“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
84 years ago, in the summer of 1940, Charlie Chaplin released his first non-silent film. He had not made a film for years, but he was on a mission to get this done. The film is “The Dictator,” a lampoon of Hitler. Born only four days apart from Hitler in 1889, Chaplin also bore a striking resemblance to the German despot, a resemblance he is not afraid to capitalize on in the film. He plays two parts in the film, one a Jewish barber who has awoken after a long coma only to find that he is living in a ghetto and the dictator himself. The two men look exactly alike, which is what makes the film work. Needless to say, the film did not play in Germany in the summer of 1940.
Did you hear what Jeremiah is doing at the end of this passage? The king at the time was named Zedekiah. Like many Hebrew names it has a meaning in Hebrew. Michael means “who is like the Lord” and Elijah means “The Lord is God.” Zedekiah means “The Lord is our righteousness.” That was the king’s name. He was not born with it, but had chosen it for himself when he began to rule, much like popes choose a new name when they begin their papacy. But Jeremiah looks ahead to the day when the king will bear this name and live up to the name. They will call him that because he lives it, unlike the current king. Jeremiah did not get many invitations to the Palace for dinner.
We often are given the opportunity to see the failures of people. Sometimes we look no further than the mirror to see them. Jeremiah, however, points us to one who will succeed. He will gather the lost remnant of Israel. He is David’s righteous branch who executes justice and righteousness in the land. God will see to it that this applies to all. None will be missing. The people will dwell securely. Of course, we are talking about Christ. He is God Himself come to gather the people. He executes his justice and righteousness with every forgiveness spoken in his name. The day will come when his righteous kingdom completely displaces this broken and sinful world in which we labor and that is all we will see. His name is also Zedekiah for he has made this true: The Lord is our Righteousness. He is our forgiveness and life and so much more.