Jehovah said that He would gather the remnant of His flock out of all the lands where He had driven them and would bring them back to their pasture. He also said that they would be fruitful and would multiply (v. 3). “Therefore indeed, days are coming, declares Jehovah, when they will no longer say, As Jehovah lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, As Jehovah lives, who brought up and led back the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where I had driven them, that they might dwell in their own land” (vv. 7-8). These are promises concerning the restoration of Israel.
In verse 4 Jehovah said that He would raise up shepherds over the children of Israel to feed them, that they would no longer fear or be dismayed, and that none of them would be missing.
Jehovah said He would raise up to David a righteous Shoot, that is, Christ, who will reign as King and act prudently and who will execute justice and righteousness in the land (v. 5). In the coming restoration Christ will come as the Shoot of David. This means that He will come as the descendant of David. A shoot is a new, fresh sprout of a tree, especially a sprout of a tree that has been cut down. As the Shoot of David, Christ is a new sprout from the stump of David (Matt. 2:23, footnote 3, Recovery Version). The royal family of David was like a large tree. This tree was cut down, mainly by Nebuchadnezzar, because of the apostasy of Solomon and his descendants, and only a stump was left in the earth. When Christ was born, a new, fresh sprout came out of this stump.
The word Shoot indicates Christ’s humanity, and it also implies life. The birth of Christ as such a Shoot was wholly a matter of life. This life has grown and spread to such an extent that Christ is now the King to rule and to act prudently. Furthermore, at the time of restoration, Christ will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
“In His days Judah will be saved, / And Israel will dwell securely; / And this is His name by which He will be called, / Jehovah our righteousness” (Jer. 23:6). This verse reveals that the name of the Shoot is Jehovah our righteousness. Christ, the descendant of David, is not merely a man; He is the very Jehovah who created the heavens and the earth, selected Abraham, and set up the race of Israel. He was David’s Lord, the One whom David called Lord (Matt. 22:43).
At Jeremiah’s time there was no righteousness among God’s people. However, Jeremiah prophesied that Christ would come as a Shoot, who is Jehovah Himself, to be the righteousness of God’s chosen people (1 Cor. 1:30). Christ was incarnated as a Shoot of David to be our righteousness. When Christ died for us, He shed His blood to wash away our sins and accomplish redemption, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). Based on the redemption accomplished through the death of Christ on the cross, God can justify the believers. We are justified by standing on the redemption of Christ and by receiving Christ as God to be our righteousness. Although we do not have any righteousness in ourselves, we have One who is God Himself yet a man and who died on the cross to shed His blood to accomplish redemption for us. With this redemption as the basis, we can believe in Him to receive God’s forgiveness, and God can justify us, make Christ our righteousness, and clothe us with the robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10).
As the Shoot of David who is Jehovah our righteousness, Christ is the all-inclusive One. With Him we have divinity mingled with humanity. With Him we have the righteousness, that is, God Himself to be our righteousness, and we have redemption. With Him we have the life-giving Spirit and the riches of life, including the element of life, the law of life, and the sense of life. Actually, the life we have in Christ as the Shoot of David and as Jehovah our righteousness is the processed and consummated Triune God. In the restoration Israel will fully gain Christ to be their righteousness. Hence, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.
Jeremiah said that the restoration of Israel will take place after Jehovah chastises Israel with justice (Jer. 30:10-11).