Jeremiah 23:1-8
The Righteous Branch
1 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. 2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: "Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done," declares the LORD. 3 "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 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.
5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.
7 "So then, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' 8 but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land."
The prophet Jeremiah writes to us about the coming of the Messiah, the coming of Jesus...Jesus is the righteous branch...He is our righteous branch...He is our leader...
Jeremiah writes about how the leaders, the shepherds, that have scattered God's people...When we take on leadership positions, there is a responsibility...We must think about how Jesus led...The leadership of Israel had a responsibility...But they have scattered God's sheep...The leaders who have had spiritual authority over His people have failed the people...The priests, false prophets, and kings have lead the people into idolatry, injustice, and unfaithfulness...The leaders have taken our eyes and minds off of God and we have placed them on the daily desires of this earth...They have helped us drift from Him...
The prophet Jeremiah wrote his prophecy approximately between 626 to 585 b.c...This is approximately six hundred years before the birth of Jesus...Jeremiah tells us that the days are coming when God will raise up from the line of David, a righteous One, a righteous Branch...This King will reign wisely...He will know the truth, because He is the truth...He will be focused and speak about the LORD of heaven and earth...In His days, Israel will live in safety...The name that Jesus will be called is the LORD our Righteousness...
The Israeli's were beaten in battle around 587 b.c by Babylon...Much of the country was destroyed and a few people, a small remnant was exiled to Babylon...After a period of time God would take this remnant of His flock from Babylon and bring them back to their own pasture, where they would be fruitful and increase in number over time...The country would grow again and they would build (their country) back up, and they would no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any of His people go missing...This time will be when Jesus makes it to earth...After the exile, Jesus will come, albeit many years later...This is the promise that Jeremiah writes about and that would be fulfilled, in Jesus' birth...
Jesus was not the military leader or political leader the people of Israel were expecting...Even when Jeremiah wrote his book and about the Messiah, people were expecting the Messiah to lead them as a King of their country in the same style and way the old kings had ruled their country...This is just man's mentality...This is what we focus on: flesh, desires, and this earth...
Jesus is not the military or political leader the people of Israel were expecting...A king that would lead us into a conventional battle or war, He was not...The battles He leads us into is spiritual warfare...Jesus knows the importance of love and the things that are important in life...He took twelve common men, fishermen and taxpayers, and led the world into the greatest religion...These twelve men, and converting St. Paul to His ways convinced the entire Roman Empire that He was the truth, the way, and the life...Jesus was not focused on flesh and earthly desires...He was focused on God, our Father...
Only the truth knows, what is important...Jesus is the Messiah...What do you think your Messiah should do?...We have a lack of ability to recognize what the Messiah is (as the Israeli's did)...We must meditate on what is important...Prayer to Him, must be a priority in our lives...Jesus is a leader...Jesus does not want to lead us into war to kill our enemies...He wants us to love our enemies...Jesus wants us to get back to the Garden of Eden...He wants us to get us back to God...He wants us to recognize at every waking moment that God is love, and loves us...He wants us to be like Him, to love God and one another...