「新たな牧者・王を立てると約束される神に望みを置く」 十月第二主日礼拝 宣教
エレミヤ書 Jeremiah 23章1〜8節 牧師 河野信一郎 2025年10月12日
Good morning. Welcome to Okubo Church, our guests. Welcome back, members of our church family. This morning, being the middle day of a three-day weekend, many are resting, making this a worship service with fewer attendees. Yet we are thankful to offer praise and worship together with those gathered in the sanctuary and those joining us online.
Earlier, we shared with heavy hearts the news of the sudden passing of missionary KN, who had been sent to Indonesia by the Federation. We too do not know how much longer we can offer worship to God on this earth. If we are welcomed into heaven through Jesus’ intercession and God’s grace, we will be able to praise God eternally. But before that, while we are still alive on this earth, let us treasure our daily worship, especially our Sunday worship.
Now, at Okubo Church’s morning worship service, we’ve been listening to a series on the Book of Jeremiah from the Old Testament from September through November. Last week we listened to Chapter 9, but this morning we’re skipping quite a bit ahead to hear God’s message starting from Chapter 23. Some of you might be thinking, “Is it really okay to skip ahead so much?” I don’t think it’s much of a problem. Why? Because Jeremiah chapters 1 through 25 are essentially God’s words of judgment against Judah and Israel. Reading through this lengthy section is very painful and leaves us feeling deeply saddened.
God repeatedly told the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, “Return to me!”, “Listen earnestly to my words!”, “Remember my covenant with you!” Yet the people continued to ignore God’s words and persistently refused to return to Him. Jeremiah struggled to stand between God and the people of Israel, striving to mend their relationship. But the people refused to listen, leaving him utterly exhausted.
The ultimate example of this is found here. If you have a Bible handy, please turn to chapter 15, verse 6. God actually says to Judah and Israel, “I am weary of showing you mercy.” The Living Bible translates it as “I am tired of giving you chances to turn back.” The people’s hearts remained so stubborn toward God that even the merciful God grew utterly weary of them. Therefore, God used the Babylonian Empire to judge the southern kingdom of Judah.
Now, this morning’s message title is considerably longer than usual: “Placing Our Hope in God Who Promises to Raise Up a New Shepherd and King.” Actually, the words God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to the kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah are recorded starting in Jeremiah chapter 22. Several very interesting things are said here, so I’d like to share them. For example, starting from verse 13 of chapter 22, God says to the king of Judah: “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbors work for nothing and does not pay them their wages.” The responsibility of a king is to show mercy to his people, to practice justice, and to enrich the lives of his subjects. Yet this king makes his people work for nothing while building his own palace. He resembles a dictator of some country or the head of a religious organization.
The kings throughout history who were called “truly the worst of kings” continued to ignore God, scheming to receive honor for themselves, saying things like this. Verse 14 records: “He said, ‘I will build a spacious palace for myself, with lofty towers. I will enlarge the windows, panel them with cedar from Lebanon, and paint them red.’” In response, God asks in verse 15, “Do you think you are a great king just because you have acquired many cedars of Lebanon?” Then, from the latter half of verse 15 to verse 16, He points out the difference in the kingship of the faithful predecessors and the kings of Jeremiah’s time: “Did not your father, the king, live a humble life and practice justice and kindness? In those days, he was blessed. He judged the cause of the poor and needy, and in those days the people prospered.“ This highlights the difference in the kings’ attitudes between the faithful kings of earlier generations and the kings of Jeremiah’s time. Verse 17 then points out the kings’ wickedness: ”But your eyes and your heart are set on unjust gain; you shed innocent blood and practice oppression and violence.” The same things are repeated throughout the world today.
God says to the utterly incompetent kings of the southern kingdom of Judah in verse 21: “When you were prosperous, you said, ‘I don’t want to hear it.’ This has been your attitude since your youth. You have never obeyed my voice.” It is clear that not only the people, but the hereditary kings themselves, remained stubborn and arrogant toward God throughout their reigns.
The crucial question here is whether we are hardening our hearts toward God and living in defiance against Him. In other words, even though God speaks to us intimately every day, saying, “I love you. Walk with Me,” are we not ignoring His words, misplacing our priorities, refusing to read His Word in the Bible, neglecting to pray to Him, and saying we “don’t want to hear” His voice—thus living a life centered on our own desires?
Psalm 119:103 says, “The words of the Lord are sweeter than honey.” To those who listen and obey God’s word, it is given as words overflowing with love; to those who do not listen and obey, it is given as harsh words. However, the responsibility for this lies not with God, but with us humans.
Now, Jeremiah 23:1 says, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,” declares the Lord. Here, the “shepherds” referred to are the kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. Then, in the latter part of verse 2, God declares to these shepherds: “You have scattered my flock and driven them away, and you have not cared for them. I will punish you for your evil deeds.”
This punishment meant that the city of Jerusalem would fall into the hands of the Babylonian Empire, many of its people would be taken captive to Babylon, and the dynasty that had lasted for about 400 years since the reigns of King Saul, King David, and King Solomon would come to an end. This was an unbearable and painful event for the people of Judah and Israel, but the cause was that they had forgotten God, persistently ignored His words delivered through the prophets, and refused to return to Him.
But God did not despise Judah and Israel, nor did He desire to destroy them. Though He declared, “I have grown weary of showing mercy,” God cannot truly grow weary of showing mercy. For God, the option to cease loving Judah and Israel simply does not exist. Why? Because God has given Israel a special mission and placed His hope in them. Because He has a plan to send the Savior, Christ, from the line of David.
Therefore, God Himself works with love. Reading verses 3 and 4: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture. They will bear young and increase in number. I will set up shepherds over them who will care for them. They will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will they be led astray.“ God declares, ”I will appoint a new shepherd, a new king, to shepherd them. He will tend them and heal their wounds and strengthen them.“ Verse 5 declares, ”Behold, the day is coming, declares the Lord. I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. He shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
This declaration recalls the words of Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” The key word here is “stump.” From the stump of a tree once cut down, God causes a shoot to sprout and raises up a young branch. This signifies raising up a new Shepherd-King. The God of mercy made this astonishing promise, this declaration: that this King would rule over a new Israel, bring it to prosperity, and perform deeds of justice and mercy within the nation.
Verses 6 through 8: “In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. His name shall be called ‘The Lord Our Salvation.’ Therefore, behold, the day is coming, declares the Lord, People will no longer swear, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,’ but they will swear, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had driven them, and brought them back to dwell in their own land.’”
What is noteworthy here is that it states, “Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in peace” under the new king. After King Solomon’s death, Israel split into two kingdoms: the southern Kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel. However, both nations turned their backs on God and practiced idolatry. Consequently, the northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire, and the southern kingdom was destroyed by the Babylonian Empire, scattering the people throughout the world. Yet God declares that the new shepherd and king He promises to raise up will gather this people from all corners of the earth and rebuild them as one nation. No matter what happens, God will never abandon Israel. This also tells us that God will never abandon us.
The name of the new king is said to be “The Lord our Righteousness,” but in the original Hebrew text, it reads “The Lord our Righteousness.” This means that the new king established by God will give us “righteousness.” What does this signify? It signifies bringing reconciliation and peace between God and His people—something the prophet Jeremiah struggled greatly to achieve.
This new royal title, “The Lord is our salvation,” brings to mind Jesus Christ. For the name “Jesus” is ‘Joshua’ in Hebrew, meaning “The Lord saves.” In Jeremiah chapter 23, God promised to raise up a new shepherd, a new king, not only for Israel but to save us. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that promise.
This Jesus forgives our sins, brings reconciliation and peace between God and us, and enables us to live as citizens of God’s kingdom. God’s faithfulness remains forever unchanged. What matters for us is to trust this faithful God, to continue living with our hope placed in Him, to keep worshipping Him, and to faithfully listen to and obey His word.