~ Warning to Political Leaders ~
There are at
least three great warning chapters in Scripture. Interesting enough they all are double digit
chapters ending in three (making it easy to memorize them (Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel
33, and Matthew 23). We will briefly
summarize each chapter in this series.
Jeremiah 23 Summary
~ The word translated “pastors”
or “shepherds” in many Bible versions refers primarily to kings and the ruling
politicians. The chapter is a strong and
bitter indictment of the leaders. In
fact, some of these leaders were basically saying: “Don’t believe Jeremiah
because he is a liar. We are voices for
God and He told us Jerusalem is safe.”
Jeremiah 23 Scripture Portion
~ “‘Woe
to the leaders who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!’ says the Lord. Therefore thus says
the Lord God of Israel against the
leaders who feed My people: ‘You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and
not attended to them. Behold, I will
attend to you for the evil of your doings,’ says the Lord. ‘But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all
countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and
they shall be fruitful and increase. I will
set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor
be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,’ says the Lord” (verses 1-4).
Jeremiah 23 and The Messiah
~ There is a foreseeing of the
coming Messiah. God will raise up a Shepherd
after His own heart. “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘That I will raise to David a
Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment
and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell
safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS.’
‘Therefore,
behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord,
‘that they shall no longer say, “As the Lord
lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,” but, “As
the Lord lives who brought up and
led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all
the countries where I had driven them.”
And they shall dwell in their own land’” (verses 5-8).
closing note: The warnings of Jeremiah
23 are well worth personal study by each of my readers.
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
NOTES:
(1)
The
current
TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very
bottom of this home page.
(2)
There
is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the
left column.
(3)
You
may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website.
(4)
You
may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by
prominently displaying the following statement: Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free
blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid
Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/
.
