Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
Here God promises that he would so provide for the salvation of his people after their return from exile, that they should not again perish. But the cause of God’s vengeance ought to be observed, which is expressed in the fifth chapter of Isaiah, “My people,” he says, “have been led captive, because they had no knowledge; therefore the grave has widened its soul or its throat.
Here is a great deal of gospel in these verses, both that which was always gospel, God's readiness to pardon sin and to receive and entertain returning repenting sinners, and those blessings which were in a special manner reserved for gospel times, the forming and founding of the gospel church by bringing into it the children of God that were scattered abroad, the superseding of...
Commenting on Jeremiah 3:12-19
And I will give you pastors according to mine heart,.... Which is to be understood not of political rulers and governors, but ministers of the word; who are "pastors" or "shepherds" under Christ the great Shepherd, and are "gifts" of his to the churches, and "according to his heart"; or "conformable to his mind", as the Arabic version; whom he calls, qualifies, puts into the...