Jeremiah 23

1 Woe be unto the pastors that waste and scatter the sheep of my pasture! said the LORD.

2 Therefore thus hath the LORD God of Israel said unto the pastors that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them; behold, I visit upon you the evil of your doings, said the LORD.

3 And I will gather the remnant of my sheep out of all the lands where I have driven them and will cause them to return 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, said 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 righteousness in the earth.

6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this shall be his name by which they shall call him, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

7 Therefore, behold, the days come, said the LORD, and they shall no longer say, The LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

8 but, The LORD lives, who caused the seed of the house of Israel to come up and out of the land of the north wind, and from all the lands where I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.

9 My heart is broken within me because of the prophets, all my bones shake; I was like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, before the LORD, and before the words of his holiness.

10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of the oath the land is deserted; the booths of the wilderness are dried up, and their course was evil, and their force was not right.

11 For both prophet and priest are feigned; even in my house I have found their wickedness, said the LORD.

12 Therefore 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 also seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they committed adultery and walked by lies; they strengthened also the hands of evildoers, that no none is converted from his malice; they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

15 Therefore, thus hath the LORD of the hosts said against those prophets: Behold, I will cause them to eat wormwood and make them drink the waters of gall, for from the prophets of Jerusalem is hypocrisy gone forth upon all the land.

16 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, 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 boldly unto those that stir me to anger, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto anyone that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

18 For who has stood in the secret of the LORD and has seen and heard his word? Who has payed attention to his word and heard it?

19 Behold, that the whirlwind of the LORD shall go forth with fury, and the whirlwind which is ready shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of the LORD shall not return until he has executed and until he has performed the thoughts of his heart: in the last of the days ye shall understand it with understanding.

21 I did not send those prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in my secret, they would also have caused my people to hear my words, and they would have caused them to return from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.

23 Am I a God of the near only, said the LORD, and not a God of the far?

24 Can any hide himself in hiding places that I shall not see him? said the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? said the LORD.

25 I have heard what those 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 and that prophesy the deceit of their own heart?

27 Do they not think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which each one tells his neighbour, so much that their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal?

28 The prophet with whom the dream came, let him tell the dream; and he with whom my word came, let him speak my true word. What is the chaff to the wheat? said the LORD.

29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words each one from his neighbour.

31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that sweeten their tongues and say, He said.

32 Behold, I am against those that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and did tell them, and caused my people to err by their lies, and by their flattery; yet I did not send them, nor command them; and they did not profit this people at all, said the LORD.

33 And when this people or the prophet or the priest shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will forsake you, said the LORD.

34 And as for the prophet and the priest and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will visit upon that man and upon his house.

35 Thus shall ye say each one to his neighbour and each one to his brother, What has the LORD answered? and, What has the LORD spoken?

36 And never again shall it come to your memory to say, The burden of the LORD; for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of the hosts, our God.

37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What has the LORD answered thee? and, What has the LORD spoken?

38 But if ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus hath the LORD said: 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 uproot you from my presence and the city that I gave you and your fathers:

40 and I will place an everlasting reproach upon you, and eternal shame, which shall never be forgotten.

Jeremiah 23 Commentary

Chapter 23

The restoration of the Jews to their own land. (1-8) The wickedness of the priests and prophets of Judah, The people exhorted not to listen to false promises. (9-22) The pretenders to inspiration threatened. (23-32) Also the scoffers at true prophecy. (33-40)

Verses 1-8 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.

Verses 9-22 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.

Verses 23-32 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.

Verses 33-40 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.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 23

This chapter contains threatenings to the Jewish governors, and to their priests and prophets, on account of their manifold sins; intermixed with gracious promises to the Lord's people, and particularly with a famous promise of the Messiah. The pastors or governors of Israel are charged with scattering and driving away the Lord's flock, for which they are threatened, Jer 23:1,2; and a promise is made of the gathering of the remnant of them, and of setting up other shepherds over them, under whom they should increase, and be comfortable, Jer 23:3,4; particularly the Messiah is promised; as David's righteous Branch; as a prosperous and righteous King; as the author of righteousness to his people, under whom they should have salvation and safety, Jer 23:5,6; so that in comparison of this salvation, the deliverance out of Egypt should not be spoken of, Jer 23:7,8; and then follows a sad complaint of the priests and prophets; of their profaneness, their adultery, swearing, lying, hypocrisy, and deception of the people; for all which they are severely threatened, Jer 23:9-15; wherefore the people are exhorted not to hearken to them, promising them peace and safety; whereas, by attending to the word of God, it might easily be seen that a storm of wrath was gone forth, and was ready to break, and would fall upon the head of the wicked, to the executing of the thoughts and purposes of God's heart, Jer 23:16-20; and the Lord declares he had not sent these prophets, as might be known from their not turning the people from their evil ways, Jer 23:21,22; whose conduct and behaviour could not be hid from the sight of the Lord, nor their prophecies from his ears, which were no other than dreams, and the deceits of their own hearts; and there was as great a difference between them and the word of the Lord, as between chaff and wheat; seeing his word in his hand is of great virtue and efficacy, whereas there was none in theirs, Jer 23:23-29; wherefore the Lord declares himself to be against these prophets, for stealing his word from their neighbour; for making use of his name, when they were not sent by him; and for causing the people to err by their lies, Jer 23:30-32; and both people, priest, and prophet, are severely threatened for jeering and scoffing at the word of the Lord, calling it the burden of the Lord; which phrase they are forbid to use in a sneering way; and should they persist in it, they are told that God would forsake and forget them, and cast them out, and everlastingly punish them, Jer 23:39,40.