Jeremiah - Lesson 23A

• Chapters 1-6 The LORD calls Jeremiah as a prophet to Judah in the final years of the kingdom. The LORD’s people, Israel and Judah, had rejected their God by worshipping false gods without repentance. The LORD is sending a nation from the North as judgment, yet not for the complete destruction of His people.

  • Chapter 7-11 Jeremiah calls out the impending destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. The people have been led into the worship of false gods, signs in the heavens and idols by their spiritual leaders, forsaking the LORD and violating His covenant. The necessity for discipline is not pleasing to the LORD. Many want to silence the LORD’s prophet,

  • Chapter 12-17 The wicked seem to prosper.

  • The LORD is not deceived and rejects empty worship. The false prophets were not removed by the people. A drought is sent as a warning, but the hard hearts of the people continue in worship of false gods with no regard for the commands of the LORD.

  • Jeremiah brings warning of impeding destruction to kings, leaders and all the people, remembering the evil of king Manasseh.

  • Jeremiah laments his calling as a prophet but repents and continues to speak the words of the LORD, though alone and persecuted, denied by the LORD to mourn, or pray for the nation, yet the LORD will protect him and confirm his words.

    • There will be restoration for the nation in the future.

• Chapter 18-22 The LORD is the sovereign ‘potter’ over all His creation. The LORD will destroy Judah and Jerusalem because of the shedding of innocent blood and child sacrifice.

  • King Zedekiah seeks a miracle from the LORD who preforms wondrous acts.

  • Jeremiah persecuted for the message he brings to the people’s leaders.

  • The LORD continues to speak through Jeremiah prophecies concerning each of the last kings of Judah.

Jer. 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
Jer. 23:2 Therefore 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.
Jer. 23:3 “Then 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.
Jer. 23:4 “I 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.

• Verse 1 The LORD begins with a warning displayed in the use of the word, ‘Woe’.

  • Woe denotes a “listening up” needs to take place.

  • This Woe is to the shepherds of the LORD’s people referred to as the sheep of My pasture.

    • These shepherds were destroying the sheep.

    • These shepherds were scattering the sheep.

• Verse 2 The LORD God of Israel speaks to the shepherds.

  • These shepherds are those who were tending the LORD’s people.

  • This would be a representation of all those who had the responsibility to protect and guide the LORD’s people.

  • This includes the kings, counselors, prophets and priests of the people.

    • All those who had the responsibility to tend to the LORD’s people.

  • What these leaders did instead of tending was to scatter His flock.

    • They were separated from Him.

    • Then they were driven away from Him and His ways.

    • The needs of His people have been neglected.

  • Because of this neglect and abuse of power the LORD is going to deal with the shepherds for their evil deeds.

• Verse 3 After the LORD has dealt with the evil of the shepherds THEN the LORD will gather the remnant of His flock.

  • He will gather them from all the countries He has driven them to.

  • He will bring them back to their land, described as their pasture.

    • When he brings them back to their land, they will be fruitful and multiply.

  • The question arises if this refers to the return of His people after their exile recorded in Jeremiah and the return in the days of Cyrus the Great, or does it refer to a future return?

• Verse 4 The LORD says when He brings them back, He will raise up shepherds for them.

  • These shepherds will tend the people.

  • The people in this time will not be afraid any longer, showing that the people have been afraid in the past.

    • They will not be terrified any longer.

    • There will be not be any missing; the flock will be complete.

  • All the sheep of the LORD will return. All the tribes of Israel will be included in this regathering.

  • This is not a description that would match with the return of the exiles under Cyrus the Great.

    • This also does not describe the current regathering of the Jews back in the land of Israel.

    • This is talking about a still future time.

    • This will be broken down more throughly in verse 6.

Jer. 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.
Jer. 23:6 “In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The LORD our righteousness.’
Jer. 23:7 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
Jer. 23:8 but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

• Verse 5 The LORD says there is a future time, described as, ‘the days are coming’.

  • In this future time, He will raise up for David a righteous Branch.

  • This righteous Branch is described as one who will reign as king, one who will act wisely.

    • The importance of this righteous Branch or king being raised up for David is especially important to understand as there was a reference to the throne of David at the end of Jer. 22:30

Jer. 22:30 “Thus says the LORD,
‘Write this man down childless,
A man who will not prosper in his days;
For no man of his descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”

• As discussed last week, this prophesy from the LORD was fulfilled in the immediate sense as there was not a child of Jehoiachin that would sit on the throne of David as Nebuchadnezzar installed his uncle as the next and last king over Judah.

  • Jehoiachin did not prosper in his days as he was exiled to Babylon and spent thirty-seven years in prison. 2 Kings 25:27

    • This will be true of his descendants, who are men, as they will not sit on the throne of David ruling again over Judah.

    • This might bring one to the conclusion the continual line from David to a king ruling on the throne of David into the future is finished.

• Jer. 23:5 On the topic of providing a king, the LORD says He will raise up a righteous Branch, a king, for David.

  • This verse seems to contradict what was prophesied regarding Jehoiachin in the last chapter.

  • It is important to look at what was promised to King David by the LORD, to determine what is actually being prophesied by the LORD through Jeremiah.

    • There are two sections of scriptures to review.

    • In each set of the scriptures there is crossover of immediate promises to David that were fulfilled in his son Solomon and other promises that had not been fulfilled in Jeremiah’s day nor have they come to fulfillment in our time in history.

• The LORD spoke to King David about these promises through Nathan the prophet.

1Chr. 17:7 “Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.
1Chr. 17:8 “I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.
1Chr. 17:9 “I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again; and the wicked will not waste them anymore as formerly,
1Chr. 17:10 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I tell you that the LORD will build a house for you.
1Chr. 17:11 “When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
1Chr. 17:12 “He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
1Chr. 17:13 “I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you.
1Chr. 17:14 “But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”’”
1Chr. 17:15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

• Verse 9 The LORD will plant His people, and they will not be moved from it again.

  • This is a promise to the LORD’s people and this promise has yet to be fulfilled.

  • Verse 10 The LORD will build a house for you.

    • This promise is made to David. The LORD has not made a house for David, so this is yet to be fulfilled.

  • Verse 11 The LORD will set up one of David’s sons and establish his kingdom.

    • This was true of Solomon, David’s son.

  • Verse 12 This son will build the LORD a house,

    • Solomon did build a house for the LORD.

1Kings 6:37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv.
1Kings 6:38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

• There will be a temple built again in Jerusalem and it will also be built by a son of David.

  • The future king of Israel will build this temple and this is yet to be fulfilled.

    • The LORD will establish His throne forever.

    • The throne that is to last forever has not been established on earth yet, so this has yet to be fulfilled.

• Verse 13 The LORD will be his father, and this king will be the LORD’s son.

  • This was a true relationship the LORD had with Solomon.

  • This will also be true when the future king, Jesus, sits on the throne as the Son of God.

  • This will be fulfilled in the future.

    • The LORD will not take His lovingkindness away from this king as He had done to Saul.

    • This was true about the reign of Solomon as he lived out all his years as a king and died a king of Israel.

• Verse 14 The LORD will put this king in the house he builds for the LORD.

  • Jesus will build a house for the LORD and the LORD will put Jesus in this house.

    • The LORD will settle this king in the LORD’s kingdom forever, no leaving, no dying.

    • The LORD will establish this king’s throne forever, this king will be a forever king in a forever kingdom.

  • These promises the LORD made to King David are often referred to as the Davidic covenant.

  • The other place in scripture to hear what was spoken from the LORD to David is in 2Sam. 7:12-17.

2Sam. 7:12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sam. 7:13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2Sam. 7:14 “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men,
2Sam. 7:15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
2Sam. 7:16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’”
2Sam. 7:17 In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

• The words recorded in 2 Samuel differ in a few subtle but important ways.

  • Verse 12 The promise is of a descendant that will come forth from David’s body, this was true of Solomon.

    • The LORD is going to establish his kingdom forever, this will be fulfilled through Jesus in the future.

• Verse 13 He shall build a house for My name.

  • Solomon did built a temple for the LORD.

    • The throne will be established forever through Jesus’ rule.

• Verse 14  The LORD says He will be a father to this king.

  • This is true of both Solomon and Jesus.

  • The second portion of the scriptures starts with, ‘when he commits iniquity’.

  • This can not be true about Jesus but is true for Solomon.

    • The LORD will correct Solomon with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men.

    • This will not be true for Jesus.

    • This is demonstrated in 1 Kings 11.

• Verse 15-17 These verses are parallel to what was covered in 1Chor. 17:13-15.

  • Jer. 23:5 The LORD prophesied through Jeremiah that He would raise up for David a righteous Branch. This righteous branch was promised to David in the covenant the LORD made with him.

    • This king will do justice and righteousness in the land.

    • A more detailed description is found in Is. 11:1-5.

Is. 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
Is. 11:2  The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
Is. 11:3  And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
Is. 11:4  But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Is. 11:5  Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

• These verses contain descriptions of Jesus.

  • Verse 1 The shoot is David as he comes from the line of Jesse. Matt. 1:5-6.

Matt. 1:5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.
Matt. 1:6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

• Is. 11:1 Says from this shoot a branch will bear fruit.

  • This branch is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who bears fruit.

• Verse 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him, the Messiah.

  • The Spirit of the LORD is the HOLY Spirit.

  • The Spirit of the LORD will bring a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

• Verse 3 The Messiah will delight in the fear of the LORD.

  • He will not judge by what can be seen with his eyes.

  • His judgment will see deeper, John 1:47-51.

John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and  said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
John 1:48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
John 1:49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”
John 1:50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
John 1:51 And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

• The Messiah will not be limited to what he hears with his ears.

  • His discernment goes beyond what is spoken. Matt. 9:1-4, 12:23-25

Matt. 9:1 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.
Matt. 9:2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
Matt. 9:3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.”
Matt. 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?

Matt. 12:23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”
Matt. 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
Matt. 12:25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.

• Jesus the Messiah already demonstrated the faithfulness of the words revealed in Is. 11:3.

  • Is. 11:4-5 With His righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth.

    • The judgment He will bring is described as the rod of His mouth and the breath of His lips.

    • He will speak and judgment will be carried out.

  • The words of Jesus were indeed carried out when He came the first time as well. Matt. 8:5-10.

Matt. 8:5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,
Matt. 8:6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”
Matt. 8:7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
Matt. 8:8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Matt. 8:9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
Matt. 8:10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.

• Verse 8 The centurion told Jesus to just say the word, and his servant would be healed.

  • Verse 10 Jesus marveled and said it was because He had not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.

  • Isaiah 11:1-5 gives a detailed look at the things prophesied by Jeremiah in 23:5.

Jer. 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.

• This journey began as this verse says the LORD will raise up for David a righteous Branch.

  • The covenant with David began to be fulfilled with his son Solomon and will be completely fulfilled through his descendant, the son of God, Jesus Christ, in the future.

  • A refresher of Jer. 23:6

Jer. 23:6 “In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The LORD our righteousness.’

• Verse 6 ‘In His days,’ refers to the Branch mentioned in verse 5, that is when Jesus rules His kingdom on earth.

  • When He rules Judah will be saved.

  • His people Judah will be saved from their enemies.

  • And they will be saved from their sins. Rom. 11:25-27.

Rom. 11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
Rom. 11:26  and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
“THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”
Rom. 11:27 “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM,
WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

• And all Israel will dwell securely. The nation of Israel will be united again as one kingdom.

  • The future kingdom will be a united kingdom of all the tribes called Israel.

  • There will not be a separated kingdom of Judah and Israel. Jer. 3:18.

Jer. 3:18 “In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

• This is another reason the words spoken in Jer. 22:30 are true saying there will never be a king ruling over Judah from Jehoiachin.

  • There will not be a separated kingdom in the future; it will be a fully united kingdom of Israel.

    • This is also displayed in Is. 11:11-16

Is. 11:11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again recover the second time with His hand
The remnant of His people, who will remain,
From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
And from the islands of the sea.
Is. 11:12  And He will lift up a standard for the nations
And assemble the banished ones of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
Is. 11:13  Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be cut off;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
Is. 11:14  They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west;
Together they will plunder the sons of the east;
They will possess Edom and Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.
Is. 11:15  And the LORD will utterly destroy
The tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
And He will wave His hand over the River
With His scorching wind;
And He will strike it into seven streams
And make men walk over dry-shod.
Is. 11:16  And there will be a highway from Assyria
For the remnant of His people who will be left,
Just as there was for Israel
In the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.

• Verse 11 This will happen on that day.

  • This follows the branch talked about already in the earlier verses of chapter eleven.

  • This will be a second regathering of a remnant of His people into their land.

• Verse 12 They will come from the four corners of the earth.

  • All Jews from the whole world will return.

  • This is not referring to a time when some of the Jews came back into the land from Babylon.

• Verse 13 All the tribes of Israel will gather together as one nation.

  • Verse 14 They will possess much land encompassing lands known as Edom, Moab and Ammon.

    • (Modern day nations of Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia.)

• Verse 15 The tongue of the Sea of Egypt would be a reference to the Gulf of Suez.

  • The LORD says He will utterly destroy it which would mean it will no longer exist.

  • The River that will be made into seven streams would be the Euphrates river

    • These miraculous events will remove the natural barriers that now exist to make a way for the remnant of Jews to come to the land promised to them by the LORD.

• Verse 17 There will be a way made available for the Jews returning from Assyria, modern day Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

  • This is a parallel to the Red Sea being parted for the Jews when they crossed out of Egypt during the exodus.

  • Jer. 23:6 This one who is the righteous Branch will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness’.

    • Rereading Jer. 23:7-8

Jer. 23:7 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
Jer. 23:8 but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

• These verses are the same as an earlier chapter in Jeremiah 16:14-15

Jer. 16:14 “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’
Jer. 16:15 but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

• Verse 14 The grace of the LORD is demonstrated as He gives promises of the future for His people.

  • The people of the LORD were known by those people around them (as well of speaking of themselves) to be those who were brought up out of the land of Egypt.

  • The phrase begins with the descriptor of, ‘As the LORD lives’.

    • One of the physical demonstrations of the LORD being a living God was the miraculous way He brought His people out of Egypt, sustained them through the wilderness years and established them in the Promised Land.

• Verse 15 In the future the LORD will be seen to be the God of His word and as a living God when He brings back the sons of Israel from the land of the north.

  • This will include all the countries were the children of Israel had been scattered.

  • The LORD promises He will bring them back to their own land which He had already given to their ancestors.

• One contrast of the exile from Egypt was the sons of Israel had been gathered together in Egypt and kept together yet separate from the surrounding peoples. Now they will need to stay a separate people, but do this scattered in the midst of other peoples and countries.

  • This is one of the ways the LORD has demonstrated His mighty hand on this people.

  • It is a miracle they are still a separate people.

    • This is also a good reminder that the LORD will never set His people aside.

    • The LORD deals with their sin in judgment without negating the promises He has made to them.

  • There is a partial fulfillment of this prophesy going on in our own time as the nation of Israel was established in May of 1948. There has been a continual flow of Jewish people back to this land.

  • There will be a day in the future when all Jews will be brought back to their land and will live securely, and their Messiah will rule over them from His throne in His temple in Jerusalem.

    • This time period is described as the Millennial kingdom.

    • This is a literal thousand years of time.

    • This time period will begin after the seven year time period described as The Tribulation is completed.

    • This time will begin when Jesus the Messiah returns to the earth to be the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth.

• Jeremiah was tasked with bringing so much news of judgment to the people of Judah it can be overlooked how much grace of uplifting promises from the LORD are also given through Jeremiah.

  • The same can be true for believers today as we are bombarded by a constant stream of news from all over the world that can draw our attention away from the overwhelming grace and peace that can only come from a focus on promises of our LORD and savior.

    • We are not to be anxious in regards to anything.

    • Our LORD has promised He is coming back for us. John 14:1-3

John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

• When your mind begins to be troubled by thoughts of fear or anxiety take those thoughts captive and focus on the promises the LORD has made to us and look to the future with anticipation that He is coming back for us soon.

  • He has prepared a place for each believer to be with Him forever.