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Texts -- Jeremiah 23:1-36 (NET)

Context
New Leaders over a Regathered Remnant
23:1 The Lord says , “The leaders of my people are sure to be judged . They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep . But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered . 23:2 So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people : “You have caused my people to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done . I, the Lord , affirm it! 23:3 Then I myself will regather those of my people who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland . They will greatly increase in number. 23:4 I will install rulers over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified . None of them will turn up missing . I, the Lord , promise it! 23:5 “I, the Lord , promise that a new time will certainly come when I will raise up for them a righteous branch , a descendant of David . He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding and will do what is just and right in the land . 23:6 Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety and Israel will live in security . This is the name he will go by: ‘The Lord has provided us with justice .’ 23:7 “So I, the Lord , say : ‘A new time will certainly come . People now affirm their oaths with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt .” 23:8 But at that time they will affirm them with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.” At that time they will live in their own land .’”
Oracles Against the False Prophets
23:9 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets : My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed . I tremble all over . I am like a drunk person , like a person who has had too much wine , because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated. 23:10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. They live wicked lives and they misuse their power . So the land is dried up because it is under his curse . The pastures in the wilderness are withered . 23:11 Moreover , the Lord says , “Both the prophets and priests are godless . I have even found them doing evil in my temple ! 23:12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery . They will stumble and fall headlong . For I will bring disaster on them. A day of reckoning is coming for them.” The Lord affirms it! 23:13 The Lord says, “I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something that was disgusting . They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray . 23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking . They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies . So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil , with the result that they do not stop their evildoing . I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom , and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah . 23:15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all , have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land .’” 23:16 The Lord who rules over all says to the people of Jerusalem: “Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes . They are reporting visions of their own imaginations , not something the Lord has given them to say . 23:17 They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said , ‘Things will go well for you!’ They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts , ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’ 23:18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say ? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said ? 23:19 But just watch ! The wrath of the Lord will come like a storm ! Like a raging storm it will rage down on the heads of those who are wicked . 23:20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes . In days to come you people will come to understand this clearly . 23:21 I did not send those prophets . Yet they were in a hurry to give their message. I did not tell them anything. Yet they prophesied anyway. 23:22 But if they had stood in my inner circle , they would have proclaimed my message to my people. They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways and stop doing the evil things they are doing . 23:23 Do you people think that I am some local deity and not the transcendent God ?” the Lord asks . 23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks . “Do you not know that I am everywhere ?” the Lord asks . 23:25 The Lord says, “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying . They are saying , ‘I have had a dream ! I have had a dream !’ 23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies . They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds . 23:27 How long will they go on plotting to make my people forget who I am through the dreams they tell one another ? That is just as bad as what their ancestors did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal . 23:28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream . Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully . What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain ! I, the Lord , affirm it! 23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces ! I, the Lord , so affirm it! 23:30 So I, the Lord , affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me. 23:31 I, the Lord , affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare , ‘The Lord declares ….’ 23:32 I, the Lord , affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies . I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. I, the Lord , affirm it!” 23:33 The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, when one of these people , or a prophet , or a priest asks you, ‘What burdensome message do you have from the Lord?’ Tell them, ‘You are the burden , and I will cast you away . I, the Lord , affirm it! 23:34 I will punish any prophet , priest , or other person who says “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” I will punish both that person and his whole family .’” 23:35 So I, Jeremiah, tell you, “Each of you people should say to his friend or his relative , ‘How did the Lord answer ? Or what did the Lord say ?’ 23:36 You must no longer say that the Lord’s message is burdensome . For what is ‘burdensome ’ really pertains to what a person himself says . You are misrepresenting the words of our God , the living God , the Lord who rules over all .

Pericope

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Hymns

(Note: In "active" or "on" condition, the hymns music will be played automatically when mouse hover on a hymns title)
  • Tumbuhlah Tunas Baru [KJ.93]
  • [Jer 23:5] Birthday Of A King, The
  • [Jer 23:5] My God! How Perfect Are Thy Ways!

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

Kinds of false prophets:; Outline; An Attribute of God alone; Symbols in Scripture; God’s Names; Characteristics of False Prophets

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • When banished to the ends of the earth, the Israelites could repent and return to Yahweh in their hearts purposing to obey Him again (vv. 1-2). In that event God would do several things for them. He would bring them back to t...
  • The text does not say if the Jews' antagonistic neighbors had provoked Tattenai, the governor of the Persian province in which Jerusalem stood, to ask to see the Jews' temple building permit. It simply says he asked to see it...
  • 139:7 Evidently the confining awareness of God's omniscience led David to try to escape from the Lord. His two rhetorical questions in this verse express his inability to hide from God (cf. Jer. 23:24).139:8-10 David gave hyp...
  • Having begun this oracle by clarifying God's desire for Israel (2:1-4), the prophet proceeded to contrast her present condition. She depended on people rather than Himself, a condition that would result in divine discipline (...
  • Isaiah continued to show that Yahweh was both willing and able to deliver His people, a theme begun in 42:10. He confronted the gods, again (cf. 41:21-29), but this time he challenged them to bring forth witnesses to their de...
  • This section introduces judgment into the mood of hope that pervades this section describing Israel's glorious future (65:17-66:24). Oppressors of the godly remnant will not prosper nor will those who depend on externals for ...
  • Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had ...
  • The Book of Jeremiah is not theologically organized in the sense that it develops a certain theological emphasis as it unfolds, as Isaiah does. Rather it presents certain theological truths in greater or lesser degree through...
  • The reader of Jeremiah must have a knowledge of the times in which this prophet lived and ministered to appreciate the message of this book. This is more important for understanding Jeremiah than it is for understanding any o...
  • I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • Chapters 2-25 contain warnings and appeals to the Judahites in view of their sins and the consequences of those sins.
  • 3:11 Yahweh instructed His prophet that though both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms had committed spiritual harlotry, Judah's sin was worse than Israel's. Here the Lord personified Judah as "Treachery"as he again personifi...
  • 4:5 The Lord instructed Jeremiah to call for the people of Judah to assemble in the main cities. Blowing the trumpet in Israel's history and in the ancient Near East was a call to assemble and take cover in fortified cities, ...
  • 9:10 The Lord took up a lamentation on behalf of the land that suffered because of His people's sin. The coming invasion would leave the land deserted even by beasts and birds. The rest of this message indicates that the inva...
  • This pericope contains one of Jeremiah's "confessions,"a self-revelation of the prophet's own struggles to cope with God's actions (cf. 10:23-24; 15:10-12, 15-21; 17:9-11, 14-18; 18:18-23; and 20:7-18).219The heart of this on...
  • The following three pericopes bracket assurance of imminent judgment for Judah with promises of distant blessing for Israel and the nations. This passage promises deliverance from the captivity for the Israelites. It appears ...
  • This section of the book contains some of Jeremiah's messages concerning Judah's kings (21:1-23:8) and false prophets (23:9-40) that he delivered closer to the time of Jerusalem's invasion than the previous chapters.300Beginn...
  • "After the oracles against wicked kings, there is a promise of a righteous one, the Shoot of David."313Jeremiah just announced that none of Coniah's descendants would ever rule as kings. Now he went on to clarify that a David...
  • Having given a true prophecy about the future, Jeremiah proceeded to announce God's judgment on the false prophets who were misleading His people with false prophecies (cf. v. 1). This section consists of six different messag...
  • 25:30 Jeremiah was also to announce that God would prepare to judge all the inhabitants of the earth (v. 29). As a lion announces its intent to attack with a roar, so Yahweh would one day announce His attack on earth dwellers...
  • These chapters contrast the true prophet of Yahweh with the false prophets. Distinguishing between them was difficult for Jeremiah's contemporaries, but their essential difference is clear. The true prophets proclaimed the Lo...
  • Jeremiah's symbolic act of wearing a yoke led to another symbolic act, the breaking of that yoke. Jeremiah's act brought a false prophet into direct confrontation with the true prophet.28:1 The following event took place in t...
  • This section of the Book of Jeremiah is a collection of prophecies that focus on the hope that lay before the Israelites. To this point in the book the emphasis has been mainly on judgment to come, though we have seen occasio...
  • 30:4 This oracle concerns all the Israelites, those of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.30:5-6 A time of great terror, dread, and unrest was coming. Men would behave as though they were in labor; they would hold themse...
  • 30:23-24 The Lord's wrath would break forth on the wicked like a severe storm. It would not slacken until the Lord accomplished all His purpose (cf. 23:19-20). Therefore the carelessly sinful should feel no false sense of sec...
  • 33:1 Jeremiah received another message from the Lord while he was still confined in the court of the guard (cf. 32:2).33:2 The Lord introduced Himself as the Creator and Establisher of the earth (cf. 32:17; Gen. 1). This was ...
  • This section consists of a small collection of messianic prophecies.33:14 Future days would come, the Lord promised, when He would fulfill His promises concerning the restoration of all Israel."The predicted restoration (the ...
  • The Book of Consolation contained messages of future hope for Judah (chs. 30-33). Now Jeremiah returned to document her present judgment. Chapters 34-45 continue the theme of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem from chapters 2-29...
  • This chapter belongs after chapter 36 chronologically, either after 36:8 or 36:32. It serves as an appendix to the historical incidents recorded there. Perhaps the writer or final editor placed it here to show that Yahweh exe...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • This chapter follows quite naturally from the previous one. There God corrected the mistaken views of His people, and here He rebuked those who were responsible for those views. In this section God pronounced judgment on the ...
  • 16:44-47 Other people would quote the proverb, "Like mother, like daughter,"in regard to Jerusalem. She was like her Hittite "mother"who was also idolatrous and selfish. And she was like her older (larger) sister, Samaria, an...
  • Like the preceding parable (cf. 16:60-63) this one also ends with a promise of hope.17:22-23 The Lord Himself would also snip a tender twig from the top of the tall cedar tree that represented the Davidic line of kings. He wo...
  • 20:30 Ezekiel was to ask his hearers if they planned to defile themselves and to prostitute themselves to things the Lord detested as their ancestors had done.20:31 They were defiling themselves by practicing child sacrifice....
  • 21:18-20 The Lord also commanded Ezekiel to make a representation of two roads coming out of Babylon by which judgment from Yahweh would come. Perhaps he did this by drawing in the dirt or on a tablet. Really there was to be ...
  • As in numerous other prophetic Scriptures, promises of Israel's restoration accompanied predictions of judgment on the nations (e.g. 34:27; 38:8; 39:26; Isa. 65:21; Jer. 23:6; Amos 9:14-15).28:25 The Lord also promised to reg...
  • 34:1-2 The Lord gave Ezekiel a message for the shepherds (leaders, rulers, cf. Ps. 23) of Israel. Ancient Near Easterners often referred to kings and leaders as "shepherds"(e.g. 2 Sam. 5:2; Isa. 44:28; Jer. 2:8; 10:21; 23:1-6...
  • 34:11-12 The Lord further promised to search for His wandering sheep Himself, to care for them, and to deliver them from the places where they had scattered in the gloomy days of their national distress (cf. Jer. 30:4-7; Luke...
  • 7:1 We have already read of two dreams that Nebuchadnezzar had (2:1; 4:5). Now God gave one to Daniel. It too was a vision from God that came to Daniel as he slept."In referring to the experience as a dream' (sing.) Daniel wa...
  • In the section that follows, the relationship between Israel and Yahweh becomes even clearer. The mention of Baals and Israel's feasts makes this obvious. Hosea's relationship with Gomer recedes into the background.2:8 Israel...
  • Amos asked seven rhetorical questions in verses 3-6 to help the Israelites appreciate the inevitability of their judgment. In each one the prophet pointed out that a certain cause inevitably produces a certain effect. The fiv...
  • "The opening verses of Nahum form a prologue dominated by the revelation of God's eternal power and divine nature in creation (cf. Rom 1:20). As in Romans 1:18-32, this revelation is characterized preeminently by God's justic...
  • 2:6-7 The Lord called His people to flee from the land of the north (cf. Jer. 3:18; 16:15; 23:8; 31:8) where He had scattered them as the four winds (cf. Isa. 43:5-6; 49:12). Most of the Israelite exiles had gone into captivi...
  • 3:6-7 Then the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua. He promised, in the name of sovereign Yahweh, that if Joshua obeyed the Lord and served Him, Joshua would govern the temple, have charge of the temple courts, and enjoy free...
  • Though some help understanding the vision came through the preceding oracles concerning Zerubbabel, Zechariah still had some questions about what he had seen in the vision. The angel helped him further.4:11-12 Zechariah asked...
  • The first part of this oracle focused particularly on the true King who would come and exercise sovereignty over the nations (ch. 9). Now the emphasis changes to the people of the King, the Israelites, who will return to the ...
  • 13:1 In that day God would open a fountain for the complete spiritual cleansing of the Israelites, both for their moral sins and for their ritual uncleanness (cf. Ezek. 47). The figure of a fountain pictures abundant cleansin...
  • This pericope describes the character of the kingdom's subjects and their rewards in the kingdom.236"Looked at as a whole . . . the Beatitudes become a moral sketch of the type of person who is ready to possess, or rule over,...
  • 16:13 The district of Caesarea Philippi lay 25 miles north of Galilee. Its inhabitants were mainly Gentiles. Herod Philip II, the tetrarch of the region, had enlarged a smaller town on the site at the foot of Mt. Hermon.619He...
  • 22:41-42 Having received several questions from His critics, Jesus now turned the tables and asked the Pharisees one. He wanted them to explain what the Scriptures taught about Messiah. This would face them and the crowd with...
  • This topic sentence summarizes Jesus' whole ministry in Galilee. It identifies when it started, where it happened, and the essence of what Jesus' proclaimed that was the basis of His ministry.1:14 Jesus began His Galilean min...
  • Mark probably included this incident in his Gospel because it illustrates how Jesus would open the spiritual eyes of His disciples that were still shut (cf. 8:22-26). This is the last healing miracle that Mark recorded."This ...
  • There is great theological significance in this familiar passage. It comes through mainly in the angel's words and in the symbolism of what happened."In 2:8-14 we have a third annunciation scene, which follows the same patter...
  • Luke's primary purpose for including this incident in his narrative seems to have been to show that God, through Jesus, can give insight to those who humbly call on Him for mercy. Here was another humble outcast similar to th...
  • This teaching is quite similar to what the Synoptic evangelists recorded Jesus giving in His parables, but there is a significant difference. John called this teaching a figure of speech (Gr. paroimian) rather than a parable ...
  • The key to the apostles' successful fulfillment of Jesus' commission was their baptism with and consequent indwelling by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine enablement they would only have been able to follow Jesus' example,...
  • "Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders is the nearest approximation to the Pauline letters in Acts. Its general content recalls how in his letters Paul encouraged, warned, and exhorted his converts. Moreover, its the...
  • Peter proceeded to emphasize that the witness of the apostles, as well as the witness of Scripture, came from God. He did this to help his readers see that their choice boiled down to accepting God's Word or the word of men w...
  • 2:1 "The people"in view are God's people in Old Testament times, the times to which Peter had just been referring (1:19-22). False prophets in Old Testament times sought to lead God's people away from the revelations of the t...
  • Peter drew application for his readers and focused their attention on how they should live presently in view of the future.3:11 Peter believed that an understanding of the future should motivate the believer to live a holy li...
  • 5:2 The identity of the strong angel is probably unknowable. His loud voice indicated his authority and the importance of what he said. One with sufficient authority was necessary to open (Gr. anoixai) the scroll and by break...
  • The scene shifts again, this time from heaven to earth. This first trumpet blast signaled the beginning of a judgment that involved hail, fire (lightning?), and blood (bloodshed? cf. Exod. 9:23-26; Ezek. 38:22). This judgment...
  • Next a great star (meteor or comet?) fell from heaven on the fresh water sources on earth.316It too was on fire (vv. 7, 8). The ancients sometimes used "torch"(this Greek word, lampas) to describe a meteor shooting through th...
  • John recorded his vision of Jesus Christ's reign on the earth for 1, 000 years to inform his readers of what would take place after He returns to the earth."Few verses in the Bible are more crucial to the interpretation of th...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • The remainder of the vision is the address of the Angel of the Lord to Joshua, developing the blessings now made sure to him and his people by this renewed consecration and cleansing. First (Zechariah 3:7) is the promise of c...
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