Session 1

December 5, 2021 (Second Week of Advent)

Unit 1: Welcome the Messiah

The Promise of the Messiah

Even when things look dark, God remembers His people and is working on their behalf.

Session Outcome: 

To recognize that God fulfills His promises to send the Messiah, and to anticipate God’s fresh work to restore our lives and the world.

Discover: 

Illustrated Bible Life helps us understand the connection between Jesus the Messiah and the House of David, and provides verse-by-verse commentary on the Scripture passage.

Last Week: 

We learned that when we show grace to others, we show others the goodness of God at work within us.

This Week: 

We will learn that God always remains faithful to His covenant despite the failures of those in a position of leadership.

Watch: 

Dr. Roger Hahn introduces this unit: Welcome the Messiah.

Listen: 

FoundryLeader.com: Why does Scripture tie messianic hope to the dynasty of David? That’s the question in this week’s Illustrated Bible Life “Article Out Loud.”

Discover: 

God promised David that He would establish a house for David, a house that would last forever. Yet the House of David came to a devastating end around 587 BC, when Jerusalem was captured by Babylon, and the last king in David’s line, Zedekiah, was deported into exile. Did God’s promise to David fail? Let’s explore this question in this week’s Illustrated Bible Life article, “Jesus: Son of David.”

The Word

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Engage the Word

The Old Testament frequently uses “shepherds” as a metaphor for leaders (Ezekiel 34:5; Zechariah 10:2). Perhaps this was because Israel’s most notable leaders, Moses and David, were shepherds before God chose them to lead His people.

Prophets proclaimed divine judgment against the evil leaders/shepherds of Israel and Judah. They led their “sheep” astray and rejected God’s guidance. Not really the leaders’ sheep, God’s people were actually “the sheep of his pasture” (Psalms 74:1; 100:3). Judgment would mean their exile and the end of their role as leaders. 

Some prophecies of promise and return from exile portray God as the true Shepherd of Israel (Psalms 23:1; Zechariah 9:16). Others, as in today’s passage, offer hope for another “shepherd”—a Messiah who, like David, will care for His people.

God Will Punish and Replace Unworthy Leaders
Jeremiah 23:1-4

Assyria had taken the people of the northern kingdom of Israel into exile (721 BC) well over a century before Jeremiah’s prophecy here (around 586 BC). The leaders of the southern kingdom of Judah had repeatedly ignored Jeremiah’s impassioned warnings of a similar disaster awaiting them—exile at the hands of the rising Babylonian empire.

Deuteronomy reminded God’s people of their ancient covenant with God. Their land was His gracious gift. He had kept His covenant with their ancestors, blessing them with the promised land. But their continual unfaithfulness to the covenant put them under the threat of the curse of exile—the loss of their land.

The prophet’s message has the form of a “woe-oracle.” The Hebrew word translated “woe” represents the cries of mourners at Middle-Eastern funerals. Spoken in advance of their deaths, it strongly denounced Judah’s irresponsible leaders and announced their impending doom. It may have referred specifically to the unfaithful successors of Judah’s righteous king Josiah. But it explicitly mentioned no names of the royal family, identifying them only by their “evil” deeds. 

Judah’s kings had neglected their primary responsibility—to tend to the needs of their people. Instead they had destroyed (v. 1), “scattered . . . and driven away” God’s “flock” (v. 2). Because of what they had done and left undone, the nation was “afraid” and “terrified” (v. 4). 

God would tend to the punishment the leaders justly deserved. Judgment would mean the reversal of the present state of affairs: Positively, God would return the righteous exiles to their homeland, where they would “be fruitful and increase in number” (v. 3; see Genesis 1:22, 28; 17:2-8). Negatively, He would scatter the unworthy leaders into exile, and replace them with “shepherds . . . who will tend” God’s people (v. 4). 

Salvation and judgment are inseparable. To recreate His people, God would remove their unfit leaders, replace them with a righteous leader, and care for His united people. This passage echoes in Jesus’ discourse about the “good shepherd” in John 10:1-18.

God Will Save His People through a Righteous Messiah
Jeremiah 23:5-6

Jeremiah’s prophecy of the coming of the Savior-Messiah conveys in different words the same hope announced earlier in Isaiah 11:1-9. A similar promise is repeated in Jeremiah 33:15-16. The announcement of the future king’s name is comparable to Isaiah 9:5. 

The Messiah would be a descendant of David, “who will reign wisely and do what is just and right” (v. 5). He would rule a reunited kingdom, encompassing both “Judah” and “Israel” (31:27-28; 33:16; Hosea 1:11; Ezekiel 37:15-28).

Jeremiah seemed to contrast the future king with Judah’s last reigning monarch, a disappointing member of the Davidic royal family. Named Mattaniah at birth (2 Kings 24:17; 1 Chronicles 3:15; 2 Chronicles 36:10), the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar assigned him the throne-name Zedekiah. This common Hebrew name means “Yahweh is my righteousness/salvation.” But he miserably failed to live up to the moniker. 

The new king Jeremiah promised would possess a character opposite that of Zedekiah. As “a righteous Branch” in the royal family of David, the Messiah would be like an unexpected sprout from a dead stump (v. 5; see Jeremiah 33:15; Isaiah 4:2; 11:1, 10; Zechariah 3:8). Unlike the illegitimate king Zedekiah, the Messiah would be the rightful heir of His great ancestor David. His name would be “The Lord [Is] Our Righteous Savior” (v. 6).

God Will Create a New People through a New Exodus
Jeremiah 23:7-8

As in Jeremiah 16:14-15, the prophet envisioned the salvation the coming Messiah would bring as comparable to a new exodus. By releasing them from Babylonian exile, God would again fulfill His promise to their ancestors and restore them to “their own land” (v. 8).
The prophet’s confidence in this hope-filled future was unshakable—“As surely as the Lord lives” (vv. 7 and 8). The same God who brought their ancestors out of the land of the south—“Egypt”—would bring their descendants “up out of the land of the north”—Babylon. God would give His people a new beginning. But first, they had to learn the lessons of exile.

Conclusion

Christians cannot read this passage without thinking of Jesus as its ultimate fulfillment. As “the good shepherd,” He would lay down His life to save the sheep (John 10:11, 15) as one united flock—believing Jews and Gentiles together as the new people of God (John 10:16).

Did You Know?

Each of the three sections of this judgment speech are “oracles of Yahweh” (“declares the Lord,” vv. 1, 2, 5, and 7). The word “oracle” designates any speech by a prophet. “Yahweh” transliterates the Hebrew personal name of Israel’s God (“Jehovah” in the KJV). By the 2nd century BC, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint [Sep-TOO-uh-jint], replaced the divine name with kyrios (= “lord”). Pious Jews hesitated to speak the name aloud. Most English translations follow this precedent, using Lord (with small capitals) for Yahweh. 

Think About It

Jesus provides an example for everyone entrusted with the care of God’s people. He wanted to make sure that all who were not right with God would have the opportunity to enter God’s compassionate kingdom. 

Reflect

In what ways do you feel God’s “shepherding” presence in your life?
George Lyons is Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Northwest Nazarene University. He was a General Editor of the New Beacon Bible Commentary series and authored or coauthored its volumes on Romans 1—8, Romans 9—16, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, John 1—12, and John 13—21.

Discussion Guide

Insight 

In creation, God commanded people to be “fruitful and multiply.” In the first exodus, God freed Israel from Pharaoh who was actively taking away life. Christ, in a kind of second exodus, has set the people free from sin and death itself.

Connect to My Experience

Begin your session by showing a small object to each member of the group. Tell them to consider that this object is under their care and that they are not to lose it. 

What are you going to do to make sure that this object remains safely with you?

Not only would one need to make sure that this object was kept in one place and watched over, one also needs to make sure no one steals it. Now, consider something more personal and close to home. If a child of yours or a child of a friend was kidnapped, how would you respond? 

What would you do to make sure they were found? How would we respond to those responsible?
Would your response be different if it were not your child? 

Transition:

All people belong to God, but many are lost and scattered. God is looking for the lost and will hold those who have scattered them and led them astray accountable. Today, we are reminded that even when God’s people have been led astray, through Christ all can be found.

Connect to the Word

Invite someone to read Jeremiah 23:1-4, then discuss the following,

Throughout the Bible, shepherding is used as an analogy to talk about leadership. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. Psalm 23 reminds us that, most of all, “the Lord is our shepherd!” The leaders of Israel were always expected to reflect the righteousness of God in leading the people. The shepherds being described in Jeremiah are leaders of Israel, probably the kings specifically, who have not done a good job of leading (shepherding) the people.

God points to bad shepherds/leaders. What do you think those bad shepherds/leaders have done? (We are not told specifically what they did; however, shepherds are to protect, care, and gather their flock. These leaders failed in fulfilling their role as shepherd.) 

How is God going to initially respond to the poor job of these leaders? (judgment)

What is God’s response to the situation caused by these disastrous shepherds? (He will gather the people back to their land and place responsible leaders over their care.)

How are God’s salvation and judgment connected? Is God’s judgment always necessary for salvation to occur? Why or why not?

In what ways do these passages point to God’s faithfulness? (God is always at work despite the circumstances.)

Invite someone to read Jeremiah 23:5-6, then discuss the following,

God does not just describe the problem, but has a plan for the solution. God will gather the people by raising up a Savior—the Messiah. This Savior will be a “righteous branch” from the family tree of King David.

Why is it important that this promised Messiah comes from the family of David? (see 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Amos 9:11; Micah 5:2; Isaiah 9:6-7)

What is the difference between the Messiah and the bad leaders described earlier? 

How does Jeremiah’s description of the Messiah remind you of how God is going to care for the scattered sheep?

Why do you believe Jesus is called the “Lord Our Righteous Savior”? (Jesus is the embodiment of God’s righteousness. God, through Jesus our good shepherd, gathers the lost with the promise of life and righteous living through the power of the Holy Spirit.) 

Invite someone to read Jeremiah 23:7-8, then discuss the following,

Stories shape our identity. For Israel, their story was always grounded in the fact that the Lord had freed them from Egypt-– the exodus. God says, through Jeremiah, that this story is changing. Because of God’s promised Savior, there will be a new exodus—the people will be brought back from their exile and come home to God. God would bring His people out of exile. The event would be considered a new salvation event, one that would be celebrated in place of the exodus.

What could you imagine the Israelites might have thought, or felt, having heard these promises from God? (God would lead the people out of exile.)

How might this promise have helped the people during this painful period of punishment at the hands of their enemy?

What is our story as Christians? 

Connect to My Life and the World

Christ is the head of the church and is the model for how we care for and lead one another. As disciples of Christ, we are leaders and ministers in the church because we are all called to lead one another toward Christ’s kingdom in every role in which we serve. Jeremiah reminds us how important it is to be faithful in our walk with Christ, especially when we are called into leadership roles in the church.

What are ways we can make sure we are holding our leaders accountable? 

What are you doing to hold yourselves accountable as leaders in the church and followers of Jesus?

God loves all people, but some are lost and have been led astray. God wants to lead people to a right relationship with Him. As Christians, we are partners with God in caring and reaching the people He loves with the gospel. 

How can we get involved in God’s work of gathering people who are scattered back to God’s family? 

Silently consider those in your life that you are actively caring for on their spiritual journey. What can you do this week to be active in guiding others toward Christ?

Close, thanking God for sending the “Lord our Righteous Savior.”

Sessions 1-4 are written by Austin Troyer

Austin is the senior pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Tahlequah, OK.

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