In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that counteth [them], saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah speaks these words from prison, while the Babylonian army closes in and the land is about to lose its people and animals. Against that ruin God names one region after another — the hills, the lowland, the dry south, the towns around Jerusalem — and promises that in each of them shepherds will count their sheep again.
The picture is ordinary: no armies, no sieges, just a shepherd counting his flock. One writer sets that quiet scene against what those same places had suffered.
The shepherds will tend their flocks in peace, in the very places where war had destroyed most.
"The one who counts them" points to a real practice. The shepherd held out his rod, and the animals passed under it one at a time. He saw and counted each one. One writer ties this counting to the ransom money each person offered.
The allusion in Exodus 30:13-14 is to the sheep passing under the rod of the shepherd as he numbers them (Ezekiel 20:37). "I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant." The priest took the place of a shepherd, counting the sheep of God's hand. The true mark of each sheep came under his eye — the ransom money it offered. So he entered each one in the book of the covenant. In the same way the good Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep. Their names stand in the Lamb's book of life, because the atonement-price has been paid for each.
That rod does more than count. It is also a tool of correction, and one writer draws a lesson from it for believers today.
Many Scriptures connect comfort with the rod of the Lord... In Jeremiah 33:13-14, Jehovah speaks of His flock as counted under the rod, and says He will do the good thing He has promised... Think of the comfort God has in mind for His earthly people as He passes them under the rod. He deals with them in this way because they are His. Should we not value all the more the great goal the Lord has in view for His people today? He passes us too under the rod of correction. In that chastening He removes whatever does not suit Himself, so "that we may share His holiness" (Hebrews 12).
Sheep need pasture, so the promise must reach the ground itself.
The grace that will redeem the people will also restore the land to them for their enjoyment. All through their captivity, far from God, the land has enjoyed its sabbaths. That rest is the sign of the covenant between God and the people. So in a sense the ruins of the land are a reminder of God's unfailing promise. He would not give to others what He had kept for His own... Mercy to the people must always come with mercy to the land. The one will not be without the other.
Some read this chapter as fulfilled by the return from Babylon. One writer answers with the words of the returned exiles themselves.
If you insist on applying this chapter to the restoration from Babylon, I would quote Nehemiah 9:36-37: "Behold, we are slaves this day... and we are in great distress." These words show how little the return from Babylon fulfilled the promises we have been reading. Was that restoration the whole heart and the whole soul of God in favour of His people?... No: these promises of God were not accomplished at that time.
The chapter does not stop with the flocks. Two verses later the promise turns to a Person, and one writer marks how His reign then differs from His place now.
"In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."... It is Messiah present, but not in humiliation, not a sufferer, but in power and glory. He is reigning. It is not a question of an earth-rejected King, sitting at God's right hand on His Father's throne. It is the great King reigning on His own throne, the throne of His father David.
- Counted — "the one who counts them" pictures sheep passing one by one under the shepherd's rod, each one seen and counted as his own.
- Ransomed — each sheep goes into the book because the price for it has been paid. The good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep.
- Corrected — the rod that counts also chastens. It removes what does not suit God, so His people share His holiness.
- Restored — the flocks need ground to graze on, so mercy to the people arrives together with mercy to the land.
- Reigning — peace where war ruined most waits on the righteous Branch raised up for David. The return from Babylon left the people still slaves, so the promise still stands ahead.
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will perform the good word which I have spoken unto the house of Israel and unto the house of Judah.
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