Scripture Daily

Context No. 509 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 25:32-38: in context

32The LORD of Armies says, “Behold, evil will go out from nation to nation, and a great storm will be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.” 33The slain of the LORD will be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They won’t be lamented. They won’t be gathered or buried. They will be dung on the surface of the ground. 34Wail, you shepherds, and cry. Wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have fully come, and you will fall like fine pottery. 35The shepherds will have no way to flee. The leader of the flock will have no escape. 36A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leader of the flock, for the LORD destroys their pasture. 37The peaceful folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 38He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of his fierce anger.

This is a sweeping oracle of judgment, disaster rolling out from nation to nation like a great storm rising from the ends of the earth, the slain lying unburied across the ground. It is grim and universal. But within the wide sweep, the oracle keeps circling back to one particular group and addressing them directly, and it is worth noticing who they are. Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock, for the days of your slaughter have come. The shepherds will have no way to flee, the leaders no escape. Again and again the judgment lands with special weight on the shepherds, which in the prophets means the leaders, the kings and rulers and those set in charge over the people.

That is not an accident of phrasing. Throughout Scripture, those given charge over others, called shepherds because they are meant to feed and protect and guide the flock, are held to a heavier account precisely because of that charge. The higher the responsibility for others, the higher the reckoning. These shepherds had used their position to serve themselves and scatter the flock, and now the oracle singles them out, giving them no place to hide behind their rank. Leadership, in God's economy, is not a privilege that shields you from accountability; it is a stewardship that increases it.

That sobers me wherever I hold any charge over others, and most of us hold some, as a parent, a manager, a teacher, anyone others depend on and follow. It is easy to treat a position over people as something owed to me, a perk to be enjoyed, and to forget that I will answer for how I shepherded the ones entrusted to me. Jeremiah's shepherds thought their rank made them safe; it made them more exposed. Where am I a shepherd of others, and am I stewarding that charge as someone who will give an account for the flock, or using it mostly for myself?

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