Jeremiah 23:2

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 visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. YE HAVE SCATTERED MY FLOCK, AND DRIVEN THEM AWAY, AND HAVE NOT VISITED THEM; BEHOLD, I WILL VISIT UPON YOU THE EVIL OF YOUR DOINGS, SAITH THE LORD - just retribution. Play upon the double sense of "visit." "Visit upon," namely, in wrath (). As you have failed to visit the flock with pastoral care, I will visit you with judicial retribution. "The evil of your doings" will recoil upon yourselves....

He afterwards adds, _Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, to the pastors who feed my people _In the same sense he calls them now his people, as he had called them before the flock of his pastures. They had alienated themselves from God, and he had already by his own decree repudiated them; and God might in one respect have deemed them aliens; and yet in respect of the covenant he acknowledged them as his own; and hence he calls them _his people _He now then confirms what we have already noticed, that these pastors were not only thieves and robbers, but also sacrilegious; for they not only had exercised cruelty towards the flock, but as far as they could injured and dishonored God himself, who had undertaken the care of that people. But there is here a twofold concession, he calls them _pastors, _and they are said to _feed _the people. He had said before that they destroyed and scattere...

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...

Verse Jeremiah 23:2. _YE HAVE SCATTERED MY FLOCK_] The bad government both in Church and State was a principal cause of the people's profligacy....

They had scattered them first spiritually by leading them into idolatry; and secondly, many had literally been taken to Egypt with Jehoahaz, many in Jehoiakim’s time had fled there, while others fell away to the Chaldaeans: and finally the best of the land had been carried to Babylon with Jeconiah. DRIVEN AWAY - i. e., made them outcasts. In the East, shepherds never drive their flocks, but go ahead of them John 10:4. HAVE NOT VISITED THEM - i. e., have not concerned yourselves about their conduct....

EXPOSITION The first eight verses form the necessary conclusion of the group of discourses summarized in Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 22:1. Like Isaiah, our prophet follows up denunciation with consolation, and will have the mind rest on the sure promises of God for the Messianic future. A part of the people has been already scattered abroad. In Jeremiah 24:8, "those who dwell in the land of Egypt" are a section no less important than "those who remain in this land;" and the Babylonian Captivity is an event only too certain to take place (comp. Jeremiah 24:8). Unhappy Judah! for though not free from responsibility, it

THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL,.... The covenant God of that people, who are Called his sheep, and the sheep of his pasture; having made a covenant with their fathers, and provided a good pasture for them, the land of Israel, where they enjoyed all blessings, civil and religious, and appointed persons over them to feed them; but these did not do their duty, and therefore the Lord was against them, as follows: AGAINST THE PASTORS THAT FEED MY PEOPLE; whose office it was to feed, rule, and defend them; and who pretended to do it, but did it not; YE HAVE SCATTERED MY FLOCK, AND DRIVEN THEM AWAY, AND HAVE NOT VISITED THEM; they had been the means of their being driven out of their dwellings, and out of their own land, and of their being among the nations of the world, and took no care for the return of them, any more than they concerned themselves for their welfare when over t...

Jeremiah 23:1. _Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD._ What a dreadful woe this is upon all false shepherds, those who profess to be sent of God to instruct the people, but who are not sent of God at all, whose labours only result in the scattering of the sheep, and destroying them, instead of gathering them to Christ for their salvation! Jeremiah 23:2. 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 visited them; behold, I will visit upon you, the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they sha

CHAPTER 23:1-8 _ 1. The false shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1) _ 2. The True Shepherd (Jeremiah 23:5) Jeremiah 23:1. The word “pastors” means “shepherds.” Ezekiel received a larger message about these false shepherds, the hirelings who did not feed the flock. (See annotations of Ezekiel 34:1 The scattered remnant of the Lord's flock (not the Church, but the remnant of Israel) will yet be gathered out of all countries, be fruitful and increase, no longer fearful, dismayed or in want. It is a prophecy concerning the time when the Shepherd of Israel, their King as well, is manifested....

JEREMIAH 22:1 TO JEREMIAH 23:8. This section contains several distinct Jeremianic prophecies, relating to contemporary kings of Judah; they have been editorially collected, probably with some expansion. JEREMIAH 22:1. INTRODUCTION. The prophet is sent down to the palace (lower than the Temple, and on the S.) to declare judgment and justice as the condition of permanence in the royal line. He bewails in a dirge (Jeremiah 22:6 f.) the fall of the royal house, which is like that of well-wooded districts (Gilead, Lebanon) delivered over to the axe. The cause is the disloyalty of the city to Yahweh ...