. And as he thinks of the worthlessness of the men and of their prophesyings, his sacred anger and scorn mount up and burst forth in these terrible words, “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Yes, these are terrible words; but how applicable, how necessary they are to be insisted upon, even now! For, monstrous almost as it may appear, men are, as they have ever been, most prone to care more for the chaff than for the wheat; to spend themselves on securing that which is worthless, whilst that which is most precious they despise. And the danger is increased because those things which are as the chaff to the wheat are often, as the chaff and wheat themselves, closely associated together, have grown up together, are very difficult to separate, and are mutually dependent one upon another. It is easy enough, when we see the wind driving the chaff away, to discern the difference between it and the wheat, and the inferiority of the one to the other; but it is not so easy whilst the two are together, and seeming so much as if they were all of one nature and value. Now, apply all this in regard to sundry matters in which this discrimination needs sorely to be made. And
I. TO THE PROPHESYING OF THE PRESENT DAY. The occasion and connection of the words we are considering at once suggest this application. And let us be grateful to God that, amid the much prophesying of our own day, we have much of that” sure Word” to which St. Peter bids us give heed, as to a light shining in a dark place. Yes, there are faithful ministries, blessed be God for them; and that they are like the precious wheat, in contrast to the worthless chaff, has been proved over and over again by the testimony God himself has given to them. For, like the pure grain, they nourish the souls that are fed upon the Word they minister. The instruction that builds up, consolidates, and strengthens the spiritual frame is shown by that very fact to be not as chaff, but as wheat. And he would not only be ungrateful, but untruthful, who should deny that God has given and is maintaining many who minister to his people, whether young or old, in the congregation, the family, or the school, the pure Word of God. And the other striking characteristics of the true Word of God which are here spoken of are also found in their prophesyings. The Word of God which they minister is as a fire. How it enlightens, how it cheers, as on a cold wintry day. How it consumes the dross of the evil nature, burning on until all the evil in us be burnt out! Ah, yes, the pure Word of Godwhich still, thank God, is preachedis as a fire consuming the miserable pretences of self-righteousness in which the souls whom it touches have hitherto been trusting, and compelling them to hasten for shelter to him who is” the Lord our Righteousness.” And it is a hammer, which, smiting the obdurate heart, causes the tears of true repentance to flow forth and refresh those who long have been thirsting to see such living waters. As at Pentecost the hammer of that Word fell upon those hearts which had been hard enough to crucify the Lord, and it so smote them as to break them, rock-like though they were, and they cried out, “What shall we do?” These are the signs of the Word of God, and they are not wanting still. But yet there is much of instruction given that is far different from thisas unlike it as chaff is unlike wheat. It may be the ministry of eloquence, or of ritual, or of philosophy, or of human learning, or of taste, or of fashion; and not a little of such ministry there is in the present day. It is brilliant, attractive, followed by crowds, admired, applauded; it is associated with all that art, culture, music, and ritual pomp can supply; it is very fashionable; for the sake of it humbler worship is abandoned, though that which is abandoned may be purer and more wholesome by far. But because in connection with all this ministry so pleasing to human likings there may be lacking that which alone nourishes the soul, and which has upon it the sure tokens of the Word of God, therefore, when there is this lack, God calls it chaff, and despises it accordingly. Do not think that all these things are in themselves to be despised. No; we would fain have the ministry of the Word of God surrounded with all that can serve to win attention, command reverence, and excite interest; we should be alert to look out for such things, and to secure them so far as we may; but let us see to it that they be but subordinate, that they all are used as aids to what is far higher and more important than themselvesthat within this husk the pure grain of God’s Word is enshrined and preserved. What is the good of any preaching or instruction, however pleasing or attractive it may be, that does not set the pure wheat of God’s Word before hungry souls? Souls must live, and they cannot live on chaff. Oh that all those who preach and teach may more and more hear ever sounding in their ears this startling word, “What is the chaff,” etc.! Apply this word
II. TO OUR OWN INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERwhat we, each one, are. If we are the children of God, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and humbly striving day by day to do his will and to be well pleasing to him, then there is much that is wheat-like in us. That repentance, that faith, that regenerating grace, that law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, its meekness, patience, zeal, love,all these things are as the wheat, and blessed be God they are to he found in some measurewould that it were largerin us all. But there is so much of a contrary nature, so chaff-like, as well. Yes, verily, as chaff lying close by the side of our heart, wrapping it round, long associated with it, grown up with it, hard, hard indeed, to be parted from it; so is the evil of our hearts, the fleshly nature, the carnal mind, which yet clings to us as the husk does to the grain. And often we are at a complete loss to tell whether there is more of wheat or chaff about uswhether our destiny is to be stored in the garner, or to be as the chaff which the wind driveth away. But do we think about the chaff and the wheat as God thinks about them? Are we willingyea, longingto be utterly rid of the chaff? Are we content to bear “the bruising flails of God’s corrections “until they have “threshed off from us our vain affections?” Do we desire that every portion of this chaff may be got rid of, and “that we, wholesome grain and pure may be,” and that only? Perhaps God’s flails are laid upon us now, or his winnowing work is stripping off much from us, and making “our very spirit poor.” Oh, if it be but to rid us of this chaff, let us not complain. Death itself is but God’s chief flail” to purge the husk of this our flesh away, and leave the soul uncovered.” Complain not, for “what is the chaff,” etc.? And not only the sin in us, but much that looks and is reckoned as far other than sin, may be, after all, only chaff. Much of that feeling and conduct which is associated with our religious life may be of itself of a very worthless sort. Those tears which flow so freely when the preacher is in a pathetic moodwhat are they all worth if they never lead to a genuine repentance, a real turning of the soul to Christ? And that open profession of religion, coming to the table of the Lord and partaking of the sacred bread and wine, what is that if it be not the index and outward sign of a heart that trusts, that loves, that is consecrated to Christ? And that correct and orthodox creed for which we are so ready to show fight, and the deniers or doubters of which we so eagerly condemn, what is the good of it if it be not the guardian of a God-fearing and righteous life? And that giving of moneyfor it is to the amount kept back after we have given, and to the motive which prompts the gift, that God looks to determine which is wheat and which is chaff. And that eager activity in many forms of Christian work which some show, unless it be the outcome of a heart aglow with love to Christ, counts for very little with him who here asks, “What is the chaff,” etc.? Again we say we do not despise these thingswe would that there were more of them; but if at the heart of them there be not faith and love towards Christ, which alone are the wheat which these things are intended to serve and minister to, then they are but as the chaff which the wind driveth away. We are apt to think a great deal of them, and to rely upon them not a little for ourselves and for others. But they are not the wheat, only its husk, and” what Lord.” Apply this question
III. TO THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CHURCH. And without doubt it may be alarmed that if the pure wheat of God’s garner be not to be found in the fellowship of the Church, it is to be found nowhere. What our Lord said of his Church at the beginning,” Ye are the salt of the earth.; ye are the light of the world,” is true still. Oh, how many, thank God, of meek, pure, devout, consecrated souls has the Church ever numbered in her fellowship, and does so even yet! But still, even on the best threshing-floors the chaff is mingled with the wheat. Even those Churches which claim to be most careful over admission to their fellowship, and demand valid evidence to be given that there has been a real change of heart, a true conversion to Godeven those can no more keep out the chaff than others who throw the responsibility of religious profession entirely on those who make it. But the presence of the chaff along with the wheat could be better borne if the two were always estimated as they should be. But it is not so. Let an unspiritual, worldly minded, hard, and unloving man find his way into a Churchand many such doand if he be rich, or hold a good position in the world, he will at once be allowed an influence and an authority which he ought not to haveno, not for an hour. And if a Church can get hold of a number of such people, if wealth, and social influence, and education, and fashion flock to their doors, there you have the Church of Laodicea reproduced in most exact form. They will count themselves, and others also will count them, to be “rich, and increased with goods, and to have need of nothing.” But what will the Lord say when he cometh with his winnowing fan to thoroughly purge his floor? We are sorely tempted, all of us, to crave with a great craving the presence amongst us of persons of influence, wealth, and power. And all well and good if they be earnest, godly men at the same time. But we are in danger of welcoming them even if this great qualification be largely absent. And that we do too often find this sad intermixture of the worthless with God’s wheat, is seen in the quick falling off of some of those who once were gathered with the Church of God. A little persecution, loss of worldly advantage, desire to stand well with those around,these have all served as pretexts for not a few to break away altogether. Like “the nautilus, which is often seen sailing in tiny fleets in the Mediterranean Sea, upon the smooth surface of the water. It is a beautiful sight, but as soon as ever the tempest begins to blow, and the first ripple appears upon the surface of the sea, the little mariners draw in their sails and betake themselves to the bottom of the sea, and you see them no more. How many are like that! When all goes well with Christianity many go sailing along fairly in the summer tide, but no sooner does trouble, or affliction, or persecution arise, than where are they? Ah, where are they? They have gone.” Let us see to it that we esteem the wheat, however poor its surroundings, above all chaff, however richly it may be endowed. And above all, let us by our own loyalty to God, our sympathy with Christ, our love to our brethren, our cheerful self-sacrifice, our daily obedience, show that we are of those whom the Lord will own at the last, and not as the chaff which he will despise and destroy.
IV. TO GOD‘S FINAL ESTIMATE OF US ALL. For the great question which concerns every man who reads or hears these words isWhich am I, chaff or wheat? And that question is to be decided, not according to man’s estimate, but God’s. It is what he will judge, not what we may. Here in this world we are all mingled together, in every Church, family, town, village, society, or community whatsoever. In all places, under all circumstances and in all ways in this world, this commingling of the evil and the good is found; the chaff is ever closely associated with the wheat. “Let both grow together until the harvest,” is our Lord’s command, and no endeavor of ours can sever the two completely. But the very word” until” which our Savior employs shows that there shall be a separating time; the two shall not forever be conjoined as they are now. “Then two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.” In the same church, sitting side by side in the same pew, there may be found both chaff and wheat. Anticipate that awful separating time. It will come upon us as it came upon those ten virgins, five of whom were wise and five were foolish, but which was which none knew until the cry was heard, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh!” And so, though now none of us can tell what those are who gather with us, and join in the same holy service, listen to the same gospel, and unite in the same prayers, praises, and confessions, though outwardly we are all as the wheat of God, yet whether we be so or no God alone can tell. But do any askHow can I, though consciously worthless as the chaff, yet become as the wheat? Blessed be God, such a great change is possible. Go to the Lord Jesus Christ; tell him how poor, wretched, evil, you know yourself to be. Cast yourself down at his feet. Call upon him for his aid. Thou shalt become a new creature in Christ, old things shall pass away, all things shall become new. The chaff shall be changed into the wheat, death shall be exchanged for life, and now, worthless once, thou art in Christ precious forever, and the garner of the Lord shall be thine everlasting home. Come unto Christ in faith and love, for the heart so yielded is alone God’s wheat; but if when the great separating day comes thou seekest to find safety in aught else, however precious you and others may deem it, he will spurn both it and you. For “what is Lord.”C.
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE
Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6
Jehovah-Tsidkenu.
It is in his kingly character that the uprising of the Messiah is here predicted. The shepherds that destroyed and scattered the flock of God were the corrupt rulers of the line of David. God was visiting upon them one after another “the evil of their doings;” and after them he would raise up men of a nobler sortmen like Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Maccabees, who should be true leaders and commanders of the people (verse 4). But these, again, would but prepare the way for One far greater. Beyond all these changes the eye of the prophet is fixed on the time when out of the seemingly withered root of David a sapling shall arise, “the righteous Branch;” One who shall perfectly realize the Divine idea of “a ruler of men” (2Sa 23:3, 2Sa 23:4) rather King who shall “reign in righteousness,” and of the “increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end” (Isa 9:6, Isa 9:7; Isa 11:1-6; Isa 32:1; Zec 9:9). Towards him the hopes of loyal, hearts, through, every previous age reached forth in him the “desire of all nations finds its glorious fulfillment. “And this is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.” In unfolding the full significance of this name, consider
(1) the personal righteousness of Christ,
(2) the way in which that righteousness becomes ours.
I. HIS PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. He is emphatically “Jesus Christ the Righteous,” the one only absolutely righteous being ever born into the world. Our human nature, the beauty and harmony of which, in the person of Adam, the father of oar race, the touch of moral evil had defaced and destroyed, appeared again in him, the “second Adam,” in all its sinless, faultless perfection, absolutely free from the taint of evil. And this not as a development, but as a new Divine revelation; not as the consummate product of moral forces inherent in our nature, but as a supernatural phenomenon, a miracle, in the sphere of man’s moral life. In him the “righteousness of God” appeared, embodied and illustrated in human form. Our faith in this historic fact rests on different grounds.
1. The angelic testimony (Luk 1:35).
2. The direct testimony of the Father (Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5).
3. His declarations respecting himself (Joh 8:29, Joh 8:46; Joh 14:1-31, 30; Joh 15:10; Joh 17:4).
4. The witness of his enemies (Judas, Herod, Pilate and his wife, the Roman centurion).
5. The apostolic testimony (Act 3:14; 2Co 5:21; Heb 7:26; 1Pe 2:22; 1Jn 2:1; 1Jn 3:5).
6. The profound impression left on our spirits by a careful study of the Gospel records. The absolute sinlessness of Jesus is one of the foundation stones in the fabric of Christian doctrine, and to doubt or deny it is to undermine and destroy the whole. But his righteousness means more than faultless personal character. It includes the positive fulfillment of the Father’s purposes and of the work the Father had given him to do. “I have glorified thee on the earth,” etc. (Joh 17:4). “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering,” etc. (Heb 10:5-10). His was a righteousness wrought out through all the patient obedience of a blameless life, consummated in the vicarious shame and sorrow of the cross. As the sunbeam receives no contamination from the foulest thing on which it may chance to fall, so did he pass triumphantly through all the evil of the world and go back to the bosom of the Father with a purity as unsullied as that in which he came. “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom 1:4).
II. HOW HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS BECOMES OURS.
1. As the ground of our forgiveness. Faith in him as our righteous “Advocate with the Father” delivers us from condemnation. We believe in no “transference of a moral quality.” As a man’s sins are his own and not another’s, so whatever of virtue there may be in him belongs to himself alone. But is it incredible that God should deal with sinful men in the way of mercy because of the perfect righteousness of “the man Christ Jesus?” “He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2Co 5:21). There is an instinctive witness in our souls to the fact that if “grace reigns” towards us it must be through righteousness. This is God’s answer to that instruct: “By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom 5:18).
2. As the inspiring cause of our personal sanctification. The gospel is God’s method of making men righteous, not a scheme by virtue of which he reckons them to be so when they are not. Faith in Christ’s mediatorial work as the ground of forgiveness draws the soul irresistibly into living sympathy with himself. It is impossible to dwell in fellowship with him without sharing his spirit and becoming “righteous even as he is righteous.” Not more surely does the prepared surface receive the picture the sun’s rays paint upon it, than does the reverent, trustful, loving soul reflect his image. “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass,” etc. (2Co 3:18). Thus does his righteousness become ours.
3. As the rectifying power in the general life of the world. “A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of his kingdom,” and wherever he reigns the discords of the world are resolved into a blessed harmony. He is the Creator of “the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”W.
Jer 23:23, Jer 23:24
The omnipresent God.
It is an essentially heathen conception of the Deity against which these grand words bear witness. There were two false tendencies of the heathen mind to which the Hebrew faith was a perpetual rebukeone was that of thinking of the Deity as dwelling remote from the ways of men, “throned in sequestered sanctity,” too lofty to take any interest in the affairs of earth; the other that of localizing and limiting the Deity, conceiving of him as exercising a partial jurisdiction, as belonging to a particular place and people. The God of the Jews was no mere distant abstraction, but an ever-present, ever-active power; not the God of one nation only, but of the “whole earth.” Consider
I. THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD HERE INDICATED. Two attributesomnipresence and omniscienceare asserted. But they are so mutually dependent and so inseparable as to be virtually one. By the very necessity of his Being as the infinite Spirit, God is not more in one place or sphere of existence than another, but alike in all, “afar off” as well as “at hand,” filling heaven and earth; and wherever he is, there he is in all the fullness of his perfect intelligence, not observant or cognizant of some things or beings more than others, but having infallible knowledge of all. Note respecting this divine attribute:
1. Its mystery. The being of One who is thus superior to the limitations of space and time and to all our finite conditionsto whom there is no nearness and no distance, neither past nor future, nothing new and nothing old, to whom “all things are naked and opened,”must needs be inscrutable to us. Our boldest images are but the veil of our ignorance, and even the sublimest representations of the inspired Word leave the problem as insoluble as ever. The celebrated dictum, “His center is everywhere and his circumference nowhere,” in no way helps us to any real comprehension of infinity; and such grand poetic utterances as those of the hundred and thirty-ninth psalm, however much they may find their echo in the depths of our spiritual consciousness, only call forth the confession, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”
2. Its moral significance. The moral conditions involved, the moral attributes associated with it, and their direct relation to ourselves, clothe it with profound interest and solemn importance. If God were at an impassable distance, it might little signify to us what his moral attributes were. But now that he is thus neara presence from which we cannot escape, an eye that is always searching us through and through, a hand that is always laid upon usthe question as to what his dispositions towards us are is one of unspeakable moment. ]is absolute knowledge of us is connected with a present secret act of judgment, prophetic of the open judgment to come. And it is his perfection that is thus coming into perpetual contact with our imperfect thoughts and ways. His holy love is the light that searches into us, the fire that tries us. This attribute of omniscience derives tremendous importance from the fact that “our God is a consuming fire.”
3. The individuality of its application. “Can any hide himself?” Like all other Divine truths, this is nothing to us until we bring it to bear on our own personal condition and doings. The fact itself is independent of all our thoughts about it, and even of our very existence. But for it to have any real influence over us we must reduce it from its vague generality to the narrow compass of our own being, and concentrate the force of it upon the single line of our own daily history”Thou God seest me.” We apprehend the universal truth aright only so far as that cry of Hagar expresses our soul’s deepest consciousnessas if the whole world of accountable beings around us were annihilated, and we stood, as in the solitudes of a desert, alone with God.
II. THE PRACTICAL EFFECT THAT TRUTH MAY BE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE. We cannot imagine one more fitted to have a salutary influence in every way upon us. Let God be to you only a distant object of contemplation, as he is to the mere theological disputant, and with whatever attributes you may clothe him, they touch no part of your being with any living power. Conceive of him, in a dreamy pantheistic way, as a mere impersonal, all-pervading force, and there is nothing in your belief to elevate your moral character and ennoble your life. But believe in the God of the Bible, whose voice is heard in the text, and you embrace the grandest and most influential truth the human soul is capable of entertaining. The truth, rather, will touch you, as no other truth can, molding and governing your whole nature, and adapting itself in an infinite variety of ways to every aspect of your being and life.
Chiefly two lessons are enforced:
1. Self-scrutiny. We shall be concerned to become acquainted with ourselves that we may know how far the spirit and tenor of our moral life is in harmony with the will and the life of God. Not that a mere curious and anxious habit of testing the quality of one’s own feelings, and weighing and measuring one’s motives, has necessarily any healthy moral effect. It may be the reverse. But the sense of God will naturally awaken a desire that the relation in which we stand towards him may be a right and happy one. “If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart,” etc. (1Jn 3:23, 1Jn 3:24). The loyalty of the heart to God is the essential principle of a religious life. The sin of these false prophets was the loosening of the bond of their spiritual allegiance to him. “They stood not in the counsel of the Lord.” In the case of the Pharisees, their external proprieties were but the veil of internal hollowness and corruption and death; and Christ said to them,” Ye are they that approve yourselves unto men, but God knoweth your hearts.” Let our hearts be right with God, let the main stream of our inner life be flowing heavenwards, and we need not tremble to know that “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
2. Earnest preparation for the future and final judgment. “He hath appointed a day,” etc. (Act 17:31); “We must all appear,” etc. (2Co 5:10). Your personal alienation from God may give you little trouble now, but “what will you do when he riseth up? when he visiteth, what will you answer him?’ (Job 31:14). There is no way of preparation for the solemn judgment of the future but in that personal forgiveness and reconciliation, that moral cleansing and righteousness of life, that comes through fellowship with the Savior (Php 3:9).
“Low at his cross we view the day
When heaven and earth shall pass away,
And thus prepare to meet him.”
W.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Jer 23:1-4
Shepherds, bad and good.
I. THE SENTENCE ON THE UNFAITHFUL, SHEPHERDS. This is perhaps the most special and emphatic of all Jeremiah’s references to the unfaithful shepherds. Nowhere does he go into such detail as Ezekiel does (Jer 34:1-22.). But whatever may be lacking in illustrative detail, the essential facts are mentioned. Here are men upon whom is laid a charge such as is laid on a shepherd by the owner of the pasture and the flock. The business of such a man is to provide food for the flock, defend it from beasts of prey, prevent as far as he can any of the flock from wandering; and if any should wander do his best to restore them. This might be a task of no small difficulty to the literal shepherd of the literal sheep. It required courage, watchfulness, patience, promptitude, and above all, fidelity. And yet even a shepherd enriched by these virtues might have many losses and failures. God knew, indeed, that for kings and persons in authority to guide those under them was a task more arduous far than that of shepherding sheep; and it was not mere failure that he complained of. He complained because there had been no serious attempt to attain success. The very men who should have ruled firmly and righteously and with fidelity to Jehovah had been spoilers of the sheep, using them to serve their own ends, and leaving every one to do what was right in his own eyes. The rulers had thus rejected the authority and service of Jehovah and set up self in his place. Self was to rule, self was to be served. The sentence upon this traitorous conduct is given in very general terms, but was nonetheless real and effective. God did visit on these rulers the evil of their doings. It was necessary to give a hint of this in passing, to show that, while God delights in mercy, he must also always be just. The great matter to be spoken of here is the restoring and securing of the scattered flock, and if the judgment on those who have helped to make the mischief is simply mentioned in passing, it is enough. Besides, we must remember that the sheep also had their share of the shame. The rulers could not have done so much harm if under them there had been a people of a widely different spirit.
II. THE RESTORATION OF THE SCATTERED. The pastors are spoken of as those who have destroyed and scattered the sheep. The mischief they do is therefore not confined to a simple scattering. That which is destroyed cannot be restored. But the part that has been scattered, God has in his keeping; and in due time he will bring it together again. Note how Jehovah, Who announces punishment to the unfaithful shepherds because they have scattered and dispersed his flock, goes on to say that his own hand has been concerned in this same dispersion. Here is a beautiful illustration of how God overrules calamities. Though it is the recklessness of evil men that has scattered Israel, yet the good hand of God is stronger than any hand of man; and the dispersion has been into such directions as God saw to be best. Though these remnants of the duck were far from their proper pasturage, they were nevertheless in safe places, where they would be exercised in a truly profitable discipline. They were perhaps but a very feeble remnant as man counts feebleness, and yet in God’s hands a small part may be more effectual for his purposes than the incongruous whole from which it has been separated. There may be in it a peculiar coherency and submissiveness, and a peculiar energy of growth; so that the promise of fruitfulness and increase will be amply fulfilled. The Divine course of action with this remnant seems to be much the same as that followed with Noah and his family in the re-peopling of the world after the Deluge.
III. THE SUFFICIENCY OF PASTORAL OVERSIGHT PROMISED FOR THE FUTURE. Of bad shepherds there have been only too many, and of good shepherds none have been so good but what they might have been a great deal better. The cause of all these hitter experiences has, however, lain with the people themselves. Wanting to be like nations round about, they desired kings; and God gave them these desires to the full, to show what the end would be. Then when the folly of the sheep, in trying to choose shepherds of their own devising, has been illustrated sufficiently, God sends shepherds who shall be true shepherds. He alone is able, as he alone has fight, to appoint such shepherds as will be equal to all the serious charge put into their hands. No pastors will be able to do anything for God’s flock save those who are indubitably of God’s appointment. Our wisdom is to allow God to provide out of his knowledge, rather than try ourselves to provide, seeing how ignorant we are. The acceptance of God’s true teachers and guides has to come at the last, and many disappointments and vexations would be spared if this acceptance were allowed to come at the first.Y.
Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6
The righteous Scion of David.
What is general in Jer 23:3 and Jer 23:4 now becomes exceedingly definite. Attention is directed to one particular person in whom shall center all the blessings that can come through a king worthy of the name. The days are coming in which he will rule in the midst of a kingdom worthy of him. Jehovah sees these days coming as a watchman might observe people approaching in the far distance and moving steadily in the right direction. These days are on the way, and the actual experience of them is only a matter of time. In these days will appear
I. A SCION OF DAVID. “Branch” is a somewhat misleading word here, especially considering the use which is made of the branch in the New Testament. The branch is properly taken in relation to the trunk, both being parts of a living whole. “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” Instead of the Christ being spoken of as a Branch from David, David is rather to be spoken of, by virtue of his faith in the coming One, as a branch of the Christ. The real meaning, of course, is that, at some time in the future, one of the lineal descendants of David will fulfill these purposes of God and the consequent hopes of devout men. Hence the importance which belongs to the genealogies in Matthew and Luke. The more the Gospels are looked into, the more it will be seen how they are constructed on certain lines indicated in the prophecies. The two Gospel genealogies become additionally credible when we reflect what a motive there was to preserve the record of lineal succession from David. Considering how uncertain it is that any man will have lineal descendants centuries after his own times, it is a peculiarly noticeable miracle that he who appeared something like a thousand years after David to do such great works, should have been unquestionably David’s descendant, born at Bethlehem and named as Son of David by the common people.
II. A RIGHTEOUS SCION OF DAVID. In a not unreasonable sense of the word, David was himself a righteous man. We cannot say anything for him, any more than for ourselves, if we contrast him with the righteous God. But we have also to look at him over against the vile men with whom he was so often in conflict, men who appear not to have had one generous feeling or upward aspiration. Especially we must contrast him with some of his own descendants. When we look down the line as far as history gives the opportunity, we see first good men and then bad men. And it is a great mystery in the Christ’s human nature that he should have been a Scion of the bad as well as the good in this line. We are, therefore, obliged to recollect:
1. That David, who was righteous in a modified sense, was in due time followed by a descendant who was completely righteous. He who was ever reaching forward, trying to approximate more and more to the will of God, was followed by One who revealed that will in all the conduct of his life on earth.
2. That even as a bad father had a good son (or take, as a very striking illustration, the bad grandfather Manasseh and the good grandson Josiah), so all these bad kings had in due time a successor in Jesus of Nazareth, who was undefiled by any taint that might reasonably be supposed to have come down from them. As we think of the contrasts thus furnished, the use of all these deplorable records in the Books of Kings and Chronicles comes manifestly out. The mischief and misery which wicked kings can work must be seen in all their hideousness, so that all the more a disposition may be excited to attend to the blessings which Jesus will secure and multiply when he comes to reign as King.
III. THE PROSPERITY OF THIS RIGHTEOUS KING. It must be made clear in some great and everlastingly conspicuous instance that practical righteousness is followed by prosperity, and that nowhere is the connection more sure between a cause allowed fully to operate and its full effect. The most hurtful kind of wickedness, the men who commit it do not. delight in for its own sake. Their aim is outward prosperity, to secure riches in the easiest, and most rapid way; and this may necessitate a degree of wickedness of which oftentimes they seem not in the least conscious. Then, of course, in the end the prosperity proves corrupt and ruins the man who risked everything for it. But now turn to the individual experience of Jesus. His course in this world had nothing in it of prosperity as some count prosperity. He lived in poverty; he did not live long; and he died as criminals die. All these experiences, however, only bring out the real prosperity. After the cross the manifestation of his glory and power bedaub, in the acceptance of him by hearts that he had completely subdued. There never has been such a king as Jesus of Nazareth; never any one who has elicited such whole-hearted homage, such complete, faithful, self-denying service. He prospers and he makes his servants prosper. The more his glory shines, the more their lives are brightened. This surely is indeed a royal prosperity.
IV. THE PROSPERITY OF THE PEOPLE IS INDICATED:
1. By the king’s own action in judgment and righteousness, or, as we might otherwise put it, in righteous judgment. As one in authority and power, he has to give decisions, and these decisions are always righteous. Human kings were arbitrary and capricious; their likes and dislikes, their political necessities, had much to do with the decisions they gave. But with this righteous Scion of David it is very different. He lays down great principles which, if men would only attend to them and take in the spirit of them, would stop all disputings and litigations.
2. By the security of the people. The subjects of Jesus have true safety. They are safe in themselves and safe in their spiritual possessions. He who enables them to acquire the true riches shows also how to hold them fast; else the riches would not be true riches at all. And it is not the least boon that he gives them the power, if only they have faith to exercise it, of living without anxiety and distraction. It is very dishonoring to our great King not to believe that all our best interests are perfectly safe in his charge.Y.
Jer 23:14
Prophets strengthening the hands of evildoers.
Jeremiah had much to say at different times on the unfaithfulness of the prophetshow flatly opposed they were in all their conduct to that required by the duties of their office, how utterly negligent they were of the great opportunities of rebuke which were peculiarly their own. And there stands in this verse an expression which gives a climax to their evil-doings. A prophet shows himself most of all an evildoer when he upholds the hands of evildoers.
I. THE PROPHET IS REQUIRED IN A SPECIAL MANNER TO DO WHAT HE CAN TO WEAKEN THE HANDS OF EVILDOERS. All who respect the will of God, and feel sympathy with what is right and trim and Divine, are bound to hinder bad men in their actions; but he who held the office of a prophet among the people of God was looked to as speaking with an authority higher than that of a private person. Officialism, with all its drawbacks and perils, with all its risk of self-assertion, has been of great advantage to practical religion. It is true, on the one hand, that to put a bad man into a holy office is to bring that office into contempt, but surely it is also true, on the other hand, that a good man in a holy office has his power for good much increased. Here in Israel at this time there was a multitude of evildoers, doing evil with both hands earnestly. At the same time, there were doubtless those who did evil with weak and uncertain hands. It is matter of thankfulness that evildoers are so often practically restrained in this way. Disposition is willing, but resolution is weak. There is the desire to do very bad things, but the courage is lacking. We have an instance of this in those enemies of our Lord who were so often hindered in their designs because they feared the people. If all the evil could be done that is desired to be done, society would become intolerable. Now, the peculiar mischief that these prophets did was in strengthening the hands of wicked men who were also weak. They spoke encouragingly, and perhaps drew them on by example. Hence evil was done openly that otherwise might have been done secretly. Conspiracies and alliances became more practicable. Evil was made to put on the aspect of good, and men did energetically with perverted consciences what otherwise they might have done with much hesitation, and therefore with diminished force. There are certain men always to whom evil doing becomes easy when it becomes respectable. Thus we see how great were the responsibilities and opportunities of the old Hebrew prophets.
II. Hence we see something of what A DUTY AND OPPORTUNITY BELONG TO ALL CHRISTIAN PEOPLE. Are not all the Lord’s people prophets, if only they choose to regard their opportunities? With regard to evil men, it is especially laid on us to hinder their action by all wise and rightful means. The formation of their designs we cannot hinder; we cannot see beneath the surface, and prevent the germination of the poisonous growth; but when it appears above the surface, we may do our best to pluck it out. Under the specious guise of love for individual liberty we may tolerate the greatest evils till they grow beyond our control. The man who took a tiger’s cub for a pet found it become perilous long before he expected. We should do all we can to strengthen those who are the modern equivalents to the Hebrew prophets. Such men appear from time to time, and we should pray for insight that we may discern their mission and claims. Such men are sent to weaken, and ultimately to paralyze, the strong hands of the wicked. They are the representatives of great causes; and if through cowardice, self-indulgence, and fear of being thought peculiar, we neglect them, then we may do much harm.
III. THE GREAT IMPORTANCE OF STRENGTHENING THE HANDS OF ALL WHO WANT TO BE GOOD. They are so often weak in action. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” They are hindered by strong temptations which come in their way, when they are striving to get nearer God’s ideal for them. They are in need of sympathy. They have to be helped in reaching encouraging views of Divine truth. They need to be remembered in prayer, and generally to have more heart and spirit put into them; then, having abundant life within, they will not lack force, steadiness, and persistency of hand. If we are actively engaged in strengthening the hands of the good, we are to this extent weakening the hands of the evil And, finally, it is very consoling to recollect that when those who profess to be good are found strengthening the hands of evildoers, this is precisely the time when God’s indignation is aroused and his opposition. most effective. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”Y.
Jer 23:16
Speaking the vision of one’s own heart.
Observe
I. THERE IS THE PUTTING OF ONE‘S OWN IMAGINATION IN THE PLACE OF GOD‘S TRUTH. A prophet, divinely sent, expresses the words which God has put into his mouth, or reports the vision which God has made to rise before him. If, then, it was true that these prophets, as prophets, were speaking only the vision of their own hear% it was quite enough to condemn them. It is very possible that they had’ brought themselves to believe that they were speaking the truth. In the days when prophetic vision was vouchsafed to man nothing was easier than for a heated imagination to see whatever it wanted to see; and then the subject of this vision would persuade himself that the vision was of God. How, then, was a prophet to know that what he had seen was truly of God? The answer is very largely to be found in considering the sense of burden and responsibility which evidently rested on true prophets. About a true prophet there was nothing egotistic, conceited, or impetuous. Generally, too, he had to say things which were painful for a sensitive man to speak, and humiliating for self willed people to hear; whereas these prophets against whom Jeremiah warns the people managed to say things very agreeable. We read that they proclaimed peace and prosperity to the evildoer. Now, whatever peculiarity there was in the visions given to the prophets, it is plain that there could be nothing contradictory to God’s holiness and his laws, so clearly expressed, for human life. When prophets came with visions contradicting human self-will and human expectations, there was in this a presumption that they were sent of God. David desired to build a house for God in place of the old tabernacle, and doubtless the desire seemed to be one to which there could be no possible objection. Nathan, however, bad a vision by which David was forbidden to build. It would have been pleasanter to go to the king with a message more accordant to his wishes, but he could only speak what God had shown hima word requiring submission of the human will to a higher and a wiser one. So, turning to the New Testament, we find Ananias at Damascus and Peter at Joppa receiving visions which seemed to them full of incredibility, going right in the face of all their previous experiences and convictions. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that some, at least, of these lying prophecies were purchased with money. People paid the diviners to hear pleasant things, and pleasant things must be told them even if they were false.
II. THERE WERE EFFECTIVE TESTS FOR THESE VAIN IMAGINATIONS FOR ANY WHO CARED TO EMPLOY THEM. Honest minds know how to receive a true prophet. There is a subtle sympathy between speakers of the right sort and hearers of the right sort. God, who sent so many prophets to Israel, was not likely to leave Israel without a sure way of testing them. So if the prophet or dreamer of dreams gave the people a sign or wonder, and then told them to go after other gods, they might thereby know that he was a deceiver. No sign, however specious and wonderful it be, can make that a truth today which yesterday was a lie. Every fresh prophet must be in harmony with the tried and approved prophets who have gone before him, There is, indeed, no greater peril than to turn away from any true messenger of God; and happily there is no need to do so, through uncertainty as to his credentials, Any one who points out a present wrong in our lives that needs to be put right immediately, is to that extent a prophet of God; and if, in addition, he ventures on certain predictions, then all we can do is to wait. Gamaliel’s shrewd advice cannot be too constantly kept in mind. What we cannot be certain about while a thing is in the seed will be made clear when it comes to the fruit. The most important matters are ever those on which we have to decide at once; and God never fails to send forth his light and truth so as to make the decision right.Y.
Jer 23:23-32
The giving forth of the word of man as the word of God.
I. GOD‘S UNFAILING OBSERVATION. All the reasonings within the minds of these false prophets are open to God. They themselves, audacious, and to some extent self-deluded, reckon on not being detected. They speak what the people wish to believe, and are thus pretty certain of finding acceptance from them. But they forget, or rather they have never properly understood, the omnipresence of God. If this attribute of God had been a reality to their minds, they would not have come so much under idolatrous influences. The possibility of lying or in any way distorting and manipulating the truth seems to depend on an utter forgetfulness of the fact that God is indeed everywhere, filling all space, so that his eye and ear are everywhere. When we read of God appearing to men in different places, we know that the men traveled from one place to another; but God, even when he appeared to them in the new place, was not a whit the less remaining in the old. That God is everywhere is a truth meant to have a most confirming and cheering influence upon the mind of man; but because this truth is not apprehended man both loses what he was meant to enjoy, and becomes presumptuous and reckless in his practical denial of God’s authority. God, therefore, makes his assurance through the true prophet that his eye is upon every movement of the false ones. Those who assure themselves that God is ignorant would be far wiser in reckoning on the ignorance of the most vigilant and penetrating mind among their fellow men.
II. God’s observation being such, THE PROCEEDINGS OF THESE PROPHETS CAN BE EXACTLY KNOWN. What is here said of the false representations of these prophets is given forth, not as the result of human inquiry, but of a divinely perfect observation. Not all that God thus saw was here described, but only such things as the needs of the times demanded to be made known. Far more might have been told that was true, but there was no need to tell it. God does not publish the wickedness of these prophets for any delight that he has in exposing them, but that he may be justified in the sight of the people for the things that he is about to do. In their hearts, the prophets must have known that the thoughts of those hearts ware discovered. How important it is to bear in mind that many of the indications as to the wickedness of wicked men in the Scriptures come from him who is the omnipresent and omniscient One, who sees everything exactly as it is, and who puts into the mouth of those speaking his Word just those expressions which will describe the things essential to be known! God published the deeds and character of these false prophets that those who were true to him might guard against them. So Jesus warned his disciples against the time-honored, time-consecrated pretensions of the Pharisees. God puts into the hearts of those who keep near him a feeling which guards them against all who for their own selfish ends make a pretence of being interested in holy things.
III. There is in this passage a special charge against the prophets, to which the preliminary and more general accusations lead up. The prophets are charged with making a CONFUSION BETWEEN THE HUMAN AND THE DIVINE IN THEIR UTTERANCES. This charge is summed up in the question, “What is the chaff to the wheat?” or, as it is more nearly rendered, “What has the straw to do with the grain?” The straw and the grain, close together as they may be for a while, are separated at last; and one will by no means serve the purpose of the other. Grain is meant for man’s support, and straw will not take its place. Straw has its own place, and may be very useful, so long as it is kept in it. But if straw and grain are to be all mixed up together, the result will be very unsatisfactory. We all need to bear in mind this illustration, for we may all have, to some extent, the duty and opportunity of being prophets of God. He is a rare man who can tell forth things exactly as they are. It is not for man, by a plausible eclecticism, to take something of human experience and something of Divine revelation and mix them up into what he trusts may somehow prove acceptable to men. Human experiences and conjectures have their part. When a man honestly tells us what he thinks and feels, we know how to estimate his statement; and when he comes professedly with a Divine message we have some notion how to test him. But what shall we do with him who claims to limit and modify Divine revelation, so that it may fit into what he is pleased to call the inexorable molds of human reason? We must ever make the distinction between the straw and the grain in our search for truth. Some truth is discoverable by observation, experiment, deduction; other truth only by the spiritual intuitions of a devout and humble mind placing itself before the statements of Divine revelation. So with regard to human and Divine government. There is no possibility of acting so as to please both God and men. There is no possibility of building up a perfect society out of such elements as we have at present. On one hand, we have to bear in mind the limitations of society in the actual existence of it. What we make a law to ourselves, in our own individual relations to God, we cannot impose on others. On the other hand, we must not allow the low conceptions which others may have of God’s claims to drag us down to their level. Let God’s Law stand out distinct and authoritative before our minds to guide us in our individual life. That Law must not be in any way modified, under a notion that compliance with it is impossible of attainment. If we persevere in receiving God’s Word and persevere in repeating it, we shall find that it will make its way mightily, not as by brute force, but because it is the Word of truth, the Word that has abiding fitness for the deepest needs of men.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jer 23:1. Woe be unto the pastors, &c. To the kings and officers of the princes, who abused their authority by oppressing the poor. This is a sequel to the preceding discourse, principally addressed to the princes of Judah, the sons and successors of Josiah.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
f. Conclusion and Consolation, in a glance at the just and the justifier
Jer 23:1-8.
1Wo, pastors,1 who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,2 saith Jehovah!
2Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning the pastors,3 that pasture my people:
Ye have scattered my flock, and dispersed and not visited them.
Behold I visit4 upon you the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah.
3And I will gather the remnant of my flock
Out of all the countries whither I have dispersed them,
And bring them back to their field;5 and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4And I awaken over them pastors who shall pasture them.
And they shall fear no more nor be dismayed;6
Neither shall they be missing,7 saith Jehovah.
5Behold the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
That I awake unto David a righteous scion,
Who shall reign as king and shall prosper,8
And exercise judgment and righteousness in the land.
6In his days will Judah be saved,
And Israel dwell securely;
And this will be the name by which they will call9 him [Israel],
Jehovah our righteousness.
7Therefore, behold, the days are coming that they shall no more say,
As Jehovah liveth, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,
8But, as Jehovah liveth, who brought and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country,
And out of all lands, whither I had dispersed them;
And they shall dwell in their own land.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
This passage is in general suitably connected with the entirety of the previous context, since in relation to the previous specifications (Jer 22:10-30), it may be regarded as a comprehensive conclusion. But originally it formed a connected whole only with Jer 22:1-9; Jeremiah 13-23, since Jer 22:10-12 must have been inserted afterwards. Going down into the house of the king, who can have been no other than Jehoiakim, Jeremiah first, in Jer 22:1-9, addressed an alternative to him, the purport of which was such that servants and people were also obliged pro rata to apply it to themselves. For in Jer 23:13-19 he turned to the king alone with an incisive speech of rebuke and menace, to which was appended a singular one addressed to 4e people (Jer 23:20-23). Finally, in a grand survey, he contrasts with the deep decline, effectuated by the wicked pastors (Jer 23:1-2), the other extreme, the salvation to be imparted to the re-assembled people, in the distant future, by the Messiah. The remnant restored to their home shall again become a numerous people (Jer 23:3). This people shall be fed in blessing by shepherds appointed by the Lord (Jer 23:4). In particular a righteous scion, sprung from the stock of David, shall rule as king with wisdom and righteousness, to the prosperity of Judah and Israel,a king, whose deepest significance for his people is expressed in the wonderful name given to the peopleJehovah our Righteousness (Jer 23:5-6). Oaths will then no longer be taken by the name of Jehovah, who brought Israel out of Egypt, but by the name of Jehovah, who brought back Israel from the north country to his native land (Jer 23:7-8). The same antithesis, between deepest impending ruin and highest glory to be expected in the distant future, was found also in Jeremiah 3
Jer 23:1-2. Wo, Pastors saith Jehovah. As the sections Jer 22:1-9; Jeremiah 13-23 ; Jer 23:1-8 contain the discourse delivered in the house of the king, this section is immediately attached to Jer 22:13-23. Both sections begin with . After the alternative in Jer 22:3-9 also the prophet pronounces a double woe: first on the shepherds, i.e. on the person of the king then reigning, then on all which may be called bad shepherding. That the kings are to be understood by the shepherds follows : 1. from the previously stated connection of the discourse of which this passage forms a part; 2. from the description of the conduct of the bad shepherds (who destroy and scatter the flock, etc., Jer 23:1-2) which appears to produce so much effect, both extensively and intensively, that we can recognize it only as the action of those who occupy the highest, most influential positions; 3. from the antithesis of the good shepherd, Jer 23:4, and of the righteous scion of David, Jer 23:5, in particular. For that beneficial influence (Jer 23:4) can only be that of (he chief, and in Jer 23:5 the righteous scion is directly designated as king. They first corrupt the people morally, and thus effect the external destruction which culminates in their dispersion, comp. 2Ki 17:21-23; 2Ki 21:10-12; 2Ki 23:26-27; Jer 15:4.
Jer 23:3-4. And I will gather…..saith Jehovah. Comp. Jer 29:14; Jer 31:8-10; Mic 2:12; Eze 24:12.The remnant,etc. On this Hengstenberg remarks: The gathering being promised only to the remnant (comp. Isa 10:20; Rom 9:27) indicates that justice accompanies mercy.And they shall be fruitful,etc. Comp. rems. on Jer 3:16. In the following verse it should first of all be observed that the prophet has in view two older prophecies: First the foundation-prophecy of the future glory of the Davidic house in 2Sa 7:12, where we read the words, I will set thy seed after thee. The prophets choice of this particular utterance here and in Jer 23:5, could not have been without the object of a double allusion to the passage above quoted, and to the name of Jehoiakim. Since this name (as well as the name ) is chosen undoubtedly with reference to the passage mentioned, it was natural that the prophet, thinking in joyful hope of that prophecy, should at the same time remember the contradiction, which prevailed between the present and the promised Jehoiakim. The second passage, to which Jeremiah more plainly alludes, is his own utterance in Jer 3:15. He must have been reminded of this the more readily that it relates to the same future period.
Jer 23:5. Behold the days … in the land. The connection of this verse with the previous one is formed by behold the days. This expression does not refer to the difference in time. It does not declare that what is spoken of in Jer 23:5 will take place after the events of Jer 23:4, but is antithetic only to the present.Pastors,etc., in Jer 23:4 is a figurative expression, which is explained in Jer 23:6 in proper language. On the question as to the relation of the singulars , scion,king, etc., to the plural , pastors, there are three views. According to one is to be taken as a generic plural, which does not exclude the possibility of one shepherd being intended. Thus Hengstenberg. On the other hand it is rightly objected that elsewhere Jeremiah presents the prospect of a multiplicity of rulers of the seed of David for the time of the great restoration: Jer 33:17-18
There shall not be wanting to David a man,
Sitting on the throne of the house of Judah
And to the priests and levites shall not be wanting a man,
Offering burnt-offerings, etc. Ibid. Jer 23:22. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered
Nor the sand of the sea measured;
So will I multiply the seed of David my servant,
And the Levites that minister to me.
Ibid. Jer 23:26. If I have not appointed the laws of heaven and earth;
Then also may I reject the seed of Jacob
And David my servant,
That I should not take of his seed to be rulers ()
To the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
According to the second view the passages just quoted are regarded as forming the measure of this, and accordingly the singular , scion, is taken in a collective sense. Graf, who adopts this view, appeals (a) to the idiom, according to which it always has a collective meaning (Gen 19:25; Psa 65:11 ; Eze 16:7; Isa 61:11); (b) to the idiom according to which , David, and as much designate the descendants of David, as ; Jacob, and , the descendants of Jacob: Jer 30:9; Hos 3:5; Eze 24:23-24; Eze 37:24-25; Eze 45:8; Eze 46:16, coll. Jer 30:10; Jer 46:27-28; Isa 44:1; Isa 45:4; Isa 48:20, etc.To this view it may be objected that this entirely ignores the fact that the Jews expected one great deliverer and restorer of their State, the Messiah. Comp. the article Messias, by Oehler in Herzog, R.-Enc, We can only treat here of two points: 1. How is this passage related to the expectation of a single great son of David? 2. If it is based on this idea, how is it to be reconciled with the other that a number of princes of Davids line will rule over Israel? As to the first question, I am of opinion that this passage declares the unity of the Messiah, notwithstanding that pastors preceding (Jer 23:4) intimates a multiplicity. I therefore propose a third view, taking in a plural sense, but , etc., notwithstanding in the sense of unity. The reasons for this are as follows: 1. If Jeremiah wished to set forth a multiplicity, why did he not continue in the plural? Why does he not say Who shall reign as kings? has, in the comparatively few passages where it occurs, a collective sense. But not necessarily. It is germen, prolos in general, and may accordingly designate as well a single individual as a number. If the prophet wished it to be taken in the latter sense, and therefore as absolutely identical with , he must have indicated this by the plural. 2. Ezekiel and Zechariah, who, as is acknowledged, refer to this passage, evidently understood it in the sense of unity. Ezekiel says expressly in Eze 34:23, And I will set up one shepherd over them. And Zechariah in Zec 3:8, and Zec 6:12, used as a proper name, saying (Zec 3:8): For I bring my servant Zemach [The Branch]and (Zec 6:12): Behold a man, Zemach his name, under whom it shall sprout. As to the second question, previously raised, the subjective conception of the prophet is to be distinguished from the objective reality of the fulfilment. To the prophets the pictures of the future, which came within the circle of their vision, contained by no means always sharply circumscribed and distinctly impressed forms (comp. 1Pe 1:11). These forms were as little born entirely of the future, severed from the present. Rather were they eternal ideas, which had derived their body from the present. Of this kind are most of the Messianic prophecies. In reality Christ is a different king, priest and prophet, from what the authors of Psalms 2; Psalms 110; Deuteronomy 18 conceived, and yet His advent is the true fulfilment of those prophecies. Thus Jeremiah also sees together with the one grand form of the arch-shepherd, many others, whom he recognizes as His seed. If the prophet conceived among his offspring of a successor, in the sense in which successors of a no longer reigning prince are spoken of, this must have been a point which remained obscure to the subjective perception of the prophet,in a similar manner, as it may have been dark to the prophet, how he could live so long, of whom it was said that He gave His soul an offering for sin (Isa 53:10). Objectively considered, even Jerome and Theodoret understood the apostles by the many an interpretation which is certainly exposed to the objection of too great limitation. It would be more appropriate, to consider, with others, that we, so far as we are , are not only Abrahams seed (Gal 3:29) but also Davids. We are indeed a royal priesthood (1Pe 2:9); and He has made us not only priests but kings , ,Rev 5:10, coll. Jer 1:6). [Henderson: By the better shepherds whom Jehovah promises to place over His restored people, I understand Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, the Maccabees, etc., under whose superintendence and rule they were re-instated in their possessions, and enjoyed protection against both internal and foreign enemies.S. R. A.] If now the inquiry is made, how the prophet came to choose the expression , it was long ago pointed out by the Comm. that he had in mind Isa 11:2; Isa 53:2. As there the sprouting forth of a scion, from the apparently withered root of the house of David, is announced, so here the growth of a scion in the midst of a people, gathered again after along dispersion, and thus about to enter upon a new national existence. This conception appears also to form the basis of the translation of the LXX., which translates here as in Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12, . Comp. especially , in the passage last mentioned.Justice or righteousness is the chief quality of a good king according to the Old Testament doctrine. Comp. Psa 45:5; Psa 45:7-8; Psa 72:1-4; Psa 72:12-14; Psa 82:2-4; Psa 101:1-8.Hence righteous scion, of which the confirmation in fact is declared in shall exercise judgment. Comp. Psa 146:7; Psa 103:6, and the remarks on Jer 7:5-6; Jer 9:23.
Jer 23:6. In his days our righteousness. Comp. Deu 33:28-29,Repetition of our passage, Jer 33:16Judah is fem., as in Jer 3:7; Jer 14:2; Jer 33:16; Lam 1:3; Nah 2:1; Mal 2:11. It is then equivalent to daughter of Judah, Lam 2:2; Lam 2:5. Comp. Naegelsb., Gr. 60. 4.They will call him. According to the explanation prevalent even from antiquity, this refers to righteous scion. But as Jeremiah is his own best interpreter, the name must be referred to Israel. For in the parallel passage, Jer 33:16, where instead of and Israel dwell securely, we read Jerusalem shall dwell securely, the word he, in the latter clause of the verse (and this is the name by which he shall be called) can refer to no other than Jerusalem. Jehovah our Righteousness is not then the name of the scion of David, but of the nation. It is a symbolical surname, which is distinguished from other names, in that it serves not for real use, but only for objective characterization, an ideal inscription, as it were. Hence this name is also ascribed to an object, which already has a name. For the nation is already called Israel, but nevertheless it is to be called Jehovah, etc. The prophet does not mean that the old name is to be changed into a new one; for the name does not recur (except in the repetition of this passage, Jer 33:16) and the nation appears as before under its old name, which is also a sacred, God-given name. (Gen 32:28.) Jerusalem elsewhere receives other names which are likewise not intended for daily use: in Ezek. 48:36, the name (The Lord is there) is attributed to the city. In Isa 60:14 we read they shall call thee The city of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. In a similar manner Nathan gives his pupil Solomon the name Jedi-diah, which he never bore in reality. With respect to the name Emmanuel (Isa 7:14; Isa 8:8-10) the case appears to be the same.Similar in form are the names Jehovah-nissi (Exo 17:15), Jehovah-shalom (Jdg 6:24), Jehovah-jireh (Gen 22:14). The LXX. makes a proper name of it, . I suppose with Hermann (Gtt. Weihn. Progr. 1752, comp. J. D. Michaelis, Observ. S. 189) that it referred the passage to the post-exilic restoration, and understood by its representative, the high-priest Joshua, the son of Jozedek, which it always pronounces (Hag 1:1; Hag 1:12; Ezr 3:2; Ezr 3:8; Ezr 5:2; Neh 12:26). In favor also of this view is the Jewish interpretation of the passage concerning Zerubbabel, combated by Theodoret and Eusebius (Dem. Ev., vii. 9), which seems to be supported by the LXX. The strange expression (Theodoret: . ., perhaps a trace of the final syllable , which is wanting in : Euseb. ) is also in its favor. It is indeed transferred from Jer 23:9, where it stands as a title, but it is not impossible that the Alexandrian translators perceived in it a reference to the post-exilic prophets, under whose co-opsration Joshua and Zerubbabel labored. The Syriac and Sym-machus, moreorer, read , for they translate .If it is not the name of the Messiah, but of the people, then of course all the deductions are futile, which have been drawn from it in support of the deity of the Messiah. Only one thought remains, that Israel will be a nation, that will have no other righteousness than Jehovahs. Some would take exclusively in the sense of salvation (Graf). Without denying that it may have this meaning (comp. Rems. on Jer 7:5; Jer 9:23 ; Isa 46:12, etc.), I do not think that here , or any similar word would have done as well. The prophet certainly chose not without reason, i. e. not without regard to its specific meaning. We are therefore justified in taking it in the entire fulness of its verbal significance as expressing the thought that Jehovah is His peoples righteousness and therefore their salvation. The expression is thus one of those which contain more than the prophet himself imagines, and we may therefore find in it also an antithesis to personal righteousness, which Israel thought to obtain by the works of the law (Rom 9:31-32; Rom 9:7), but did not succeed. It has been further correctly remarked (Vide Hengstenberg, Christology ad h. l.) that Zedekiah changed his former name into this with reference to this passage. Compelled by Nebuchadnezzar to assume mother name (2Ki 24:17, comp. Keil on Jer 23:34) he chose this, which may very well Signify Jehovah my Righteousness, and by which he expressed the presumptuous hope, that Jeremiahs glorious promise would find in him the beginning of its fulfilmentin which he exdressed rather an irony than a glorification of himself.
Jer 23:7-8. Therefore … in their own land. These two verses are repeated with unessential alterations from Jer 16:14-15. They stand in both places in a suitable connection, and Jeremiah himself may here, as frequently, have reproduced his own words spoken before. The omission of these verses here by the LXX., and their supplementation at the end of tha chapter, whereas Jer 23:6 closes with the words: , I cannot, with Hitzig and Graf, regard as a proof that the two verses were wanting in the Hebrew original of the Translator. The admitted capvicious arbitrariness of this translator deprives his testimony of all demonstrative force. The occasion of the transposition may have been the circumstance that the verses have in Jer 16:14-15 a minatory, here a friendly, meaning, which led him to think that they must be introduced in the same connection as in Jeremiah 16. This end he attained by placing them at the close of the minatory prophecy against the prophets. It should further be remarked that both verses, in the positive part of their relative clauses, agree in part verbatim with Jer 23:3, and in so far might be regarded as superfluous in this place. But the main emphasis is to be laid on the main proposition, they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, etc., but: As Jehovah liveth, etc., and in this sense they have the significance of a concluding doxology. The reduction of Israel from the later exile will furnish a more glorious substratum to the oath by the name of Jehovah.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer 21:2. King Zedekiah sends word to Jeremiah, that the Lord is to do according to all His miracles, that Nebuchadnezzar may withdraw. A demand rather cavalierly made in such evil circumstances. But the noble are so unfortunate! It is indeed as though it only depended on them to arrange matters with God; as if He were only waiting for them, as if it were a point of honor not to be over-hasty, but first to await a little extremity . It is a very necessary observance for a servant of the Lord, that he try his superiors, whether there is any trace remaining in them of having been once baptized, well brought up and instructed in the fear of the Lord. If he observe anything of this kind, he must insist upon it and especially not allow them to deal too familiarly with the Judge of all the earth, but plainly demonstrate to them their insufficiency and nothingness, if they measure themselves by Him. Though Zedekiah had spoken so superficially, Jeremiah answered him without hesitation, definitely and positively, and accustomed him to a different manner of dealing with the Lord. Zinzendorf. When the ungodly desire Gods help, they commonly appeal not to His saving power to heal them, but to His miraculous power to save them, while they persist in their impenitence. Starke.
2. On Jer 21:8. It is pure grace on the part of God, when He leaves to man the choice between the good and the evil; not that it is permitted him to choose the evil, but that he may choose freely the good, which he is under obligation to do, Deu 30:19. Starke. God lays before us the way of life and the way of death. The way of life is however always contrary to human reason, and that on which it sees merely death and shame. If thou wilt save thyself thou must leave the false Jerusalem, fallen under the judgment, and seek thy life where there seems to be only death. He who would save his life must lose it, and he who devotes it for the sake of the truth will save it. Diedrich.
3. On Jer 21:11-14. To be such a king is to be an abomination to the Lord, and severe judgment will follow. God appoints magistrates for His service and for the use of men; he who only seeks his own enjoyment in office, is lost. Jerusalem, situated on rocks in the midst of a plain, looks secure; but against God neither rocks avail nor aught else. The fire will break out even in them, and consume all around, together with the forest of cedar-houses in the city. The corruption is seated within, and therefore proceeds from within outwards, so that nothing of the former stock can remain. What shall a government do which no longer bears the sword of justice? What shall a church do which is no longer founded on Gods truth as its only power? Diedrich. Comp. moreover on the whole of Jeremiah 24. the extended moral reflections of Cyrillus Alex. . . Lib. I.
4. On Jer 22:1. Jeremiah is to deliver a sermon at court, in which he reminds the king of his office of magistrate, in which he is to administer justice to every man. Cramer.
It was no easy task for Jeremiah to go into the lions den and deliver such an uncourtly message to him. We are reminded of the prophet Jonah. But Jeremiah did not flee as he did.
5. On Jer 22:1-3. [But we ought the more carefully to notice this passage, that we may learn to strengthen ourselves against bad examples, lest the impiety of men should overturn our faith; when we see in Gods church things in such disorder, that those who glory in the name of God are become like robbers, we must beware lest we become on this account alienated from true religion. We must, indeed, desert such monsters, but we must take care lest Gods word, through mens wickedness, should lose its value in our esteem. We ought then to remember the admonition of Christ, to hear the Scribes and Pharisees who sat in Moses seat (Mat 23:2). Calvin.S. R. A.]
6. On Jer 22:10. [Dying saints may be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied. And so dismal perhaps the prospect of the times may be, that tears even for a Josiah, even for a Jesus, must be restrained, that they may be reserved for ourselves and our children (Luk 23:28). Henry.S. R. A.]
Nequaquam gentilis plangendus est atque Judus, qui in ecclesia non fuerunt et simul mortui sunt, de quibus Salvator dicit: dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos (Mat 8:22). Sed eos plange, qui per scelera atque peccata egrediuntur de ecclesia et nolunt ultra reverti ad earn damnatione vitiorum. Hieron. Epist. 46 ad Rusticam. Nolite flere mortuum, sed plorate raptorem avarum, pecuni sitientem et inexplebilem auri cupidinem. Cur mortuos inutiliter ploramus? Eos ploremus, qui in melius mutari possunt. Basilius Seleucensis. Comp. Basil, Magn. Homil. 4 de Gratiarum actione post dimid.Ghislerus.
7. On Jer 22:6-9. God does not spare even the authorities. For though He has said that they are gods, when they do not rightly administer their office they must die like men (Psa 82:6) No cedars are too high for God, no splendor too mighty; He can destroy all at once, and overturn, and overturn, and overturn. Eze 21:27, Cramer.
Another passage from which it is seen how perverse and unjustifiable is the illusion that Gods election is a surety against His anger, and a permit to any wilfulness. The individual representatives of the objects of divine election should never forget that God can march over their carcases, and the ruins of their glory, to the fulfilment of His promise, and that He can rebuild on a higher stage, what He has destroyed on a lower. Comp. remarks on Jer 22:24.
8. On Jer 22:13-19. It is blasphemy to imagine that God will be frre et compagnon to all princes as such, and that He has a predilection for them as of His own kind. Does He not say to his majesty the king of Judah, with whom, in respect of the eminence of his dynasty and throne no other prince of earth could compare, that he should be buried like an ass, dragged and cast out before the gates of Jerusalem? This Jehoiakim was however an aristocrat, a heartless, selfish tyrant, who for his own pleasure trampled divine and human rights under foot. If such things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
He who builds his house with other peoples property, collects stones for his grave. Cramer.
9. On Jer 22:14. [It was a proof of luxury when men began to indulge in superfluities. In old times the windows were small; for use only was regarded by frugal men; but afterwards a sort of madness possessed the minds of many, so that they sought to be suspended as it were in the air. And hence they began to have wider windows. The thing in itself, as I have said, is not what God condemns; but we must ever remember, that men never go to excesses in external things, except when their hearts are infected with pride, so that they do not regard what is useful, what is becoming, but are carried away by fondness for excess. Calvin.S. R. A.]
10. On Jer 22:15. God may grant the great lords a preference in eating and drinking and the splendor of royal courts, but it is not His will that these be regarded as the main things, but that true religion, right and justice must have the precedence;this is the Lords work. But cursed is he who does the Lords work remissly. Jer 48:10. Cramer.
11. On Jer 22:17. Description of haughty, proud, magnificent, merciless and tyrannical lords and rulers, who are accomplices of thieves. Cramer.
12. On Jer 22:19. [God would have burial a proof to distinguish us from brute animals even after death, as we in life excel them, and as our condition is much nobler than that of the brute creation. Burial is also a pledge as it were of immortality; for when mans body is laid hid in the earth, it is as it were a mirror of a future life. Since then burial is an evidence of Gods grace and favor towards mankind, it is on the other hand a sign of a curse, when burial is denied. Calvin.S. R. A.]
13. On Jer 22:24. Great lords often imagine that they not only sit in the bosom of God, but that they are a pearl in His crown; or as the prophet says here, Gods signet-ring. Therefore, it is impossible that they should not succeed in their designs. But God looks not on the person of the princes, and knows the magnificent no more than the poor. Job 34:19. Cramer.
14. On Jer 22:28. [What is idolized will, first or last, be despised and broken, what is unjustly honored will be justly contemned, and rivals with God will be the scorn of man. Whatever we idolize we shall be disappointed in, and then shall despise. Henry.S. R. A.]
The compliment is a very poor one for a king, who thinks somewhat of himself, and to whom it in a certain measure pertains that he be honored.But here it is the word of the Lord, and in consideration of these words it is declared in 2Ch 36:12, to be evil on the part of Zedekiah, that he did not humble himself before Jeremiah. Teachers must be much on their guard against assuming such purely prophetic, that is, extraordinary acts. It cost the servants of the Lord many a death, who were obliged thus to employ themselves, and when it is easy for one to ape it without a divine calling he thus betrays his frivolity and incompetence, if not his pride and delusion. Zinzendorf.
15. On Jer 22:28-30. Irenus (Adv. Hr. 3:30) uses this passage to prove that the Lord could not have been Josephs natural son, for otherwise he would have fallen under the curse of this passage, and appear as one not entitled to dominion (qui eum dicunt ex Joseph generatum et in eo habere spem, abdicatos se faciunt a regno, sub maledictione et increpatione decidentes, qu erga Jechoniam et in semen ejus est). Basil the Great (Epist. ad Amphilochium) endeavors to show that this passage, with its declaration that none of Jeconiahs descendants should sit on Davids throne, is not in contradiction to the prophecy of Jacob (Gen 49:10), that a ruler should not be lacking from Judah, till He came for whom the nations were hoping. Basil distinguishes in this relation between dominion and royal dignity.The former continued, the latter ceased, and this period of, so to speak, latent royalty, was the bridge to the present, in which Christ rules in an invisible manner, but yet in real power and glory as royal priest, and at the same time represents Himself as the fulfilment of the hope of the nations. In like manner John of Damascus concludes that according to this passage there could be no prospect of the fulfilment of the promise in Gen 49:10, if Mary had not virgineo modo borne the scion of David, who however was not to occupy the visible throne of David. (Orat. II. in Nativ. B. Mari p. med.)Ambrose finally (Comment. in Ev. Luc. L. III. cap. ult.) raises the question how Jeremiah could say, that ex semine Jechoni neminem regnaturum esse, since Christ was of the seed of Jeconiah and reigned? He answers: Illic (Jer 22:30) futuros ex semine Jechoni posteros non negatur et ideo de semine ejus est Christus (comp. Mat 1:11), et quod regnavit Christus, non contra prophetiam est, non enim seculari honore regnavit, nee in Jechoni sedibus sedit, sed regnavit in sede David. Ghislerus.
16. On Jer 23:2. Nonnulli prsmles gregis quosdam pro peccato a communione ceiciunt, ut pniteant, sed quali sorte vivere debeant ad melius exhortando non visitant. Quibus congrue increpans sermo divinus comminatur: pastores, qui pascunt populum meum, vos dispersistis gregem meum, ejecistis et non visitastis eum. Isidor. Hisp. de summo bono she LL. sentt. Cap. 46. Ghislerus.
17. On Jer 23:5-6. Eusebius (Dem. Ev. VII. 9) remarks that Christ among all the descendants of David is the only one, who rules over the whole earth, and everywhere not only preaches justice and righteousness by His doctrine but is Himself also the author of the rising [of the Sun] of righteousness for all, according to Psa 72:7 : , (LXX.) Cyril of Alex. (Glaphyr. in Gen. I. p. 133) explains as justitia Dei, in so far as we are made righteous in Him, not for the sake of the works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His great mercy. Rom 3:24; Tit 3:5.
18. On Jer 23:6. [If we regard God in Himself, He is indeed righteous, but not our righteousness. If we desire to have God as our righteousness, we must seek Christ; for this cannot be found except in Him. Paul says that He has been given or made to us righteousness,for what end? that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (1Co 1:30). Since, then, Christ is made our righteousness, and we are counted the righteousness of God in Him, we hence learn how properly and fitly it has been said that He would be Jehovah, not only that the power of His divinity might defend us, but also that we might become righteous in Him, for He is not only righteous for Himself, but He is our righteousness. Calvin. See also a long note in Wordsworth, to show that Jehovah our Righteousness refers to Christ;S. R. A.]
The character of a true church is when the Lytrum, the ransom-money of Jesus Christ, is known and valued by all, and when they have written this secret, foolish and absolutely inscrutable to reason, in the heart with the finger of the living God: that Jesus by His blood has taken away the sins of the world. O let it neer escape my thought, at what a price my soul was bought. This is the evening and morning prayer of every church, which is a true sister from above. Zinzendorf.
19. On Jer 23:5-8. The return under Ezra was also a fulfilment of this promise, but inferior and preliminary: not all came, and those who did come brought their sins back with them. They were still under the Law and had to wait for Righteousness; still in their return they had a pledge that the Messiah was yet to come and prepare the true city of peace. Now, however, all has been long fulfilled and we can enjoy it perfectly, if we have the mind for it. We have now a country of which no tyrant can rob us; our walk and citizenship is in heaven. We have been delivered from all our suffering, when we sit down at the feet of Jesus to hear His word. Then there is a power of resurrection within us, So that we can fly with our souls beyond the world and laugh at all our foes. For Christ has made us righteous by His daily forgiveness, so that we may also bring ourselves daily into heaven. Yea verily, the kingdom of heaven is come very nigh unto us! Jeremiah then longed to see and hear this more nearly, and now we can have it. Diedrich.
20. On Jer 23:9. Great love renders Gods servant so ardent, that he deals powerful blows on the seducers. He does not think that he has struck a wasps nest and embittered his life here forever, for he has a higher life and gives the lower one willingly for love. Yet all the world will hold him for an incorrigible and mad enthusiast, who spares no one. He says himself that he is as it were drunk with God and His word, when he on the other hand contemplates the country. Diedrich.
21. On Jer 23:11. They are rogues. They know how to find subterfuges, and I would like to see him who accuses a false and unfaithful teacher, and manages his own case so that he does not himself come into the dilemma. Zinzendorf.
22. On Jer 23:13-14. In the prophets of Samaria I see folly. This is the character which the Lord gives to error, false religion, heterodoxy. But in the prophets of Jerusalem I find abomination. This is the description of the or thodox, when they apply their doctrine, so that either the wicked are strengthened or no one is converted. Zinzendorf.
23. On Jer 23:15. From the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy goes forth into all the land. This is the natural consequence of the superiority, which the consistories, academies, ministers, etc., have and in due measure ought to have, that when they become corrupt they communicate their corruption to the whole region, and it is apparent in the whole land what sort of theologians sit at the helm. Zinzendorf.
24. On Jer 23:16. Listen not to the words of the prophets, they deceive you. Luther says (Altenb. Tom. II. p. 330): But a Christian has so much power that he may and ought to come forward even among Christians and teach, where he sees that the teacher himself is wanting, etc.; and The hearers altogether have the right to judge and decide concerning all doctrine. Therefore the priests and liveried Christians have snatched this office to themselves; because, if this office remained in the church, the aforesaid could retain nothing for their own. (Altenb. Tom. II. p. 508).The exercise of this right on the part of members of the church has its difficulties. May not misunderstanding, ignorance, even wickedness cause this to be a heavy and unjust pressure on the ministers of the word, and thus mediately tend to the injury of the church? Certainly. Still it is better for the church to exercise this right than not to do so. The former is a sign of spiritual life, the latter of spiritual death. It will be easier to find a corrective for some extravagances than to save a church become religiously indifferent from the fate of Laodicea (Rev 3:16).
25. On Jer 23:16. [But here a question may be raised, How can the common people understand that some speak from Gods mouth, and that others propound their own glosses? I answer, That the doctrine of the Law was then sufficient to guide the minds of the people, provided they closed not their eyes; and if the Law was sufficient at that time, God does now most surely give us a clearer light by His prophets, and especially by His Gospel. CalvinS. R. A.]
26. On Jer 23:17. The pastors, who are welcome and gladly seen at a rich mans table, wish him in fact long life, good health, and all prosperity. What they wish they prophesy. This is not unnatural; but he who is softened by it is ill-advised. Zinzendorf.
27. On Jer 23:21. [There is a twofold call; one is internal, the other belongs to order, and may therefore be called external or ecclesiastical. But the external call is never legitimate, except it be preceded by the internal; for it does not belong to us to create prophets, or apostles, or pastors, as this is the special work of the Holy Spirit. But it often happens that the call of God is sufficient, especially for a time. For when there is no church, there is no remedy for the evil, except God raise up extraordinary teachers. Calvin.S. R. A.]
28. On Jer 23:22. If I knew that my teacher was a most abominable miscreant, personally, and in heart the worst enemy of God in his parish; so long as, for any reason, he preaches, expounds, develops, inculcates the word of God; even though he should betray here and there in his expressions, that this word was not dwelling in him; if only he does not ex professo at one time throw down what at another time he teaches of good and true quasi aliud agendo: I assure you before the Lord that I should fear to censure his preaching. Zinzendorf.
29. On Jer 23:23. Gods essential attribute is Omnipresence. For He is higher than heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know? Longer than the earth and broader than the sea (Job 4:8). And He is not far from every one of us (Act 17:27). Cramer.We often think God is quite far from us, when He is yet near to us, has us in His arms, presses us to His heart and kisses us. Luther. When we think the Sun of righteousness, Jesus, is not risen, and is still behind the mountain, and will not come to us, He is yet nearest to us. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. (Psa 34:19) Deus et omni et nullo loco Cuncta Deus replens molem se fundit in omnem. MS. notes to my copy of Cramers Bibel. Si vis peccare, O homo, qure tibi locum, ubi Deus non videat. Augustine.
30. On Jer 23:28. [When any one rejects the wheat because it is covered with chaff, and who will pity him who says that he has indeed wheat on his floor, but that it is mixed with chaff, and therefore not fit for food? If we be negligent, and think that it is a sufficient excuse for despising the Word of God, because Satan brings in his fallacies, we shall perish in our sloth like him who neglects to cleanse his wheat that he might turn it to bread. Calvin.S. R. A.]
He who cannot restrain his mouth or his ink let him expectorate. But let him say openly and honestly that they are his own dreams, which he preaches. The false prophets certainly know that mere falsehood is empty straw. They therefore always mingle some of the genuine word of God amongst it. An unavailing mixture! It is in this mingling that Satans highest art is displayed, so that he at the same time furthers his own work and testifies against himself. Comp. Genesis 3
31. On Jer 23:29. Gods word is the highest reality, life and power, while the dreams of the false prophets are pretence, death and weakness. Gods word is therefore compared to a fire which burns, warms, and enlightens, so that it burns up the hardest flint, melts the thickest ice, illuminates the deepest obscurities. It is compared further to a hammer which crushes the hardest rocks into sand.He who mingles Gods wheat among his straw, will find that the wheat will become fire and burn up the straw (1Co 3:12-15). He Who handles the word of the Lord purely, let him not despair if he sees before him hearts of adamant (Zec 7:12). He who seeks peace is not ashamed to bow beneath the hammer of the word. For the destructive power of the word applies to that in us which is opposed to God, while the God-related elements are loosed and set free by those very crushing blows.He, however, to whom the peace of God is an object of derision, may feed on the straw of this world. But how will it be when finally the day comes that God will come upon him with fire and hammer? What then remains to him as the result of his straw-diet, which is in a condition to withstand the blows of the hammer and the fire?
Help, Lord, against Thy scornful foes,
Who seek our souls to lead astray;
Whose mockeries at mortal woes
Will end in terrible dismay!
Grant that Thy holy word may root
Deep in our hearts, and richer fruit
May ever bear to endless day.
Gods word converts, all other doctrine befools. Luther.
32. On Jer 23:29. Gods word in general is like a fire: the more it is urged the more widely and brightly it extends. God has caused His word to be proclaimed to the world as a matter, which they can dispense with as little as fire. Fire often smoulders long in secret before it breaks out, thus the power of the divine word operates in its time. Gods word can make people as warm as if glowing coals lay upon them; it shines as brightly upon them, as if a lamp were held under their eyes; it tells every one the truth and purifies from all vices. He who deals evilly with Gods word burns himself by it, he who opposes it is consumed by it. But the word of God is as little to blame as a lamp or a fire when an unskilful person is burned by it. Yet it happens that often it will not be suffered in the world, then there is fire in all the streets. That is the unhappy fire of persecution, which is kindled incidentally in the world by the preaching of the Gospel. Jos. Conr. Schaller, Pastor at Cautendorf, Sermons on the Gospels, 1742.
33. On Jer 23:30. Teachers and preachers are not to steal their sermons from other books, but take them from the Bible, and testify that which they speak from their inward experience (Joh 3:11). False teachers steal Gods word, inventing a foreign meaning for it, and using this for the palliation of their errors. StarkeHinc illi at auctions, who can obtain this or that good book, this or that manuscript? Here they are thus declared to be plagiarios; and they are necessarily so because they are not taught of God. But I would rather they would steal from true men of God than from each other.Zinzendorf.
34. On Jer 23:33-40. When the word of God becomes intolerable to men, then men in their turn become intolerable to our Lord God; yea, they are no more than inutile pondus terr, which the land can no more bear, therefore they must be winnowed out, Jer 15:17. Cramer.
35. On Jer 24:5-7. He who willingly and readily resigns himself to the will of God even to the cross, may escape misfortune. But he who opposes himself to the hand of God cannot escape. Cramer.The captives are dearest to God. By the first greater affliction He prepares their souls for repentance and radical conversion, so that He has in them again His people and inheritance. O the gracious God, that He allows even those who on account of sin must be so deeply degraded and rendered slaves, even in such humiliation to be His people! The captives are forgiven their opposition to God; they are separated from the number of nations existing in the world, politically they are dead and banished to the interior. Now, God will show them what His love can do; they shall return, and in true nearness to God be His true Israel. Diedrich.
36. On Jer 24:7. [Since He affirms that He would give them a heart to understand, we hence learn that men are by nature blind, and also that when they are blinded by the devil they cannot return to the right way, and that they cannot be otherwise capable of light than by having God to illuminate them by His Spirit. This passage also shows, that we cannot really turn to God until we acknowledge Him to be the Judge; for until the sinner sets himself before Gods tribunal he will never be touched with the feeling of true repentance. Though God rules the whole world. He yet declares that He is the God of the Church; and the faithful whom He has adopted He favors with this high distinction, that they are His people; and He does this that they may be persuaded that there is safety in Him, according to what is said by Habakkuk, Thou art our God, we shall not die (Hab 1:12). And of this sentence Christ Himself is the best interpreter, when He says, that He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Luk 20:38). Calvin.S. R. A.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 21:8. This text may be used on all occasions when an important decision is to be made or on the entrance on a new section of life, as, e. g., at synods, diets, New Years, beginning of the church-year, at confirmations, weddings, installations, etc. What the present day demands and promises: I. It demands from us an important choice. II. It promises us, according as we choose, life or death.
2. On Jer 22:2-9. In how far the divine election is conditional and unconditional. I. It is conditional with respect to individual elected men, places, things. For 1, these become partakers of the salvation promised by the election only by behaviour well-pleasing to God; 2, if they behave in a manner displeasing to God, the election does not protect them from destruction. II. The election is unconditional with respect to the eternal ideas lying at the foundation of the single appearances, and their absolute realizations.
3. On Jer 22:24. [Payson:The punishment of the impenitent inevitable and justifiable. I. To mention some awful instances in which God has verified this declaration: (a), the apostate angels; (b) our first parents; (c) destruction of mankind by the flood; (d) the children of Israel; (e) Moses, David, the disobedient prophet, Christ. II. Some of the reasons for such a declaration. Not a disposition to give pain or desire for revenge. It is the nature and tendency of sin to produce misery.S. R. A.]
4. On Jer 23:5-6. The Son of David. What the prophet declares of Him is fourfold: 1. He will Himself be righteous; 2. He will rule well as king and execute judgment and righteousness; 3. He will be our righteousness; 4. Under Him shall Judah be helped and Israel dwell safely.
5. On Jer 23:14. [Lathrop: The horrible guilt of those who strengthen the hands of the wicked. 1. All sin is horrible in its nature. 2. This is to oppose the government of the Almighty. 3. It directly tends to the misery of mankind. 4. It supports the cause of the Evil Spirit. 5. It is to become partakers of their sins. 6. It is horrible as directly contrary to the command of God, and marked with His peculiar abhorrence.S. R. A.]
6. On Jer 23:23-24. The Omnipresence of God. 1. What it means. God is everywhere present, (a). He fills heaven and earth; (b) there is no removal from Him in space; (c) nothing is hidden from Him. 2. There is in this for us (a) a glorious consolation, (b) an earnest admonition. [Charnock, Jortin, and Wesley have sermons on this text, all of very similar outline. The following are Jortins practical conclusions; This doctrine 1. Should lead us to seek to resemble Gods perfections 2. Should deter us from sin. 3. Should teach us humility. 4. Should encourage us to reliance and contentment, to faith and hope.S. R. A.]
7. On Jer 23:29-30. Gods Word and mans word. 1. The former is life and power (wheat, fire, hammer). The latter pretence and weakness (dream, straw). 2. The two are not to be mixed with each other. [Cecil: This shows 1. The vanity of all human imaginations in religion, (a). What do they afford to man? (b). How much do they hinder? 2. The energy of spiritual truth. Let us entreat God that our estimate may be practical.S. R. A.]
8. On Jer 24:1-10. The good and bad figs an emblem of humanity well-pleasing and displeasing to God. 1. The prisoners and broken-hearted are, like the good figs, well-pleasing to God. For (a) they know the Lord and turn to Him; (b) He is their God and they are His people. 2. Those who dwell proudly and securely are displeasing to God, like the bad figs. For (a) they live on in foolish blindness; (b) they challenge the judgment of God.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer 23:1.There is nothing remarkable in the absence of the article with , for this is generally the case with . It occurs with the article in seven places only: Isa 5:20; Isa 10:1; Isa 29:15; Isa 31:1; Amo 5:18; Amo 6:1; Hab 2:6. Of these places, the first six have the plural, one the singular, but in a collective signification.
[2]Jer 23:1. may designate both the act (Hos 13:6) the place (Isa 49:9), and the object (Jer 10:21; Jer 25:36) of the pasturing. Hence (comp. Eze 34:31; Psa 74:1; Psa 79:13; Psa 100:3) may mean both: the flock which I pasture (as chief shepherd), and: the flock which feeds on my pasturage. The sense is essentially the same.
[3]Jer 23:2.Here has the article, because the shepherds already mentioned (Jer 23:1) are meant.
[4]Jer 23:2. is here used for the sake of a paronomasia in bonam (comp. Psa 8:5; Exo 3:16) and in malam partem (comp. Jer 5:9; Jer 25:12; Jer 27:8; Hos 1:4) comp. Zec 10:3.
[5]Jer 23:3. Sing. Comp. Olsh., 165, f. Since it is sheep which are spoken of, here as in 2Sa 7:8; Isa 65:10; Jer 33:12; Eze 25:5 = pascuum, place of pasturage, field. The fem, suffix is remarkable. Comp. Gen 30:39; Naegelsb. Gr., 60, 4.
[6]Jer 23:4. Comp. Jer 17:18.
[7]Jer 23:4.. This word is frequently used of missing, scattered or robbed sheep, 1Sa 25:7; 1Sa 25:15; 1Sa 25:21; comp. 1Sa 20:18.
[8]Jer 23:5. is best taken here in a double sense: rem bene, i. e., prudenter et feliciter geret. Comp. rems. on Jer 10:21; Isa 52:13.
[9]Jer 23:6.The reading which is found in some Codd. is occasioned by the endeavor to obtain a designation of the subject, perhaps also by the rarer form of suffix. With respect to the former point the well-known idiom may be referred to, according to which the subject is usually wanting with in the meaning they call. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 101, 2, b. With respect to the latter comp. Hos 8:3; Psa 35:8; Ecc 4:12; Olsh., 231, c.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have in this Chapter a blessed and gracious word of comfort succeeding the awful message, in the preceding Chapter. And what tends to make this Chapter most eminently blessed to the Church is, the glorious account given in it under the spirit of prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
It is blessed to observe, how from the unworthiness of man the Lord takes occasion to magnify the riches of his grace. Not that our misery is the cause of divine mercy: for his love was long before we had any sense of our need of it, or even our being: but, though the love of Jehovah from all eternity was the source and spring of all our blessings; yet even our worthlessness, the Lord takes occasion from, to introduce yet more striking marks of his grace and goodness. Thus as in this Chapter, Foolish and destructive pastors make way for the Lord’s faithful One: and because man cannot, the Lord himself will, both gather and feed his sheep from all places, whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day! Eze 34:10-12 . Oh! grace divine: mercy unequalled!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord Our Righteousness
Jer 23:6
I. You must have some righteousness, or you will not be saved. The Bible says plainly, ‘The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God’; ‘The righteous hath hope in his death’; ‘Thy people,’says Isaiah, ‘shall be all righteous’. Many often say they know they are not what they should be, but ‘God is merciful ‘. Their religion goes no further; this is the first and last of all their Christianity. This will not stand before the Bible. God is a God of perfect holiness, and ‘without holiness no man shall see the Lord’; God is a God of perfect justice, Whose laws may not be broken without punishment (Deu 32:4 ; St. Mat 5:17-18 ). God’s mercy and justice must be reconciled. God is indeed all love: He willeth not the death of a sinner, but ‘the wages of sin is death,’ and God will have His demands paid in full. By some means, then, you must have righteousness or you cannot be saved. But
II. You have no righteousness of your own of any sort, and therefore by yourself you cannot be saved. Look at the law of God, and measure its requirements. Does it not ask of every man a perfect, unsinning obedience from first to last, in thought, word, and deed; and who can say ‘All this have I performed’?
a. Some tell us that repentance and amendment will enable us to stand in the great day, and no doubt without them none will enter the kingdom of heaven above. But they cannot put away your sins; they cannot blot out a single page of that book in which your iniquities are written. John the Baptist preached repentance, but he never told his hearers it alone would save them.
b. Some put their trust in well-spent lives: they have always done their best, and so hope they shall be accounted righteous. This is miserable trifling. Let them mention a single day in which they have not broken the spiritual law laid down in the Sermon on the Mount. What! never an unkind thought, an unchaste look, no covetous feelings? nothing left undone which was in their power to do?
c. Some say they hope sincerity will carry them through: they have always meant well. St. Paul, before his conversion, was zealous towards God; he thought he ought to do many things contrary to Jesus of Nazareth. Here was sincerity and earnestness; yet we find him, when his eyes were opened, saying, ‘I was a blasphemer the chief of sinners’.
d. Some build their claim to righteousness on religious forms and ordinances alone. The Jews had ceremonies and observances in abundance. Men may pay attention to these, and yet be abominable in the sight of God (1Sa 15:22-23 ).
III. ‘But what are we to do?’ ‘You seem to have shut us up without hope.’ ‘You said we must have some righteousness; and now you say that we have none of our own; what are we to do?’ Beloved, God can be a just God, and yet show mercy and justify the most ungodly. ‘The Lord’ is, and must be, ‘our righteousness.’ Here is a mystery of wisdom and love. The Lord Jesus has done and suffered what we ought to have done and suffered. He has taken our place, and become our Substitute, both in life and death. Is not His Name then rightly called ‘The Lord our Righteousness?’
References. XXIII. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 395. “Plain Sermons” by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. vii. p. 261. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii. p. 214. S. R. Driver, Sermons on Subjects Connected With the Old Testament, p. 204. Bishop Hampden, Sermons at Oxford, p. 109. Bishop Andrewes, Sermons, vol. v. p. 104. Philip Henry in Matthew Henry’s Works, Appendix, p. 24. Whitefield’s “Sermons,” Works, vol. v. p. 216. Wesley’s “Sermons,” Works, vol. v. p. 234. Simeon, Works, vol. ix. p. 166. Bishop Heber, Parish Sermons, vol. ii. p. 437. Lord Arthur Hervey, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 345. Dean Alford, ibid. vol. ii. p. 214. Bishop Bickersteth (the late), Clerical World, vol. i. p. 117. Saphir, “Jehovah Tsidkenu,” Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii. p. 104; and see Geikie’s Hours With the Bible, vol. vi. p. 63 (note). XXIII. 7, 8. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 204; see also Church Times, vol. li. 1904, p. 50. XXIII. 8. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. ii. p. 9. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 202. XXIII. 24. R. F. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 97. P. McAdam Muir, Modern Substitutes for Christianity, p. 65. XXIII. 28. J. Guinness Rogers, ibid. vol. xliv. 1903, p. 392. G. Lorimer, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 253. J. Tolefree Parr, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 267. XXIII. 28, 29. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 71. XXIII. 29. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2460. XXIV. 6, 7. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 264. XXIV. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx. No. 1206. XXV. 8, 9. Newton H. Marshall, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 33. XXVI. 8. A. Ramsay, Studies in Jeremiah, p. 115. XXVI. 11. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 233. XXVIII. 10, 11. A. Ramsay, Studies in Jeremiah, p. 199. XXVIII. 13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii. No. 1032. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Isaiah and Jeremiah, p. 322. XXVIII. 16. T. De Witt Talmage, Sermons, p. 309. XXIX. 7. “Plain Sermons” by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. i. p. 236. XXIX. 11. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1965. XXIX. 13. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. i. p. 144. Lieut.-Col. J. Barnsley, A Book of Lay Sermons, p. 207. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii. No. 1313; vol. xxv. No. 1457. XXX. 1-22. Ibid. vol. xlv. No. 2654. XXX. 7. Ibid. vol. xlv. No. 2645. XXX. 17. Ibid. vol. xxxix. No. 1753. XXX. 21. Ibid. vol. xxviii. No. 1673. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. ii. p. 15. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 219.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Coming One
Jer 22
The particular reference is to Josiah, on the occasion of whose death Jeremiah had composed a grand and pathetic dirge. It is supposed from 2Ch 35:25 that this dirge was repeated annually in memory of Josiah’s death. The injunction of the text puts an end to this annual commemoration. The weeping is forbidden in the case of Josiah, but it is ordered to continue in the case of Jehoahaz ( Jehovah sustains .) Jehoahaz was probably a name assumed by Shallum on his accession to the throne. It would seem that the word Shallum had a peculiar significance attached to it from the fact that the name had been borne by one of the later kings of Israel, whose reign lasted only one month. The point which is immediately before us is that men may often be weeping for the wrong object, and neglecting to shed tears over men and memories that deserve nothing but lamentation. The prophet says: Weep not for Josiah, but lor Jehoahaz. So we may often say: Weep not for the dead, but for the living; weep not for the afflicted, but for the evil-hearted; weep not for those who pass away out of sight into the immortal state, but weep for those who linger here, and whose day is turned into night by hopelessness. Men will always persist in weeping for the wrong thing, or weeping at the wrong point. Who does not cry over death? whereas, the probability is, if we understood the economy of nature better, it would be wiser to weep over birth. It is certain that birth introduces us into a sphere of trial, difficulty, where we have to absorb much that is bitter, and undergo much that is distressing; whereas it is possible that death may introduce us into immortal and ineffable blessedness. Jesus Christ said to the woman who followed him to the cross, “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” Misspent tears exhaust or pervert the very emotion which they express. We are not to weep for the consequences of sin so much as for sin itself. If we were great enough in the realisation of our ideals and our aspirations, we should not so much weep that men are sent to perdition as that God’s holiness is dishonoured, and God’s law disobeyed, and the music of his creation thrown into discord by iniquity.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” ( Jer 22:18-19 ).
The description of Jehoiakim really begins in the thirteenth verse. Jehoiakim had revived forced labour, such as was known in the days of Solomon a labour which pressed not only on strangers, but on the Israelites themselves. Jehoiakim went on building palaces when his kingdom was threatened with ruin, and when his subjects were overborne by burdens which it was impossible to sustain. In the thirteenth verse the prophet begins a description of a man without naming him; a man who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by ruin; a man who useth his neighbour’s services without wages, and giveth him not for his work; a man who yields to the impulses of a foolish ambition, saying, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and who gratifies himself by cutting out windows, and deling his chambers with cedars, and painting his retreats with vermilion. It is not until we come to the eighteenth verse that the prophet specially indicates the man against whom this accusation is levelled. Jehoiakim was king, and yet not one word of thanks do we find, nor one word of love, nor one word of regret, expressed concerning his fate. We should learn from this how possible it is to pass through the world without leaving behind us one sacred or loving memory. He that seeketh his life shall lose it. A man that sacrifices daily to his own ambition, and never sets before himself a higher ideal than his own gratification, may appear to have much whilst he actually has nothing, may even appear to be winning great victories when he is really undergoing disastrous defeats. What is a grand house if there be not in it a loving heart? What are walls but for the pictures that adorn them? What is life but for the trust which knits it into sympathetic unity? What is the night but for the stars that glitter in its darkness? Jehoiakim had only a magnificent mausoleum; his palaces were mortuaries; his pretensions were nightmares. Jehoiakim was dragged in chains with the other captives who were carried off to Babylon. The disappointed and mortified king died on the journey. See to what we may come after all the whirl of our excitement, all the mad dance and tumult of our ambition. It is better to begin at the other end of life, so that we may realise the proverb which speaks of men being born mud and dying marble. We all know men who are born marble but who die mud. There is an awful process of retrogression continually operating in life. Experienced men will tell us that the issue of life is one of two things: either advancement, or deterioration; continual improvement, or continual depreciation: we cannot remain just where we are, adding nothing, subtracting nothing, but realising a permanence of estate and faculty. The powers we do not use will fall into desuetude, and the abilities which might have made life easy may be so neglected as to become burdens too heavy to be carried. It lies within a man’s power so to live that he may be buried with the burial of an ass: no mourners may surround his grave; no beneficiaries may recall his charities; no hidden hearts may conceal the tender story of his sympathy and helpfulness. A bitter sarcasm this, that a man should be buried like an ass! What may be honourable to the ass is an infinite dishonour to the man. We often do the animal creation injustice by comparison of wicked or foolish men with its creatures. We sometimes speak of a man as being “as drunk as a beast,” a phrase in which we dishonour the beasts that perish. How mighty men may become, how noble, how helpful to his brother-men! How much of beauty and tenderness, purity and gentleness, may be brought within the limited scope of threescore years and ten; every year may be a gathering of jewels, every moment may glitter like a diamond. Happy he who sits down to calculate how much good he can do, and how much of honest labour and genuine helpfulness he can crowd into the little space which he calls his life.
‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” ( Jer 23:5 ).
Still in these solemn pages we hear as it were the footfall of the Coming One. History never tells us in these ancient pages that the true man has descended to the earth, that the ideal man has breathed the common air, but still prophets and historians look forward and say, There is One coming whose right it is to reign; there is a sign upon the horizon of a Man who shall represent all other men, and in men shall glorify humanity. The words of the text point to an undefined future; yet they speak with certainty of the realisation of that distant age. It is thus we are drawn on from century to century: always the greater man is coming; always the greater discovery is to be made; always are we within sight of the horizon which is the threshold of heaven. That we never reach it is a joy rather than a regret, because our hope is never turned to despair, but always increased to an intenser brightness, so that whilst we are disappointed on the one hand we are elevated on the other, and the aching that is occasioned in our hearts by the literal non-fulfilment of promises is more than compensated for by the assurance that what is yet to come is worth waiting for, and that when it does come we shall forget all regrets and disappointments in its infinite satisfaction. We are told that there is to be raised unto David “a righteous Branch.” The word literally means a sprout or scion, springing from the root of the tree after the tree itself has been cut down, and is not a branch which grows out of the mere trunk of the tree beautiful indeed, but in a sense accidental; it is rather a growth that belongs to the root, that is so to say part and parcel of the tree itself: so when this Coming One shall have come, he will not belong to the trunk, he will not be a branch or part of a branch in any sense in which he can be amputated; he will express the idea that is hidden in the root; in other words, he shall represent the purpose of God concerning humanity and time. Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, is not one of ourselves; he has not come up from the root of Adam; he has rather come up from the root of Being, from the very fount and origin of Eternity, so that he will not be classed with ourselves or judged as we are; he will belong to us, and yet stand apart from us: we shall not be fellow-branches of the same tree; we shall be branches which grow out of him, for he is the root and the offspring of David.
“Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord” ( Jer 23:23-24 ).
All these questions depend, as to their effect upon the reader, upon the moral condition of the reader or hearer himself. Let the bad man hear these questions, and they will smite him as swords, sharp and heavy; let the good man hear these same inquiries, and he will receive them as so many assurances of protection and security. God is nigh at hand for judgment: the period of judgment, therefore, need not be postponed until a remote age; every man can now bring himself within sight of the great white throne, and can determine his destiny by his spirit and by his action. God is nigh at hand for protection: he is nearer to us than we can ever be to ourselves: though the chariots of the enemy are pressing hard upon us, there is an inner circle, made up of angels and ministering spirits, guarding us with infinite defences against the attacks of the foe. God is near us for inspiration: if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God: what time we are in doubt or perplexity as to the course we should take, let us whisper our weakness into the ear of the condescending and ever-accessible Father, and by the ministry of his Spirit he will tell us what we ought to do. It is an infinite mistake to suppose that God is enthroned far beyond the stars, in any sense which separates him from immediate contact with ourselves. If our heart be humble, it is God’s temple; if our spirit be contrite, it is an altar whereat we may meet the Father day by day. This is the essential glory of God, and the mystery of his being, that he is far away, yet near at hand; near at hand, yet losing nothing through familiarity; far away, yet able to come at a moment’s notice to guide, inspire, and sanctify his trustful children. We must never lose anything of the divine majesty: there is a purpose of the highest kind in a proper realisation of divine majesty, dignity, glory; but we shall be mere idolaters if we recognise these attributes or distinctions alone, and do not balance and chasten them with conceptions of sympathy, tenderness, nearness, such as our hearts delight in. Our religion should not be merely a sublime theology; it should be an actual friendship, an affectionate companionship with God.
“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord” ( Jer 23:28 ).
This is the grand characteristic of the Bible, that it fears no competition; that whilst it is not weak enough to be defiant, it is always strong enough to be competitive. The Bible would not merely silence false prophets by force or by arbitrary arrangement of any kind; it would not expel heresy by overwhelming majorities; it would not oppose opinion by mere numerical strength: the Bible says, If you have a message to deliver, let us hear what it is; if it is only a dream, tell us every line and syllable of it, that we may estimate its value; if it is only a theory or an imagination, submit it to the practical test of life; it is a poor faith that cannot bear the rude blasts of common intercourse, the criticism of the market-place, the testing of the sick-chamber, the pressure of life’s daily need. The Bible would thus expel heresy by trying it; would thus condemn the spirits that are not of God by calling upon them to do godly work. In this way should all heresy be treated; in this way should all theories be momentarily entertained, as if they were duly qualified and well-accredited guests, worthy at least of temporary courtesy: let us give them house-room; let us ask them questions; let us create for them opportunities of self-revelation. Our confidence is expressed in the inquiry, “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” Men know the difference between the one and the other; if in some mood of mere intellectual ambition or hilarity they pretend that one is as good as the other, they will soon by tragical experience be brought to distinguish values, to see exactly what is what, what is valuable and what is worthless, what is strong and what is weak. We should allow time to work out its mystery upon all propositions, hypotheses, and speculations. If we cannot intellectually try the spirits whether they are of God, we can practically submit them to the most infallible tests.
“Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken? But since ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord; therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten” ( Jer 23:37-40 ).
This passage has justly been regarded as a protest against every form of pious cant. In these verses the prophet is denouncing the use of solemn words when they do not express really unaffected and solemn meanings. It is as if the prophet had heard men speak great swelling words of vanity, and had punctured them with the edge of a spear. He heard men talking as if they were great, as if they were the favourites of Heaven, as if they had been entrusted with a special vocabulary, arranged and dictated by Almighty God himself; and now the prophet challenges such speakers to reduce their words to action, he calls upon them to submit their lofty terms to the trial of actual life. The Lord sets himself against all hypocrisy. The Litany is an offence to him if it carry not with it the praise and trust of the heart. On the other hand, where the heart is right towards God the very simplest words will be accepted as if they were the most majestic tributes of thought and expression. The supreme consideration with God relates to the state of the heart. When men say to Christ, “Lord, Lord, have we not cast out devils in thy name?” he cares nothing for the miracle, but inquires into the state of the spirit. So today we may be performing miracles in Christ’s name, even miracles of beneficence, in which we do but modify our own ambition: the Lord will look not at the great pile of gold and stones which we erect, he will look to the spirit which has inspired and assisted the industry of our hands; then though the pile be built of the poorest material, yet if it were the best material we could obtain it would be accepted as gold and silver, yea, and precious stones. Let us beware of the affectation of great words; let us beware of the impiety of religious polysyllables. Christianity has not been revealed to us, or has not been felt by us, in all its quality and divine dignity, if we do not realise its simplicity, its condescension, its self-sacrifice. Praise the Bible for its nobleness; recognise the spirit of challenge, yea, even of occasional defiance, which fills its immortal pages. “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” “With what likeness will ye compare me? saith the Lord”; and as for the idols, he scorns them, yea, he sets his feet upon them, and defies them to rise again. All this spirit of triumph and conscious supremacy, which is represented in the noblest rhetorical imagery, ought to find its counterpart and moral realisation in the behaviour of Christians; they are not to be as other men; Jesus Christ says when Christians do certain pious works, “Do not even the publicans the same?” He also says, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” As the Bible is distinct from all other books, so Christian character should be distinct from all other behaviour. It is not enough to compare surfaces or external relations; there should be a solemn and exhaustive judgment of motive and purpose. The vital criticism should be conducted within the sanctuary of the heart. It is in vain that we compete with other men who have no God, if we cannot show that every action we do springs from a true conception of human nature and divine requirement All action is ultimately determinable as to its value and utility by the motive which inspires it.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
VIII
THE LIFE OF JEREMIAH DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM
Jeremiah 18-20; 22-23, Jer 22:25
We have already described some of the events that occurred during the reign of Jehoiakim and this period, but we group them together in this chapter and discuss them more in detail. These prophecies may have been written by Baruch at the time they were uttered or at Jeremiah’s dictation. Some of them may have been written later and one of them was doubtless written by Jeremiah himself. They comprise the chapters given at the head of this chapter. We shall take them up in the order there given. It is quite probable that some of these prophecies and events occurred a little subsequent to 604 B.C., or after the roll was written and then burned by the king. We cannot fix with any certainty the events of Jeremiah’s life in chronological order. The chapters of this book are grouped with no regard to the order of events in the life of the prophet. In fact, the book makes no claim whatever to be a biography.
We have here in these chapters some lessons from the potter, the prophet’s message to the kings, the princes, the priests, and the shepherds of Israel, as well as the prophets of Judah; prophecies against the neighboring nations; the incident of the writing and the reading of the roll of prophecy; and admonitions to Baruch, his scribe.
We have the story of the potter in Jer 18:1-4 . Jeremiah had been preaching about twenty years and had used, as we have seen, a great many illustrations, a great many figures to make forceful his teachings and illustrate them, so that they would show the workings of divine providence in Israel. One day when he was sitting in the city meditating as to what he should say to the people, what he should use as an illustration so that they would feel the weight of their doom and rejection, suddenly an inspiration comes to him to go down into the lower part of the city from where he was sitting, down into the valley, the valley between Zion and Mount Moriah, called the Tyroean valley, or it may have been the valley of Hinnom. So he goes down and notices a potter sitting at his work. While he watches him, there leaps into his mind and heart a great idea, and he draws an illustration from the potter and his works. In this he is like Jesus who drew many of his illustrations from the common things of life and the affairs of men about him.
Jeremiah watched the potter. He saw him place a lump of clay on his wheel and with his deft fingers begin to mold and fashion it into a piece of pottery, and while he is attempting to fashion it into a beautiful piece, it crumbles and goes to pieces. It would not respond to his treatment. It was too crude for the fine purpose he had in mind, and so it crumbled and fell. It would not adjust itself to the ideal of the potter, and so he could not make the vase he had intended. He did not throw it away but picked it up again and began to mold it into another pattern not so beautiful or fine. He made this one but it was a poorer grade, a more common piece of pottery. We find this recorded in Jer 18:1-4 .
In the application (Jer 18:5-12 ) Jeremiah brings before our minds one of the most beautiful lessons, illustrating divine sovereignty and human freedom, to be found in the Bible. The application shows the relation of the human will to the movement of divine power. He says, Jer 18:6 , “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.” That is a weighty expression; that nations are clay in God’s hand, as individuals are; the world is but a lump of clay in God’s hands to be fashioned as he wills. “As the clay is in the potter’s hands, so are ye in my hand.” He goes on to explain the import of that truth: “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it [that was the mission of Jeremiah to the nation of Israel and to the surrounding nations] ; if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.”
This brings us face to face with a great truth in human life; a great fact that must be considered in order to understand the mysteries of divine providence. We can apply the truth to ourselves and ought to do so. It is a statement that in the event that a nation changes its conduct, or repents, God changes his attitude, not that he changes his will, but that he wills to change. Repentance in the main is a change of the will, that is, repentance in man is a change of the mind, or will, but repentance in God is the will to change. So God changes his attitude toward men when they repent. That is the way it is with the potter; he wills to fashion the clay according to his plan, but when it will not adjust itself to his ideal, then he changes his plan and fashions it as best he may. The idea is this, if the potter cannot make the best kind of a vessel out of the clay, he will do the next best thing. How mightily this truth applies to individuals. He uses the materials we give him. He does the best he can to train us as we submit to his leading. Thus, this principle, as illustrated by the potter and his clay, applies to us in our daily lives. It is only as we are pliable that God can work with us and through us.
In Jer 18:10 he says, “If they do that which is evil in my sight then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Now, that is the same idea as set forth in repenting and not doing evil. If we change, he will, in harmony with his changelessness, change, too. He will do with us as we do with him. Jonah said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” That was God’s prophecy concerning that wicked city. After all that threatening, God did not do it because they repented, and Jonah was angry and disappointed. He wanted the city to be destroyed. The city repented, and then God repented, too, and thus the change was in the city and in God. Here in Jer 18:11 he says, “Behold I frame evil against you; return every one from his evil ways.”
Then in Jer 18:14 he draws lessons from nature. He shows how constant nature is. He says, “Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?” He fixes his eyes on the snow-capped Lebanons or Hermon, and he sees that the snows are there perpetual according to the laws of nature. That snow as it melts is the source of the rivers of Damascus and the winding Jordan and they never dry up. Their source is stable; it faileth not. These streams run perpetually. He says in verse Jer 18:15 : “My people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; they have been made to stumble in their ways.” They are unstable but nature is not, and God is not, and thus he describes their defection from him.
As a result of this preaching the people begin to devise plans for taking Jeremiah (Jer 18:18 ). They decide that his preaching must stop. They must get rid of him. They concocted a scheme against him once before and he was saved from their trap. Now they concoct another scheme. They said, “Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for [even though he be dead] the law shall not perish from the priests, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” Now what is the use of listening to this preacher of calamity? We have the law. We will not lose the book of wisdom. We will always have these with us. Then Jeremiah begins to pray to the Lord to punish these plotters, verses Jer 18:19-20 : “Give heed to me, O Lord, . . . Shall evil be recompensed for good? Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them,” and now they plan to kill me.
He had been standing there and preaching the truth to these men and now he fears the Lord is going to let them kill him. He says, “I have tried to help them. I would give my life to save them. And now this is what they are doing.” He prays that God will punish them; that he will give them over to the sword and destroy their children. “Let their women become childless.” Now, was that an expression of mere bitterness? No! It was not mere human anger; it was a deep sense of outraged justice. Verse Jer 18:23 : “Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquities, neither blot out their sin from thy sight.” That reminds us of Psa 109 . It seems contrary to the spirit of Christ, yet it reminds one of the spirit of Jesus when he says to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
We have here another lesson from the potter (Jer 19:1-13 ). Jeremiah is told to go and buy an earthen bottle made also by a potter. He bought it. We do not know what sort; it may have been a good one. Then the Lord said, “Take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests; and go forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate of Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee.” That place was just outside the walls of the city, the place where the rubbish was thrown, perhaps where the potters and their factories were. Now, go down there, Jeremiah, with that vessel.
This is what he was to say: “Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; . . . Behold, I will bring evil upon this place.” Then he goes on to give the reasons. They had worshiped idols continually. They had done evil repeatedly. “This place,” as a result, “shall no longer be called the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the place of slaughter.” Verse Jer 19:8 : “I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing.” Destruction shall come. “Every one that passeth by shall be astonished and hiss and they shall eat the flesh of their children.” Then he took the elders and the priests and in their presence he broke the bottle to pieces. Then he said, “As I have broken this bottle, so will Jehovah break in pieces this city, so that it cannot be put together again.” The lesson is seen in Jer 19:11 : “It cannot be made whole again.” As that bottle is destroyed forever, so will I destroy this nation and I will destroy it forever, as far as human power is concerned.
Immediately after this incident Jeremiah comes back to the Temple and repeats the warning he had given, to the elders and the priests: “I stood in the courts of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, I will bring upon this city and this people all the evils that I have pronounced against them, because they have made their necks stiff that they hear not my words.” There are no people on earth so sure of doom as those who have simply made up their minds that they will not hear. These are they who are deaf by choice. These people had gone so far that they would not even listen. Of course, then, they could not hear. Even now sometimes people simply make up their minds that they will not hear and there is no hope for them.
Pashhur was the chief officer in the Temple. He was himself a prophet but a false one. He heard the words of Jeremiah and noted that threat. It enraged him. He set upon Jeremiah and struck him and put him in the stocks, till the following day. His smiting probably refers to whipping on the soles of his feet with the bastinado. He then put him in the stocks. His hands and feet put through openings in planks, he is forced into a stooping position. His head perhaps was put through a wooden stock or pillory. This is the first physical violence that Jeremiah had suffered.
“Then said Jeremiah unto him, the Lord hath not called thee Pashur, but Magor-missabib.” “Pashur” means a man in quietness or peace, and “Magor-missabib” means terror all around. Mr. Pashur, your name must be changed. You are going to be a terror to yourself. That is your fate. Thy friends shall fall by the sword and thine eyes shall behold it. “For thus saith Jehovah, I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and shall slay them with the sword. I will give them the treasures of the Temple and this city. This shall happen to you and your friends who prophesy falsely.” And so they did. Very soon Mr. Pashur was taken captive to Babylon and died, surrounded by terrors. The rest of this chapter contains Jeremiah’s lamentation. We studied this in the chapter on “The Life and Character of Jeremiah.” I called attention to that section where Jeremiah cursed the day in which he was born. He accused God of alluring him into prophesying and then deserting him. Then God led him step by step out of his despondency and up to the plane of praise and joy.
About this time, when Jeremiah was at liberty, a great many enemies had overrun the land of Palestine and the people had flocked to Jerusalem for protection. Among this host came the Rechabites. When Jehu was carrying on his revolution he met Jonadab who had founded this order, or sect, of the Rechabites and invited him into his chariot. They were noted for three things: They vowed not to live in houses; to have no vineyards; and to drink no wine forever. This class of people took refuge in Jerusalem; Jeremiah goes to these Rechabites, takes their leaders into the Temple and sets bottles of wine before them.
Note Jer 35:3 (Jeremiah writes, this himself): “Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, . . . and I brought them into the house of Jehovah.” He goes on: “And I set before the sons of the Rechabites bowls of wine, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. “But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father, commands us.” They were faithful to the commands of their ancestor. Jeremiah seized upon this occasion as a basis for addressing the people. He goes on to say that Jonadab had commanded this people so and so. “They kept that command, but ye would not obey God who commanded you to serve him.” He outlines the punishment that will come upon the people, but makes a promise unto the sons of Jonadab, verse Jer 35:19 : “Therefore saith the Lord of hosts, . . . Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.”
He inculcates the principle of righteousness and justice in Jer 22:1-9 . The king is to be the instrument of righteousness and justice. There is no doubt that Jehoiakim, the vassal of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, sat on the throne. Jeremiah appeals to him to do right and be just. In Jer 22:4 he says, “If you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants and his people. But if ye will not do these things, I swear by myself, that this house shall come to desolation.” And thus he goes on with his message of destruction. He repeats it over and over again.
The fate of Shallam, or Jehoahaz, is described in Jer 22:10-22 : “Weep for him that goeth away; for he shall return to his native land no more.” Then a charge against Jehoiakim is found in Jer 22:13-23 . This king was a heartless tyrant. He had a passion for building. He had a magnificent palace. He built by using the people unjustly. He was without conscience or principle: “Woe unto him that buildeth a house with unrighteousness.” The son of this king succeeded him and the prophet goes on to describe the ruin coming upon this house (Jer 22:20-23 ).
Then follows judgment on Jehoiachin (Jer 22:24-30 ). This was doubtless written after the death of Jehoiakim. Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon, and it may have been written immediately preceding that event. We cannot be sure as to the exact time this section was penned. Verse Jer 22:24 : “As I live, saith Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim were a signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.” He then goes on to describe the fate of the house; how Jehoiachin with his mother should be cast out and die in a foreign land, never to return to Judah. The king was to have no heir to sit upon his throne.
The message of Jer 23:1-8 is one regarding the princes, or shepherds. These princes of Judah and Jerusalem are spoken of as the shepherds of the people. They were the political and civil shepherds. God called them the shepherds of his pasture. He charged them with neglect of duty: “Therefore saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Ye have scattered my flock.” They had not provided them spiritual pasture. But a time is coming when they shall come together again and shall have good shepherds. Jer 23:5 is a messianic prophecy: “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, . . . Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.”
The prophet’s own title of Jer 23:9-40 is, “Concerning the Prophets.” We discussed this in a former chapter. We showed Jeremiah’s charge against these false prophets. They were caterers and time-servers. They preached what the people wanted them to preach. They felt the pulse of the people and then shaped their messages accordingly.
The prophecy of Jer 25 is a prophecy concerning Judah and the surrounding nations. This was in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, 604 B.C., after Jeremiah had been preaching twenty-three years. Note some details here:
1. In Jer 25:1-14 Jeremiah predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would take Palestine, Judah, and Jerusalem; that he would lead them captive to Babylon; that there should be desolation; that this nation should serve the king of Babylon seventy years; that when the seventy years was accomplished, then Jehovah would punish the king of Babylon, and that nation for their iniquity and their land should be a desolation forever.
2.Jer 25:15-26 show that the cup of the wrath of Jehovah must be drunk by all the nations surrounding Judah. He said that they should drink the cup of the wine of his fury. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, shall drink it; the land of Uz, the Philistines, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, those of the Grecian Archipelago, Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, Zimri, Elam, the Medes, and Sheshack shall drink of it.
3.Jer 25:27-29 show that the nations must drink it. This is the substance of that passage. The doom is inevitable. The last part of the chapter, verses 30-38, gives a description of the conquest of the Babylonians, and the terrible destruction which should come upon the nations.
An account of the writing, reading, burning, and rewriting of the roll is given in Jer 36:1-32 . This is an interesting incident. In the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, 604 B.C., the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and told him to write his prophecy. Doubtless the persecution was so intense that he had to stop preaching. Jeremiah was a faithful prophet, but be could not preach any more in the open, and so the Lord told him to write his prophecies in a book, or roll. That was a wonderfully wise suggestion. If Paul had not been imprisoned two years at Caesarea, it is possible Luke would not have written his Gospel. If the same great apostle had not suffered his Roman imprisonment, we would doubtless never have had his matchless epistles to the Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, and Hebrews. If Bunyan had not gone to jail, doubtless Pilgrim’s Progress would never have been written. And so it is here, if Jeremiah had not been persecuted, we would in all probability never have had his written prophecy. He ordered Baruch to write it down as he dictated it to him. It was the substance of his twenty-three years of ministry. How long he was in writing it, we do not know, doubtless some months. After he had written it the next thing was to read it to the people. We cannot go into details. Here is the story in substance: Baruch took the roll and went to the Temple where the people passed, stood in the door with the princes and the friends of Jeremiah at his back and read the prophecy. It made a deep impression on the princes and the people. It had a different effect on others. They resented it and hated Jeremiah the more. Some of them went and told the king about it. In brief, he had it brought to him. Jehudi read it and the king cut it to pieces and soon every shred of it was a heap of ashes. Then he ordered the arrest of Jeremiah, but he had securely hidden himself. Then Jeremiah and Baruch wrote the prophecies again.
We have certain admonitions of Jeremiah to Baruch in Jer 45 . After all his heroism this man Baruch grew despondent. This faithful scribe who had stood by Jeremiah through all his troubles now becomes troubled. We are told about it in chapter Jer 45:3 : “Thus didst thou say, Woe is me, for Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain.” Jeremiah tells him that the Lord breaks down that which he has planted: “Behold, I will pluck up this whole land.” Baruch, have you thought that there were great things coming to you? Did you expect better things? “Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not.” I am going to bring evil upon this whole land. You are not going to be a great man but your life is going to stand. What fine advice that was to this faithful secretary and scribe. Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. Your life will be spared, that is enough.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the subject of this chapter of this INTERPRETATION? And what are the dates of these several chapters of Jeremiah?
2. What, in general, are the contents of these chapters?
3. What is the story of the potter in Jer 18:1-4 ?
4. What is the prophet’s application of the incident of the potter to Israel and what, in particular, is the meaning of God’s repentance here toward Israel for good or evil? (Jer 18:5-12 .)
5. What is the lesson here drawn from nature by the prophet? (Jer 18:13-17 .)
6. What is the result of the prophet’s preaching (Jer 18:18 ) and what his response? (Jer 18:19-23 .)
7. What is the second incident of the potter’s vessel and what its application? (Jer 19:1-13 .)
8. What is the prophet’s message in the Temple immediately following the second lesson from the potter’s vessel?
9. Give an account of Pashhur’s persecution.
10. Who were the Rechabites, what were their characteristics and what was the lesson enforced by Jeremiah based upon their history?
11. Who addressed in Jer 22:1-9 and what is the message to him?
12. Who is spoken of in Jer 22:10-12 and what is there said of him?
13. What is the charge against Jehoiakim and what is the result (Jer 22:13-23 )?
14. What is the contents of Jer 22:24-30 ?
15. What is the message of Jer 23:1-8 and how are the shepherds here characterized?
16. What is the prophet’s own title of Jer 23:9-40 and what is the charge of Jeremiah here against these false prophets?
17. What is the prophecy of Jer 25 and what are the essential points noted?
18. Give an account of the writing, reading, burning, and rewriting of the roll (Jer 36:1-32 ).
19. What are the admonitions of Jeremiah to Baruch in Jer 45 and what is their lesson?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jer 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Ver. 1. Woe to the pastors, ] i.e., To the rulers and chieftains, whether in the State or Church; woe to the wicked of both sorts; and why?
They destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah Chapter 23
Hence in Jer 23 we have their general and solemn judgment, but not without the vision of sovereign mercy when the Son of David shall arise. How refreshing to read such words in the midst of the moral horrors we have had before us! “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, 1 will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, the Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” (Ver. 1-8.)
This prophecy has never been fulfilled. When He came, who is to fulfil its every letter as well as its spirit to the full, He did not reign nor prosper, but was cast out from the earth, and exalted in heaven. Thus greater things were accomplished than a Davidical kingdom or a restoration of the dispersed tribes of Israel. For the very rejection of the Messiah by the Jews gave occasion to the mighty work of redemption by the blood of the cross; and heavenly counsels, previously unrevealed, are now brought out by the holy apostles and prophets, while the Jews are more than ever scattered, and Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. But those times being ended, and the Church of the heavenly places having been meanwhile called and completed in glory, the Lord will turn the heart of His ancient people, at least of a remnant, to Himself, and will return and reign gloriously, executing judgment and justice in the earth. The greatness of this future deliverance will altogether eclipse the day when they first left Egypt and soon saw their enemies dead upon the sea-shore. It is ridiculous to pretend that any such gathering of the tribes has yet been wrought. It is therefore future.
But if Jeremiah had thus a woe for the pastors with the assurance of a true Pastor that was coming, even Jehovah-Tsidkenu as He shall be called, he was compelled meanwhile to denounce the prophets and priests. (Ver. 9-40.) There was absurdity in the idolatrous prophets of Samaria; there was filthiness in the prophets of Jerusalem, when hypocrisy was gone forth into all the land. Jehovah of hosts therefore commanded His people not to hearken to the prophets who thus made them vain, speaking a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. Peace, and no evil, cried they; when behold a whirlwind of Jehovah is gone forth in fury, to fall grievously on the head of the wicked. They were wholly unauthorized: had they caused His people to hear His words, they should have turned them from their evil way. Jehovah, who filled heaven and earth, was not unheeding but marked those who prophesied lies in His name. If they had His word, let them speak it faithfully. “Is not my word like a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.” (Ver. 29-32.)
That Jehovah would forsake them was the due burden now, and the burden of Jehovah was not to be mentioned more; for every man’s word should be his burden. He would cast out prophet, priest, and people from His presence, and bring on them an everlasting reproach, and a perpetual shame which should not be forgotten.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 23:1-4
1Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture! declares the LORD. 2Therefore 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. 3Then 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. 4I 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.
Jer 23:1-4 This is a woe strophe (i.e., funeral dirge, a 3/2 meter/beat). The false shepherds (prophets, priests, civic leaders):
1. are destroying YHWH’s flock, Jer 23:1
2. are scattering YHWH’s flock, Jer 23:1-2
3. have not attended YHWH’s flock, Jer 23:2
4. have driven them away, Jer 23:2
YHWH will raise up true shepherds.
1. He will gather His flock, Jer 23:3
2. they will be fruitful and multiply, Jer 23:3 (the expressed desire of YHWH in Gen 1:22; Gen 1:28; Gen 9:1; Gen 9:7)
3. good shepherds will tend them, Jer 23:4
4. they will not be afraid or terrified any longer, Jer 23:4
5. none of them are missing, Jer 23:4
YHWH’s special Davidic leader (cf. Ezekiel 34):
1. Davidic seed
2. righteous seed
3. Branch (cf. Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15-16; Isa 4:2; Isa 11:1-5; Isa 53:2; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12-13)
4. He will reign as king, Jer 23:5
5. He will act wisely, Jer 23:5
6. He will do justice and righteousness, Jer 23:5
7. His name will be the LORD our righteousness, Jer 23:6
What a contrast!
1. the wicked leaders do not attend YHWH’s flock. He will attend them for their evil deeds, Jer 23:2
2. the righteous leader will
a. save, Jer 23:6 (i.e., physical deliverance)
b. cause to dwell securely, Jer 23:6
c. return them to the Promised Land, Jer 23:8 (i.e., reflects the land promise of Gen 12:1-3)
The God who acts, will act (cf. Eze 36:22-38)! The Good Shepherd will come (John 10), but He will be rejected (cf. Zechariah 11).
Jer 23:3 I Myself shall gather the remnant of My flock Notice that the problem of fallen human’s, even covenant humans, inability to follow God is answered by God Himself acting on their behalf. This is the new covenant of Jer 31:31-34 (cf. Eze 36:22-38). The new covenant is based on grace, not performance (i.e., Rom 3:21-31; Galatians 3; the book of Hebrews).
The term remnant has several meanings. See Special Topic: The Remnant, Three Senses . However, in this context it carries the dual meaning of
1. returnee from exile
2. the faithful followers of YHWH
This chapter makes it hard to distinguish between the return from exile and the future Messianic reign (cf. Jer 23:4).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the pastors = rulers. See notes on Jer 2:8; Jer 3:15, &c.
saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah’s oracle.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Now in chapter 23 God speaks out against those
Pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the LORD ( Jer 23:1 ).
God said, “They’re My sheep, but these pastors are scattering them and destroying them.”
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD ( Jer 23:2 ).
Those wicked pastors who were not really feeding the flock of God, but rather seeking only to fleece the flock of God. A true shepherd seeks to feed His flock. A hireling always seeks to fleece the flock of God.
If these evangelists are writing to you and in every letter they send to you there is a direct or insinuated appeal for funds, know that they’re not really writing unto you because they love you and care for you. Though they may say it, “Oh, I’ve been thinking about you this week. And God laid a heavy burden upon my heart for you. Is everything all right, brother? Please write and tell me what’s wrong with you so I can pray for you. And I’m going to go and I’m going to fast and I’m going to pray and I’m going to bring your requests before God. Now make sure that you send your request in to me immediately and please mark off how much you can send in at this time, you know.” That’s all a bunch of goobledygook to get to the bottom line for you to send your bucks in. There’s no real concern for the flock of God. There’s no real attempt. You read the letter. There’s nothing there to feed your spirit. The whole thing is designed to fleece you. The whole purpose is to fleece the flock of God. That’s not a true shepherd and God speaks out, “Woe unto you, shepherds, not really feeding the flock. Scattering the flock. You’re destroying the flock.”
Well, I’ll tell you, I don’t want to stand in their shoes when they have to stand before the Lord and give an account.
God said,
I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which will feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD ( Jer 23:3-4 ).
God says, “The day will come I’ll bring them back. My flock that’s been scattered, I’ll bring them back. And I’ll give them shepherds in those days who will really feed them. They’ll be fruitful. They’ll increase.”
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the eaRuth ( Jer 23:5 ).
There will come a day I’ll raise up from David a righteous Branch, and He will reign in righteousness, in justice and in truth.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called [Jehovah Tsidkenu] THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS ( Jer 23:6 ).
Who is that righteous Branch that God shall raise up from David? Who is that One who is coming and will reign in righteousness over the earth? None other than Jehovah Shua who will then be called Jehovah Tsidkenu. Jehovah Shua is another name for Jesus, Yashua.
This is a scripture that sort of boggles the Jehovah Witnesses, because in the context you have to realize and acknowledge that surely it is talking about Jesus Christ. But His name shall be called then that name that they use exclusively for the Father. His name shall be called Jehovah Tsidkenu. That’s one they haven’t been able to successfully explain.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land ( Jer 23:7-8 ).
And so God is speaking of that day of future restoration that shall come to pass when Jesus comes again. And then shall the angels be sent to the four corners of the earth to gather God’s elect, the Jews, from all of the areas to which they have been scattered and God will bring them back in that day and in that day all Israel shall be saved. For God shall bring the deliverer out of Zion who will have turned the hearts of the children to the fathers. So the glorious day of God’s redemptive work for the nation Israel when Jesus comes again, the righteous Branch out of David to establish the throne of God and His kingdom upon the earth and to fulfill God’s promise to these people.
Now God declares,
Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets ( Jer 23:9 );
Actually, this is Jeremiah speaking. “My heart within me is broken.” You remember he’s the weeping prophet. “My heart within me is broken because of the prophets.”
all my bones shake: I am like a drunken man, I’m like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD ( Jer 23:9-12 ).
So God speaks of these wicked prophets and priests who have profaned their ministries and all and God said they’re on a slippery plank in the dark. Boy, I mean, that’s in a bad way. Can’t see where you’re going and you’re walking on ice. Surely they shall fall.
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, they walk in lies: they strengthen the hands of evildoers, that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants of Gomorrah ( Jer 23:13-14 ).
They’re just irredeemable.
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you ( Jer 23:15-17 ).
The prophets were prophesying lies. “It doesn’t matter how you live. You’re all right. God will accept you. God really doesn’t care that you live after your flesh, that you disregard His law. Doesn’t really matter. Peace. No evil is going to come upon you.”
There are many churches today where there is really no strong preaching of the Word. The people go and are comforted. No matter, though they are walking after their own imagination, after their own lust, they go to church and they can come out feeling very comforted, very good, because there is no real conviction of sin. There’s no real preaching of righteousness or holiness before God. And the tragic thing is that people are being comforted in their evil ways, being lulled into a false sense of security. A lot of ministers today will tell you there is no hell. All the hell you’re ever going to get is right here on earth. All the heaven you’re ever going to get is right here on earth. There is no future judgment. And there are ministers that make fun of and scoff at the idea of hell. “Peace in this place. Surely God won’t visit you for the evil that you have done. No evil will come upon you.”
For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? ( Jer 23:18 )
These guys are speaking for the Lord but He said, “They never sat in My council. They don’t know the things that I have determined. Yet they’re speaking for Me, but they don’t even know what they’re talking about. They haven’t been in My council. They haven’t heard My word.”
Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he has executed, and till he has performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly ( Jer 23:19-20 ).
You’ll understand it completely. Hindsight is always better than foresight. When it’s happened you’ll look back and then you’ll understand that you were being deceived by those false prophets. You’ll understand that it was a lie, that they were speaking in the name of the Lord, that you were duped. God is saying the day will come. You’ll look back when the calamity is fallen, when the judgment is come, then you’ll realize these men were lying to you the whole while who said no evil is going to come to this place. It’s going to be peace and all.
For I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? ( Jer 23:21-23 )
Aren’t I not right present? I’m not far off someplace where you can’t reach Me or where I don’t know what’s going on. God doesn’t dwell in some remote corner of the universe. Paul said to those Epicurean philosophers there in Athens, “This is the God I want to talk to you about, for in Him we live, we move, we have our being” ( Act 17:28 ). It’s the God who pervades all of space. You can’t escape His presence.
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? ( Jer 23:24 )
There is no secret sin. There is no hidden sin. God sees everything we do. You think you’re hiding yourself from God or your actions from God. You’re only deceiving yourself.
Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said, that are prophesying lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal ( Jer 23:24-27 ).
So these men are telling their fancy dreams and turning people away from God.
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD ( Jer 23:28 ).
There is a certain danger in our seeking after spiritual phenomena today whereby God might speak through a, say through, a man that is calling himself a prophet. And that you go to him and he lays his hand upon your head and begins to prophesy over you. Revealing to you things of your past. Revealing to you the things that nobody else knows until your heart is really confirmed. “Wow, this guy must really know what he’s talking about.”
There is in this area a few years back a lady who was doing just such a thing. She had a very uncanny ability to prophesy over people. And in her prophecy reveal secrets of their past. And many people were attracted to her and drawn to her because one of the large charismatic churches in the county featured her as the Sunday school teacher for a time. I had a young man, a minister, who had tremendous potential. I had worked with him in several summer camping programs. We had spent a lot of time together in the Word, in prayer. This young man was searching after God, seeking after God. And so he went and he heard this woman and he was attracted to her uncanny ability to be able to prophesy and to say so many things. And so he made an appointment and he went over to her house. And there she began to reveal to him all kinds of things about his past, about his beautiful, godly mother. And as she was relating these things to him he was captivated by her ability to be able to see so clearly and she began to prophesy directions and guidance for his life. She began to direct him into the contacting his mother through séances and into spiritism. And this young man who had such a tremendous potential and was used in such a glorious way by God in ministering to young people is today totally out of it. Led astray. He wouldn’t listen to the counsel from the Word. This woman had really bewitched him by her gift that she possessed. But the gift really wasn’t from God.
There is a danger in seeking to the supernatural phenomena for guidance or for direction rather than to God and to the Word of God. A person comes up and says, “Oh, I’ve had a dream. I want to tell you my dream. What does my dream mean?” Oh, I don’t know. “He that has a dream let him tell his dream.” To someone else. “But he that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully.” And yet there are those that talk about revelations from angels. Angels that visit them and sit on their beds and direct them. And people get all excited. “Oh, have you read Angels on Assignment? My!”
“He that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” We have the Word of God. Nothing can be added to it or should be taken away from it. This is the wheat. This will produce spiritual growth. This will cause you to be strong in the Lord. This will build up your spiritual man. You may be running around looking for spiritual excitement. It’s always a dangerous thing, looking for spiritual phenomena, because it’s easy to be led astray. The Word of God will keep you on the path. You cannot grow by supernatural phenomena.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I am not opposed to the gifts and the working of the Holy Spirit. The true manifestation of the works of the Spirit are marvelous and I seek them. But all that comes must be measured and judged by the Word of God. We cannot allow experiences to become the basis for doctrinal truth. We cannot establish doctrine upon experiences. We can only establish doctrine on the sound Word of God and not upon any kind of supernatural phenomena.
A while back we had this plague of “demon, demon, who’s got the demons?” And the groups were gathering together all over the United States to deliver one another from the burps or the lethargy or gluttonous demons. Tragic. Sad. People guiding each other by experiences and not by the Word of God.
But I read some of the books, and this one pastor who was heavy into this deliverance ministry was teaching the doctrine of demonology. And in the book, in the doctrine of demonology that he was teaching, he was teaching that we have the power to bind the demons and cast them into hell, into the pit. And that we should always bind the demons and cast them into the pit. Now how did he know we had that power? Because when he was exorcising a demon, the demon told him, “Don’t cast me into the pit.” And he said, “Oh, do I have that power?” The demon said, “Yes, you have that power to cast me in the pit. Please don’t do it.” So you have a doctrine that is based upon the word of a demon. Now Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. Surely the demons are liars, too. How can you base a doctrine upon what is said by a demon whose basic character is that of lying? But you see how easily you can be swayed to look to something else for the truth. “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.”
Is not my word like a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? ( Jer 23:29-37 )
Rather than saying, “What’s the burden of the Lord, brother?” Just say, “What’s the Lord answered you or what hath the Lord spoken?” Because this thing of the burden of the Lord, they were all the false prophets were using that.
But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD ( Jer 23:38 );
A lot of people going around today saying, “Oh, the Lord lays such a heavy burden on me, man. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it. God laid this heavy burden on me.” Are you sure? Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, My burden is light” ( Mat 11:30 ). I think the people can lay heavy burdens on us. Many times the church lays heavy burdens on people. Many times we take heavy burdens on ourselves. Now let’s not blame the Lord for it. God’s not going to lay such a burden on you that it’s going to drive you to a nervous breakdown. God’s not going to lay such a burden on you that you can’t really function with your family because you’re so upset and so nervous and so uptight over this pressure that is on you. “But if I don’t do it, you know, they’re going to be calling me. And oh, I don’t know what I’m going to do. This burden of the Lord, the burden of the Lord.” No, no, no, it’s not the burden of the Lord. It’s something that man has laid on you, the church has laid on you. You take it on yourself, but God didn’t lay it on you because Jesus said, “My burden is light, My yoke is easy.”
Some people say to me, “I don’t know how you can pastor a church with that many people.” I say, “Well, I don’t either.” But it’s really not difficult. It’s not a heavy burden. I don’t go around just, you know, pressed down and just groaning and just, “Hope I can make it another day.” I don’t feel it. His yoke is easy, His burden is light. There’s no big pressure. There is no big deal because His yoke is easy, His burden is light. I’ve oftentimes told people it was much harder to pastor a little church of twenty-five people in Prescott than it is to pastor Calvary Chapel. I had many heavier burdens there than I have here. This is a piece of cake.
But God says, “Forget that burden of the Lord stuff. I’m tired of hearing that. I don’t want to hear it anymore. Just say, ‘What did the Lord say?’ Or, ‘How has the Lord answered you?’ But don’t, don’t, don’t use that burden of the Lord bit.”
Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence ( Jer 23:39 ):
If you use this term any more.
And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten ( Jer 23:40 ).
So that’s one phrase I’d sure stay away from if I were you.
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Jer 23:1. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
What a dreadful woe this is upon all false shepherds, those who profess to be sent of God to instruct the people, but who are not sent of God at all, whose labours only result in the scattering of the sheep, and destroying them, instead of gathering them to Christ for their salvation!
Jer 23:2-4. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you, the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
If the under-shepherds do not feed the flock, God himself will do it, for his own redeemed flock shall not be torn of wolves, nor left to perish in the lands whither they are driven. That great Shepherd of the sheep will do what others fail to do; but this does not take away from them their responsibility, and it must be the most solemn responsibility that rests on mortal man to profess to be a shepherd of souls, yet not to be sent of God.
Jer 23:5. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
We are looking for that glorious King. Oh, that he would soon come! He is the great Monarch who shall absorb all other monarchies, for he shall reign for ever and ever.
Jer 23:6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
What a glorious name for our King, who is made of God unto us righteousness. We may well rejoice to think that all the perfect righteousness of our great King and Lord shall belong to us, for this shall be his very name, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Jer 23:7-8. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, the LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
There are better times for Israel than Israel has ever known as yet. The glories of Egypt and of the Red Sea are yet to be eclipsed. And there are better times in store for the Church of God than she has seen as yet.
Jer 23:9. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets;
In Jeremiahs day there was a set of men who pretended to be prophets, yet who contradicted the Lords servant at every point.
Jer 23:9. All my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
Jeremiah had really received the Word of the Lord, and it seemed to overpower him; as that Word was full of terror, he felt like one who was overcome with wine.
Jer 23:10-11. For the land is full of adulterers, for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
It is an awful thing when wickedness abounds even in the house of God; and it is to be feared that, in many places, the church of the present day is not clear in this matter.
Jer 23:12. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness:
What an awful description of the doom of the profane prophets and priests! Slippery ways are bad enough in the light, but their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness.
Jer 23:12-14. They shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing:
It was bad enough for Samaria to go astray. There was a mixed race there, so it was no wonder that their prophets were foolish; but oh! that in Jerusalem, the city of the great King, there should be false prophets, that was worst of all. This was the style of these prophets:
Jer 23:14-15. They commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets, Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
When preachers are bad, who wonders that people are worse? If the prophets go astray, how shall those who follow them find the right road?
Jer 23:16. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain:
That is one mark of a false prophet, he makes you feel that you are a fine fellow, that there is something good in you: They make you vain.
Jer 23:16. They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
That is another of the marks of a false prophet. Such a man as that is a great thinker; he has thought out his theology himself, he has imagined and invented it himself: They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
Jer 23:17. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
This is yet another mark of the false prophet. He always tries to smooth down the consequences of sin. In the future state, he says, sin may occasion some temporary inconvenience, but all things will come right sooner or later. That is a man sent of the devil, he is no servant of the living God. By these three tests you may prove who are the false prophets, they make you vain, they speak out of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of God, and they try to make it easy for you to sin by denying the greatness of the penalty attached to it.
Jer 23:18-19. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
This is Gods Word; he does not prophesy smooth things to the wicked, he does not promise slight consequences of sin, but a whirlwind and a grievous whirlwind.
Jer 23:20-22. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
False prophets are futile and vain, no good result comes of all their teaching; but oh! if they had known the Word of the Lord, if they had really been sent of God, what a difference there would have been! God grant that none of us may pretend to teach others what we have never learned, or to speak for God if God has never spoken to us!
Jer 23:23-26. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophecy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
They profess to be prophets of their own heart, but they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, for that which comes out of mans heart is like the heart itself, and mans heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Jer 23:27-28. Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream;
Let him tell it as a dream, for it is nothing more than that. If he has dreamt it, let him say, This is a dream that I have dreamed, but it is only a dream.
Jer 23:28. And he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
Let him speak it as the Word of the Lord.
Jer 23:28. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
Mans thoughts, mans conceptions, at their very best, are but as chaff; only the Word of the Lord is the true wheat.
Jer 23:29-30. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
Borrowed sermons pages of other peoples experience fragments pulled from old or new divines nothing of their own, nothing that God ever said to them, nothing that ever thrilled their hearts or swayed their souls, God will not own such teaching as this.
Jer 23:31. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
They have not any hearts; they only use their tongues. They say, He saith, as if God had said to them something which he has never said.
Jer 23:32. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
See how heavily God deals with the false prophets of Jeremiahs time; and he will deal with equal severity with any who preach or teach anything other than the gospel of his blessed Son, the pure revelation which is written in this Book. God grant that none of us may be deceived by them, for his dear Sons sake! Amen.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Jer 23:1-8
Jer 23:1-4
Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Jehovah. Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, against the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. And I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, saith Jehovah.
Shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep…
(Jer 23:1). Whither I have driven them … (Jer 23:3). Throughout the Bible the same action is often attributed to multiple sources. Here the sheep were scattered by the false shepherds, but God also states that he had scattered them. The same act may be referred to man or to God, according to the light in which we regard it. Judicial hardening, for example, is done by God, and by Satan, and by men themselves. In the New Testament the crucifixion of Christ is said to have been done by (1) God; (2) by Christ; (3) by Satan; (4) by the Jews; (5) by the Romans, etc.
The remnant of my flock out of all the countries. and will bring them to their fold …..
(Jer 23:3). This is a prophecy of the return of the righteous remnant from Babylon to Canaan, which in time, of course, duly came to pass; but there are two things that forbid the limitation of this prophecy to the physical return of a relatively few Jews from Baylonian captivity. These are: (1) the very limited number who returned, not from all the countries, but from Babylon only, and (2) the proximity of the passage to the glorious prophecy of the Messiah in the same breath. The fulfillment of this prophecy in its fuller significance occurred not in the pitiful remnant that returned from Babylon, but in the glorious ingathering into the fold of God of both Jews and Gentiles alike in the kingdom of Christ. As Cheyne expressed it, To be in Christ is to be in the true Canaan.
I will set up shepherds over them who shall feed them, and they shall fear no more…
(Jer 23:4) Barnes and others find this to be, A prophecy of the post-exilic leaders such as Nehemiah, Ezra, the Maccabees, etc. But this is by no means a satisfactory explanation of the prophecy. It is impossible to believe that during all the wars and dislocations of the inter-testamental period the people of God did not fear any more. There are most certainly overtones of the kingdom of heaven in the prophecy here.
The remnant of my flock…
(Jer 23:3). The doctrine of a righteous remnant appears extensively in the Old Testament. It is found in Isa 1:9; Isa 37:4; Mic 4:7; Mic 7:18, and in Jeremiah here, and in Jeremiah 24 and Jer. 40–44. One of the sons of Isaiah was named, A remnant shall return, being in fact a double prophecy, not merely of the captivity, but also of the return to Palestine of a small remnant. The name of that son was Shear-Jashub, (Isa 7:3; Isa 10:21). Until there is proof that Isaiah did not live until after the exile, the critics will never establish their false allegation that the doctrine of a remnant did not exist prior to the exile.
Nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking…
(Jer 23:4) Harrison thought that these words meant that, None of them shall go astray, because responsible shepherds shall lead them and attend to their welfare. If that is indeed what the passage means, it is further proof that only in Messianic times may the fulfillment be expected. Certainly in the long ages prior to the coming of Messiah, the Old Israel became more sinful than ever, sinking into the utter rigidity of God’s judicial hardening; and those official shepherds of the people, i.e., the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians were revealed as the false shepherds of Zechariah, and who engineered the crucifixion of the Son of God Himself. No, we cannot find the fulfillment of the promise of those noble shepherds of Jer 23:4 anywhere in ancient Israel. Also, alas, there were many religious communities during the reign of Messiah which still suffered from the fatal leadership of evil shepherds.
Jer 23:5-8
PROPHECY OF THE RIGHTEOUS BRANCH
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.
A righteous Branch…
(Jer 23:5). Without any doubt whatever, this is a promise of the Holy Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The near-unanimous opinion of the greatest scholars of a thousand years has held this passage to be a prophecy of Jesus the Christ the Son of God. The words of it cannot possibly refer to any one else. Who else, among all the people ever born, could honestly be called JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS?
We shall cite only a few examples of what well-known writers have said and are still saying about this passage.
The announcement concerns the ideal king Messiah. Messiah is here called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, because he is Jehovah; and he is our righteousness because he justifies us by his merits. As a title, BRANCH traces the human and divine ancestry of Messiah and focuses upon the kingly and priestly natures of the Messianic task. In Jer 23:5-8, we have the promise of Messiah. Under the just scepter of Messiah, all Israel will reach the destiny designed for it by the Lord. We have not many prophecies of Christ in Jeremiah, but here is a very illustrious one. Doubtless the prophet speaks of him and of no other man. Some scholars question this oracle, feeling that messianism was not a significant element in Jeremiah’s thought. But how can we know that? when the concept of messianism is found here, in Jer 33:15-16; Jer 3:15-18, and in Jer 31:31-34; and this is surely an instance of a direct reference to the messianic King. The title BRANCH here has much in common semantically with “seed” (Gen 3:15), the Davidic Son (2 Samuel 7), and with Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord … Here is the highest fulfillment of the Seed of Woman, the Son of David, and the Servant of the Lord. This title, The Plant, is here unmistakably applied to the Messianic King.
There are at least a hundred other references in this writer’s library that could be added to these; but these are sufficient for the moment.
We should be aware, however, that Satan is never content to allow any holy prophecy of the Son of God to remain unchallenged in the sacred scriptures; and there constantly surfaces evidence of satanic objections to every prophecy in the Word of God. Note the following paragraph.
“The concept of the coming king is not of major importance in Jeremiah. The Christian is tempted to find a reference to Christ here. Others suggest Zerubbabel (Hag 2:23).”
It seems strange that such a comment as this should come from a former Bible professor in a Christian university. He strongly implies here that there is no reference to Christ in this passage, an interpretation that must be rejected. And who are those “others” who suggest Zerubbabel? Zerubbabel was no king in any sense of the word. Who are the ‘others’? They are those who try to edit Christ out of every prophecy in the Bible. (See my dissertation on Zerubbabel in Vol. 3 of my commentaries on the minor prophets, pp. 188f.) Zerubbabel was a deputy of Darius the Great, king of Babylon, and being a favorite of that monarch was permitted to lead a group back to Jerusalem, where he served the king of Babylon as governor of Judah. He was of the seed of David all right, but as a son of Shealtiel, he was the legal heir to the non-existent throne of Israel, but was absolutely unqualified to sit on David’s throne because of the prohibition of Jer 22:30.
We wish to note another serious blunder in the above quotation. The reference to Christians being “Tempted to find Christ” in the passage here implies that Christians might not be as reliable as some other people in arriving at a true interpretation of the Word of God. The opposite of this is true. An apostle of Jesus Christ flatly declared that unless one is indeed a believer in Christ Jesus, “Even to this day, in the reading of the Old Covenant, a veil lieth upon their heart” (2Co 3:15)! No one who is not a Christian can properly read and interpret the Old Testament. That is the very thing that produces so much irresponsible writing on the Old Testament today.
The futility of seeking a fulfillment of that promise of an ideal king at any time between the captivity and the First Advent of Christ is seen in the prophecy of Hosea who declared that Israel would continue “without king, without prince” (Hos 3:4) etc. The earthly house of David was terminated in the previous chapter. “But even with the temporal kingship abolished, the sure mercies of David were still sure.” F17 Those sure mercies, however, would be accomplished not by some racial group nor in some literal city such as Jerusalem, but in the realization of the Messianic Kingdom of Christ.
And he shall reign as king…
(Jer 23:5). He shall reign as king, not as a puppet like Zedekiah, and not as a deputy of the king of Babylon like Zerubbabel.
He shall be called JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS…
(Jer 23:6). Who but Jesus Christ was ever entitled to a name like this? Ten times in the Greek New Testament Jesus is called God. Other than in the instance of a few lunatics has this name ever been applied to any person except our Lord.
We agree with Feinberg that the “forensic righteousness” (imputed righteousness) of the New Testament is not in this passage. Furthermore, we do not believe it is in the New Testament either! The righteousness here is genuine, intrinsic righteousness. How is it, then, called “our righteousness?” This is outlined in seven KJV verses of the N.T.: Rom 3:22; Rom 3:26; Gal 2:16; Gal 2:20; Gal 3:22; Eph 3:12; and Php 3:9. In all these verses properly translated, it is affirmed that men are saved by the “faith of Christ’; and it is Christ’s righteousness alone that ever saved anyone. How? By God’s imputing righteousness to stinking sinners? A thousand times NO! God’s way of saving sinners is by transferring the sinners into Christ, after they are willing to renounce themselves or deny themselves and to become identified with Christ, as Christ, and “in Christ” by being baptized into him (Gal 3:26-27; Rom 6:3-5, and 1Co 12:13). Thus they partake of a righteousness that is truly genuine in the fullest sense of the word.
As Jehovah liveth who. led the seed of the children out of the north country …..
(Jer 23:8). This greater exodus than the coming up out of Egypt was not fulfilled by the handful of returnees from Babylon. In the Exodus from Egypt, the tribe of Judah alone boasted over 600,000; therefore this greater exodus refers to the innumerable company of the redeemed in Christ (Rev 7:9-10).
And they shall dwell in their own land…
(Jer 23:8). Again we remember the words of Cheyne already quoted in this chapter, To be in Christ is to be in the true Canaan. In addition to that, there never was for Israel, either safety or salvation in the old Canaan. Salvation is found nowhere, but nowhere, except in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Before leaving this great prophecy, we should point out that the metaphor also appears in Isa 11:1; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:11, etc. (See my comments “en loco” which will supplement what is written here.)
The Promise of an Ideal Ruler Jer 23:1-8
It is a sad situation which the prophet is describing in Jer 23:1. The shepherds, the national leaders (cf. Jer 2:8; Jer 10:21), are responsible for the impending destruction of the flock which God has committed into their care. Under the leadership of these unscrupulous men the people of the land had strayed from the paths of fidelity to God. Not only did these leaders set the wrong example for the people, they also condoned and encouraged the violence and corruption which was rampant in the land. These leaders had not visited the flock of God. Therefore God is about to visit these corrupt leaders (Jer 23:2). The Hebrew word translated visit has a wide variety of meanings. It may mean to attend to, to visit, muster, appoint, pay attention to, etc. The word can be used in a positive or a negative sense. One can visit for the purpose of aiding or helping, or one can visit for the purpose of judging or punishing. The verb is used in both senses in Jer 23:2. The spiritual leaders of Judah did not visit the flock, i.e., they did not care for or aid them or pay attention to them. Therefore God will visit on them their evil deeds, i.e., God will punish them for their wickedness. This type of word play is common in the prophetic books. By pointing the finger of blame at the national leaders Jeremiah does not mean to excuse the populace from any responsibility for the condition of the nation. The people are guilty for having tolerated and followed their wicked leaders.
The corrupt shepherds who governed Judah were responsible for the impending national deportation and dispersement. But sometime in the future the Good Shepherd would again assemble His flock. Only a remnant, a small portion, of those who were carried away into captivity would ever return. Apparently the majority would be lost during the period of exile. God will gather His people from the various lands-Egypt, Assyria, Babylon-where He had scattered them. Upon returning to their homeland the remnant of Judah will be made fruitful and they will multiply (Jer 23:3). Compare Eze 34:12-15. After their return God will raise up for His people a new kind of ruler. The wicked shepherds took care of themselves and not the flock; but the new shepherds will have the interest of the people at heart. The old shepherds had left the flock of God exposed to the ravishes of wild beasts (cf. Eze 34:8); under the new shepherds the flock will contentedly graze without fear. Not one of them will be lacking or missing due to any neglect on the part of the new shepherds (Jer 23:4). Who are the new shepherds of whom Jeremiah speaks? Some contend that he is referring to leaders like Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah whom God raised up to care for the remnant of Judah following the return from Babylon. Others think the prediction is Messianic and points to those leaders who serve under the glorious Ruler who appears in the following verse. As is frequently the case in prophecy prophecies of restoration blend in with prophecies of the Messiah and His kingdom.
The word behold indicates that a noteworthy announcement is about to be made. Jeremiah uses the formula behold days are coming sixteen times to introduce messages of reassurance. After the days of humiliation at the hands of Babylon, God will raise up an ideal King to rule over the land. This ruler is of course none other than the long-awaited Messiah. Jer 23:5-6 are of such importance that nearly every phrase is deserving of comment. The following information can be gleaned from these verses concerning the coming Messiah.
1. The promised Messiah is to be the descendant of David. Through the prophet Nathan, God had promised David that his progeny would sit forever on the throne of Israel (2 Samuel 7).
2. The Messiah is called in the standard English version a branch. However the Hebrew word is never used of a twig or individual branch of a tree. Rather the idea is a sprout or shoot which grows directly out of the ground. The title shoot is here applied unmistakably to the Messiah for the first time. In Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12 shoot becomes a proper name for the Messiah.
3. The Messianic Shoot is raised up by direct action of God. This was necessary because the old stock of David was worn out, incapable of reproducing from itself a mighty tree.
4. The Messiah will be a righteous Shoot. All other descendants of David had to confess their sins and ask divine forgiveness. The Messiah would be sinless (Isa 53:9). He did not become righteous; he was righteous (Isa 53:11).
5. The Messiah shall reign as king. Jeremiah looks forward here to the rule of a second David. That the reign of Christ has already begun is the clear testimony of the New Testament. See Heb 1:3-13; Heb 10:12-13; Rev 3:21; 1Co 15:20-28; Act 2:19-34.
6. He shall deal wisely. The same Hebrew verb could be translated he shall prosper. But in the light of Isa 11:2 probably the former translation is preferable. The Messiah will have the insight and the intelligence to bring Gods plan of salvation to a successful completion. He will rule His kingdom in such a way as to bring joy, happiness and well-being to all His subjects.
7. The Messiah will execute justice and righteousness. This sums up the function of the ideal ruler (cf. 11 Samuel Jer 8:15). He is able to create or establish a new norm, a new standard, a new righteousness. Seven times Jeremiah uses the Hebrew verb meaning do or make with the word for justice. Thus the Messiah creates or makes justice and righteousness.
8. Israel and Judah will be reunited under the rule of the Messiah. Ezekiel held out a similar hope (Eze 37:19). The salvation and deliverance spoken of in Jer 23:6 are spiritual blessings. Reunited Judah and Israel never regained political independence except for one brief period under the Hasmonean rulers in the second century before Christ.
9. The Messiah shall bear the name The LORD our Righteousness. In Jer 33:16 Jeremiah gives this same name to the city of Jerusalem. Laetsch has pointed out the unique manner in which this name is introduced here. The Lord does not merely say: His name is or shall be (as is said of Abraham-Gen 17:5 b); nor does he say: Call His name (as in the case of Ishmael-Gen 16:11; Gen 16:13); nor yet does he say: This shall he be called (as is used of Jerusalem-Jer 33:16). The phraseology used here is unique in the entire Old Testament: And this is His name which one shall call Him. According to Laetsch two facts are underscored by this construction:
(1) The name given the Messiah here is not a mere label or tag. Rather it designates the very nature or essence of the Messiah. He IS righteousness! (2) God desires that mankind should refer to the Messiah by the title here given, Yahweh, our Righteousness.
In Jer 23:7-8 the prophet moves back from the distant Messianic future to the more immediate future. Using essentially the language of Jer 16:14 f. Jeremiah speaks once again of the return from Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah never wavered on this proposition: God would bring a remnant of His people home from Babylon. This return from Babylon would overshadow the Exodus from Egypt. The promise is introduced by the word therefore. One noted expositor has suggested that whenever one sees in Scripture a therefore he ought to try to discover what it is there for. The suggestion here is that God lets His people return to their homeland as a preparation for the coming of the great Messianic savior of whom Jeremiah has been speaking in Jer 23:5-6. Since the Exodus from Egypt was foundational to the establishment of the old covenant and to all the theology of the Old Testament, it is no small matter for Jeremiah to state that the New Exodus from Babylon will supersede that earlier event in importance. Only when the Exodus from Babylon is seen as foundational to the establishment of the New Covenant is such a comparison justified.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Having thus passed in review the predecessors of Zedekiah on the throne of Judah, the prophet proceeded to deal with those who had been responsible for the failure of the people, the false kings and prophets. This first section has to do with the kings.
In the divine economy the king has always been a shepherd, but the men who had held the kingly office had destroyed and scattered the sheep. This is the charge of Jehovah against them, and the prophet declared that Jehovah would visit on them the evil of their doings. Moreover, he announced the purpose of God to gather the remnant of His flock and set up over them shepherds who would feed them. In this connection his vision grew clearer, and he announced the coming of One of David’s line, who would “reign as King and deal wisely,” and through whom the restoration of the ancient people would be accomplished.
He then turned to the prophets. Of these he spoke out of a broken heart as he contemplated the condition of the land. He ascribed this terrible state of things to the profanation of prophet and priest. The judgment of the prophets was consequent on the falseness of the messages they had delivered. In the very presence of judgment they had spoken the lie of peace, declaring to the people that no evil would come upon them. Moreover, they had spoken without divine authority. They had dreamed their own dreams, rather than delivered the messages of Jehovah. Finally, he uttered the tremendous word of the divine judgment, beginning, “I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah.” The consequence of false prophesying is unutterable confusion, and ultimately the loss of the word of authority, so that “every man’s word shall be his own burden.”
This section clearly reveals the prophet’s accurate understanding of the process of the nation’s corruption. False kings and prophets had led the people into courses of evil resulting from degraded conceptions of God. In their turn the people had willingly followed and listened, refusing the true messages of God, such as had been spoken by Jeremiah and other of the divinely appointed messengers.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Widespread Corruption
Jer 5:1-6; Jer 19:1-15; Jer 20:1-18; Jer 21:1-14; Jer 22:1-30; Jer 23:1-40; Jer 24:1-10; Jer 25:1-38; Jer 26:1-24; Jer 27:1-22; Jer 28:1-17; Jer 29:1-32; Jer 30:1-24; Jer 31:1-40
Diogenes, the cynic, was discovered one day in Athens in broad daylight, lantern in hand, looking for something. When someone remonstrated with him, he said that he needed all the light possible to enable him to find an honest man. Something like that is in the prophets thought. God was prepared to spare Jerusalem on lower terms than even Sodom, and yet He was driven to destroy her. Both poor and rich had alike broken the yoke and burst the bonds. The description of the onset of the Chaldeans is very graphic. They settle down upon the land as a flock of locusts, but still the Chosen People refuse to connect their punishment with their sin. It never occurred to the Chosen People that the failure of the rain, the withering of their crops, and the assault of their foes, were all connected with their sin. There is nothing unusual in this obtuseness for as we read the history of our own times, men are equally inapt at connecting national disaster with national sin.
How good it would be if the national cry of today were that of Jer 5:24 : Let us now fear before the Lord our God! Notice the delightful metaphor of Jer 5:22. When God would stay the wild ocean wave a barrier of sand will suffice. The martyrs were as sand grains but wild persecutions were quenched by their heroic patience.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
“Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord” (Jer 23:1-2).
It is a pitiable thing when the leaders of the people of GOD cause the simple to err; when those who are set to guide and protect the flock lead them into by-paths and expose them to danger.
Solemn will be the accounting when the Lord shall visit for these things. By referring to the 34th chapter of Ezekiel the reader will get a fuller description of the course of these evil shepherds. See especially Eze 34:1-6.
Both there and here there are sweet assurances that human pastors having so wretchedly failed, the Lord Himself will gather the remnant of His flock from all countries whither He has driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, where they shall be fruitful and increase (Jer 23:3).
This has no reference to a conversion of Jews to Christianity. But this promise speaks of a still future and literal return of the Jews to their land after the present dispensation has closed, and the Church is removed to heaven. When thus restored to the home of their fathers, and to their King whom they once rejected, saying:
“We have no king but Caesar”, (Joh 19:15) He shall then “set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord” (Jer 23:4).
Twelve of these shepherds we know, for our Lord said to the apostles:
“Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mat 19:28).
Judas, by transgression, forfeited his place, but Matthias was given the bishopric thus made vacant. Through the promised Messiah are these covenanted mercies of David to be fulfilled. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jer 23:5).
This Branch of the Lord’s planting is frequently referred to in the prophets.
Isaiah tells of His beauty and glory when “the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel, . . . and the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion” (Isa 4:2-4). The entire passage is depicting a Millennial scene.
In Zec 3:8 the Lord says, “Behold, I will bring forth My servant the BRANCH,” and He will then “remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”
Also in Zec 6:12-13 of the same book, we read: “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is The BRANCH; and He shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord; even He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”
When vacillating Pilate set JESUS before the multitude, and, unconsciously uttering the words of the prophet, cried, “Behold the Man!” (Joh 19:5) he was directing the gaze of Israel to the Branch of the Lord in whom, though they knew it not, all their hopes were centered.
“In His days . . . Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called, [JEHOVAH TSIDKENU] – THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer 23:6). Having no title to blessing in themselves, they shall find it all in their once rejected Messiah.
Like that great pattern Jew, Saul of Tarsus (1Ti 1:16), they will ”be found in Him, not having their own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Php 3:9). Unto them, as unto us now, He shall be made their wisdom: even righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1Co 1:30).
“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land” (Jer 23:7-8).
Some would seek to make the partial return in the days of Cyrus to be the fulfilment of this promise. It is manifestly an erroneous interpretation.
– In the first place, there was no such universal restoration then, as this verse warrants us to expect; and
– In the second, Israel did not dwell in the land, but were soon scattered again, and are to-day dispersed among all nations.
Isaiah plainly tells us that “it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, . . . and assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isa 11:11-12). It is to this second and final deliverance that Jeremiah refers.
We are next introduced to another of the contrasts so frequent in this book.
After having, for a brief moment, dwelt upon the glories of Messiah’s reign, he gives utterance to his lamentation over the state of his people; so different from what it shall be in that day of Millennial blessing.
“My heart within me is broken,” he says, “because of the prophets; all my bones shake: I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of His holiness” (Jer 23:9).
No unworthy jealousy of others in the prophetic office affected him thus, but his soul was deeply moved as the lying seers were but leading their disciples farther from GOD, causing them to be at peace in their wretched condition. The whole land mourned by reason of the adulteries and profaneness of the nation, and both prophet and priest were the leaders in the iniquities so commonly practiced. Therefore “their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness,” and perish at the visitation of the Lord (Jer 23:10-12).
Not only in Judah was this the state of things, but in Samaria, from whence the ten tribes of the northern kingdom had been carried into Assyria long before: prophets had arisen who “prophesied in Baal,” and caused the remnant that were left in the land to err (Jer 23:13). But it was in Jerusalem that the evil was most manifest. There the prophets themselves, licentious and untruthful, strengthened the hands of the evil doers, keeping them back from repentance, until the city had become as Sodom and Gomorrah for vileness. For this they (the prophets) should be fed with the wormwood of His wrath and be made to drink the water of gall of His judgment (Jer 23:14-15).
The people are pleaded with not to hearken unto them; they were but made vain through their false prophets, speaking a vision of their own heart, having received nothing from the Lord. To those despising Him, they declared, “The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace;” and they assured every one walking after the imagination of his own heart that no evil should come upon him (Jer 23:16-17).
As a result, a whirlwind of the Lord had gone forth in fury, for He would execute the thoughts of His heart against prophet and people alike; and His counsel and word should stand. In the latter days they should consider it, and understand that they were being so dealt with in chastisement for their departure from Himself (vers. 18-20). These self-appointed prophets, unsent by GOD and with no word from Him, could not cause the people to turn from their evil ways; they but encouraged them in their sin. Alas! that they have had many successors, both in Judaism and in Christendom, must be patent to every thoughtful person. Do not such teachers and preachers abound? And the blind multitude, “having itching ears, depart from the truth” (2Ti 4:3-4) to follow after their self-chosen deceivers. But the eye of the Lord, who is “not a God afar off,” is over all, and none can “hide in secret places from Him who fills heaven and earth” (Jer 23:23-24).
He heard the lies of the prophets, who spoke out of the deceit of their own hearts, in the dark days we have been considering; and He is taking note of all the empty vapourings of to-day.
Instead of His sure and faithful Word, mere idle dreams were being given out as the Word of GOD. “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord” (Jer 23:25-28).
All men’s brightest thoughts and loftiest imaginings are but as worthless chaff compared with the pure, unadulterated Word of GOD. We “have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but, by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2Co 4:2), is the utterance of the true minister. How different to Satan’s wretched counterfeit!
“Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jer 23:29)
There is a power in the simple truth of GOD such as no merely human fancies or philosophies can ever have. It alone can break the heart of stone.
But these prophets, giving out their dreams and speculations for the people’s acceptance, were actually stealing the Lord’s words from them. He was therefore against them; and they would be of no profit to the people (Jer 23:29-32).
On the other hand, when either priest, prophet, or any of the people, should come to Jeremiah in perplexity and fear, asking, “What is the burden of the Lord?” he is to answer, according to their folly, “What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord;” (Jer 23:33) while all who shall profess to have another “burden” shall be punished, and “the burden of the Lord” shall be mentioned no more, “for every man’s word shall be his burden” (Jer 23:36) – that is, they shall have no word from GOD, but shall be given up to their own thoughts, because they had perverted the words of the living GOD. They must therefore bear their judgment, and know the truth of that which had been penned by Solomon, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Pro 29:18). They shall be “an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten” (Jer 23:33-40).
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Jer 23:6
I. We may view the text as simply an announcement of important truth. It stands there on the sacred page like a profound oracular utterance from the hidden shrine of truth, given forth for our enlightenment and everlasting benefit. (1) The Lord is our righteousness, inasmuch as the purpose and plan of justifying sinners originated with Him. (2) The Lord is our righteousness, inasmuch as He Himself alone has procured righteousness for us. (3) The Lord is our righteousness, inasmuch as it is through His grace and by His free donation that we receive righteousness.
II. These words may be contemplated as the utterance of personal belief and confidence. Here we present to our minds the view of a body of persons who avow and proclaim that the Lord is their righteousness; and who know, reverence, and confide in God as thus apprehended. They have no confidence in the flesh, their trust is in God alone. They look not to works of charity, or self-denial, or penance, for acceptance with God; they ask only to be accepted in the beloved. They know in whom they have believed, and therefore they do not hesitate to stand up and avow before the world that all their trust and all their hope is in that worthy name, The Lord our Righteousness. In their lips this is the language (1) of faith; (2) of hope; (3) of joy and gratitude.
III. We may contemplate the text as a directory to the inquirer. Sinners are supposed to be anxious to know the way of acceptance with God. Conscious of guilt, they feel their need of a justifying righteousness in order that they may stand without blame before the moral Governor of the universe. With them, therefore, the foremost and most pressing question is, How may I, a sinner, be righteous before God? To such the words of my text give a brief but most satisfactory answer. They are a proclamation from God Himself, that in Him is the salvation of the sinner found. They direct the inquirer away from self, away from all creature help, away from all methods of personal or sacerdotal propitiation, and carry his thoughts to God-to God in Christ, as the sole Author and Bestower of righteousness. The Lord is our righteousness, and He alone. His voice to the lost and guilty sons of men is “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.”
W. Lindsay Alexander, Sermons, p. 66.
I. This verse teaches us that the Son of David and the King of Israel is the source of our righteousness, the exhibition and presentation of it before our consciences and unto the Father. Christ is to us the realisation of righteousness. It is no longer an unattainable conception of an abstract idea which we find it hard to grasp or to fulfil, but in Him it becomes a concrete fact on which we can lay hold, and a thing which we can appropriate and possess. He becomes first “righteousness,” and then “our righteousness”-first the visible, incarnate, and realised exhibition of righteousness, and then something of which we can claim possession and in which we can participate.
II. If this is the obverse presentation or positive statement of the truth, it has also its reverse or negative side. If the name whereby Christ is called is “The Lord our Righteousness,” that fact is destructive of all other hopes, prospects, or sources of righteousness; it gives the lie to them and asserts their vanity. No, we can have no righteousness but what we find in the Lord.
S. Leathes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 390.
References: Jer 23:6.-J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays after Trinity, Part II., p. 430; Bishop Walsham How, Plain Words, p. 292; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 395; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 31; Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. vii., p. 261; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 152; S. Leathes, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 305; E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation, 2nd series, p. 460.
Jer 23:28
I. The human dream is empty, but the Divine word is substantial. Chaff is a mere husk, but wheat is all grain. So the antagonists of the Bible deal in vague speculations or empty negations, whereas the Scriptures are positive and satisfying.
II. The human dream is destitute of nourishment for man’s spiritual nature, while the Divine word is strengthening and ministers to its growth. Chaff does not feed, but wheat gives nutriment. So mere speculation has in it no educating and ennobling influence. It occupies the mind without strengthening the character. The man who indulges in it makes no progress, but, instead of flowing onward with the current, he is caught in some whirling eddy, round which he is continually revolving. But the Christian believer grows. His character is ever gaining new development. He never reaches his ideal, but still “follows after.”
III. The human dream has no aggressiveness in it to arrest or overcome the evils that are in the world, but the Divine word is regenerating and reforming. “Is not My word like a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”
IV. The human dream is shortlived, but the Divine word is enduring. Chaff is easily blown away, but the wheat remains. And so the “little systems” of human speculation “have their day, and cease to be;” but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. Like some impregnable fortress, in the hollows around which you may pick up specimens of the various missiles which from age to age have been hurled against it, whilst its walls remain unbroken; the Word of God has withstood for centuries the attacks of many successive armies of antagonists. There is deep truth in Beza’s motto for the French Protestant Church, which surmounts the device of an anvil surrounded by blacksmiths, at whose feet are many broken hammers:
“Hammer away, ye hostile bands,
Your hammers break, God’s anvil stands.”
W. M. Taylor, Contrary Winds, p. 21.
References: Jer 23:28.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 862. Jer 23:29.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 202. Jer 23:35.-J. Hiles Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol, xvi., p. 394. Jer 24:1-3.-T. G. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 149. Jer 24:7.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx., No. 1206. Jer 26:4-6.-T. Binney, Good Words, 1861, p. 300.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 23:1-8
1. The false shepherds (Jer 23:1-4)
2. The True Shepherd (Jer 23:5-8)
Jer 23:1-4. The word pastors means shepherds. Ezekiel received a larger message about these false shepherds, the hirelings who did not feed the flock. (See annotations of Eze 34:1-31 The scattered remnant of the Lords flock (not the Church, but the remnant of Israel) will yet be gathered out of all countries, be fruitful and increase, no longer fearful, dismayed or in want. It is a prophecy concerning the time when the Shepherd of Israel, their King as well, is manifested.
Jer 23:5-8. A great Messianic prophecy follows. The Righteous Branch, the Son of David, whose name is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jehovah Zdidkenu) is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the King who will reign and prosper, executing judgment and justice in the earth. The prophecy is unfulfilled. He came as the Son of David, the promised King. He offered that kingdom to Israel; they rejected Him. But He is coming again, and in that day of glory this great prediction will be accomplished. His people Israel will be saved Rom 11:25-36. Their wonderful restoration from the north and from all the countries will then take place.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
restoration
This final restoration is shown to be accomplished after a period of unexampled tribulation Jer 30:3-10 and in connection with the manifestation of David’s righteous Branch Jer 23:5 who is also Jehovah-tsidkenu Jer 23:6. The restoration here foretold is not to be confounded with the return of a feeble remnant of Judah under Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel at the end of the 70 years Jer 29:10. At His first advent Christ, David’s righteous Branch Luk 1:31-33 did not “execute justice and judgment in the earth,” but was crowned with thorns and crucified. Neither was Israel the nation restored, nor did the Jewish people say, “The Lord our righteousness.” Cf. Rom 10:3. The prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. Act 15:14-17.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Woe: Jer 2:8, Jer 2:26, Eze 13:3, Eze 34:2, Zec 11:17, Mat 23:13-29, Luk 11:42-52
pastors: Jer 23:2, Jer 23:11-15, Jer 2:8, Jer 10:21, Jer 12:10, Jer 22:22, Jer 25:34-36, Jer 50:6, Isa 56:9-12, Eze 22:25-29, Eze 34:2-10, Eze 34:21, Mic 3:11, Mic 3:12, Zep 3:3, Zep 3:4, Zec 11:5-7, Zec 11:15-17, Mat 9:36, Mat 15:14, Joh 10:10, Joh 10:12
Reciprocal: 1Ki 22:17 – as sheep 2Ch 18:16 – as sheep Psa 74:1 – the sheep Jer 50:17 – a scattered Zec 10:3 – anger Act 20:29 – not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 23:1. The original word for pastor was defined at ch. 2:8 which the reader should see. The outstanding thought is one who feeds, figuratively or literally. The priests were expected to give spiritual food or knowledge to the people (Lev 10:8-11; Deu 17:9-11; Mal 2:7), and the prophets were to give any special messages that the Lord regarded neces-sary at times. But these leading men became negligent of their duties and misused their position for their personal advantage. The Lord accuses them of scattering the sheep and threatens woe upon jhem.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 23:1. Wo be unto the pastors Or, as is by some rendered, Alas for the pastors! or, Ho the pastors! For it may be a particle of calling, as the LXX. and Syriac represent it, and not of commination, as in our translation. The word pastors comprehends both civil and ecclesiastical governors: see note on Jer 2:8. This acceptation of the word agrees with the prophets complaint elsewhere, that their rulers, as well as their priests and prophets, were rather corrupters than reformers of the peoples manners. And the Messiah himself, whose coming is foretold, Jer 23:5, for the rectifying of these disorders, was both a king and a priest.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 23:1. Woe be to the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep. Princes are often called pastors, as Cyrus, Isa 44:28, because they enforce the laws and protect the people. Shallum, and the last kings of Judah, were the worst of shepherds, who scattered all the sheep. The degenerate priests and the false prophets flattered those princes in all their errors.
Jer 23:5. I will raise to David a righteous branch. The Messiah, as the Chaldaic reads. See Isa 4:2. The Hebrew word tzamach, a shoot or branch, here used as a title of the Messiah, is by the LXX rendered by the Greek word anatole, which signifies not only a branch or shoot, but also the springing or rising of the day. Hence the variation in the quotation of this passage by Zacharias: through the tender mercy of our God, the dayspring from on high hath visited us. Luk 1:78. The word was applied to the Messiah by the Greek Jews, long before our Saviours time; and hence he was, by the Latin Jews, called Oriens.
Jer 23:6. In his days Judah shall be saved. The Chaldaic and LXX read, In the days of the Messiah.
And this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. vezeh shemo asher yikreoo Jehovah tzidkenoo. And this is his name by which he shall be called, [or they, or people, or Zion, or every one, shall call him] Jehovah our Just One, or Hebraically, the Lord our Righteousness. This text is repeated, chap. 33:16, with a variation. And this is his name by which SHE shall call him, the Lord our righteousness; that is, Zion or the church shall glory to call him her JUST ONE, or her Righteousness. This is done in conformity to the analogy of faith. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Isa 45:24. So St. Paul, Christ is made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 1Co 1:30. When Jeremiah says that she, or the church, mostly put in the feminine, shall call him JEHOVAH our righteousness, the high and holy name which designates the Divine Essence, as existing of itself, and by consequence, incommunicable to any creature, the prophet completely supersedes the Socinian gloss, that Jehovah shall call him our righteousness. The LXX, so reading the text, are no authority against the undisputed words of the inspired prophet, who calls the Messiah, Jehovah our Just One, or righteousness. So also is the gloss of the rabbins on Dan 7:13.
Professor Dahler, in his new version of Jeremiah, reads this text exactly as our Poole in his Synopsis.
Et voici le nom dont on l appellera; L Eternel, Auteur de notre felicit.
Which literally is, And behold the name by which they shall call him, The ETERNAL, the author of our felicity. In all versions of the French bible, L Eternel is the constant word for Jehovah, which designates the prexistence and eternity of Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Dr. Blaney, whose version and notes, now before me, sufficiently demonstrate that he was a Socinian, follows the LXX, whose only fault was ignorance of the glorious person of Christ. He reads, And this is his name by which Jehovah shall call him, our righteousness. If we adopt Dr. Blaneys reading, then all the Nicene fathers, so ably defended by bishop Bull, were in error, and must be repudiated. The Hebrew text, which stands undisputed, must give way to the pride of socinian philosophy, which aims at the destruction of the Bible, as Dr. Priestley little less than avows. Such a word was formerly written differently, such a letter is lost, or such a word is wanting in the text! Thus
They sport with scriptures at their ease, And make them speak just what they please.
We ask in defence of truth, Is it possible to separate the Messiahs name from his character? If he be our righteousness, the Justthe Holy One of Israelhe must be Jehovah. If he be the righteous branch, to save Judah, and cause Israel to dwell safely, his incommunicable title must be correct. In Jehovah (alone) shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
Isa 45:25. No man can be the righteousness of a nation, except Jehovah. Therefore Paul is correct, Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord.
Professor Cocceius, on this text, quotes Theodoret, who on Jer 32:16, cites the LXX, , which he regards as an infraction, and that the LXX have not understood the words of Jeremiah. The Chaldaic paraphrase reads. Efficientur nobis merita in diebus hujus. In his days he shall efficiently merit for us the pardon of our sins. The comment of rabbi Solomoh is, The Lord shall make us righteous in his days. Cocceius next superadds his own comment. These words contain,
(1) The renunciation of our own righteousness.
(2) The righteousness of God by which sinners in his sight are justified, against all accusing tongues.
(3) They define the righteousness of God to be the righteousness which the people have in Jehovah; that is, the righteousness by which they are made just, or are justified before God.
(4) They declare the open confession of the people in the days of Davids righteous BRANCH; which designates the righteousness of the germ, or Son of David, to be the righteousness of Jehovah.
This, continues our learned professor, is the mystery which the stupid people of Israel could not perceive, though everywhere inculcated by the prophets.Reader, this is virgin honey from the ancient hive.
Our righteousness. After the council of Trent had decreed in favour of works of supererogation, a warm controversy arose among protestant divines concerning the word RIGHTEOUSNESS. In the warmth of opposition to the popish doctrine of justification by human merit, they had made it in almost every place of the old testament to mean the righteousness of Christ. This offended many of the more sober divines, and contradicted the received glosses which antiquity had given of those texts. See Psa 89:10, Psalm 48:18. Isa 54:17. On this latter text, their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord, Mr. Poole gives us five glosses which may serve as a key to other correspondent passages. Their righteousness is to meof me or with me. That is, (1) The reward of righteousness.
(2) The benefit or blessings of their righteousness, as Psa 24:5.
(3) Their right is of me, which imports that the Lord would openly maintain their right, account them innocent, and in open day.
(4) Their righteousness, that is their justification and applause, as Calvin asserts.
(5) Their defence is of me, which is peculiarly the work of my righteousness. This last gloss is from Piscator, and it seems the most natural and striking. Thus Israel could say, surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. In hating idols, and in worshipping the only true God, I shall be justified and saved in the eyes of the heathen.
Such is the obvious connection of the text, as Poole fully allows. See Isa 44:24. Hence, in this text of Jeremiah, so glorious a pillar in the support of truth, we find the Messiah called JEHOVAH; as in a multitude of correspondent texts. See Isa 40:10; Isa 45:24-25; Isa 48:17. Hos 1:7. Zec 2:10-11. Mal 3:1. He is as to his humanity, Davids righteous branch, Israels judge and king, and he is Judahs safety and defence. He shall be called, or rather, they shall call him throughout all future ages, the Lord our Just One, as the Vulgate and Pagninus read, taking the word indefinitely. But Montanus, following the Syriac, reads, The Lord our righteousness. The former reading is however preferred by my worthy friend, the late Rev. John Crosse, vicar of Bradford. And he who shall be called to it [the great work of restoring peace and prosperity to the church] is the Lord our Just One.We must however associate this text, and all others of like import, with texts in the new testament, which affirm that Jesus Christ is made of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that God hath made him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Hence when God is said to be our righteousness, he is, according to Poole, Auctorem Justiti nostr; the Author of our righteousness, whether of justification, of sanctification, or of the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, peace, righteousness.
Jer 23:7. Therefore the days come, saith the Lord, after the return from Babylon, quoting the words of Isaiah, Isa 65:16-17, that they shall not talk of the emancipation from Egypt, or from Babylon, in comparison of the new heavens and the new earth, which the Lord shall renovate in righteousness, with glories and with beauties which eye hath not seen nor ear heard.
Jer 23:9. My heart within me is broken, to hear the false prophets blaspheme, Jer 23:11, and to see the people applaud their lies and falsehood. I shake and tremble at the horrible wickedness in high places. The land is full of adulterers, vociferating amens in the temple, and singing songs to Venus on the hills.
Jer 23:19. A whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury. The blasts of invasion. Job 38:1. Psa 48:7.
Jer 23:21. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. The kings servants must hold their commission of the king. The love of God shed abroad in the heart must be the flame of evangelical preaching; the motives must be pure; not money, not a genteel profession, but the glory of God and the salvation of souls: all other motives disgrace the sacred profession. The dreams of those prophets, Jer 23:27-28, compared with the pure word of the Lord, are but as the chaff to the wheat.
Jer 23:29. Is not my word like as a fireand like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? The agents here are double, and the effects are double. The hammer breaks the rock. We sometimes hear a piercing cry from culprits, when the judge pronounces their sentence. Sermons of terror are best adapted to hardened men; but it is love, the fire of love, that melts and hallows the heart. Fusion is essential to mental purity, and to give a celestial form to reformation.
REFLECTIONS.
Our tender-hearted prophet, having cast many a tearful eye on the state of his country, and looked a thousand ways to do them good, traced the causes of Israels calamities to the latent wickedness of the heart, and to the open profligacy of pastors who scattered the flock. Such were the degenerate princes, priests and prophets of the age, who are charged with the loss of souls; nor did the Lord long delay to inflict the woe, and visit their doings.
The age in which the prophet lived being totally corrupt, he fled to a future age for comfort. He was consoled by the idea, that a new race of ministers should fill the church; even apostles, evangelists, and prophets. He saw the Messiah, a root of Jesse, or righteous branch, flourishing as the tree of life in the garden of God. He saw him raised to the throne of power, and called by his people, The Lord our Just One. Yea, the Holy One of God. Under his almighty wings, the converted jews and gentiles, now the true Israel, should dwell safely.
He not only saw this Israel justified and protected by the Lord, but he heard Zion speak a language of grace. They no more said, the Lord liveth which brought up Israel out of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought back his Israel from all the countries whither he had driven them. This new language, converts of all ages may adopt; but when a remnant of the Hebrews shall be gathered home, they will not, comparatively, talk of Egypt, but join the gentile church in singing, Unto him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests to God. Behold he cometh with clouds.
This blooming vision of the righteous branch, reconciled the prophet to the sentence of desolation pronounced against his country; for he saw the whole mass of the people entirely corrupt, from the prince to the wretch who grovelled in the street; and he saw the balm of Gilead totally fail of a cure. Yea, he saw the whole land mourning because of swearing, and groaning beneath a weight of wickedness little less than that of Sodom. In answer to those groans he saw the invading army, as the whirlwind of the Lord, haste to purify it by the breath of vengeance. To what awful issues do apostasy and crimes lead a people!
In those evil times we have a striking contrast between the ministry of the true and of the false prophets. The prophets of the profane altars, whose hearts were fixed on worldly good, prophesied of Elysian delights, of harvests, of vintages, of alliances, and national repose. Their eloquence charmed the ear; and the subject so beguiled the heart, that a fatal slumber fell upon the whole. But when the true prophets opened their mouths for God, it was with burning zeal; and the strokes of their thunder, like those on the anvil, sent the sparks to the most distant part of the crowd. Yea, the most obdurate of the rebels, if not melted by the flame, felt their heart give way to the omnipotence of truth, as the flinty rock yields to the repeated strokes of the hammer. Christian ministers may here learn, that the character of our ministry is far too mild and accommodating. The wickedness and profligacy of our age require an efficient remedy; and smooth things do but amuse the unregenerate crowd in the road to ruin.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 22:1 to Jer 23:8. This section contains several distinct Jeremianic prophecies, relating to contemporary kings of Judah; they have been editorially collected, probably with some expansion.
Jer 22:1-9. Introduction.The prophet is sent down to the palace (lower than the Temple, and on the S.) to declare judgment and justice as the condition of permanence in the royal line. He bewails in a dirge (Jer 22:6 f.) the fall of the royal house, which is like that of well-wooded districts (Gilead, Lebanon) delivered over to the axe. The cause is the disloyalty of the city to Yahweh (Jer 22:8 f.; taken from Deu 29:4 f.).
Jer 22:5. For this solemn oath by Yahweh, cf. Jer 49:13, and Heb 6:13-18.
Jer 22:10-12. Josiah and Jehoahaz.The fate of Josiah (the dead; slain in battle at Megiddo, 608, 2Ki 23:29 f.; cf. 2Ch 35:25) is less pitiful than that of Jehoahaz (Shallum), who reigned (for three months in 608) until taken captive by Pharaoh Necho into Egypt, where he died (2Ki 23:31 ff.; this king, like Jeremiah, was anti-Egyptian in his policy).
Jer 22:13-19. Jehoiakim (608597; 2Ki 23:36-37).His injustice and rapacity (Jer 22:17 mg.), as shown in his sumptuous palace-building, are contrasted with the normal life and upright rule of his father, Josiah. Jehoiakim shall not be honoured in death by his relatives (1Ki 13:30) or subjects (Jer 34:5), but flung forth unburied (Jer 36:30; cf. 2Ki 24:6, where there is no mention of burial).
Jer 22:14. chambers: the word denotes structures on the roof; cf. Thomson, p. 160. In Jer 22:14 b read panelling it . . . painting.
Jer 22:20-30. Jehoiachin.Jerusalem is bidden to climb the heights and lament (Jer 7:29), because her lovers (Jer 4:30; probably of allies) are broken, and the wind shall shepherd her shepherds (rulers). Her fancied security, as of a bird making its nest in Lebanon, will be turned into groaning travail (Jer 22:23 mg.). Jehoiachin (Coniah or Jeconiah, who reigned for three months in 597, 2Ki 24:8 ff; 2Ki 25:27) is rejected by Yahweh, and will be exiled with his mother (Nehushta, Jer 13:18. 2Ki 24:8); he is to be recorded (Isa 4:3) as having no royal successor.
Jer 22:20. Abarim: E. of Dead Sea.
Jer 22:24. signet: Hag 2:23.
Jer 22:30. Jehoiachin was not childless according to 1Ch 3:17.
Jer 23:1-8. Conclusion.Denunciation of the unworthy rulers (shepherds, Jer 22:22): ye have scattered, I will gather my flock (Psa 95:7) and appoint worthy rulers (Jer 23:1-4). The king called the Shoot (Jer 23:5 mg.) will continue the worthy traditions of David (2Sa 8:15) and rule over a united people (Israel as well as Judah). His symbolic name shall be Yahweh is our righteousness, i.e. the source of all our well-being. This restoration will eclipse the original deliverance from Egypt (Jer 23:5-8). Note that this Messianic king is an ideal human ruler, acting as Yahwehs administrator, and subordinate to him.
Jer 23:5. Branch: Shoot, i.e. from the ground, as in Heb. of Gen 19:25; for the later use of the term as title, cf. Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12.
Jer 23:6. The title is used of Jerusalem in Jer 33:16; cf. Eze 48:35; there is a tacit reference here to Zedekiah (597586), whose name means Yahweh is righteousness.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
23:1 Woe be to {a} the shepherds that destroy and scatter the {b} sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
(a) Meaning the prince’s governors and false prophets as in Eze 34:2 .
(b) For which I have special care, and have prepared good pastures for them.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Promises about the future of the Davidic line and the people 23:1-8
"After the oracles against wicked kings, there is a promise of a righteous one, the Shoot of David." [Note: Graybill, p. 673.]
Jeremiah just announced that none of Coniah’s descendants would ever rule as kings. Now he went on to clarify that a Davidic King would rule in the future. God was not cutting off the Davidic line (cf. 2Sa 7:14). This section consists of three separate, though related, prophecies (Jer 23:1-8).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Yahweh announced coming judgment on the leaders of Judah, kings, and other leaders, who were harming His people, rather than tending them like good shepherds who cared for their sheep (cf. Joh 10:11-13). "Shepherd" was a common metaphor for "king" in the ancient Near East and in the Old Testament, and it is possible that Jeremiah had in mind the last four kings of Judah particularly. The model of God’s people being the sheep of His pasture is also common in the Old Testament (cf. Psa 74:1; Psa 79:13; Psa 95:7; Psa 100:3). Judah’s shepherds had not attended (Heb. paqad) to the flock, so God would attend (Heb. paqad) to punishing them.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER VIII
BAD SHEPHERDS AND FALSE PROPHETS
Jer 23:1-40, Jer 24:1-10
“Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!”- Jer 23:1
“Of what avail is straw instead of Grain?is not My word like fire, like a hammer that shattereth the rocks?”- Jer 23:28-29
THE captivity of Jehoiachin and the deportation of the flower of the people marked the opening of the last scene in the tragedy of Judah and of a new period in the ministry of Jeremiah. These events, together with the accession of Zedekiah as Nebuchadnezzars nominee, very largely altered the state of affairs in Jerusalem. And yet the two main features of the situation were unchanged-the people and the government persistently disregarded Jeremiahs exhortations. “Neither Zedekiah, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of Jehovah which He spake by the prophet Jeremiah.” {Jer 37:2} They would not obey the will of Jehovah as to their life and worship; and they would not submit to Nebuchadnezzar. “Zedekiah did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done; and Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” {2Ki 24:18-20}
It is remarkable that though Jeremiah consistently urged submission to Babylon, the various arrangements made by Nebuchadnezzar did very little to improve the prophets position or increase his influence. The Chaldean king may have seemed ungrateful only because he was ignorant of the services rendered to him-Jeremiah would not enter into direct and personal cooperation with the enemy of his country, even with him whom Jehovah had appointed to be the scourge of His disobedient people-but the Chaldean policy served Nebuchadnezzar as little as it profited Jeremiah. Jehoiakim, in spite of his forced submission, remained the able and determined foe of his suzerain, and Zedekiah, to the best of his very limited ability, followed his predecessors example.
Zedekiah was uncle of Jehoiachin, half-brother of Jehoiakim, and own brother to Jehoahaz. Possibly the two brothers owed their bias against Jeremiah and his teaching to their mother, Josiahs wife Hamutal, the daughter of another Jeremiah, the Libnite. Ezekiel thus describes the appointment of the new king: “The king of Babylon took one of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also put him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land: that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.” {Eze 17:13-14} Apparently Nebuchadnezzar was careful to choose a feeble prince for his “base kingdom”; all that we read of Zedekiah suggests that he was weak and incapable. Henceforth the sovereign counted for little in the internal struggles of the tottering state. Josiah had firmly maintained the religious policy of Jeremiah, and Jehoiakim, as firmly, the opposite policy; but Zedekiah had neither the strength nor the firmness to enforce a consistent policy and to make one party permanently dominant. Jeremiah and his enemies were left to fight it out amongst themselves, so that now their antagonism grew more bitter and pronounced than during any other reign.
But whatever advantage the prophet might derive from the weakness of the sovereign was more than counterbalanced by the recent deportation. In selecting the captives Nebuchadnezzar had sought merely to weaken Judah by carrying away every one who would have been an element of strength to the “base kingdom.” Perhaps he rightly believed that neither the prudence of the wise nor the honour of the virtuous would overcome their patriotic hatred of subjection; weakness alone would guarantee the obedience of Judah. He forgot that even weakness is apt to be foolhardy when there is no immediate prospect of penalty.
One result of his policy was that the enemies and friends of Jeremiah were carried away indiscriminately; there was no attempt to leave behind those who might have counselled submission to Babylon as the acceptance of a Divine judgment, and thus have helped to keep Judah loyal to its foreign master. On the contrary Jeremiahs disciples were chiefly thoughtful and honourable men, and Nebuchadnezzars policy in taking away “the mighty of the land” bereft the prophet of many friends and supporters, amongst them his disciple Ezekiel and doubtless a large class of whom Daniel and his three friends might be taken as types. When Jeremiah characterises the captives as “good figs,” and those left behind as “bad figs,” (chapter 24) and the judgment is confirmed and amplified by Ezekiel, (chapters 7-11) we may be sure that most of the prophets adherents were in exile.
We have already had occasion to compare the changes in the religious policy of the Jewish government to the alternations of Protestant and Romanist sovereigns among the Tudors; but no Tudor was as feeble as Zedekiah. He may rather be compared to Charles IX of France, helpless between the Huguenots and the League. Only the Jewish factions were less numerous, less evenly balanced; and by the speedy advance of Nebuchadnezzar civil dissensions were merged in national ruin.
The opening years of the new reign passed in nominal allegiance to Babylon. Jeremiahs influence would be used to induce the vassal king to observe the covenant he had entered into and to be faithful to his oath to Nebuchadnezzar. On the other hand a crowd of “patriotic” prophets urged Zedekiah to set up once more the standard of national independence, to “come to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Let us then briefly consider Jeremiahs polemic against the princes, prophets, and priests of his people. While Ezekiel in a celebrated chapter (chapter 8) denounces the idolatry of the princes, priests, and women of Judah, their worship of creeping things and abominable beasts, their weeping for Tammuz, their adoration of the sun, Jeremiah is chiefly concerned with the perverse policy of the government and the support it receives from priests and prophets, who profess to speak in the name of Jehovah. Jeremiah does not utter against Zedekiah any formal judgment like those on his three predecessors. Perhaps the prophet did not regard this impotent sovereign as the responsible representative of the state, and when the long-expected catastrophe at last befell the doomed people, neither Zedekiah nor his doings distracted mens attention from their own personal sufferings and patriotic regrets. At the point where a paragraph on Zedekiah would naturally have followed that on Jehoiachin, we have by way of summary and conclusion to the previous sections a brief denunciation of the shepherds of Israel.
“Woe unto die shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of My Pasture!
Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away, and have not cared for them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings.”
These “shepherds” are primarily the kings, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin, who have been condemned by name in the previous chapter, together with the unhappy Zedekiah, who is too insignificant to be mentioned. But the term shepherds will also include the ruling and influential classes of which the king was the leading representative.
The image is a familiar one in the Old Testament and is found in the oldest literature of Israel, {Gen 49:24} J. from older source. {Mic 5:5} but the denunciation of the rulers of Judah as unfaithful shepherds is characteristic of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and one of the prophecies appended to the Book of Zechariah. (Chapters 9-11, Zec 13:7-9.) Eze 34:1-31 expands this figure and enforces its lessons:-
“Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool. Ye kill the fatlings: but ye feed not the sheep. The diseased have ye not strengthened, Neither have ye healed the sick, Neither have ye bound up the bruised, Neither have ye brought back again that which was driven away, Neither have ye sought for that which was lost, But your rule over them has been harsh and violent, And for want of a shepherd they were scattered, And became food for every beast of the field.” {Eze 34:2-3}
So in Zec 9:1-17, etc., Jehovahs anger is kindled against the shepherds, because they do not pity His flock. {Zec 10:3; Zec 11:5} Elsewhere {Jer 25:34-38} Jeremiah speaks of the kings of all nations as shepherds, and pronounces against them also a like doom. All these passages illustrate the concern of the prophets for good government. They were neither Pharisees nor formalists; their religious ideals were broad and wholesome. Doubtless the elect remnant will endure through all conditions of society; but the Kingdom of God was not meant to be a pure Church in a rotten state. This present evil world is no manure heap to fatten the growth of holiness: it is rather a mass for the saints to leaven.
Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel turn from the unfaithful shepherds whose “hungry sheep look up and are not fed” to the true King of Israel, the “Shepherd of Israel that led Joseph like a flock, and dwelt between the Cherubim.” In the days of the Restoration He will raise up faithful shepherds, and over them a righteous Branch, the real Jehovah Zidqenu, instead of the sapless twig who disgraced the name “Zedekiah.” Similarly Ezekiel promises that God will set up one shepherd over His people, “even My servant David.” The pastoral care of Jehovah for His people is most tenderly and beautifully set forth in the twenty-third Psalm. Our Lord, the root and the offspring of David, claims to be the fulfilment of ancient prophecy when He calls Himself “the Good Shepherd.” The words of Christ and of the Psalmist receive new force and fuller meaning when we contrast their pictures of the true Shepherd with the portraits of the Jewish kings drawn by the prophets. Moreover the history of this metaphor warns us against ignoring the organic life of the Christian society, the Church, in our concern for the spiritual life of the individual. As Sir Thomas More said, in applying this figure to Henry VIII, “Of the multitude of sheep cometh the name of a shepherd.” A shepherd implies not merely a sheep, but a flock; His relation to each member is tender and personal, but He bestows blessings and requires service in fellowship with the Family of God.
By a natural sequence the denunciation of the unfaithful shepherds is followed by a similar utterance “concerning the prophets.” It is true that the prophets are not spoken of as shepherds; and Miltons use of the figure in “Lycidas” suggests the New Testament rather than the Old. Yet the prophets had a large share in guiding the destinies of Israel in politics as well as in religion, and having passed sentence on the shepherds-the kings and princes-Jeremiah turns to the ecclesiastics, chiefly, as the heading implies, to the prophets. The priests indeed do not escape, but Jeremiah seems to feel that they are adequately dealt with in two or three casual references. We use the term “ecclesiastics” advisedly; the prophets were now a large professional class, more important and even more clerical than the priests. The prophets and priests together were the clergy of Israel. They claimed to be devoted servants of Jehovah, and for the most part the claim was made in all sincerity; but they misunderstood His character, and mistook for Divine inspiration the suggestions of their own prejudice and self-will.
Jeremiahs indictment against them has various counts. He accuses them of speaking without authority, and also of time serving, plagiarism, and cant.
First, then, as to their unauthorised utterances: Jeremiah finds them guilty of an unholy license in prophesying, a distorted caricature of that “liberty of prophesying” which is the prerogative of Gods accredited ambassadors.
“Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you.
They make fools of you:
The visions which they declare are from their own hearts,
And not from the mouth of Jehovah.
Who hath stood in the council of Jehovah,
To perceive and hear His word?
Who hath marked His word and heard it?
I sent not the prophets-yet they ran;
I spake not unto them-yet they prophesied.”
The evils which Jeremiah describes are such as will always be found in any large professional class. To use modern terms-in the Church, as in every profession, there will be men who are not qualified for the vocation which they follow. They are indeed not called to their vocation; they “follow,” but do not overtake it. They are not sent of God, yet they run; they have no Divine message, yet they preach. They have never stood in the council of Jehovah; they might perhaps have gathered up scraps of the Kings purposes from His true councillors; but when they had opportunity they neither “marked nor heard”; and yet they discourse concerning heavenly things with much importance and assurance. But their inspiration, at its best, has no deeper or richer source than their own shallow selves; their visions are the mere product of their own imaginations. Strangers to the true fellowship, their spirit is not “a well of water springing up unto eternal life,” but a stagnant pool. And, unless the judgment and mercy of God intervene, that pool will in the end be fed from a fountain whose bitter waters are earthly, sensual, devilish.
We are always reluctant to speak of ancient prophecy or modern preaching as a “profession.” We may gladly dispense with the word, if we do not thereby ignore the truth which it inaccurately expresses. Men lived by prophecy, as, with Apostolic sanction, men live by “the gospel.” They were expected, as ministers are now, though in a less degree, to justify their claims to an income and an official status, by discharging religious functions so as to secure the approval of the people or the authorities. Then, as now, the prophets reputation, influence, and social standing, probably even his income, depended upon the amount of visible success that he could achieve.
In view of such facts, it is futile to ask men of the world not to speak of the clerical life as a profession. They discern no ethical difference between a curates dreams of a bishopric and the aspirations of a junior barrister to the woolsack. Probably a refusal to recognise the element common to the ministry with law, medicine, and other professions, injures both the Church and its servants. One peculiar difficulty and most insidious temptation of the Christian ministry consists in its mingled resemblances to and differences from the other professions. The minister has to work under similar worldly conditions, and yet to control those conditions by the indwelling power of the Spirit. He has to “run,” it may be twice or even three times a week, whether he be sent or no: how can he always preach only that which God has taught him? He is consciously dependent upon the exercise of his memory, his intellect, his fancy: how can he avoid speaking “the visions of his own heart”? The Church can never allow its ministers to regard themselves as mere professional teachers and lecturers, and yet if they claim to be more, must they not often fall under Jeremiahs condemnation?
It is one of those practical dilemmas which delight casuists and distress honest and earnest servants of God. In the early Christian centuries similar difficulties peopled the Egyptian and Syrian deserts with ascetics, who had given up the world as a hopeless riddle. A full discussion of the problem would lead us too far away from the exposition of Jeremiah and we will only venture to make two suggestions.
The necessity, which most ministers are under, of “living by the gospel,” may promote their own spiritual life and add to their usefulness. It corrects and reduces spiritual pride, and helps them to understand and sympathise with their lay brethren, most of whom are subject to a similar trial.
Secondly, as a minister feels the ceaseless pressure of strong temptation to speak from and live for himself-his lower, egotistic self-he will be correspondingly driven to a more entire and persistent surrender to God. The infinite fulness and variety of Revelation is expressed by the manifold gifts and experience of the prophets. If only the prophet be surrendered to the Spirit, then what is most characteristic of himself may become the most forcible expression of his message. His constant prayer will be that he may have the childs heart and may never resist the Holy Ghost, that no personal interest or prejudice, no bias of training or tradition or current opinion, may dull his hearing when he stands in the council of the Lord, or betray him into uttering for Christs gospel the suggestions of his own self-will or the mere watchwords of his ecclesiastical faction.
But to return to the ecclesiastics who had stirred Jeremiahs wrath. The professional prophets naturally adapted their words to the itching ears of their clients. They were not only officious, but also time serving. Had they been true prophets, they would have dealt faithfully with Judah; they would have sought to convince the people of sin, and to lead them to repentance; they would thus have given them yet another opportunity of salvation.
“If they had stood in My council,
They would have caused My people to hear My words;
They would have turned them from their evil way,
And from the evil of their doings.”
But now:-
“They walk in lies and strengthen the hands of evildoers,
That no one may turn away from his sin.
They say continually unto them that despise the word of Jehovah,
Ye shall have peace;
And unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his heart they say,
No evil shall come upon you.”
Unfortunately, when prophecy becomes professional in the lowest sense of the word, it is governed by commercial principles. A sufficiently imperious demand calls forth an abundant supply. A sovereign can “tune the pulpits”; and a ruling race can obtain from its clergy formal ecclesiastical sanction for such “domestic institutions” as slavery. When evildoers grow numerous and powerful, there will always be prophets to strengthen their hands and encourage them not to turn away from their sin. But to give the lie to these false prophets God sends Jeremiahs, who are often branded as heretics and schismatics, turbulent fellows who turn the world upside down.
The self-important, self-seeking spirit leads further to the sin of plagiarism:-
“Therefore I am against the prophets, is the utterance of Jehovah,
Who steal My word from one another.”
The sin of plagiarism is impossible to the true prophet, partly because there are no rights of private property in the word of Jehovah. The Old Testament writers make free use of the works of their predecessors. For instance, Isa 2:2-4 is almost identical with Mic 4:1-3; yet neither author acknowledges his indebtedness to the other or to any third prophet. Uriah ben Shemaiah prophesied acording to all the words of Jeremiah, {Jer 26:20} who himself owes much to Hosea, whom he never mentions. Yet he was not conscious of stealing from his predecessor, and he would have brought no such charge against Isaiah or Micah or Uriah. In the New Testament 2 Peter and Jude have so much in common that one must have used the other without acknowledgment. Yet the Church has not, on that ground, excluded either Epistle from the Canon. In the goodly fellowship of the prophets and the glorious company of the apostles no man says that the things which he utters are his own. But the mere hireling has no part in the spiritual communism wherein each may possess all things because he claims nothing. When a prophet ceases to be the messenger of God, and sinks into the mercenary purveyor of his own clever sayings and brilliant fancies, then he is tempted to become a clerical Autolycus, “a snapper up of unconsidered trifles.” Modern ideas furnish a curious parallel to Jeremiahs indifference to the borrowings of the true prophet, and his scorn of the literary pilferings of the false. We hear only too often of stolen sermons, but no one complains of plagiarism in prayers. Doubtless among these false prophets charges of plagiarism were bandied to and fro with much personal acrimony. But it is interesting to notice that Jeremiah is not denouncing an injury done to himself; he does not accuse them of thieving from him, but from one another. Probably assurance and lust of praise and power would have overcome any awe they felt for Jeremiah. He was only free from their depredations, because-from their point of view-his words were not worth stealing. There was nothing to be gained by repeating his stern denunciations, and even his promises were not exactly suited to the popular taste.
These prophets were prepared to cater for the average religious appetite in the most approved fashion-in other words, they were masters of cant. Their office had been consecrated by the work of true men of God like Elijah and Isaiah. They themselves claimed to stand in the genuine prophetic succession, and to inherit the reverence felt for their great predecessors, quoting their inspired utterances and adopting their weighty phrases. As Jeremiahs contemporaries listened to one of their favourite orators, they were soothed by his assurances of Divine favour and protection, and their confidence in the speaker was confirmed by the frequent sound of familiar formulae in his unctuous sentences. These had the true ring; they were redolent of sound doctrine, of what popular tradition regarded as orthodox.
The solemn attestation NEUM YAHWE, “It is the utterance of Jehovah,” is continually appended to prophecies, almost as if it were the sign manual of the Almighty. Isaiah and other prophets frequently use the term MASSA (A.V., R.V., “burden”) as a title, especially for prophecies concerning neighbouring nations. The ancient records loved to tell how Jehovah revealed Himself to the patriarchs in dreams. Jeremiahs rivals included dreams in their clerical apparatus:-
“Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams-Neum Yahwe-
And tell them, and lead astray My people
By their lies and their rodomontade;
It was not I who sent or commanded them,
Neither shall they profit this people at all, Neum Yahwe.”
These prophets “thought to cause the Lords people to forget His name, as their fathers forgot His name for Baal, by their dreams which they told one another.”
Moreover they could glibly repeat the sacred phrases as part of their professional jargon:-
“Behold, I am against the prophets,
It is the utterance of Jehovah,
That use their tongues
To utter utterances”
“To utter utterances”-the prophets uttered them, not Jehovah. These sham oracles were due to no Diviner source than the imagination of foolish hearts. But for Jeremiahs grim earnestness, the last clause would be almost blasphemous. It is virtually a caricature of the most solemn formula of ancient Hebrew religion. But this was really degraded when it was used to obtain credence for the lies which men prophesied out of the deceit of their own heart. Jeremiahs seeming irreverence was the most forcible way of bringing this home to his hearers. There are profanations of the most sacred things which can scarcely be spoken of without an apparent breach of the Third Commandment. The most awful taking in vain of the name of the Lord God is not heard among the publicans and sinners, but in pulpits and on the platforms of religious meetings.
But these prophets and their clients had a special fondness for the phrase “The burden of Jehovah,” and their unctuous use of it most especially provoked Jeremiahs indignation:-
“When this people priest, or prophet shall ask thee,
What is the burden of Jehovah?
Then say unto them, Ye are the burden.
But I will cast you off, Neum Yahwe.
If priest or prophet or people shall say,
The burden of Jehovah, I will punish that man and his house.”
“And ye shall say to one another,
What hath Jehovah answered? and,
What hath Jehovah spoken?
And ye shall no more make mention of the burden of Jehovah:
For (if ye do) mens words shall become a burden to themselves.
Thus shall ye inquire of a prophet,
What hath Jehovah answered thee?
What hath Jehovah spoken unto thee?
But if ye say, The burden of Jehovah,
Thus saith Jehovah: Because ye say this word, The burden of Jehovah.
When I have sent unto you the command,
Ye shall not say, The burden of Jehovah,
Therefore I will assuredly take you up,
And will cast away from before Me both you
And the city which I gave to you and to your fathers.
I will bring upon you everlasting reproach
And everlasting shame, that shall not be forgotten.”
Jeremiahs insistence and vehemence speak for themselves. Their moral is obvious, though for the most part unheeded. The most solemn formulae, hallowed by ancient and sacred associations, used by inspired teachers as the vehicle of revealed truths, may be debased till they become the very legend of Antichrist, blazoned on the Vexilla Regis Inferni. They are like a motto of one of Charles Paladins flaunted by his unworthy descendants to give distinction to cruelty and vice. The Churchs line of march is strewn with such dishonoured relics of her noblest champions. Even our Lords own words have not escaped. There is a fashion of discoursing upon “the gospel” which almost tempts reverent Christians to wish they might never hear that word again. Neither is this debasing of the moral currency confined to religious phrases; almost every political and social watchword has been similarly abused. One of the vilest tyrannies the world has ever seen-the Reign of Terror-claimed to be an incarnation of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.”
Yet the Bible, with that marvellous catholicity which lifts it so high above the level of all other religious literature, not only records Jeremiahs prohibition to use the term “Burden,” but also tells us that centuries later Malachi could still speak of “the burden of the word of Jehovah.” A great phrase that has been discredited by misuse may yet recover itself; the tarnished and dishonoured sword of faith may be baptised and burnished anew, and flame in the forefront of the holy war.
Jeremiah does not stand alone in his unfavourable estimate of the professional prophets of Judah; a similar depreciation seems to be implied by the words of Amos: “I am neither a prophet nor of the sons of prophets.” One of the unknown authors whose writings have been included in the Book of Zechariah takes up the teaching of Amos and Jeremiah and carries it a stage further:-
“In that day (it is the utterance of Jehovah Sabaoth) I will cut off the names of the idols from the land,
They shall not be remembered any more;
Also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness
Will I expel from the land.
When any shall yet prophesy, His father and mother that begat him shall say unto him,
Thou shalt not live, for thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah”:
“And his father and mother that begat him shall
Thrust him through when he prophesieth.
In that day every prophet when he prophesieth
Shall be ashamed of his vision;
Neither shall any wear a hairy mantle to deceive:
He shall say, I am no prophet;
I am a tiller of the ground,
I was sold for a slave in my youth.”
No man with any self-respect would allow his fellows to dub him prophet; slave was a less humiliating name. No family would endure the disgrace of having a member who belonged to this despised caste; parents would rather put their son to death than see him a prophet. To such extremities may the spirit of time serving and cant reduce a national clergy. We are reminded of Latimers words in his famous sermon to Convocation in 1536:
“All good men in all places accuse your avarice, your exactions, your tyranny. I commanded you that ye should feed my sheep, and ye earnestly feed yourselves from day to day, wallowing in delights and idleness. I commanded you to teach my law; you teach your own traditions, and seek your own glory.”
Over against their fluent and unctuous cant Jeremiah sets the terrible reality of his Divine message. Compared to this, their sayings are like chaff to the wheat; nay, this is too tame a figure-Jehovahs word is like fire, like a hammer that shatters rocks. He says of himself:-
“My heart within me is broken; all my bones shake:
I am like a drunken man, like a man whom wine hath overcome,
Because of Jehovah and His holy words.”
Thus we have in chapter 23, a full and formal statement of the controversy between Jeremiah and his brother prophets. On the one hand, self-seeking and self-assurance winning popularity by orthodox phrases, traditional doctrine, and the prophesying of smooth things; on the other hand, a man to whom the word of the Lord was like a fire in his bones, who had surrendered prejudice and predilection that he might himself become a hammer to shatter the Lords enemies, a man through whom God wrought so mightily that he himself reeled and staggered with the blows of which he was the instrument.
The relation of the two parties was not unlike that of St. Paul and his Corinthian adversaries: the prophet, like the Apostle, spoke “in demonstration of the Spirit of power”; he considered “not the word of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” In our next chapter we shall see the practical working of this antagonism which we have here set forth.