There are many New Testament scriptures that speak about the glory of God as seen through the amazing work of our Lord Christ Jesus. But we can miss the depth of what those images and teachings are giving because we do not know intimately what the prophets were proclaiming. Often the New Testament assumes we know those prophetic pictures so that we are ready to cry out to our God when we see their fulfillment in Christ. God is giving us these pictures so that we would see the multifaceted work of the Savior. Jeremiah is going to proclaim another name for the Savior so that we would see who he is and what he came into the world to do for his people. Open your copies of God’s word and we are going to see God making a stunning proclamation of hope that will cause his sheep to have a heart for him.
Bad Shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-2)
Jeremiah 23 opens with the Lord proclaiming judgment on his shepherds. It is important to remember that kings were frequently called shepherds because they led the people and they were supposed to care for the people. If we keep the context of Jeremiah, then we can see this direct connection. Jeremiah 22 recorded the failed kings of Judah. The reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoakim, Jehoachin, and Zedekiah have all been failures because these final four kings all did evil in the sight of the Lord. They did not commit themselves to doing justice and righteousness (cf. Jeremiah 22:2-3). These kings did not deliver the oppressed and the innocent from harm. Rather than being shepherds, these kings were part of the problem rather than being the solution. These kings have done evil for the 23 years of their combined reigns. God has seen their wicked ways and now is proclaiming woes of judgment on them. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” (Jeremiah 23:1).
God will hold his leaders accountable for what they have done in leading the people. Notice that he says in verse 2 that he has seen them scatter and drive the flock away. Can you imagine those who are designated to care for the people being the ones who are willfully sinning themselves and are driving the sheep away? But this is what these kings of Judah have done. So listen to the word play that God exercises on these shepherds in verse 2. Since you have not attended to my flock, then I am going to attend to you for your evil acts. Since you have not cared about my flock and nor paid attention to them, then I am going to pay attention to you because of the evil you have done.
God Will Gather Us (Jeremiah 23:3-4)
Now this is the heart of God on display so that we will have a heart of love for him. God does not look down and simply wish things were better for his people. God does not look down and allow his bad shepherds to keep destroying his people. God proclaims that he will do something about it. Will God do something for his sheep? What is God going to do for his sheep? Look at verses 3-4. God himself will gather the remnant of his flock. God says that he is going to gather his people back to their fold and to their pasture. He is going to gather his people back and his people will be fruitful and multiply. God is going to bring his sheep back but not to languish. God is going to bring them back and they are going to flourish. Then God will give them shepherds who will care for them so that they will not be afraid any more. God will give his people shepherds so that they will not be dismayed and so that his sheep will not go missing ever again. So how is God going to do this? What will God do to bring about these conditions so that his sheep can be restored, flourish, and never go missing? Look at what God proclaims next.
God Will Save Us (Jeremiah 23:5-6)
In verse 5 the Lord proclaims that what he will do is raise up for David a righteous Branch, a king whose reign will act wisely and execute justice and righteousness for the people. In short, God is going to give his people the ruler that they need. Prior kings did not rule in righteousness and justice. Prior shepherds did not care for the people by defending the innocent and oppressed among them. So the righteous Branch will be their king and be the shepherd of the flock. We need to take a moment to understand this description of God’s coming king. You will notice that God says he will raise up for David a righteous branch. First, God had promised that he would establish David’s throne forever (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12-16). Second, the branch imagery is important because prophets like Isaiah proclaimed that the kingdom would be cut down like a tree. But rather than the stump of this tree remaining desolate forever, a branch would spring out from the stump (cf. Isaiah 11:1; 6:13). New life and new hope would still come through this new king to God’s people. Life will come from the cut down tree. Hope in the covenant promises to David are still intact and will be the answer that God wants and the people desire. This is one of the reasons that the genealogy of Jesus is so important. We start with the gospels of Matthew and Luke and are not interested in sifting through the genealogy of Jesus. But those genealogy records are important to show that Jesus can lay claim to the king line of David.
Notice what is going to happen in his days when he comes, according to verse 6. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live securely. Not only will the righteous Branch rule in justice and righteousness, but he will save his people. Listen to the name that will be given to the righteous Branch at the end of verse 6. He will be called “The Lord is our righteousness.” Let his name sink in for a moment. His name is not “The Lord is righteous.” This is certainly true that the Lord is righteous and just. This is part of our hope as stated in verse 5. He will reign wisely and execute justice and righteousness. But there is something powerful and stunning by the name given to the Branch. His name is “The Lord is our righteousness.” Before we dig into this picture, we need to add one more picture that God proclaims in verses 7-8.
God Will Lead Us (Jeremiah 23:7-8)
God is going to gather his flock through the righteous Branch who will save his people and be their righteousness. In verse 7 God further shows that he is going to powerfully lead his people. The way that God is going to lead his people will so great that the people will no longer speak of the Lord who brought the people out of the land of Egypt through the exodus. Instead, they will speak of the Lord who brought his people out of the countries of the world where the sheep had been scattered. God’s call will go through the whole world, calling for people to return to the Lord and submit themselves to the rule of the righteous Branch who reigns in justice and righteousness. He will save his people and they will flourish under his rule. So Jeremiah proclaims that God’s answer to wicked rulers who have scattered the sheep will be to no longer depend on human leaders but on God himself. God himself will come and gather his sheep. He will lead his people more powerfully than he did when he led them out of Egypt. When we read about the exodus, I think all of us wish we could see God’s powerful leadership at that time. God used powerful plagues to afflict the Egyptians. God led the people with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The pillar stood between the people and Egyptians when the waters of the sea were parted and Israel passed through them on dry ground. We want to see that. But God says that he would work an even greater exodus for his people. God would lead his people so powerfully that the exodus would become a faint memory. The true end of the exile and return to the Lord will be under the leadership of the righteous Branch. God himself will come and shepherd his people. He will save them and the people will call him, “The Lord is our righteousness.”
Jesus, The Good Shepherd
Friends, it was not a small thing when Jesus came and proclaimed himself to be the shepherd of the people. It was not merely a statement to warm our hearts so that we would think about Jesus as our gentle shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd that Jeremiah was prophesying would come. In Jesus, God himself came to lead his people and rule them in righteousness. Listen to what Jesus said about himself as the shepherd king.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:14-18 ESV)
Jesus says that what makes him a good shepherd is his righteous leadership (“the Father knows me and I know the Father”) and his laying down his life for the sheep. Notice that Jesus points out that he is going to call sheep from all places on the earth to come and be part of this flock and he will be the one shepherd. It is the laying down of his life that allows the Lord to be our righteousness. It is his laying down his life for the sheep that gives him the ability and the authority to save his sheep. We need God to be righteous and faithful because we have been unrighteousness and unfaithful (cf. 2 Timothy 2:13-15). The New Testament makes this important claim and critical teaching about which Jeremiah is prophesying. Listen to how the scriptures explain that the Lord is our righteousness.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ESV)
Notice that the point the apostle Paul makes is that the work of God by suffering for sin, even though he was free from any sin in him, made it that in him we can become the righteousness of God.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11 ESV)
We do not have a righteousness by which we can stand before God. We need the Lord to be our righteousness. We need the Lord to be our vindication. We need the Lord to be our justifier. We need the Lord to be our hope. We need a shepherd to lead us in paths of righteousness as well as be our righteousness. Amazingly, Jeremiah prophesied that God himself would come and save his people by laying down his life so that we could be righteous before him.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”— and he was called a friend of God. (James 2:21-23 ESV)
We will have the heart for God that he desires us to have by seeing Jesus as the righteous Branch who laid down his life so that we could become the righteousness of God. Jesus gave his life so that we could be counted righteous and we called a friend of God. God sent us the Good Shepherd so that we could be reconciled to him. Friends, submit to the Shepherd. Listen to him and obey him. Belong to him and serve so that you can be counted righteous and confidently say, “The Lord is our righteousness.”