After reading two chapters dedicated to rebuking wicked kings, you might be expecting some more of the same. And as you begin reading chapter twenty-three the tone of divine denunciation does continue. But not for long. It’s as though, God, having spoken about wicked kings like Jehoiahkim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, knew His people needed a word of hope, a note of grace, and provided a promise of light amidst the darkness. But before we read something different, a promise of grace greater than all the sin of the previously indicted kings, there is first a note of woe: “‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!’ says the Lord” (Jer. 23:1).

These bad shepherds included, but were not limited to, the leaders in the civil sphere (i.e. the kings mentioned in the previous chapters) and the false prophets who are described in this chapter. As a result of their false-feeding, which was more like ‘fleecing’, and their lack of godly leading, the people were scattered (vs.2). Some fled from the land hoping to avoid captivity and many more were taken away in previous deportations to Babylonian territory. And God was going to hold these derelict and destructive shepherds accountable; hence, the opening “Woe.” After all, according to the text, these false shepherds were not doing damage to sheep that belonged to them but to sheep that belonged to Him, to God.

It’s a good reminder to present day pastoral shepherds to avoid such malpractice by feeding the flock of God with knowledge and understanding (Jer. 3:15), and watching over themselves and the church (Acts. 20:28) with an attentiveness that befits the solemnity of the responsibility – a point that Paul reinforced to the Ephesian elders by reminding them of who the sheep were: those whom God, the Son, “purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28c).

But now, in verses three and four, begins the crescendo of grace. What the false shepherds broke, the one true God would fix. We read,

3 “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. 4 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.

Notice God said that He would gather His remnant out of all countries where He had driven them. And once He regathered them He would tend to them, they would be fruitful and multiply (vs.3b), and He would provide them with godly leaders. The immediate fulfillment of this happened when the LORD brought back the people from Babylonian Captivity, providing the returning exiles with leaders like Ezra, Nehemiah, and Joshua the high priest, and true prophets like Haggai and Zerubabbel. But at the same time it appears that a complete fulfillment would come under the reign of the Messiah in the Millennial kingdom when the Jewish people say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD” (Mt. 23:39; see also vs.6a, compare with vs.4; cf. Jer. 32:37-41).

Having begun to speak a message of hope, the LORD told the people about the One who would be the focal point of their hope:

5 “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. 6 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.”

Now God pointed to the Good Shepherd. Unlike the bad shepherds to whom He said, “Woe” (Jer. 23:1) this shepherd would be One who would hear the words, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” It was likely a welcomed word of relief to hear that God was going to raise “a Branch of righteousness” to (i.e. from) David. Think about that. After pronouncing a curse upon the line of Coniah (Jer. 22:29-30), a king who was a descendant of David, God was making it clear that He wasn’t abandoning His covenantal commitment to establish a king from David’s line to sit upon David’s throne. It was still going to happen – it just wasn’t going to be through Coniah’s line.

This King wouldn’t flicker and falter, He would reign and prosper (Jer. 23:5b). A scepter of righteousness would be the scepter of His kingdom; He would love righteousness and hate lawlessness (cf. Heb. 1:8-9). In His days, as He executes judgment and righteousness in the earth (Jer. 23:5b), “Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely” (vs.6a), a promise that appears to be eschatological, reaching complete fulfillment with the Jewish people’s return to the land of Israel, Jesus’ return, and the Messiah’s subduing of His enemies.

And as great as all of those promises are, and indeed they are, the apex of hope and excitement centers upon the king who would be both human and divine. He would be a branch from David, i.e. a man born of the seed of David; yet, He would be more than a man, for He would be called “The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23:6), specifically, “Yahweh our Righteousness.” This king would be the Son of David and, at the same time, God the Son. And the good news for all of God’s people – He would not only reign righteously, He would supply the righteousness we lack by being our righteousness. Jesus is not only the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of His people, but He is also, by virtue of His flawless obedience, “our righteousness” (1 Cor. 1:30).

And perhaps that’s the note of grace you needed to hear today. Yes, your righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6) but rather than despondently beholding your lack, rejoice that the righteousness of another, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn. 2:1b), has, through the instrument of God-granted faith (Phil. 3:9), not only covered your sin but made you… righteous (2 Cor. 5:21).