the Fourth Week after Easter
Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Jeremiah 23:1-15
In ch. 21 and 22 the word of the LORD condemned the last kings of Judah. In actual fact all the responsible men of Judah, "both prophet and priest" (v. 11), failed in their mission. Instead of feeding the people and "being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3), they were bad shepherds. Under their deplorable leadership the flock was neglected, destroyed and scattered (cf. Ezekiel 34:4-6). Therefore God Himself will undertake the task of re-gathering the remnant of this flock, giving them another Shepherd (John 10:14). The royal family of Israel failed completely. But God will raise up in this same house of David a righteous Branch, a divine King: "The LORD our righteousness" (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:30). This expression "the Branch" occurs five times in the prophets concerning the Lord Jesus: here and in Jeremiah 33:15 as the King, the character in which He is presented in the Gospel of Matthew; in Zechariah 3:8 as "my servant" and Zechariah 6:12 as "the man, whose name is The Branch", as Christ is presented in those characters in the Gospels of Mark and Luke respectively. Finally, in Isaiah 4:2 : as "the branch of the LORD . . . beautiful and glorious," in whom we recognise the Son of God as presented in the Gospel of John.
