Jeremiah 23 Commentary
The Branch – The LORD Our Righteousness.
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KEY THOUGHT: Now this is His name by which He will be called: [d]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. [Jeremiah 23:6b NKJV]
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Jeremiah 23 NKJV
The Branch of Righteousness
23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. 3 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and [a]prosper,
And execute [b]judgment and righteousness in the [c]earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
[d]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”
False Prophets and Empty Oracles
9 My heart within me is broken
Because of the prophets;
All my bones shake.
I am like a drunken man,
And like a man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord,
And because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
For because of a curse the land mourns.
The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course of life is evil,
And their might is not right.
11 “For both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12 “Therefore their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
13 “And I have seen [e]folly in the prophets of Samaria:
They prophesied by Baal
And caused My people Israel to err.
14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They also strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one turns back from his wickedness.
All of them are like Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15 “Therefore thus says 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
[f]Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who walks according to the [g]dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”
18 For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord,
And has perceived and heard His word?
Who has marked His word and heard it?
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.
In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.
23 “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God afar off?
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
25 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 27 who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.
28 “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream;
And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord.
29 “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord.
33 “So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is the [h]oracle of the Lord?’ you shall then say to them, [i]‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the Lord. 34 “And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The [j]oracle of the Lord!’ I will even punish that man and his house. 35 Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 And the [k]oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 But since you say, ‘The [l]oracle of the Lord!’ therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ ” 39 therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”
Footnotes
a. Jeremiah 23:5 act wisely
b. Jeremiah 23:5 justice
c. Jeremiah 23:5 land
d. Jeremiah 23:6 Heb. YHWH Tsidkenu
e. Jeremiah 23:13 Lit. distastefulness
f. Jeremiah 23:15 Or Pollution
g. Jeremiah 23:17 stubbornness or imagination
h. Jeremiah 23:33 burden, prophecy
i. Jeremiah 23:33 LXX, Tg., Vg. ‘You are the burden.’
j. Jeremiah 23:34 burden, prophecy
k. Jeremiah 23:36 burden, prophecy
l. Jeremiah 23:38 burden, prophecy
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 23 Commentary
By ‘shepherds,’ the LORD probably refers to the many kings of Judah’s closing years. They failed the LORD; they failed the people.
The LORD would provide another set of good shepherds; another leadership team. We have more details about this grand plan. It all boils down to the righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely.
“He will be called: The LORD, Our Righteous Savior.” This is no other than Isaiah’s Branch, Immanuel – the Son born to us with the government on His shoulders. He is also Isaiah’s Servant who is punished because of sinfulness – the sin that he takes upon Himself from you and me.
But Jeremiah’s context remains confined within the walls of kingship or leadership in view of the many failings of David’s sons. But there is more. Under this new leader, Israel would experience a Moses-like exodus.
There is always a world out there from which the saint must come out. The saint must forget the soup, the onions, and the pots of meat; the cucumbers and melons, and the leeks. Numbers 11:5.
Chapter 23 contains one of the most famous universal declarations about the nature and character of our living God. “Am I only a God nearby and not a God far away? Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
It begs investigation. If the LORD God is this big, how dare we miss His approach! And when we foolishly misrepresent Him, how come the world cannot see the difference?
The chapter shows us two worlds. The first consists of self-proclaimed practicing ‘paganists’. They prophesy by the no-god Baal. It is open defiance. You pity their ignorance.
The second world consists of religionists who commit adultery and tell lies in the place of worship. You hate their pretense.
The term adultery may imply an actual act, sadly. But importantly, it refers to a man’s want of holding two ‘loves’ at the same time. “I love God, but I also love the world – satan”
They claim the word of the LORD and feel at peace within themselves that all is well – in their sinfulness. They preach peace. They preach unity. They preach prosperity. Let good times come; they import Egypt into the place of worship. Let’s have it here exactly like we had it back in Egypt. They haven’t left Egypt at all.
The LORD is aware of these ‘misrepresentations’. He will act.
The saint must know. Not every statement with Jesus in it is heavenly. Know them by their fruit. They lie, commit adultery, and are stubborn, selfish individuals – all out there to promote self-indulgence. The LORD is aware. He will punish them.
“Cast you out of my presence,” may remind the saint of Adam’s exit from the Garden of peace and tranquility – Eden. Out of the presence of God, alone and lonely, let every man know they can choose life and not banishment.
And just how important are these our times!
Yes, it’s the time when the King reigns, and so wisely. Then you know you have an important opening back to the LORD!
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