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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Wo to shepherds destroying, And scattering the flock of My pasture, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
Pastors that destroy – A self-constituted "clergy" lording it over God's heritage, taking spoils, honors, reverence, titles, from their flocks. R1895:6
Sheep of my pasture – Characteristics of sheep are meekness, docility, lack of self-confidence, and obedience to the shepherd--traits which we should manifest. R5491:4
True sheep respond quickly to the shepherd's call and watch for his guidance. R5491:4
A fitting emblem of the kind of characters the Heavenly Father is seeking. R5491:4
Let us, as good sheep, not stray from the green pastures and pure waters. R5491:4
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| 2 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
Scattered my flock – To feed the flock is the Lord's province. The chosen elder may be the instrument through whom the Great Shepherd sends his own their "meat in due season." F283
Elders need first to watch themselves lest they assume authority and honors belonging to the Chief Shepherd. F283
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| 3 And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied. |
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| 4 And I have raised for them shepherds, And they have fed them, And they fear no more, nor are affrighted, Nor are they lacking an affirmation of Jehovah. |
Shall feed them – The Shepherd has been feeding us wonderfully. R633:4
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| 5 Lo, days are coming an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth. |
The days come – In due time God's Kingdom, founded on equity and justice, must fill the entire earth. R1213:5*
A righteous Branch – Solomon's royal branch is the high branch of the Davidic line. This must be abased and a low branch exalted. R468:4*
Exalting Nathan's line, not Solomon's. E133
The prophets foretold that Messiah was to be the son of Jesse and of David; and the glorified Jesus himself declares, "I am the root and the offspring of David." (Rev. 22:16) R944:1*
Christ was the Root of David's family, as well as the Branch. (Isa. 11:10) R1063:1*
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| 6 In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Jehovah proclaimeth him, 'Our Righteousness.' |
His name whereby he – The Body of the great Prophet, Priest and King, the Church, will be part of the Everlasting Father. T102
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS – Jehovah--Tsidkenu, our Righteousness of Jehovah. The Church is to share this title. (Jer. 33:16) E42; T102; R3970:5, R4831:2, R4913:3
"That we might be made the righteousness of God through him." (2 Cor. 5:21) R4913:3
The righteous one imparts righteous life--the power which embodies righteous words in righteous deeds. R1323:1*
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| 7 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they do not say any more, Jehovah liveth who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, |
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| 8 But Jehovah liveth, who brought up, And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, From the land of the north, And from all the lands whither I drove them, And they have dwelt on their own ground! |
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| 9 In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man a drunkard, And as a man wine hath passed over him, Because of Jehovah, and of His holy words. |
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| 10 For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might not right. |
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| 11 For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 12 Therefore is their way to them as slippery places, Into thick darkness they are driven, And they have fallen in it, For I bring in against them evil, The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 13 And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people Israel to err. |
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| 14 And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me all of them as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah. |
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| 15 Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land. |
Water of gall – Bitter poison-water, the poison of bitter error, the doctrine of devils, mingled with the pure water of life, the truth of God's Word. C158
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| 16 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Jehovah. |
Prophets – False teachers. R1715:4
Heads and pastors of worldly organizations, claiming the name of Christ yet refusing his headship, leading and control, and the teachings of his Word. R365:4
Of their own heart – There are many such false teachers who are ambitious to declare the visions of their own heart. R1715:4
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| 17 Saying diligently to those despising The word of Jehovah: Peace is for you, And [to] every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said: Evil doth not come in unto you. |
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| 18 For who hath stood in the counsel of Jehovah, And seeth and heareth His word Who hath regarded My word, and hearkeneth |
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| 19 Lo, a whirlwind of Jehovah Fury hath gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, On the head of the wicked it stayeth. |
A whirlwind – When God lets go his restraint on the "powers of the air" (Eph. 2:2), the evil spirits, these symbolic winds will produce a great cataclysm, sweeping everything before it. R5470:1, R5863:6
Symbol of the time of trouble. D528
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| 20 The anger of Jehovah doth not turn back Till His doing, and till His establishing, The thoughts of His heart, In the latter end of the days ye attend to it With understanding. |
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| 21 I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, I have not spoken unto them, and they have prophesied. |
Not sent these prophets – "There were false teachers also among the people." (2 Pet. 2:1) R265:4, R365:4
See also comments on Jer. 23:16
Yet they prophesied – By an inspiration, or power, in them, almost like the real prophets of God. These were the counterfeits. R265:4
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| 22 But if they stood in My counsel, Then they cause My people to hear My words, And they turn them back from their evil way, And from the evil of their doings. |
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| 23 A God near [am] I an affirmation of Jehovah, And not a God afar off |
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| 24 Is any one hidden in secret places, And I see him not an affirmation of Jehovah, Do not I fill the heavens and the earth An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 25 I have heard that which the prophets said, Who prophesy in My name falsehood, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.' |
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| 26 Till when is it in the heart of the prophets The prophets of falsehood, Yea, prophets of the deceit of their heart, |
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| 27 Who are devising to cause My people To forget My name by their dreams, That they recount each to his neighbour, As their fathers forgot my name for Baal. |
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| 28 The prophet with whom [is] a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom [is] My word, Let him truly speak My word. What to the straw with the corn An affirmation of Jehovah. |
That hath a dream – An imagination. SM671:1; OV411:T, CR343:3
Possibly caused by indigestion or inspired by evil spirits. R3277:6
When a man does not see a thing himself he is very apt to conclude that nobody else sees it. HG353:2
If a dream corroborates a plain statement of the Word it may be used as we would use a type, to illustrate but not to teach a doctrine. R3971:6
"If they speak not in harmony with the Word of God, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8:20) R3278:1
Tell a dream – Many are teaching their own or their forefathers' imaginings; which the faithful are obliged to contradict as unscriptural. OV158:4; R2400:3
He that hath my word – The Lord's Word, his revelation, his inspired testimony, is to be put far above all dreams of our own and of others. R3971:6
All are authorized to teach his Word who know his Word. CR343:3
People are awakening to the difference between dreams and realities and are wanting something more substantial. R3757:3
Let him speak – With the Gospel itself went the right and the authority to declare it. R2966:4
If we hold back for fear of man we would be sharing in the sin of adding to the Scriptures. OV411:T, SM671:1
My word faithfully – Not uncertainly, doubtfully; but as the oracles of God. R1882:6
Not human speculations, philosophies and fanciful dreams. R3726:6, R2400:2, R3945:1
All authority to speak in the name of God must come from him. OV158:4; R2966:4
God's Book makes no division of his people into clergy and laity. HG617:4
Let him speak only my Word faithfully. R1633:5
In as kind a manner as possible, but not shunning to declare the "whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:26,27) SM404:2
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| 29 Is it not thus My word [is] as a fire, An affirmation of Jehovah. And as a hammer it breaketh in pieces a rock. |
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| 30 Therefore, lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Stealing My words each from his neighbour. |
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| 31 Lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Who are making smooth their tongue, And they affirm an affirmation. |
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| 32 Lo, I [am] against the prophets of false dreams, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they recount them, and cause my people to err, By their falsehoods, and by their instability, And I I have not sent them, Nor have I commanded them, And they are not at all profitable to this people, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 33 And when this people, or the prophet, Or a priest, doth ask thee, saying, What [is] the burden of Jehovah Then thou hast said unto them: Ye [are] the burden, and I have left you, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 34 And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, That saith, The burden of Jehovah, I have seen after that man, and after his house. |
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| 35 Thus do ye say each unto his neighbour, And each unto his brother: What hath Jehovah answered And what hath Jehovah spoken |
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| 36 And the burden of Jehovah ye do not mention any more, For the burden to each is His word, And ye have overturned the words of the living God, Jehovah of Hosts, our God. |
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| 37 Thus dost thou say unto the prophet What hath Jehovah answered thee And what hath Jehovah spoken |
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| 38 And if the burden of Jehovah ye say, Therefore thus said Jehovah: Because of your saying this word, The burden of Jehovah, And I do send unto you, saying, Ye do not say, The burden of Jehovah. |
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| 39 Therefore, lo, I I have taken you utterly away, And I have sent you out, And the city that I gave to you, And to your fathers, from before My face, |
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| 40 And I have put on you reproach age-during, And shame age-during that is not forgotten! |
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