Jeremiah 23 FSI - HEAR, O EARTH

> [!title|noicon] **Jeremiah 23 Notes** > [[Jeremiah 22 FSI|<Prev]]   \[[Jeremiah 24 FSI|Next>\]] > [[Jeremiah 23|Verse list view]] > [Jeremiah 23:1](Jeremiah%2023.md#^1) note > > This is an awful indictment. Certainly this was written in the context of the Jewish leaders -- the priests and scribes over Jerusalem during the time of Josiah, Jeconiah and so on. So how can this apply today? Don't we see in church after church there's a whole congregation sitting there, happy, singing all kinds of beautiful songs, bringing praise and glory to God? How can we say *they* are scattering the sheep of God's pasture? > > Again, in the spiritual application the shepherds and pastors are those who have been assigned the task of caring for the sheep of Christ's fold, namely, the congregations -- the people who are trusting those pastors, elders, deacons, theologians and Bible teachers, to direct them to Truth. So God is giving us His assessment here of how He looks at them. > > If you go to a substantial seminary today and speak with the professors there, they'll all say, "We've had some wonderful pastors come out of this seminary. We have some wonderful people who have become Bible teachers." You talk to the pastors and they'll say that they have some wonderful elders and deacons. But God is here giving *His* assessment, saying, "WOE be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" And this is a general statement about the condition that exists within the local congregations. > > And as much as any pastor might believe that they are being faithful to the Word of God, their idea of salvation might be one in which we sincerely "accept" Christ of our free will. Or they may hold to an academic method of Bible interpretation rather than following the *Biblical* prescription to compare *spiritual things with spiritual*. And unless we follow the Bible prescription we'll never come to the Truth of the Bible, a false method of interpretation blinds us from Truth. Or they may believe God speaks through dreams, visions, tongues and other kinds of revelation today. But even with the Bible-based churches they have a human-devised gospel. And the pastor is the one that they all trust -- he has had all kinds of study, training and education under his belt, and he would never lie to them. So they're being told that they are a lovely congregation and all is well, they point out how people are giving their lovely confessions of faith, how they are growing and so on. But it's all a man-made effort. > > But they're being deluded according to what God is teaching us here. If they are destroying and scattering the sheep it means they are not bringing the true Gospel that brings eternal life in Christ. Rather, they are bringing some into greater damnation through their lies, through their false gospels, while the true sheep are being scattered away from them as we see in [verse 2](Jeremiah%2023.md#^2). ^jer23-1 > [Jeremiah 23:2](Jeremiah%2023.md#^2) note > > "Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them:" -- In [verse 3](Jeremiah%2023.md#^3), God says, "I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither ***I*** have driven them..." But in verse 2 God says that *they* (the pastors) have scattered and driven them away. > > Of course, from the perspective of the pastors, they are driving out the true believers because they are not faithful to the Word of God, so the true believers must leave. It is the fault of the pastors who are not bringing Truth. Yet God is also purposely driving them away from those who would seek to bring them into their false gospels that lead to eternal death. God protects His children by opening their spiritual eyes and ears to the Truth (see [Jn 10:1-14](John%2010.md)), driving them out from them so they also will be available to send forth the Truth outside of the congregations that are no longer faithful. And that is what God means in verse 3 that He will gather them into *their* folds. > > This is the beauty of the Bible in that it's not just for the learned, it's not just for the theologians and the pastors and teachers. Each person can read it for themselves as God guides them through His Word. This is why the Reformation occurred shortly after the printing press was invented and the Bible was translated into various languages -- all kinds of people could then read the Bible for themselves. They didn't have to rely on someone else who might wrongly represent what the Bible teaches. > > ^jer23-2 > [Jeremiah 23:3](Jeremiah%2023.md#^3) note > > Study in progress 10.2025. > > ^jer23-3 > [Jeremiah 23:4](Jeremiah%2023.md#^4) note > > Study in progress 10.2025. > > ^jer23-4 Tags: #Old_Testament #Jeremiah #Gods_judgment_on_His_people #FSI