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Jeremiah 23

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Condemnation of Bad Shepherds (Leaders) 1–4

1
Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Jehovah. ​
2
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. ​
3
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. ​
4
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.

The Promise of the Righteous Branch 5–8

5
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. ​
6
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. ​
7
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; ​
8
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.

Judgment Against False Prophets 9–15

9
Concerning the prophets. My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of Jehovah, and because of his holy words. ​
10
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right;
11
for both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah. ​
12
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places 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 Jehovah.
13
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14
In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. ​
15
Therefore thus saith Jehovah 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 ungodliness gone forth into all the land.

True Prophecy vs. False Dreams 16–22

16
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah.
17
They say continually unto them that despise me, Jehovah hath said, Ye shall have peace; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you. ​
18
For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah, that he should perceive and hear his word? who hath marked my word, and heard it? ​
19
Behold, the tempest of Jehovah, even his wrath, is gone forth, yea, a whirling tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked.
20
The anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly.
21
I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied. ​
22
But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

God’s Omnipresence and Power of the Word 23–32

23
Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar off? ​
24
Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah. ​
25
I have heard what the prophets have said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
27
that think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgat my name for Baal.
28
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 straw to the wheat? saith Jehovah. ​
29
Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? ​
30
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that steal my words every one from his neighbor.
31
Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32
Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, saith Jehovah.

The Misuse of 'The Burden of the LORD' 33–40

33
And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? then shalt thou say unto them, What burden! I will cast you off, saith Jehovah. ​
34
And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house.
35
Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath Jehovah answered? and, What hath Jehovah spoken?
36
And the burden of Jehovah shall ye mention no more: for every man’s own word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of Jehovah of hosts our God. ​
37
Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath Jehovah answered thee? and, What hath Jehovah spoken?
38
But if ye say, The burden of Jehovah; therefore thus saith Jehovah: Because ye say this word, The burden of Jehovah, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of Jehovah;
39
therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my presence: ​
40
and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 23

Verse 1

the pastors — Ra'ah, to shepherd, the verb of Ps 23:1, 'The LORD is my shepherd'. Kings and leaders were to feed 'the sheep of my pasture', and Ezek 34:2 repeats the woe: 'Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?' Christ names himself 'the good shepherd' (John 10:11).

Verse 2

have not visited them — One verb, paqad, to attend to, stands on both sides of the verse: the shepherds 'have not visited' the flock, so the LORD says 'I will visit upon you the evil of your doings'. The care they withheld becomes the reckoning they receive. The same verb, rendered 'punish' in v.34, falls on the one who says 'The burden of the LORD'.

Verse 3

the remnant of my flock — The LORD does what the shepherds did not: 'He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock' (31:10). 'Driven' is the verb of v.2, now with the LORD as the one who drove. 'Fruitful and increase' (parah, rabah) are the words of Gen 1:28, 'Be fruitful, and multiply'.

Verse 5

a righteous Branch — Tsemach, a sprout, which becomes a title: 'my servant the BRANCH' (Zech 3:8), 'the man whose name is The BRANCH' (Zech 6:12). 'Prosper' is sakal, the verb of Isa 52:13, 'my servant shall deal prudently'. He does what David did, 'judgment and justice' (2 Sam 8:15), and Gabriel gives him 'the throne of his father David' (Luke 1:32).

Verse 6

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS — The name is one word in Hebrew, Tsidqenu, 'our righteousness'. The same name is given to Jerusalem in 33:16, in the days when Judah is saved. King Zedekiah (21:1) bore a name meaning 'right of Jah'. Paul says Christ 'is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness' (1 Cor 1:30).

Verse 7

The LORD liveth — The common oath, 'And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth' (4:2), is here tied to the Exodus. v.8 gives what will replace the wording: 'The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country'. Jer 16:14–15 makes the same promise.

Verse 9

all my bones shake — Rachaph occurs only three times: of the Spirit who 'moved upon the face of the waters' (Gen 1:2), of the eagle that 'fluttereth over her young' (Deut 32:11), and here, of bones. The prophet is 'like a drunken man', overcome 'because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness'; compare the word 'shut up in my bones' (20:9).

Verse 11

profane — Chaneph, to be polluted or godless. It is said of the men who handled holy things, 'both prophet and priest', and the wickedness is found 'in my house'. The people 'set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name' (7:30; 32:34). Zeph 3:4 says the same: 'her priests have polluted the sanctuary'.

Verse 14

an horrible thing — Sha'arurah, a shuddering thing, the word of 5:30, 'A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land'. Adultery and lies are named together; 29:23 names prophets who 'committed adultery' with the wives of their neighbours. Sodom and Gomorrah mark a city that would not turn: 'none doth return from his wickedness'.

Verse 17

Ye shall have peace — Shalom, the false prophets' word, said 'still' to 'them that despise me'. It had been quoted before: 'Peace, peace; when there is no peace' (8:11); Ezek 13:10 says they 'seduced my people, saying, Peace'. 'Imagination' (sheririth) is stubbornness, so the message tells the stubborn that 'No evil shall come upon you'.

Verse 18

stood in the counsel of the LORD — Sod, a confidence shared among those who sit close, also rendered 'secret'. 'Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets' (Amos 3:7); 'The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him' (Ps 25:14). v.22 gives the test: such men would have 'caused my people to hear my words'.

Verse 21

yet they ran — They ran as messengers with no sender. Shalach, to send, is the verb of true commission: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me' (Isa 6:8). Jer 14:14 says the same of these prophets: 'I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them'.

Verse 23

a God at hand… and not a God afar off — Qarov and rachoq, near and far. The prophets' hidden dealings are not hidden from a God who is both. The same truth is sung in Ps 139:8, 'If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there'; v.24 draws out the claim that he fills heaven and earth.

Verse 24

Do not I fill heaven and earth? — Male, to fill. Solomon said it from the other side: 'the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee' (1 Kgs 8:27). The 'secret places' (mistar) offer no cover, and the question 'Can any hide himself… that I shall not see him?' is answered in Ps 139:7–12, where neither height nor depth hides anyone from him.

Verse 28

What is the chaff to the wheat? — Teben is the chopped straw left when the grain (bar) is taken out, fodder with no bread in it. The prophet may 'tell a dream', but only the one who has the LORD's word speaks it 'faithfully' (emeth, truth). John the Baptist uses the same pair of the harvest: 'gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff' (Matt 3:12).

Verse 29

like a hammer — Patish, the sledge, found only three times: here, of the smith's hammer (Isa 41:7), and of Babylon as 'the hammer of the whole earth' (Jer 50:23). The word is also fire: 'I will make my words in thy mouth fire' (5:14), 'a burning fire shut up in my bones' (20:9). It breaks 'the rock in pieces'.

Verse 33

What burden? — Massa, from the verb 'to lift', means a load carried and also a pronouncement, and it heads prophecies: 'The burden of Babylon' (Isa 13:1), 'The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi' (Mal 1:1). Asked by people, prophet or priest, it receives the answer 'What burden? I will even forsake you'.

Verse 36

the words of the living God — Hapak, to turn over or upside down: the prophets turned the word around by calling their own sayings 'the burden of the LORD', so the LORD says 'every man's word shall be his burden'. 'The living God' is the title of 10:10: 'the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king'.

Verse 39

cast you out of my presence — 'I, even I' sets the LORD himself as the one who acts. 'Forget' is nashah, to put out of mind. The city 'that I gave you and your fathers' is lost as 2 Kgs 24:20 records: 'through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence'.