Yahweh Our Righteousness Text: Jeremiah 23:1-8
Introduction: The Leadership Crisis
We live in an age of profound leadership malpractice. Our civil magistrates are corrupt, our academic leaders are fools, and our cultural tastemakers are degenerates. But the deepest rot is found in the pulpit. For generations now, a significant portion of the evangelical church has been led by shepherds who are, to put it mildly, hirelings. They are men who love the praise of men more than the praise of God. They are CEOs of religious corporations, not shepherds of God's flock. They are more concerned with branding than with the Bible, with metrics than with majesty, with relevance than with righteousness. And the results are plain to see: the sheep are scattered, malnourished, and terrified. They have been left to the wolves of secularism, progressivism, and every other damnable ism our age has coughed up.
The people of God are hungry for truth, and they are being fed a thin gruel of therapeutic platitudes and self-help moralism. They are looking for courage, and they are given cowardice wrapped in a pious cloak of "niceness." They are looking for a sword, and they are handed a wet noodle. This is not a new problem. The prophet Jeremiah confronted the very same crisis in his day. The shepherds of Israel, the kings and the priests, were destroying the flock they were charged to protect. And God's response was not a gentle suggestion for a leadership seminar. It was a blistering woe, a declaration of divine judgment, followed by a promise of radical, kingly intervention.
This passage in Jeremiah is a diagnosis, a judgment, and a glorious promise all in one. It shows us what God thinks of corrupt leadership, what He intends to do about it, and the ultimate Shepherd-King He will provide. This is not just ancient history for Judah; it is a living word for the church today. It teaches us where not to place our trust, and where we must place all of it.
The Text
"Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares Yahweh. Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who are sheshepherding My people: "You have scattered My flock and banished them and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds," declares Yahweh. "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the land where I have banished them and cause them to return to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. I will also raise up shepherds over them, and they will shepherd them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be left unattended," declares Yahweh.
"Behold, the days are coming," declares Yahweh, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and prosper And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'Yahweh our righteousness.'
"Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when they will no longer say, 'As Yahweh lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As Yahweh lives, who brought up and brought back the seed of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the lands where I had banished them.' Then they will live on their own soil."
(Jeremiah 23:1-8 LSB)
The Indictment of the Hirelings (v. 1-2)
The oracle begins with a thunderclap from Heaven.
"Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares Yahweh. (Jeremiah 23:1)
God takes the abuse of His people personally. Notice the possessive pronoun: "My pasture." The sheep belong to God, not to the shepherds. This is the fundamental error of every abusive leader. They begin to think the flock is theirs, to be used for their own purposes, for their own enrichment, for their own glory. But a true shepherd is an undershepherd, a steward who will give an account to the Chief Shepherd. These shepherds were not feeding the sheep; they were feeding on the sheep. They were destroying and scattering.
God then gets specific in His indictment.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who are shepherding My people: "You have scattered My flock and banished them and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds," declares Yahweh. (Jeremiah 23:2)
There is a severe and holy wordplay here. The shepherds have "not attended" to the flock. The Hebrew word is paqad, which means to visit, to care for, to look after. Because they failed in their duty to paqad the sheep, God says He is about to paqad them for their evil deeds. In other words, "You have not visited them with care, so I am about to visit you with judgment." This is the terrifying precision of divine justice. God's punishments are not arbitrary; they are tailored to the crime. The punishment for pastoral malpractice is a direct visitation from the owner of the flock.
The Divine Shepherd's Rescue (v. 3-4)
The failure of human leadership does not thwart the purposes of God. Rather, it sets the stage for His direct and glorious intervention.
"Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the land where I have banished them and cause them to return to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply." (Jeremiah 23:3)
When men fail, God Himself acts. "I Myself will gather." This is the great hope of the covenant. God's faithfulness is not contingent on our faithfulness. He will preserve His remnant. He will gather them from all the lands of their exile. This points forward, not just to the return from Babylon, but to the great ingathering of the Gentiles into the one flock of God. The scattering caused by sin and faithless leadership becomes the occasion for God to display His power in a global gathering.
And what is the result of this divine gathering? They will return to their pasture, and they will be "fruitful and multiply." This is covenant language, echoing the creation mandate in Genesis 1 and the promise to Abraham. God is not just restoring; He is re-creating. He is building His kingdom, and the gates of Hell, along with the incompetence of hireling shepherds, will not prevail against it.
God's long-term plan also includes fixing the human leadership problem.
"I will also raise up shepherds over them, and they will shepherd them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be left unattended," declares Yahweh. (Jeremiah 23:4)
God promises to provide true shepherds, faithful undershepherds who will actually do their job. And the fruit of their ministry is described in three beautiful negatives: no fear, no terror, and none missing. This is a picture of true spiritual security. The sheep are safe, they are at peace, and they are all accounted for. This is the goal of all true pastoral ministry: to lead the flock to a place where they rest securely in the care of God, free from the fear of wolves and the negligence of hirelings.
The Righteous Branch and His Reign (v. 5-6)
But where will these good shepherds come from? How will this new reality be established? The ultimate answer is not a committee of better shepherds, but one perfect Shepherd-King.
"Behold, the days are coming," declares Yahweh, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and prosper And do justice and righteousness in the land." (Jeremiah 23:5)
This is a direct, undeniable Messianic prophecy. The "Branch" is a well-known title for the Messiah, the promised shoot from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). The line of Davidic kings had been a parade of failures, but God promises to raise up one for David who will be truly "righteous." He will not be just another king; He will be the King. And His reign will be characterized by two things: prosperity and justice. He will succeed in His task, and His rule will be one of perfect righteousness.
This King is not just a moral example; He is a Savior. His reign brings salvation and security.
"In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'Yahweh our righteousness.'" (Jeremiah 23:6)
Here we come to the heart of the Gospel. The name of this King reveals the central truth of our salvation. His name will be Yahweh Tsidkenu, "Yahweh our righteousness." This is a staggering claim. This King is not merely righteous Himself; He is the very righteousness of God for His people. He does not just show us how to be righteous; He is our righteousness. This points directly to the doctrine of imputation. On the cross, our sin was imputed to Christ, and through faith, His perfect righteousness is imputed to us. We are not saved by our own pathetic attempts at righteousness. We are saved by an alien righteousness, a gift-righteousness, that comes from God through this King. When the Father looks at a believer, He does not see our sin; He sees the perfect righteousness of His Son. This is why Judah is saved and Israel dwells securely. Our security is not in our performance but in His name.
The New Exodus (v. 7-8)
The coming of this King and the salvation He brings will be so momentous that it will re-calibrate all of history. It will become the new central event of redemption.
"Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when they will no longer say, 'As Yahweh lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As Yahweh lives, who brought up and brought back the seed of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the lands where I had banished them.' Then they will live on their own soil." (Jeremiah 23:7-8)
For centuries, the defining act of God's salvation was the Exodus from Egypt. It was the great historical anchor of their faith. But Jeremiah says a day is coming when a new, greater Exodus will eclipse it. This new Exodus will not be from one nation, Egypt, but from all nations. It will be a global gathering. This is fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the subsequent mission to the Gentiles. The cross is the new Red Sea. The resurrection is the new Passover. The Great Commission is the new conquest of the land.
And the result is that the people of God "will live on their own soil." This is not primarily about real estate in the Middle East. The "soil" is the kingdom of God. To be brought into Christ is to be brought into the promised land. We, the church, gathered from every tribe and tongue and nation, now live on our own soil. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and our task is to see that kingdom's influence extend to every patch of earthly soil, until the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Conclusion: Our Only Hope is the King
So what does this mean for us, surrounded as we are by our own feckless shepherds? It means our ultimate hope is not in finding a better class of human leaders. Our ultimate hope is in the Shepherd-King who has already come and who is reigning right now at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus is the Righteous Branch. Jesus is the one who gathers His scattered sheep through the preaching of the gospel. Jesus is the one who appoints faithful undershepherds to care for His flock. And Jesus is Yahweh Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness. Your standing before God does not depend on your pastor, your elders, or your own spiritual grit. It depends entirely on the finished work of Christ, received by faith alone.
Therefore, do not be afraid. Do not be terrified. The Chief Shepherd has not abandoned His flock. He is gathering, He is ruling, and He is returning. Our job is to be faithful sheep, to listen to His voice in the Scriptures, to refuse the siren calls of the hirelings, and to follow the true undershepherds He provides. Our security is not in our circumstances, but in His name. And His name is Yahweh our Righteousness.