The Shepherds of Judah, vv. 1-8
A. The Unrighteous Shepherds, vv. 1-2
1. Kings were referred to as “pastors” or “shepherds.”
2. Kings were derelict in promoting righteousness, such that people scattered.
3. Kings were self-serving, not serving the needs of the people: “feed My people.”
4. God will hold these unrighteous shepherds accountable: “I will visit upon you the evil of your doings.”
B. The Responsible Shepherds, vv. 3-4
1. God promises to gather His people from exile.
2. God promises that the land will be fruitful.
3. God will set up leaders to feed them: Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Joshua, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
C. The Lord our Righteousness–>the Messiah
1. What He is called, vv. 5-6
a. King David’s righteous Branch: at the end of chapter 22, God said the royal line of Jeconiah will die. It seemed that the royal line of David was cut down with only a stump to remain. Yet God will cause a green shoot, a Branch to spring forth–>Messianic royal lineage.
b. “The LORD is Our Righteousness,” “Christ Jesus, our Righteousness,” 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21.
1) Zedekiah = My righteousness is Jehovah or Righteousness is Jehovah.
2) Jehovah Tsidkenu = He is our Jehovah.
2. What He does, vv. 5-8
a. He will regathers Judah and Israel; they will live again in their own land.
b. He will rescue and provide security for all God’s people.
The Sacriligious Prophets and Priests, vv. 9-40
The great contrast between their message and his message made Jeremiah nauseous. His main message was repent; their main message was relax.
A. Their perversions
1. Adultery, vv. 9-10
2. Blasphemy, v. 11
3. Idolatry, vv. 13-14
4. Falsely representing God
a. During the day, vv. 16-24: They claim God speaks through them, but they make up the words.
b. During the night, vv. 25-32: They tell false dreams, telling lies in God’s name.
5. Ridiculing Jeremiah, making light of God’s warnings about judgment, vv. 33-38: People use the Lord’s name to give authority to their own ideas.
With the atmosphere of no restraint, the people of God had become like Sodom and like Gomorrah to God. “By their worldliness they are secularizing the house of God (23:11), that bastion of holiness; and by their laxity (23:14), whether practiced or preached, they are taking the shame out of sin (especially, it seems, sins of lust, both heterosexual, 23:14a, and homosexual, 23:14b; cf. Gen_19:4-5).” (Kidner)
B. Their punishment
1. Their paths are made dark and slippery, v. 12: They are chased till they fall.
2. They are fed with bitterness and are given poison to drink, v. 25: It is their fault that wickedness fills the land.
In a New Testament context, God commands that any supposed prophetic word be judged in the congregation.
• Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. (1Co_14:29)
• Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1Th_5:20-21)
• Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1Jn_4:1)It is a great failing among many Christians that any purported prophecy is accepted without any testing or discernment. Yet if they will not judge, God will in some way or another.
Who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams: The corrupt prophets loved to focus on spiritual phenomena such as dreams. Though this pretended to be a spiritual focus, it drew attention away from God Himself, from His holy character represented by His Name.
My people forget My name: “Once men forgot the character of Yahweh they could be persuaded to accept all kinds of doctrines.” (Thompson)What is the chaff to the wheat: Clearly, the dream of the corrupt prophet was like the chaff; something, but of little substance and of no help. God’s word, faithfully presented was like wheat; of substance, nourishment, giving life, and having the power of multiplication.
Is not My word like a fire: God’s word has power like fire, power to benefit and to judge. Chaff has no power against fire.
• God’s Word is like a fire that can warm and comfort.
• God’s Word is like a fire that can burn and cause pain.
• God’s Word is like a fire that can melt the hardest materials.
• God’s Word is like a fire that refines and consumes impurity.And like a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces: God’s word is as powerful as a hammer, with the power to build or break. Chaff has no power against a hammer.
3. They are forever cast out of God’s sight, vv. 39-40: They are an object of ridicule throughout the ages.
a. Massa = burden or oracle.
b. Nasah = prove or try.
c. By this play on words, God is telling His people not to accept any prophetic word without proving it with Scripture.