Bible verse wall art
Jeremiah 3: a call to return and shepherds after God's heart
Jeremiah 3 is a hard chapter about a broken relationship, yet in the middle of it God makes a gentle promise: he will give his people leaders who care for them the way he does.
Jeremiah 3 print
Jeremiah 3 · King James Version
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart
Backsliding Israel and treacherous Judah
The chapter uses the language of marriage to describe Israel's unfaithfulness. From verse 6, set in the days of King Josiah, God speaks of two sisters. The northern kingdom, called backsliding Israel, turned to other gods and was sent away. Her sister Judah saw it and did not learn, returning to God only in pretense. The charge is severe: Judah is judged more harshly because she had the example in front of her.
Yet the chapter keeps interrupting its own accusation with invitations. Return, thou backsliding Israel, God says in verse 12, for I am merciful. Only acknowledge thine iniquity.
What does Jeremiah 3:15 mean?
Verse 14 repeats the call: Turn, O backsliding children, for I am married unto you. Then comes the line on our print: “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart.” The verse ends, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
The Hebrew word translated pastors is the ordinary word for shepherds, and in Jeremiah it often refers to kings and leaders who had failed their people. Here God promises a different kind of leader, one who reflects his own heart and whose first task is to feed the flock. The next verses look further ahead still: a day when the ark of the covenant will no longer be missed and Jerusalem itself will be called the throne of the LORD.
A gift for a pastor
Our Shepherd on the Hillside painting shows a shepherd resting with his sheep beneath olive trees above a misty valley. Many American churches mark Pastor Appreciation Month in October, and this Christian wall art makes a thoughtful thank-you from a congregation, a gift at an ordination or installation, or a print for a church office or a retiring minister's home.
The shepherd promise through Scripture
Jeremiah returns to the theme in chapter 23, where God condemns the shepherds who scatter the flock and promises to set up shepherds who will feed them. Ezekiel 34 develops the same contrast at length. In the New Testament, Jesus calls himself the good shepherd in John 10, and the first letter of Peter urges elders to feed the flock of God willingly, looking to the chief Shepherd.