Shepherds
Jeremiah 23 has always been a very personal chapter for me. I have heard the challenge of the first verse
and taken it extremely personally.
However, I think I may have been a little wrong in my earlier way of
seeing this passage. The reason I have
misread this passage is pretty simple.
All of my life I’ve heard the word “shepherd” as a symbol for the role
of “pastor.” {For the record, this is an analogy that I loathe. I really dislike being called the “shepherd”
of this or that. From my perspective,
clergy are sheep – sinners in need of redeeming – just like everyone else. We have one shepherd – the Good Shepherd –
see John 10:11-18. There is no need for
me to also be a shepherd. I don’t mind
being a “sheep” with big horns that helps look out for the rest of the
flock. But I am not about to replace
Christ as the shepherd. Okay, I’m
stepping off of that soapbox now.}
But here is an interesting thing.
Do you notice who happens to ultimately be the opposite of the false
shepherds? Yes, God says that he will
set up other shepherds. But then God
says that the line of David will produce a righteous Branch. That righteous Branch will reign as a king. He shall execute justice and lead people in
righteousness. That righteous Branch
will save so that people can live in security.
Of course, this righteous Branch is Jesus.
But the really amazing point for me to understand today is that
the comparison is not one of spiritual leadership but one of legal
governance. It is not the priests who
are the subject of the opening sentence!
The “false shepherds” are the kings of the Hebrew people! That is why it is so interesting that the
righteous Branch is called a king!
Jeremiah 23:1-8 is not a passage condemning the religious institution of
Judah and Israel but rather a passage condemning the governance!
Yet another reason to not want the title of shepherd placed upon
my shoulders. I am no king. I’m not even a very good political leader at
all. There is no need for me to replace
God’s King who currently sits upon His throne.
Spiritual Leadership
Of course, we don’t have to read very far to get to a passage that
does talk about religious leadership.
Please don’t read my words above to say that I am giving a pass to the
religious institutions of the Hebrew people.
In no way am I doing any such thing.
When we get to verse 9 the whole rest of the chapter will deal with the
religious institutions of the Hebrew people.
I find one of the most appalling descriptions of people within
this section. “Both priest and prophet
are ungodly. Even in my house I have
found their evil.” Declares the
Lord. Those aren’t Jeremiah’s words! The Lord looks down upon the spiritual
leaders among His people and concludes both ungodliness and evil exists.
I think it is important to hold both of those words together. You might have read that and wondered why it
is that both are listed. Can you have
one without the other?
Of course, God cannot. God
cannot do evil, and by the definition of the word God cannot be ungodly.
Humanity, on the other hand, can.
Every single one of us is evil.
Scripture is quite clear on this point.
Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God. In the same chapter of the Bible
(Romans 3) Paul also declare that “none are righteous, no, not one.” Not even one.
Evil is among every single one of us.
However, that doesn’t mean that ungodliness is among all of
us. We all sin. We all do evil. But some among humanity repent. Some turn to God and turn away from their
sin. Some people in this world are
called godly – in spite of the evil that resides in their heart. We are not godly because of our nature; we
are godly because we are willing to put our nature aside and embrace God’s
nature.
So let’s return back to Jeremiah.
This is why I find the description of the priests and prophets so
deplorable. It’s one thing for us to say
that evil exists among us. Of course it
does! Evil exists in me. If God did not help me to keep it in check, I
would be a far greater sinner! But to
say that ungodliness exists among the religious leaders implies that the
religious leaders are not longer turning away from the evil that is within
their hearts. If the leaders are no
longer turning away, then those whom they teach are no longer turning away,
either. The greatest shame among God’s
priests and prophets is when one of us stops turning from our sin. {Don’t
forget that we are all priests in Christ, right?}
A Horrible Conclusion
As I end this blog post, a part of me weeps inside. As we come to the end of this chapter we talk
about the nature of God. He sees
all. He knows all. He expects repentance. So what happens when repentance does not come
– especially among His priests and prophets?
God tells them that He is against them. What a horrible fate! I cannot imagine a life in which God was
against me. But it gets worse. Not only is God against them, they are a
burden to God. Can you imagine hearing
those words from God? Think about that
for a second. What would it be like to
hear God say, “You are a burden to me?”
My soul weeps.
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