God's judgement on false prophets - Jeremiah 23: 1 - 16
(Bible quotes are from the New English Bible, unless otherwise noted)
V1.
Shame on the shepherds who let my sheep scatter and be lost! says the Lord.
NLT.  "I will send disaster upon the leaders of my people - the shepherds of my sheep - for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for," says the Lord.

Those who pastor and lead God's people have a great responsibility. They must be careful in what they teach and the example they set, so that they do not lead people away from a relationship with God, as the Priests and teachers of the Israelites had done.  God takes a dim view of people who misuse their authority in this way.

Quest Study Bible note p 1074.  With leadership comes heavy responsibility.  The Lord holds accountable those who have spiritual authority over the people of God.  In this case Jeremiah was talking about the priests, the false prophets and the king.  They had all failed the people, leading them into idolatry, injustice and unfaithfulness.

V 2.
Therefore these are the words of the Lord the God of Israel about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered and dispersed my flock.  You have not watched over them; but I am watching you to punish you for your evil doings, says the Lord.
NLT.  This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: "Instead of leading my flock to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction.  Now I will pour out judgement on you for the evil you have done to them.

Jesus said (Mark 9: 42): 'As for the man who is a cause of stumbling to one of these little ones who have faith, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck' or, as the TEV puts it:: "As for these little ones who believe in me -- it would be better for a man to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea, than for him to cause one of them to turn away from me......"

The God of the Old Testament is the same God who came to earth as Jesus Christ, with the same wish to have a close and loving relationship with his people and the same anger at those who confuse believers with false teaching or who lead people away from him.

V 3.
I will myself gather the remnant of my sheep from all the lands to which I have dispersed them.  I will bring them back to their homes, and they shall be fruitful and increase.

God promises to seek out and find those who are faithful to him and to bring them back into his kingdom, no matter how far they have moved away.  God seeks out people who are open minded and willing to believe in him and trust him, so they can be fruitful disciples and increase the numbers of faithful people for his kingdom.

V 4.
I will appoint shepherds to tend them; they shall never again know fear or dismay or punishment.  This is the very word of the Lord.
NIV.  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.

God himself will make provision for good leadership for his people, so they will be properly led to know him and well taught in his ways so they will be obedient and no-one under their care will 'backslide'.   There will be no need for God's judgement to fall on his people when they are well lead.  There will be no need for feelings of guilt or fear of God's judgement.

V 5, 6

The days are now coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a righteous branch spring from David's line,
a king who shall rule wisely,
maintaining law and justice in the land.
In his days Judah shall be kept safe,
and Israel shall live undisturbed.
This is the name to be given to him:
The Lord is our Righteousness.

Jeremiah prophesies the coming of a new king from the line of King David who will rule wisely and bring justice  At the time, the people would naturally have been expecting that this meant a national figure like David who would lead their people to freedom and to restore their nation. In the time of Jesus they were still waiting for this person to free them from the rule of the Romans.  In hind-sight, we see in this passage a prophesy of the coming of Jesus, the Messiah who was of the line of David and whose kingdom has come, but isn't an earthly kingdom. The kingdom of Christ is a spiritual one, bringing righteousness (restored personal relationships with God), restoring God's law in people's hearts, bringing God's justice to everyone - making everyone subject to God's judgement and giving everyopne the opportunity to receive God's forgiveness.

On earth, the followers of Christ work to make earthly law more like God's law and to bring justice to the oppressed here on earth.  It has been Christians who have been instrumental in many parts of the world in improving social welfare, education, health care and people's rights to freedom.  They were instrumental in Britain and America in stopping the slave trade, in prison reform, in stopping child labour - and they work for those things to happen in other parts of the world.

New Bible Commenatary, p 960. ...although the historical Davidic is at an end, a new Davidic king would arise, one who would be just like David. ..... Jeremiah here looks towards that Messianic son of David whose birth would be for the salvation of Israel.  The immediate hope, however, is for the restoration of the people of Judah to their own land, as a new landmark in God's dealing with his people.  This will be a foreshadowing of the greater salvation to come.

Quest Study Bible note p 1074.We must be careful to distinguish between the first coming of Christ and his second coming, between the captivity of Babylon and the captivity of sin.  The complete promise of restoration will be fulfilled only when Christ establishes his kingdom on earth at the end of the age.  More than a political nation.the people of God (all who believe in Christ, both Jew and non-Jew) will then be spiritually restored to the Lord.

V 7, 8
Therefore the days are coming, says the Lord, when men shall no longer swear, 'By the life of the Lord who brought Israel up from Egypt', but, 'By the life of the Lord who brought the descendants of the Israelites back from a northern land and from all the lands to which he had dispersed them, to live again on their own soil.'

Jeremiah looks forward to a time when people will no longer think of salvation in terms of God bringing the Israelites out of Egypt through Moses, but will think of it in terms of the work of the Messiah, bringing all his people together under his own rule. Althought this hasn't happened completely yet, Christians think of salvation in terms of the result of Christ's death on the cross and resurrection - making possible restored relationships between God and people.

V  9 - 12
On the prophets,

Deep within me my heart is broken,
there is no strength in my bones;
because of the Lord, because of his dread words
I have become like a drunken man,
like a man overcome with wine.
For the land is full of adulterers,
and because of them the earth lies parched,
the wild pastures have dried up.
The course they run is evil,
and their powers are misused.
For prophets and priests alike are godless;
I have come upon the evil they are doing even in my own house.
This is the very word of the Lord.
Therefore the path shall turn slippery beneath their feet;
they shall be dispersed in the dark and shall fall there.
For I will bring disaster on them when their day of reckoning comes
This is the very word of the Lord.
NLT.  "My heart is broken because of the false prophets, and I tremble uncontrollably.  I stagger like a drunkard, like someone overcome by wine, because of the holy words the Lord has spoken against them.  For the land is full of adultery, and it lies under a curse.  The land itself is in mourning - it's pastures are dried up.  For the prophets do evil and abuse their power. The priests are like the prophets, all ungodly, wicked men.  I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple," says the Lord.  "Therefore their paths will be dark and slippery.  They will be chased down dark and treacherous trails, where they will fall.  For I will bring disaster upon them when their time of punishment comes.  I, the Lord, have spoken!"

God has spoken of how he will deal with the evil rulers of his people.  Now he turns to the other leaders - the prophets and priests, who are just as bad.

The knowledge of God's upset and the dreadful warnings he had to deliver from God made Jeremiah depressed, weak and trembling, as if he was drunk.  Jeremiah comments that the land has dried up in mourning. Was there a drought at the time, and Jeremiah was pointing to that as an illustration of God's anger and disappointment?  Both the prophets and the priests are abusing their positions and misleading the people, even descecrating the temple with heathen acts of worship. God is threatening them with disastrous punishments for their evil ways.
 
 

V 13, 14

I found the prophets of Samaria men of no sense:
they prophesied in Baal's name and led my people of Israel astray.
In the prophets of Jerusalem I see a thing most horrible:
adulterers and hypocrites that they are,
they encourage evildoers,
so that no man turns back from his sin;
to me all her inhabitants are like Sodom and Gomorrah,

Quest Study Bible note, p 1075.  False prophets and godless priests.  They were in a position to be spiritual leaders and had actually corrupted the people by introducing idolatry and practising immorality.  Though the spiritual depravity of the northern kingdom (Israel) was well known, Jeremiah was astonished that Judah (the southern kingdom) would go the same way.  During the reigns of both Ahaz (2 Kings 16: 3-4, 10-16) and Masanneh (2 Kings 21: 2 - 9) worship to the Lord was compromised by idols being set up in the temple.  Most likely the immoral practices of pagan worship occurred, including temple prostitution and human sacrifice.  Some think the people of Judah mixed paganism with worship to the Lord, setting up a repulsive religious hybrid that lasted until Judah fell to the Babylonians.

God does not tolerate immorality and evil practices amongst those who are supposed to be his priests.  But these things don't happen in the Christian church  ..........do they?  The church must be vigilant in making sure its leaders are above reproach.  And it's not just the leaders.  We need to remember that, as Peter pointed out in his letter to the young churches (1Peter 2: 5, 9 NLT.) we are all priests and must be above reproach. And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple.  What's more, you are God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ...... for you are a chosen people.  You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession.

V 15.
These then are the words of the Lord of Hosts concerning the prophets:

I will give them wormwood to eat
and a bitter poison to drink;
for a godless spirit has spread over all the land
from the prophets of Jerusalem.

God will deal with those who prophesy falsely in his name - and it won't be pleasant! When we represent God, we need to make sure the things we say are consistent with his word, and not our own thinking.

V 16.
These are the words of the Lord of Hosts:

Do not listen to what the prophets say,
who buoy you up with false hopes;
the vision they report springs from their own imaginations,
it is not from the mouth of the Lord.

Jeremiah warns the people not to listen to the false prophets of Judah who will lead them astray and make them believe in false hopes for the future that are not God's plans for them.  Jesus warned the people of his time about religious leaders who mislead them and placed heavy burdens on them with unnecessary rules and regulations for living. (eg. Luke 20:46, 47.)  Paul too warned the young churches in his care about listening to false teachers who would lead them on the wrong paths. Many of his letters were written to remind people of the basic truths of the gospel he had taught them.  We also are faced with new ideas and theories and need to know what the Bible teaches us so we can judge the truth of the things we hear and read.  False teaching never stops!.