God Shepherds His People

God Shepherds His People

Date: Jun. 10, 2018

Passage

Jeremiah 22:24-23:8 (ESV)

24 “As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

28   Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
    a vessel no one cares for?
  Why are he and his children hurled and cast
    into a land that they do not know?
29   O land, land, land,
    hear the word of the LORD!
30   Thus says the LORD:
  “Write this man down as childless,
    a man who shall not succeed in his days,
  for none of his offspring shall succeed
    in sitting on the throne of David
    and ruling again in Judah.”

1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.

5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 5

1   Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
    look and take note!
  Search her squares to see
    if you can find a man,
  one who does justice
    and seeks truth,
  that I may pardon her.
  Though they say, “As the LORD lives,”
    yet they swear falsely.
  O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
  You have struck them down,
    but they felt no anguish;
  you have consumed them,
    but they refused to take correction.
  They have made their faces harder than rock;
    they have refused to repent.
  Then I said, “These are only the poor;
    they have no sense;
  for they do not know the way of the LORD,
    the justice of their God.
  I will go to the great
    and will speak to them,
  for they know the way of the LORD,
    the justice of their God.”
  But they all alike had broken the yoke;
    they had burst the bonds.
  Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
    a wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
  A leopard is watching their cities;
    everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
  because their transgressions are many,
    their apostasies are great.
  “How can I pardon you?
    Your children have forsaken me
    and have sworn by those who are no gods.
  When I fed them to the full,
    they committed adultery
    and trooped to the houses of whores.
  They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
    each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
  Shall I not punish them for these things?
      declares the LORD;
    and shall I not avenge myself
    on a nation such as this?
  “Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
    but make not a full end;
  strip away her branches,
    for they are not the LORD’s.
  For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
    have been utterly treacherous to me,
      declares the LORD.
  They have spoken falsely of the LORD
    and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
  no disaster will come upon us,
    nor shall we see sword or famine.
  The prophets will become wind;
    the word is not in them.
  Thus shall it be done to them!’”

  Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts:
  “Because you have spoken this word,
  behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire,
    and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
  Behold, I am bringing against you
    a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
      declares the LORD.
  It is an enduring nation;
    it is an ancient nation,
  a nation whose language you do not know,
    nor can you understand what they say.
  Their quiver is like an open tomb;
    they are all mighty warriors.
  They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
    they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
  they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
    they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
  your fortified cities in which you trust
    they shall beat down with the sword.”

“But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”

  Declare this in the house of Jacob;
    proclaim it in Judah:
  “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
    who have eyes, but see not,
    who have ears, but hear not.
  Do you not fear me? declares the LORD.
    Do you not tremble before me?
  I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
    a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
  though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
    though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
  But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
    they have turned aside and gone away.
  They do not say in their hearts,
    ‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
  who gives the rain in its season,
    the autumn rain and the spring rain,
  and keeps for us
    the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
  Your iniquities have turned these away,
    and your sins have kept good from you.
  For wicked men are found among my people;
    they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
  They set a trap;
    they catch men.
  Like a cage full of birds,
    their houses are full of deceit;
  therefore they have become great and rich;
    they have grown fat and sleek.
  They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
    they judge not with justice
  the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
    and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
  Shall I not punish them for these things?
      declares the LORD,
    and shall I not avenge myself
    on a nation such as this?”
  An appalling and horrible thing
    has happened in the land:
  the prophets prophesy falsely,
    and the priests rule at their direction;
  my people love to have it so,
    but what will you do when the end comes?

1. Stand in your relationship with God (22:24-30)

God confronted Jehoiakim for his sin. He thought he could stand firm based on his position as king. But those who stand only on their human positions would be like a signet ring pulled off and hurled away. He and his whole royal family would be thrown into exile. His royal lineage was cut off. He would die and be forgotten.

2. God would shepherd his flock (23:1-8)

The leaders should have led their people to God. But instead, they were destroying and scattering God's flock. God himself would gather his people, shepherd them and grant them peace. One day he would send the Savior, who would sit on David's throne. "The Lord our Righteousness" is Jesus. Though the leaders failed, God would succeed. We can have trust and confidence in God.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for gathering us to you, establishing good shepherds and for sending Jesus to be the "Lord our Righteousness."

One Word: God himself will gather his people

In the End, Have Faith in God

Genesis 49:29-50:26

Key Verse: 49:50:24

When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Today's Question

What benefits in this life go with or come from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

See answer and references

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