Jeremiah 23

496 BC King Nebuchadnezzar takes the city the following year. The Temple is partly pillaged. This is the year in which Daniel is carried away to Babylon. See 2 Chron. 36:6-7

495 BC God gives Nebuchadnezzar a dream confirming the beginning of "The Times of The Gentiles". How long does it last? I don't know. See if you can find out.

489 BC King Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem again. The Temple is pillaged much more, and about 10,000 people are carried away.

478-477 BC King Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem again. The Temple is burned this time and the Temple and city lay desolate for another 50 years.

Jeremiah prophesied 51 prophecies during a 41 year period, from 518 BC through 477 BC. See appendix 83 in Bullinger's Bible for timeline of events.

GOD'S WORD

This reference in Jeremiah falls within his 14th prophecy, which began in Chapter 21 and ends in 24:3.

Read Jeremiah 21:1-9, which sets the stage for this revelation given starting in Jer. 23:3.

In Jeremiah 23:3, even in the midst of the panic from the impending doom coming from King Nebuchadnezzar, Jehovah (the Father), Elohiym (the God) of Israel, still offers them comfort for the future, with this prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Branch (tsemach - little tender sprout).

Jeremiah 23:3 "And I will gather the remnant (sheerith) of My flock from all the lands where I have driven them there, and will bring them back to their fold, and they will bear and multiply."

Jeremiah 23:4 "And I will set up over them feeders (ra'ah - Lit. "feeders") who will feed (ra'ah - Lit. "feed") them, and they will not fear again nor be terrified. They will not be missing" says Jehovah.

Jeremiah 23:5 "Behold, the days come", says Jehovah, "that I will stand up for David a Righteous (tsaddiyq) Sprout (tsemach - Lit. "a young tender sprout") and a king shall reign and act wisely, and will make (asah) judgement (mishpat) and righteousness (tsedaqah) in the earth."

"the days come" - When do the days come? "a Righteousness Sprout", the coming redeemer, Jesus Christ, is prophesied and promised in 5 places in God's Word. Those "days" are defined with a second clue, as being the period of time in which The Temple Of Jehovah is built.

1. Isaiah 4:2 The Sprout (tsemach) Of Jehovah

2. Jeremiah 23:5 The Righteous (tsaddiq) Sprout (tsemach)

3. Jeremiah 33:15 The Sprout (tsemach) Of Righteousness (tsedaqah) to sprout (tsemach)

4. Zechariah 3:8 My servant (ebed), The Sprout (tsemach)

5. Zechariah 6:12 and speak to him (Joshua, the son of Jehosadak the priest, from the house of Josiah of Babylon, verse 10) saying, "This says Jehovah of hosts", saying, "Behold! A man (ish), 'Sprout (tsemach)' is his name. And from his place he will sprout (tsemach), and he will build The Temple Of Jehovah."

The Temple Of Jehovah is the one Jesus said he would build in three days (Mat. 26:61, 27:40; Mark 14:58, 15:29; John 2:19-21 (his one body))

In Zechariah 6:15, "And the distant ones shall come and build The Temple Of Jehovah…", are the believers in the one body of Christ, those who have received the new birth from above. Baptism in the gift of holy Spirit from Jesus Christ, first made available on the day of Pentecost recorded in Luke's record in Acts chapters 1 and 2, was the beginning of the fulfillment of the Joel 2:28-32 prophecy!

As Israel gets ready to suffer the stealing, killing and destroying coming with Nebuchadnezzar, Their God Elohiym and Father Jehovah gives them this fabulous prophecy of the future coming messiah, to which Israel can look forward and hope, which will help them to some extent get through the coming days of despair and captivity in Babylon.

Jeremiah 23:6 "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this [is] his name which he shall be called, 'Jehovah Our Righteousness'.

"In his days Judah shall be saved" - In the days after the Righteous Sprout has come and sprouted.

"Jehovah Our Righteousness" - In this particular usage it is not meant to be a literal name, but is referred to as a name in a figure of speech, Metonymy (of the effect), where the effect is put for the cause. The effect of what Jehovah has done through the Righteous Sprout, is to cause us, all those who believe upon the name of 'Jesus', to become the righteousness of God.

Jeremiah 23:7 Therefore behold, the days come," says Jehovah, "that no more shall they say, '[As] lives Jehovah, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt…,'

Jeremiah 23:8 BUT, '[As] lives Jehovah, who brought up and led of the seed of the house of Israel from of the land of the North, and from all the lands where I have driven them there. And they will dwell upon their own land!'"

"the days come (verse 7)" - These are the days when it will be said that Israel is coming together from all parts of the earth into a nation once again!

"And they shall dwell in their own land" - In 1948 the modern state of Israel was born, when Great Britain, after WWII, was no longer able to exercise its mandate over the Palestine area, and relinquished authority over it. The Jews in the area then, took the opportunity to declare their statehood. "By 1949, Israel began functioning as a true state with a parliament, security forces and a growing infrastructure. Israel became a member of the United Nations in 1949. They also accepted unlimited Jewish immigration to the region. "By the end of 1951 some 687,000 Jewish immigrants had arrived to join the thousands already living in the region. The Palestinian Arabs at the same time only numbered 167,000 total ("Israel (country)." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000).

SUMMARY

§ Jeremiah's prophecy of the Righteous Sprout comes at the beginning of Israel's impending doom of the siege and conquest of Nebuchadnezzar. This gives Israel hope for their future to help them endure, even though now they must face enslavement and captivity as yet another result of their continuing unbelief and disobedience toward God.

§ The Righteous Sprout is the coming redeemer, Jesus Christ. What better news could there be than of his coming, and what better hope could they have for the future, not withstanding their current circumstances, the consequences of their own stiff-necked hard-heartedness and unbelief, which they must now endure.

§ Jeremiah started his prophecies in 518 BC, and the Siege of Nebuchadnezzar came in the year 497 BC. This gave Israel 21 years to heed Jeremiah's warnings, i.e., God's Word.

§ Nebuchadnezzar, at his will, hit Jerusalem and Israel three times, between 497 BC and 477 BC, over a twenty-year period, which resulted in the complete destruction and burning of the temple, and the carrying away of over 10,000 Israelites, for their lack of belief in Elohiym (God) their Jehovah (Father).

§ In Jeremiah's prophecy, the "days coming" are the days in which the Sprout will build The Temple Of Jehovah" (Zechariah 6:12).

§ Jesus prophesied that he would build the new "Temple Of God", the one built without hands (Mat. 26:61, 27:40; Mark 14:58, 15:29; John 2:19-21 (his one body)).

§ The distant ones (Zechariah 6:15) who "shall come and build The Temple Of Jehovah…", are the believers in the one body of Christ, those who have received the new birth from above. Baptism in the gift of holy Spirit from Jesus Christ, first made available on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Luke's record in Acts chapters 1 and 2, which was the fulfillment of the Joel 2:28-29 prophecy!

§ The days in which "Judah shall be saved" are "those days", the days after the Righteous Sprout has come and sprouted. Jesus Christ has come and has began building his one body, the new Temple Of God, the one built without hands. In these days in which the risen Jesus Christ, the Righteous Sprout builds his one body, along with the distant ones, those believers who have become parts of his one body through spiritual new birth from above, Israel once again became a nation.

§ "And they shall dwell upon their own land (Jeremiah 23:8)" - Israel had not been a nation for about 1,930 years, since AD 69-70, when the Romans sacked the kingdom of Israel. Israel celebrated its 50th anniversary as a new nation in 1998. However, Israel's dwelling safely (Jeremiah 23:6) is appearing less and less safe from the growing terrorism from the Palestinian Liberation Organization and its affiliated radical groups.