Jeremiah 23:8

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; Repeated from Jeremiah 16:14. The prophet said the same things often, in order that his sayings might make the more impression. The name promise substantially as in Jeremiah 23:3. The wide dispersion of the Jews at the Babylonian captivity prefigures their present wider dispersion (; ). Their second deliverance is to exceed far the former one from Egypt. But the deliverance from Babylon was inferior to that from Egypt in respect to the miracles performed, and the numbers...

He says, _from all the lands to which I shall have driven them, _and he says this for two reasons, which we shall presently state. The change of person does not obscure the meaning: _Live, _he says, _does Jehovah, who brought out and led his people from the land of the north, and from all the lands to which I had driven them; _but there is no ambiguity in the sense. As to the subject itself, it seems that God in the first place intended to remind the Jews of their sins, as this knowledge was to be the way to repentance, or a preparation for it. For except they were convinced that they were chastised for their sins by God’s hand, they would either have thought that their exile was by chance, or have given way to murmuring complaints as they often did. But God here declares that he was the author of their exile, in order that the Jews might know that God justly punished them for their many...

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...

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

BUT, THE LORD LIVETH,.... Or they shall swear by the living God; or declare the power of the Lord, as the Targum, in their redemption by the Messiah: WHICH BROUGHT UP AND WHICH LED THE SEED OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL OUT OF THE NORTH COUNTRY, AND FROM ALL COUNTRIES WHITHER I HAD DRIVEN THEM: which respects not only the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, which lay north of Judea; but the conversion of many of the ten tribes, through the preaching of the Gospel in the several countries where they were, to which the apostles of Christ were sent with it; and also the gathering of them together at the latter day, when they shall turn to the Lord, and return to their own land; as follows: AND THEY SHALL DWELL IN THEIR OWN LAND: which has never been fulfilled as yet of the seed of the house of Israel, or of the ten tribes; but will be when all Israel shall be saved. i This passage is applied i...

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 ...

THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. See note on Jeremiah 2:4. LAND. soil....

Jeremiah 23:1. See introd. summary to section. We should have expected, as the natural sequel to the three preceding passages, a direct reference to the reign of Zedekiah. Probably we may attribute the absence of it to Jeremiah's unwillingness to attack one whom he recognised as merely a weak tool in the hands of the princes, the "shepherds" of Jeremiah 23:1. But see further on Jeremiah 23:5. Du. and Erbt make the whole passage to be late, while individual parts have been disputed, e.g. 7, 8 by Gi. and with some hesitation by Co. Others than Du. reject the most striking _vv_., viz. 5, 6, but Co. (so Gi.) emphatically maintains their genuineness. See notes below....