Jeremiah 23:1-4
This oracle is addressed to the leaders of Israel. The priests and princes, those religious and civil leaders would be held accountable for their failure. While every person is accountable for their actions, the leaders should have been leading them toward the Lord and His ways all the way. They were build-up the people, the hold the flock together and protect them. Instead they had taken part in the destruction and scattering of the flock. For their part in this, they would be punished. It was a wicked thing they had taken part in.
Like a good shepherd, the Lord Himself will gather the remnant again to Him. He would bring them back to the green pasture and they would thrive and multiply. The Lord would then place other good shepherds over them.
Jeremiah 23:5-6
Deep down we long for these coming days. We become disgusted with leadership constantly, their failures in ethics, morality, justice and righteousness. We long for a shepherd who will be consistent and guard us, guides and love us. This is that king, the King of King's, the Lord Jesus. When that days comes, Judah will be saved from her enemies, both internal and external. She will live in safety.
Zedekiah's name means the Lord is my righteousness. The Messiah is the One who will deliver on the expectation of the perfect King sitting on the Davidic Throne. Zedekiah had fallen far short.
Jeremiah 23:7-8
The days are coming the perspective will change. While the people knew the Lord and identified Him as the one who brought them out of Egypt and set them as a nation in the Land, He would now be known differently. This was the sure promise of what the Lord was about to do that when it was fulfilled, they would then know Him as the Lord who brought them back from captivity and saved them.
Jeremiah 23:9-10
Part of the broken and failed leadership were the false and lying prophets. They themselves purveyed lies but also the leaders listened to these lies. This has a physical affect the prophet Jeremiah; his heart, his bones. It caused a weakness in him as he declares this word.
It is an idolatrous land, unfaithful to their God, making them like a spiritual adulterer. They are on a wicked path and a way they should not be on. They are using the gift the Lord gave them incorrectly.
Jeremiah 23:11-12
The religious leaders were unfaithful together. The priest didn't hold the prophet accountable nor did the prophet account for the priest. They bother went astray together and the led the people also. They are godless and wicked. What a sad state of affairs. Because of this, the path they were on would be slippery. Their footing unsure, the way dark and foreboding, destined to failure.
Jeremiah 23:13-14
The prophets of Samaria were those of the Northern Kingdom. They prophesied by Baal, the Canaanite storm god. This led the people astray, following bad information from wicked sources through broken leadership. The prophets of Judah were not much better, they were committing adultery. They were a living lie and purveyed the same. They didn't move anyone to turn from sin and wickedness, but they helped people believe they could get by with it. God characterizes them as being like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Jeremiah 23:15-22
Because they poisoned the spiritual lives of the people, the Lord would poison them. They would eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.
- They were not to be listened to – because they gave hope where there was none.
- Their visions didn't come from the mind of God, but their own mind.
- To those who despised God, they said they would have peace.
- Those who followed their stubborn hearts, they offered assurance of no harm.
None of these prophets stood in the council of God to hear what He had to say. If they had, these false assurances would be replaced with warnings.
I wonder if verse 19 isn't a play on words for those who trusted in a storm god or false assurances. Both would find themselves in a storm of God's wrath, a whirlwind encompassing their life. There was a time coming when they would understand fully that these men weren't sent by Him. Had they been sent by Yahweh, they would speak His word, encourage people to turn from wickedness and run to Him.
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Had they mistaken Him as some little god limited in power and scope? Had they thought He could only see so far or reach just a little way? Did they think He was hidden away and unable to see them? So it would seem on all counts.
The prophets claimed a dream, but they were both deceptive and delusional. Their dreams and recounting of them to the people held no power. God's word holds power that can speak into the life of people. The straw and grain are not to be compared. The value of one evident over the other. God's word sorts it all out, always has and always will. It's been tried and tested, claimed to be worthless, dismissed and so on. But no one has proven it to be anything but faithful and true and living.
Jeremiah 23:30-32
Because of all of this, the Lord is against them. Their words are not even original, let alone from Him. They recycle each other's words. The words and false dreams are reckless. They have no value toward the people.
Jeremiah 23:33-40
The message from the Lord? The message of a prophet was considered the 'burden of the Lord'. This word for message could 'burden'. There is a play on words here. What's the burden they asked; they were the burden! The message was they would be punished for their failing to bring the burden of God's word. Their continued failure to bring the true word brought God's wrath. They would be cast from his presence and become a everlasting disgrace and shame.
©2018 Doug Ford
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