5 The Righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:1–8)

5

The Righteous Branch

Jeremiah 23:1–8

Conrad Mbewe

In Jeremiah 23:1–8, the prophet says:

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”1

Leadership is important. You cannot read a passage like Jeremiah 23:1–8 without realizing afresh that good leadership is vital, especially among the people of God. And it is not just in this passage. Again and again you will find in the Bible that “as the leaders go, so go the people of God.” Thankfully, there are blessed exceptions, but sometimes the exceptions are regrettable. For instance, the people of Israel rejected the leadership of godly Samuel. Yet God assured him that he was not really the one being rejected; the people of Israel were essentially rejecting God. However, often you find kings in the Old Testament leading people into sin—sometimes into “great sin,” referring to idolatry. This would go on until the judgment of God would fall upon the people.

In fact, as you get close to the end of the Old Testament, even the priests are rebuked for their failure to maintain the honor of God among the people of God. Hence, God told the priests through his prophet Malachi that they were the ones dishonoring his name by accepting blind and crippled animals as sacrifices in his temple.

Yet we must not think of the importance of leadership in purely negative terms. The reverse is equally true. When there was revival among the people of Israel, it first began in the king’s palace. As heartfelt repentance took place there, the king would then lead the rest of the nation to acknowledge their sin before God. This often resulted in God having mercy upon the people.

It is this subject of the importance of leadership that occupies the mind of the prophet Jeremiah at this stage in his book. Previously, Jeremiah addressed the nations around Israel, giving them a piece of God’s mind. Now, in Jeremiah 23, he turns his attention to the people of Israel and urges upon them the need for persistent, godly, and fruitful leadership, which will bring blessing to them and honor to God.

As we turn our attention to this subject, we need to see that this is an issue that is relevant to us at whatever level of leadership we may be—whether it is in the home, in the church, or in the nation. Indeed, at a conference such as this, many of us are leaders in churches and in various para-church organizations (such as theological colleges). Thus as we go through this message, we ought to pray that God will help us to see how he views leadership in the Lord Jesus Christ so that we may make the necessary adjustments in order to be a cause of blessing wherever we exercise leadership and not a cause of judgment.

THE LORD’S INDICTMENT

God takes seriously the failure of leadership among his people because of its devastating effect upon a people whom he loves dearly. This is what Jeremiah deals with as he addresses the people of God and this is why he begins on a note of scathing condemnation.

Who were these shepherds that God was addressing through his prophet? The phrase “shepherd” was often used to refer to kings in Israel. However, by the time Jeremiah was speaking here, he also had in mind the priests and the prophets (see 23:9–14). Every form of leadership in the nation needed to listen very carefully to the message that God had put on his heart. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because he felt deeply the wickedness of the people and the judgment of God upon them. “Both prophets and priests are ungodly,” he said (v. 11).

What a terrible time it must have been for the nation of Israel. The very people that were supposed to provide leadership in the ways of godliness and righteousness were in fact the ones steeped in wickedness and sin. This broke Jeremiah’s heart. It also brought the wrath of God upon his people. At first sight, verses 1 and 2 sound as if the shepherds were forcefully scattering the sheep away from the Promised Land. But when you read verse 3, it becomes clear that it was God who forcefully scattered them among foreign nations. He put the blame squarely on the leaders because they failed to be godly leaders. Their bad example brought God’s judgment upon the whole nation.

One of the greatest indictments of our age is the growing number of church leaders whose lives are a scandal even in the eyes of the world. They drink sin as if it were water and lead their churches into similar wicked lifestyles. You had better make sure that you are not numbered among them in the eyes of God. Your mouth ought to be full of the whole counsel of God so that if the people rebel against you, it is because they are rebelling against God. Your life, too, should be a good role model to the people of God so that by your life they can see what it means to be truly godly.

Take your role as a leader very seriously. If you are not interested in putting a high price tag on leadership, then resign your position before God comes to judge both you and the institution over which you exercise leadership—whether it is your home, your church, or any other institution.

THE LORD’S DETERMINATION

If your leadership among God’s covenant people is in perpetual failure, he is determined to move in and correct it because of its devastating effect upon his people. God normally does this by raising a new leadership to lead his people forward. This is very clear from verses 3–4. Notice the way in which the “I will” is so emphatic three times over:

Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.

God is essentially telling the leaders of Israel that if they have failed to do the work he has asked them to do, he will do it himself. He will bring healing and restoration among the people. Isn’t that the way God always operates? False prophets who survive on corruption and deceit gain a following for a while. Then without warning, God raises an “Elijah” who leads the people in true revival and godliness. It was the same in the days of the decadent Hophni and Phinehas. They were supposed to be priests in the temple, but they turned it into a den of thieves. From nowhere God raised Samuel to replace them and lead the people into the future.

We can go on. In the midst of the disobedience of King Saul, who refused to listen to Samuel’s godly and prophetic counsel, God raised David to lead his people. God’s choice of Saul’s successor was certainly not the most obvious choice because he was the last person in the family that anyone thought about. It was not until God had rejected all his older brothers that his name was added to the ballot roll. This was the man God chose to replace the king.

This is not merely Old Testament stuff. Christian denominations have arisen that were faithful to God and to his gospel to begin with. But somewhere along the line they have imbibed liberalism and low levels of morality. Although outwardly these denominations are still there, it is clear that the lampstand has long been removed. Yet God never leaves himself without a witness. He raises another church or denomination, sometimes coming from inside the dead one, and this is the vehicle through which the good old gospel continues to be sounded forth to the world. That is how God brings true religion back and blesses his people.

This ought to be a warning to us. If as Christian leaders, you get too comfortable in your positions and indulge in doctrinal or moral compromise, thinking that all will still be well, you are only deceiving yourselves. The God of the universe will not allow his agenda to be hijacked by ungodly and selfish leaders. He will raise others in your place. In fact, he has already raised Another, and it is to this person that we must now turn.

THE LORD’S PROMISE

The ultimate leader of the people of God is a promised king—the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—is about him. In the Old Testament, we catch glimpses of him in the promises that God often made when the situation in the nation of Israel looked dark and bleak. This is precisely what God does here. He says through Jeremiah:

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.” (23:5–6)

This is the promise of the whole Bible. If God were to simply raise human shepherds over his people, sin would always bring about their downfall somewhere along the line. The great promise of God is that he is sending Another to lead. Who is this?

This person is referred to in this passage as a branch, “a righteous Branch.” This is a very fascinating phrase. We are to understand the phrase “Branch” as referring to his relationship with David. He is to be from the tree of David. David is the root or the main stem, and growing out of this Davidic kingship is to come another king. In that sense, therefore, this person is someone in David’s line.

The branch imagery also has to do with branching out—doing things differently and bringing in a new dimension. It is used in that way in Zechariah 6:12: “And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD.” ’ ” So, whoever this person is, he will not merely repeat or do his work as the main stem has done. He will do it differently and will bring his people into a new phase of life. He will branch out.

In which way will this person do things differently? It is by his emphasis on righteousness. This is important because it was a lack of righteousness in the first place that caused God to send his people into captivity. There was unrighteousness in the leadership, which trickled down to the whole nation. So if there is to be a permanent restoration, this king has to provide this missing ingredient—righteousness. Only then will the wrath of God be lifted from the people of God. There is need for someone to satisfy the justice of God in every conceivable way. That person needs to be righteous, and he also has to pay the debt incurred due to the unrighteousness of the people. Only then will God’s favor return.

I think that we are now in a position to answer the question, Who is this? Who is this who provides leadership to Israel on the basis of righteousness? You don’t need to search very far to realize that there is only one person across the whole of history who answers to this description. It is Jesus of Nazareth. The prophet Isaiah said of him:

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isa. 9:6–7)

From this passage we learn a few things about this person. First, he is God. He is described not only as “Wonderful Counselor,” but also as “Mighty God.” This person, who is to come into this world as a baby, is the infinite and most glorious being that angels have worshiped from all eternity. He is the one through whose hands the universe came into being. He governs all the rolling spheres in the entire universe, and also looks after the minutest details of our lives. He is the one who will ultimately judge the living and the dead.

This is the person spoken about here as the king. He is the person who came into the world as a little baby when Israel was under Roman captivity. Isaiah is telling us here that this person will occupy the office of king. He will deliver his people and lead them. And how shall he do it? It will be through justice and righteousness (v. 7). No mere mortal could provide this. No angel in heaven could do it. Someone needed to completely satisfy the preceptive and the punitive aspects of the law of God through his own righteousness. Thankfully, Isaiah ends this section with the words, “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

Another passage in Isaiah that helps us to pin down the person referred to in Jeremiah 23 is Isaiah 53. One is tempted to cite the whole chapter, but we will limit ourselves to verse 11.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

From this passage, we learn that this servant king will suffer for his people. It will be out of the anguish of his soul.

Jesus did not simply come as a teacher to teach us a few moral precepts so that we can try and follow the ways of God. He did not even come to simply be a good role model so that by looking at his example we can attempt to live like him. If that were all he did, he would have completely failed in his mission because we are born sinners. We are born with corrupt natures, and the disease is on the inside. No mere outward moral examples can reverse that.

Therefore, Jesus had to suffer and die to carry out the work of deliverance, and hence he said to his disciples, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27–28). And as he made his way to the cross, he fell on his knees before God in the garden of Gethsemane and pleaded with him. The pleading amounted to something like this: “If there is any other way to achieve this purpose to bring that which is the apple of your eye—your elect people—into your kingdom without me going through this excruciating pain, then please, Father, let this cup pass away from me. And yet not my will but yours be done.”

We know the end of the story. God sent an angel to strengthen his Son, and finally he went to the cross. He suffered. He paid the price that no one could ever pay. As Isaiah puts it here,

The righteous one, my servant,

[will] make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Jesus paid that price, and three days later God raised him from the dead. He could now go back to the Father and say to him, “Let me have the promised Spirit so that I can send him into the world in order to convict my people and convert them to me. He needs to change their hearts, occupy them, and lead them from rebellion to righteousness. He needs to inspire a new leadership among your people who will truly love you.” This is what happened when Jesus returned to heaven after his resurrection. He received the blessed Holy Spirit, whom he has sent into the world.

It must be clear by now that only Jesus of Nazareth fully satisfied the description that Jeremiah gave us of the “righteous Branch.” Allow me to point you to one passage in the New Testament that also bears testimony to this fact. Luke wrote that an angel, when announcing the birth of Jesus, said to Mary:

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:30–33)

Again, you cannot miss the aroma in these words of the angel, which you would have smelled from the prophet Jeremiah. “I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king” (Jer. 23:5).

Although in our text Jeremiah is primarily concerned with the nation of Israel. When you read the rest of Scripture, it becomes evident that it was not the Jews only who were to benefit from this king. Jesus was to be a blessing to the Gentiles as well. That is the bigger picture. That is why in Psalm 2:8 the Messiah is told,

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

Or, as the apostle Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:18–21, “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself.”

This is where any hope of true, progressive, sustained, and godly leadership over the people of God lies. It is not on the arm of flesh. If it were, it would fail again and again. Rather, it is based on omnipotence. God himself, in the person of his Son, is moving in, and by the help of his own Spirit he will carry on the work to the very end. Jesus is the center of any hope that we will have godly leadership over the church that will see his people sustained and making progress for time and for all eternity. This is why this passage ends on such a glorious note. Let us turn to this glorious end now.

THE LORD’S DELIVERANCE

God will lead his people through the “righteous Branch” in such a glorious way that it will overshadow even the great exodus from Egypt that Israel experienced under Moses. That is a stupendous claim! Look at the way Jeremiah ends our text. He says:

Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, “As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” but “As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.” Then they shall dwell in their own land. (23:7–8)

What is Jeremiah saying here? He is saying that compared to what Jesus will do, the exodus in Moses’s day will be like a storm in a teacup. The idea here is not to demean the great exodus, but rather to exalt the work of Christ. The exodus was a great event. Remember the plagues that came one after the other until the mightiest potentate in the known world at that time finally surrendered and allowed the enslaved Israelites to leave Egypt. Remember the way in which Pharaoh changed his mind as soon as the people left, and consequently he got his mighty army to chase after them. We all know that adrenaline-pumping story in which that great army chased this nation of unarmed civilians. Remember the way in which suddenly a great cloud appeared in between the army with all its arsenals and these unarmed people, thus frustrating them because they could not close in on them and capture the people of Israel. Remember the parting of the Red Sea, as two huge walls of water went up into the air and an entire nation walked through the river on dry ground. Remember how, as Pharaoh’s army chased them and was now in the middle of the sea, Moses struck the water and it covered the pursuers. Thus the mightiest army on the planet was drowned; it came to nothing. Has there ever been such a deliverance from the beginning of time? It is the kind of stuff that action-packed movies and thrillers try to reproduce.

Jeremiah is now saying that when Jesus has finished his deliverance, this will look like child’s play. Which period could Jeremiah be referring to? He is certainly not referring to what happened in the 1940s when Israel became a nation! No, we need to search further than that. We need to scan the New Testament for hints. What deliverance does Jesus bring that can overshadow the great exodus?

One possibility is the deliverance that takes place when a soul gets saved from sin. The Bible pictures it as a coming from death to life. The chains that bound the soul in the darkness and filth of sin are totally shattered. The person experiences a transformation of heart and the peace of sins forgiven. To borrow the words of Charles Wesley,

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed thee.2

Now, as stupendous as that great deliverance might be, I still think we need to search further. What collective deliverance will make the great exodus pale into insignificance? I can only think of one answer. My mind goes to the day that will “break eternal, bright, and fair,” when all the ransomed throng of God will come from east, west, north, and south. When they shall come with singing, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. When sin is finally and completely done away with. When there will be no more suffering, no more crying, and no more death. Indeed, my mind goes to that day when Satan himself will receive the final blow at the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we will know what it means to finally worship God with an un-sinning heart and to love him perfectly. When Jesus, our great Shepherd, will himself lead us into eternity. Oh what a glorious day!

Something of this is captured for us in the last book of the Bible.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Rev. 7:9–12)

Look also at verse 17:

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of living water,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

I think this is it. This is the great deliverance that will completely overshadow what happened in the days of Moses. This great deliverance will happen at the hands of our great king, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he returns to wrap up history.

Very well then, what shall we say in response to all this? Four quick points:

First, those of us who are preachers and elders in the church need to remember that the great Shepherd of the sheep wants us to be true leaders. He wants us to bring his sheep from the far country and be faithful in watching over his flock. Are we doing that?

Second, let us always remember that God has finally walked onto the stage in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in a new era, the era of his Spirit. Christ is walking among the lampstands. He is saving and sanctifying his people. He will never fail his elect people. Not one of them will be lost.

Third, is this message speaking to someone who is in the far country and feeling the chains of sin around his ankles? Call upon King Jesus to come and deliver you. He is here and he wants to save you. Stop trying and start trusting in him.

Finally, may your eyes see the faithful man, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who will lead us in the paths of righteousness. May you see the nail prints on his hands and on his feet, the price that he paid for you. May you love him dearly and may you worship him forever. Ultimately, he is the One who will lead us into that great and glorious deliverance. Therefore,

[Let us] stand as children of the promise,

[Let us] fix our eyes on him, our soul’s reward,

Till the race is finished and the work is done,

[Let us] walk by faith and not by sight.3

Let us do these things looking up to this “righteous Branch,” our great God and king, Jesus Christ. Amen.

1 All Scripture quotations in this chapter are from the English Standard Version.

2 Charles Wesley, “And Can It Be?,” 1738.

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