Oh, boy. My Bible subtitled this chapter, "Reasons for judgment."
“Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look now and take note.
And seek in her open squares,
If you can find a man,
If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth,
Then I will pardon her. Jeremiah 5: 1, NASB 1995
First, yikes. I know I say that a lot; but...yikes. The Lord will save ALL of Jerusalem if He can find one man doing justice or seeking truth. Seems like a low bar. I know a lot of times with judgment scripture I feel bad for the innocent people caught up in that civilization; but that undersells God's sovereignty and ability to place the right people in the right times.
Second, this verse reminds me of a couple of previous passages. the "roaming to and fro looking" reminds me of this passage
- For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
There is something very interesting about an omnipresent, omniscient God searching for something. He has thoroughly considered everyone and cannot find one worth saving Jerusalem over.
And similarly, it reminds me of Genesis 18 where God would have saved the city if He found righteous men.
Both of these verses tell me something about humanity, in general. We have a national election a few days now and we are a truly divided nation. We call each other names and debate in bad faith as we have a hard time perceiving on another's viewpoints. I would like to say I'm above that, but I am most certainly not. I am dumbfounded that so many people, tens of millions of people can be so passionate about evil things like abortion. It ghoulish. And I get that they think I'm a monster for being pro-life.
Because I have the Holy Spirit indwelling, certain things just seem black and white to me. And to have so many people willing to throw away all we have as a nation, leaves me speechless sometimes. Good people, smart people that I respect; but we're a million miles about in values and I just cannot comprehend their logic.
So I can believe that a whole city, a whole nation, could have been so saturated by evil leadership, kings and priests, that they won't be able to change without the exile they have coming quickly and fiercely from the north.
Ok, that was verse 1. 🙂
As a side note, the Wiersbe commentary states that this is the first of at least 10 "action sermons". He was commanded the "investigate".
10.31.24
“And although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’
Surely they swear falsely.” Jeremiah 5:2
So, these people were recognizing the Lord in their speech; but not in any way that the Lord recognized them for their righteousness and truth. It's heartbreaking because it really reads like Josiah rekindled a revival. And maybe he did and this passage was before or after. But somehow they felt like a token gesture was enough for the Most High God of the universe. Sadly, I think I spend quite a bit of time there myself. Token gestures to assuage my guilt; but not to worship the one who is worthy of sincere and authentic, heartfelt worship.
In verse 3, Jeremiah describes that it's way beyond just the half-hearted worship. God is looking for truth in His people and when He does not find it; He smites them. But this doesn't even move the needle. He consumes them; they don't take correction. They make their faces hard and refuse to repent.
It's interesting to contemplate repentance. It is such a simple and low-cost offer from the Living God. If we actually contemplate that He would offer repentance as the cost of readmission into His grace; the mind boggles.
And yet.
This simple, free golden ticket is often more than we are willing to do. Why? Why wouldn't they just repent. Especially after suffering so much correction. Of course I don't know the full answer or I would be better about repentance myself. But I think the core of the answer can be found in this quote from C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity:
...fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. (emphasis mine)
Repentance isn't saying "excuse me" when you belch. It's acknowledging that you are in open rebellion of your Father, your Maker, the King of the universe. And it means you're going to have to show your repentance in your actions. Which means...submitting your will UNDERNEATH His will. Ending a mutiny against the Captain. And all that is entailed with that kind of heart change.
11.4.24
Jeremiah definitely has a different feel. In verse 4 we learn that he has sympathy for the poor and foolish. He says they don't know God's ways or ordinances. So he decides to go to the "greats", which I assume is royalty or religious leaders. They know God's ways and ordinances. But it turns out, they broke the yoke and burst the bonds of God's covenant. It just felt different. Like he liked the people and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Whereas most of the other prophets just sound done with the people. Which I understand; but it's just nice to see Jeremiah start off really advocating for them.
But sadly, they chose unwisely and have a lion, wolf, and leopard on the way. Eeeek.
Wiersbe points out that the herd broke it's yoke and burst their bonds, only to run free into the teeth of the lion, wolf, and leopard.
God is very clear what they did- forsaken Him, idolatry, taken His provision for grated and chose the harlot.
In verse 10 He instructs that he vine rows be destroyed, but not completely. He commands that they strip the branches, because they are not His. That may sound harsh; but if things are growing in your garden that were sowed there by sin and foreign gods; it's a blessing to have them stripped away.
In the MacArthur Bible Commentary, it states that the branches are the people; it makes me think of Jesus becoming The Branch and we get grafted in. We are bad branches deserving destruction too. But once grafted in to the Holy Branch, we are redeemed and sustained by the Holy Spirit. Amen!
He particularly notes that they call Him a liar by denying that their sin will lead to misfortune and punishment. That's such a good one to note and remember. While it may seem like God is turning a blind eye to my sin; I'm calling Him a liar when I start to act like there is no consequence for it. (Interestingly, Paul tells us that we call God a liar when we don't fully and exclusively take Jesus and only Jesus as the way to address our sin. Both sides of the equation. Take God at His word.)l
And because of all of that, I am sending a great and ancient nation to burn you (and all that you hold dear) to the ground. (paraphrase mine)
In verse 18, He again promises that the destruction won't be complete. Hope for a remnant.
In verse 19, the Lord prepares Jeremiah for a response when the people want to know why the destruction came from the coming enemy. He asks why they don't fear the one who can hold back the sea at the shoreline, who brings rain and seasons and harvest. Instead they turn away from all of God's gift and choose iniquity. Then He describes them growing fat and sleek from their deceit. They do not care for those in need. And the prophets and priests do what they want. And the people love it.
"...But what will you do at the end of it all?"
Brutal question to end the chapter.
Spoiler alert, God answers His own question at the beginning of Chapter 6 and the answer is, "Flee."