Old Testament Commentary - Jeremiah 23

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 23 The remnants of Israel shall be gathered in the last days—King Messiah (the Branch) shall reign in righteousnous—False prophets who teach lies shall be cursed.
1 Woe be unto the ^apastors 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 ^avisited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3 And I will ^agather the ^bremnant 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 ^ashepherds 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 ^aDavid a righteous ^bBranch, and a ^cKing shall ^dreign and prosper, and shall execute ^ejudgment and ^fjustice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell ^asafely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR ^bRIGHTEOUSNESS^a.	6^a THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS There is the 'name' and there is the 'concept'. The concept is that it is in and through our LORD that righteousness is successfully imputed unto us. He is our redeemer, he is our randsom paid for our sins. He is our righteousness imputed unto us based upon the condition of coming unto the Lord, accepting him as our redeemer by the outward participation in the ordinances of salvation and the inward participation of receiving his testimony and living according to his word. As for the 'name', THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, in the Hebrew text it is given as 'yehvah tsidhq'. 'Tsidhq' of 'Tsedeq', pronounced tseh'-dek, means justice, rightness or righteousness according to the lexicon and strongs number 6664. It comes from the primitive root 'Tsadaq', tsaw-dak', a verb meaning to be just, to be righteous. 'Yehvah' or Y@hovah is the name Jehovah which is translated LORD. In its parallel form with Jesus or Joshua (Jehoshua), there is a parallel significance 'Jehovah Our Salvation' and 'Jehovah Our Righteousness'. Thus this is the name of Jesus from a slightly diferent point of view or perspective, but the name of Jesus still the same. There is also a parallel with that name given to the King of Salem, Melchizedek or 'Malkiy-Tsedeq' meaning 'King of Righteousness', as given in Hebrews 7:2. Thus with the slight manipulation of replacing 'LORD' with 'King' we do come to the same name, which is one of the names of our recognized God of this temporal second estate as set forth by God the Father of Spirits. This is the same name also given in Jeremiah 33:16, The LORD our righteousness, Y@hovah tsidguenuw, ye-ho-vaw' tsid-kay'-noo, Jehovah is our righteousness; Strong's number 3072.
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 ^anorth country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
9 ¶ Mine ^aheart 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 ^aadulterers; for because of ^bswearing 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 ^aprophet and ^bpriest are ^cprofane; yea, in my ^dhouse 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 ^avisitation, 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 ^aadultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his ^bwickedness: 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 ^aprofaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that ^aprophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a ^bvision 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 ^awhirlwind 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 ^asent these ^bprophets, 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 ^ahide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I ^bfill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. 25 I have heard what the prophets said, that ^aprophesy 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 ^adreams, 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 ^aburden 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 ^awords 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 ^areproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.