By Eugene Garner

JEREMIAH - CHAPTER 5

THE HOPELESS SINFULNESS OF JUDAH

    Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. 2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. 7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. 8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife. 9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

    1. The Lord calls for a search of Jerusalem to see whether a single man may be found who earnestly endeavors to be true, and to walk justly, (vs. 1-3; comp. 2 Chron. 16:9).
      a. He shows Himself ready to pardon the city for the sake of ONE RIGHTEOUS MAN!
      b. Though there were plenty who presumptuously swore "by the life of Jehovah" (claiming Him as their God), they only perjured themselves thereby (vs. 2), for they lived as if God did not exist! (3:10; Isa. 48:1; Titus 1:16).
      c. The prophet discovers that the people of Jerusalem have been unmoved by divine discipline; making their faces like flint, they have refused to repent and return to the Lord with their whole hearts, (vs. 3; 2:30; Isa. 1:5; Jer. 7:25-28; 85; Ezek. 3:7-9).
    2. He reasons within himself that this must be because the people are all poor and ignorant of Jehovah and the ordinances by which He rules, (vs. 4; 4:22; 8:7; Hos. 46).
    3. So, he purposes to speak with those of higher station in life; surely they will know the way of the Lord, and his claims upon them; yet, he finds that, to a man, they have broken the yoke and cast aside the principles designed to control them, (vs. 5; Mic. 3:1-3; comp. Psa. 2:3).
    4. Because of multiplied transgressions, and ever-increasing backslidings, the Lord will send judgment upon them: the lion to slay, (4:7); the wolf to destroy, (Ezek. 22:27; Hab. 1:7-8; Zeph. 3:3); and the leopard to tear, (Hos. 13:7-8).
    5. How can God pardon His well-fed children who have forsaken Him to honor "no-gods" - flocking to their harlot-houses; going in troops to commit adultery with their idols, (vs. 7; 2:11; Gal. 4:8; Jer. 7:9-10; comp. Num. 15:1-3).
    6. Like well-fed range horses, they have, each one, neighed after their neighbor's wife - the natural outcome of their idolatry, (vs. 8; 29:23; Ezek. 23:11-18).
    7. Why shouldn't God visit such a people to avenge His righteous soul upon their sins? (vs. 9, 29; 9:9).

    10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. 12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. 16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. 18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. 19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

    1. Likening Judah unto a vineyard (Isa. 5:1-5), the command is given to take away her branches (a thorough pruning) which the Lord no longer claims; yet, the vineyard is not to be utterly destroyed, (vs. 10, 18; 4:27).
    2. Both Israel and Judah have dealt treacherously against the Lord - rejecting the discipline of His hand, (vs. 11-12; 3:6-7, 20; comp. 43:1-4).
    3. Their prophets have become vain - full of "wind" instead of "the spirit" - no longer proclaiming the word of the Lord, (23:17; 14:13-16); thus, God has rejected them! (vs. 13).
    4. Making His word as "fire," in the mouth of Jeremiah, and His people as "wood"; Judah will be devoured by the judgment which he proclaims, (vs. 14-18; 23:29).
      a. God is bringing upon them, from afar, an ancient nation, whose language they do not understand, (vs. 15; 4:16; Isa. 5:26-30; Deut. 28:47-51; comp. Isa. 28:11).
      b. Their quiver (comp. Isa. 22:6) is likened unto an opened grave; their men to valiant warriors, (vs. 16).
      c. The produce of the land will be utterly consumed by the enemy, (8:16; 50:5, 17; Deut. 28:31-33; 8:13) - the fortified cities, in which Judah trusts, will be impoverished by the sword of the Chaldeans, (vs. 17; Hos. 8:14).
      d. But God, in mercy, will NOT make a full end of Judah, (vs. 13; 4:27).
    5. When the people, in their humiliation, shall ask why the Lord has brought such judgment upon them, they will be told that, since they forsook the Lord and served idols in their own land, they must serve strangers in a land that is not their own, (vs. 19; Deut. 29:24-26; I Kings 9:8-9; Jer. 16:10-13).

    20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

    1. The house of Jacob, and Judah in particular, is called to attention, (vs.20-21).
      a. They are a foolish people (vs 4; 4:22; Deut. 32:6) - without understanding, (vs. 21a).
      b. They do not SEE with their eyes, or HEAR with their ears, (Isa 6:9-10; Ezek. 12:2; Matt. 13:13-15; Jer. 6:10).
    2. Do they not fear the Lord (vs. 22; 2:19; 10:7; Deut. 28:58-59)? Will they not tremble, in awe, before His presence?
      a. He has set the sand as a boundary for the sea - making an everlasting ordinance which it cannot pass, (Psa. 104:5-9; Job 38:8-11).
      b. Though the waves toss and roar, they cannot pass over or prevail against the boundary Jehovah has set.
    3. But the people of the covenant have manifested a rebellious and revolting heart - refusing to be restrained by the ordinances of God! (vs. 23; 6:28; Psa. 78:8).
    4. Even when the showers of divine blessings are withheld, the hearts of this people are not inclined to return, with reverence, to the Lord who has ever been faithful to them, (vs. 24; 33; Matt. 5:45; Joel 2:23).
    5. Through her persistence in such criminality as made a mockery of the law of Jehovah, Judah has forfeited much good, (vs. 25-28; 2:17; 4:18).
      a. Among her are wicked men who, as fowlers, set traps to catch men! (vs. 26; 18:22; Micah 7:2-3).
      b. As a cage is filled with birds, their houses are filled with wealth gained by deceit, (vs. 27).
      c. It is by this means that they have become FAT (a term of contempt for the rich, Deut. 32:15; Job 15:27; Psa. 73:7) and SLEEK; they literally "shine,' (vs. 28a).
      d. Winking at evil, they do not seriously plead the case of the orphan; they refuse to judge the claim of the poor, (vs. 28b; Ex. 22:22; Deut. 14:29).
    6. Can Judah presumptuously imagine that God will not avenge His soul on such a people? (vs. 29; Mal. 3:5).
    7. Jeremiah is astonished and horrified by what has developed in the land, (vs. 30-31; comp. 23:14; Hos. 6:10).
      a. The prophets speak falsely - or, perhaps, "in the name of Baal."
      b. The priests make their own rules - to appease a perverted people.
      c. And the people are delighted with the new, liberal order! (vs. 31; Amos 4:5; Micah 2:11).
      d. But what will they do when the predicted judgment falls, and they find that their trust has been in falsehoods? That is a good question to be faced by presumptuous and rebellious hearts in ANY AGE!