Sayings in Jeremiah: Pastors

By Ron Thomas Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord (Jer. 23:1, KJV)     The word “pastors” is used 8x in the Bible (KJV); one of those eight is found in the New Testament (Eph. 4:11). The remaining uses are found in Jeremiah (2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 22:22; 23:1). The ASV uses the word “shepherd” in 5 locations wherein the KJV uses the word “pastor” (3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 22:22; 23:1). In 2:8, the word “rulers” is used instead of “pastors” – and this is the idea underlying the English word “pastors.” The Lord addressed the rulers of Israel.     What does the Lord say about these pastors, what does He have against them? First, they scatter and destroy His people. He breaks this down further by saying the pastors have not visited their subjects. The word “visited” needs to be properly understood. The New English Translation (NET) gives a good sense of the passage when it reads, “You have not taken care of them.” To give more clarity, in what way were the pastors not taking care of their subjects? The Holy Spirit said they were not “feeding” them, and this can be understood in 2 ways. First, they were not taking care of their subjects spiritually; second, they were not taking care of their subjects materially; without the context, both ways to understand it fit.     In the first part of the chapter (23:1-8), the Lord incorporates a messianic prophecy. The shepherds of Israel are failing the people, but a day is coming when a King will be raised over the house of David, and he will execute judgment and righteousness in the land (23:5). From this, we get a better sense of how we should understand the rebuke to the pastors (shepherds) of 23:1. In 23:10-11, the land is full of adulterers (idolaters), from the king, down to the priests and prophets.     The pastors (shepherds) failed the people of Judah in leadership. The kings of Judah, many of them, failed to lead the people in the Lord’s way; the priests and prophets failed the people as they failed to insist on the straight and narrow way (cf. Jer. 6:16). The Lord called them out because they had a responsibility to those they led. The Lord called them out (23:14) because they allowed the false prophets to stir the people to live by the lies coming forth from the mouths of those false prophets; to make it worse, they strengthened the hands of evildoers. They became worse than Sodom and Gomorrah.     Leadership is crucial in all organizations. To have leaders firmly anchored in the organization’s mission statement means those leading will give themselves the best opportunity to achieve success. This also applies to those who lead the Lord’s people. Those who lead must first know the Lord’s mission statement; secondly, they must be anchored and committed to Him who is above all. Third, with the accumulated years of experience, they are in a better position to know how to navigate troubled waters that certainly will come. This means they have good judgment (discerning and discriminating), and in their commitment to the Lord they have an understanding, sympathetic heart to help brethren navigate their own troubled waters. Those who lead may not always know what to do, even less the way to get to the desired destination. Brethren can be (and are) charitable with this, but their charitable spirit will soon dissipate if there is a lack of confidence in those who lead. If they see much uncertainty and/or fickleness in those who lead, the brethren take note of this and dismiss their counsel because the uncertain ground upon which they stand will be washed away when the tide comes in. Those who led Israel (all their kings) and Judah (many of their kings) failed those they led. It cost them! As the Lord’s Israel in the New Covenant era, we will do well to pay attention and insist on those who lead do so in accordance with the teachings of the New Testament.

- Ron Thomas preaches for the Church of Christ at Rio Grande in Bidwell, OH. He may be contacted at etsop95@gmail.com