It is refreshing to take a deeper look into a subject that you thought was exhausted only to find more information. There is a principle from the book of Jeremiah that echoes into the New Testament and sheds light on a very common passage.
Jeremiah’s message from the Lord was one of doom. Judah had done evil, and it was time for her to go into captivity. There was no turning back; this would happen. However, there were messages throughout the book of a future restoration. The following was one of those messages. “‘Therefore behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when it will no longer be said, “As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” but, “As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.” For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,’ declares the LORD, ‘and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks’” (Jer. 16:14-16). God will no longer be known for bringing them out of Egyptian bondage but bringing them back from captivity in their foreign lands. He would redeem them back to their lands. The fisherman concept is interesting and might remind us of another passage.
Jesus called Peter and Andrew by the Sea of Galilee saying, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). It is assumed that He was making reference to their profession, as they were fishermen, and they were in the act of mending their nets. That is likely what was happening. However, it is interesting to look at this event by the lake in light of this passage from Jeremiah. God tells us that He was going to send forth “fishermen” to “fish for them.” Could it be that Jesus was also referencing the idea that they would be agents of redemption? Israel was still scattered spiritually. The priestly system was corrupt. Jesus called the teachers of that time, “blind guides of the blind” (Matt. 15:14). There was a need to come back to God.
On another occasion, Jesus saw the people and “felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest’” (Matt. 9:36-38). Whether it is fishermen, hunters or laborers, the concept is the same. God was going to send people to call the lost back (Luke 15:4-7). The idea had a long history in Jewish thought. Jesus was using that to highlight what would soon unfold. We can be part of that grand design.