“Promises of hope”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, April 4, 2025
Jeremiah 23: 1-8 (Forward, p. 65) CEV p. 791
The prophet Jeremiah certainly can be labeled a prophet of doom for many of his utterances speak of the disaster and calamities that are about to fall upon God’s people. But here in today’s passage we have something different. Instead of gloom, we have hope.
The corrupt, self-serving leaders (shepherds) will be removed and
replaced with leaders that truly care for their people (their sheep).
God will bring His people back from exile to live in their own land.
There they will live in peace and become a great nation. Never again
will they be frightened or insecure.
And, in time, God will appoint a king from the line of David that will
rule with wisdom and justice. During his reign Israel and Judah will
know peace and safety.
But surely, then, the question must be asked, “when, and how, will this come to pass?” The southern kingdom, Judah, did indeed return from its exile, but never the northern kingdom, Israel. And, to many present-day Jews, especially those living in the nation called Israel, the establishment of that nation is a fulfilment of that promise by God.
But, as for living in peace and security: has this ever happened? After the Exile, the Holy Land was successively overrun by the Greeks, Romans, and others, and even today the nation of Israel has been, and still is, threatened by hostile and opposing nations on pretty well every side. And as for righteous, sacrificial leaders within that nation who truly care for their people, I think that someone else will have to answer that.
And then, there is the age-old question of whether this promise also applies to other peoples and nations, and whether applying it there is an act of inappropriate appropriation, that is, a claim that is inappropriate. I think that the claim to national resurgence and re-establishment is probably not appropriate, for nowhere in the Scriptures does it apply this to anyone else. In fact, the New Testament is most clear and plain about saying that our kingdom and our citizenship are not of this world (see John 18:36; Philippians 3:20.)
However, the idea that God will send a righteous king of the family of David is well established in the New Testament. Indeed, we believe that to be none other than Jesus, and that He will certainly establish a kingdom of justice and peace. The only questions that remain are ‘how’ and ‘when’ and so we continually pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”, and offer ourselves to Him to be of whether use we can be in bringing this to be.
Forward notes: “Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply” (verse 3).
Commemoration: Martin Luther King, Jr.
“It is fitting that this passage is appointed for the day we remember Martin Luther King Jr., a faithful shepherd who gathered the remnant of God’s flock and brought them back to their fold where they could be fruitful and multiply.
“King’s vision of Beloved Community and followers who embrace this philosophy of love and reconciliation still work for freedom, gathering God’s flock today to do the work of restorative justice and healing. On the mountaintop, King saw the Promised Land and knew one day the flock would be free at last—but none are free until we are all free.”
Moving Forward: “Who are the shepherds in your life who have gathered you up and brought you home? Don’t forget to thank them!”