Jeremiah 23:1-40 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and
scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. (2)
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors 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 the
LORD. (3) And I will gather the remnant of my flock out
of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their
folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
(4) And I will set up shepherds
over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed,
neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
(5) Behold, the days come, saith
the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall
reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. (6) In
his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is
his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (7)
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no
more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt; (8) But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and
which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from
all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own
land. (9) Mine 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
hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his
holiness. (10) For the land is full of adulterers; for
because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness
are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not
right. (11) For both prophet and priest are profane; yea,
in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. (12)
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways 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 the LORD. (13)
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in
Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
(14) I have seen also in the
prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in
lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from
his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants
thereof as Gomorrah. (15) Therefore thus saith 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 is profaneness gone
forth into all the land. (16) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not
unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they
speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the
LORD. (17) They say still unto them that despise me, The
LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh
after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. (18)
For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and
heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? (19)
Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous
whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. (20)
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till
he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall
consider 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 should have
turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. (23) Am
I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? (24)
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith
the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. (25) I
have heard what the prophets 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? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of
their own heart; (27) Which think to cause my people to forget my
name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their
fathers have forgotten 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 chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. (29) Is
not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that
breaketh the rock in pieces? (30) Therefore, behold, I am against the
prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his
neighbour. (31) Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. (32)
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the
LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their
lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not
profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
(33) And when this people, or the
prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the
LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you,
saith the LORD. (34) And as for the prophet, and the
priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even
punish that man and his house. (35) Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour,
and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the
LORD spoken? (36) And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention
no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the
words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. (37)
Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee?
and, What hath the LORD spoken?
(38) But since ye say, The burden
of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The
burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The
burden of the LORD; (39) Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly
forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your
fathers, and 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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Jeremiah 23:1-40
Woe be to those who are set to
feed God's people, but take no concern to do them good! Here is a word of
comfort to the neglected sheep. Though only a remnant of God's flock is left,
he will find them out, and they shall be brought to their former habitations.
Christ is spoken of as a branch from David's family. He is righteous himself,
and through him all his people are made righteous. Christ shall break the
usurped power of Satan. All the spiritual seed of believing Abraham and praying
Jacob shall be protected, and shall be saved from the guilt and dominion of
sin. In the days of Christ's government in the soul, the soul dwells at ease.
He is here spoken of as “the Lord our Righteousness.” He is so our
Righteousness as no creature could be. His obedience unto death is the
justifying righteousness of believers, and their title to heavenly happiness.
And their sanctification, as the source of all their personal obedience is the
effect of their union with him, and of the supply of this Spirit. By this name
every true believer shall call him, and call upon him. We have nothing to plead
but this, Christ has died, yea, rather is risen again; and we have taken him
for our Lord. This righteousness which he has wrought out to the satisfaction
of law and justice, becomes ours; being a free gift given to us, through the
Spirit of God, who puts it upon us, clothes us with it, enables us to lay hold
upon it, and claim an interest in it. “The Lord our Righteousness” is a sweet
name to a convinced sinner; to one that has felt the guilt of sin in his
conscience; seen his need of that righteousness, and the worth of it. This
great salvation is far more glorious than all former deliverances of his
church. May our souls be gathered to Him, and be found in him. The false
prophets of Samaria had deluded the Israelites into idolatries; yet the Lord
considered the false prophets of Jerusalem as guilty of more horrible
wickedness, by which the people were made bold in sin. These false teachers
would be compelled to suffer the most bitter part of the Lord's indignation.
They made themselves believe that there was no harm in sin, and practised
accordingly; then they made others believe so. Those who are resolved to go on
in evil ways, will justly be given up to believe strong delusions. But which of
them had received any revelation of God, or understood any thing of his word?
There was a time coming when they would reflect on their folly and unbelief
with remorse. The teaching and example of the true prophets led men to repentance,
faith, and righteousness. The false prophets led men to rest in forms and
notions, and to be quiet in their sins. Let us take heed that we do not follow
unrighteousness. Men cannot be hidden from God's all-seeing eye. Will they
never see what judgments they prepare for themselves? Let them consider what a
vast difference there is between these prophecies and those delivered by the
true prophets of the Lord. Let them not call their foolish dreams Divine
oracles. The promises of peace these prophets make are no more to be compared
to God's promises than chaff to wheat. The unhumbled heart of man is like a
rock; if not melted by the word of God as a fire, it will be broken to pieces
by it as a hammer. How can they be long safe, or at all easy, who have a God of
almighty power against them? The word of God is no smooth, lulling, deceitful
message. And by its faithfulness it may certainly be distinguished from false
doctrines. Those are miserable indeed who are forsaken and forgotten of God;
and men's jesting at God's judgments will not baffle them. God had taken Israel
to be a people near to him, but they shall now be cast out of his presence. It
is a mark of great and daring impiety for men to jest with the words of God.
Every idle and profane word will add to the sinner's burden in the day of
judgment, when everlasting shame will be his portion.
