"The Days are Coming" - Jeremiah 23:1-8

How would you describe the God of the Old Testament and why?

In Jeremiah 23, we see a very different perspective on Yahweh. Throughout Jeremiah, He has been casting judgment and voicing his anger, but here He speaks a very different word.

v.1 - “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!”

What does “woe” mean when used in this context?

Who are the shepherds? The sheep?

The shepherds are the kings of Judah and other nations who have had influence over the lives of the people of Judah.

The sheep are the kingdom of Judah

God casts blame on the leaders for the destruction, scattering, and exile of the sheep.

What are the characteristics of a pasture?

Here we see God’s desired place for the people of Judah

A pasture

v.3a - “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture...”

God is speaking of a return from exile.

Remnant - The people left after a disaster (most likely as a result of divine judgement).

These are the ones who God wishes to return to the safe pasture

v.3b - “...where they will be fruitful and increase in number.”

This is what occurs in the pasture

A thing which could not occur in exile

Gen 1:28 - God’s original call to Adam and eve

God’s pasture = a return to Eden

What are the characteristics of Eden?

v.4 - “‘I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,’ declares the Lord.”

What we can see is that in exile:

People were afraid and terrified

People were missing/killed

What God wishes to do is put everything to right...

Why do these words give us hope?

A World Made Right....

We All See Glimpses of a World Made Right

We know what that means: Peace, hope, healing, and prosperity for all

Even as children we say, “That’s not fair”

Having a sense of justice is engrained in us as humans

Justice is something all of us wish to see but somethings that we, as humans can never seem to achieve

We dream for a world put to rights.

We feel it in our bones

Verses like this fill us with hope

Why?

We are made in the image of a God whose ultimate desire is to put all of His creation right again.

This is not a God who wants to snatch up his followers, cart us off to heaven, and destroy his creation

This is a God whose wish is to renew His entire creation, beginning with you and with me, and using us to tackle the rest.

He wants to make us shepherds, using us to commit acts of goodness and justice, pulling his sheep back into his pasture.

This is not a God who enjoys the destruction of creation, but one who wishes to renew it from the inside out.

v.5-6 - 5 “‘The days are coming,’” declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’”

Jesus is the answer

He is the only King whose reign is perfectly just and righteous

Through Him, we can be made new creations, shepherds of the Great Shepherd

For Judah, Jeremiah’s words were a hope to exiles, that one day Judah will be able to return to the good and life-bringing pasture.

For us, as exiles, it’s a hope that Christ is coming again to finally bring everything to rights, a complete renewal of all of creation.

But until this, we are the shepherds of verse 4, who no longer have to be afraid, or terrified, but instead, we can join in God’s new creation work!

How are we exiles and how can we join Christ in His new creation work?