Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
that I may pardon her.
2 Though they say, “As the Lord lives,”
yet they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
You have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor;
they have no sense;
for they do not know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the great
and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the yoke;
they had burst the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
a wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
A leopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are great.
7 “How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me
and have sworn by those who are no gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery
and trooped to the houses of whores.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor's wife.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord;
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 “Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
but make not a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the Lord's.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly treacherous to me,
declares the Lord.
12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord
and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
no disaster will come upon us,
nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind;
the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”
The Lord Proclaims Judgment
14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire,
and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
15 Behold, I am bringing against you
a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.
It is an enduring nation;
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb;
they are all mighty warriors.
17 They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your fortified cities in which you trust
they shall beat down with the sword.”
18 “But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. 19 And when your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob;
proclaim it in Judah:
21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people;
they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28 they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”
30 An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31 the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes? Jeremiah 5 ESV
Jeremiah 5: 14-31
…14The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses. 15And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.… Revelation 19: 14-16
14-19. I am making My words in your mouth a fire - We forget the reverence that should be associated with the Word that God has placed above His name. It's not that they didn't have God's word available to them, but rather they were indifferent and obstinate to it. What the prophet speaks, that has not resulted in national repentance, will now be toward judgment. For the remnant this national judgment will be seen through the eyes of providence as a light thing when compared against the immeasurable scale of eternity. Our God is a consuming fire, so repent and be saved, that is the message. What God says through Jeremiah will come to past, Babylon will come and Jerusalem will be humbled. This is not the last time a prophet will speak like this.
…4These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed. 6These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.… Revelation 11: 4-6
Harvest and food, your sons and daughters, flocks and herds, vines and fig trees, fortified city - They had much to be grateful for, but we are so warped that that which should humble us we take as reason to be proud, and to declare our independence of God. We become materialists, and if we are well fed then it must be because we are doing what makes sense, survival of the fittest. Wealth was often measured by family and the size of your livestock holdings, and as Job's friends wrongly assumed, the lack of such, it's removal, was only found in sinners. They put more weight on military force, their walls, the siege supply, and the size of their orchards. "We have all we need, so what use do we have for a God that declares against our want and earthly wisdom?"
I will not make a full end of you - It is a good thing that God is the upholder of His covenant, or no one would know anything of His unmerited favor. The covenant under the law should have reminded them of the Abrahamic covenant, not foolishly as genetic recipients, but as those who, by faith, believed and received the promises, based upon God's holy work and not ours. Christ makes possible what was promised to Abraham, and this was no new thing, for He was first mentioned to Adam and Eve, the covenant of the law, "do this and you shall live", this reveals our insufficiency. All have sinned. We need a Mediator between God and man.
See how, in the midst of his wrath, God remembers mercy. He utters a terrible sentence concerning transgressors, and then he pauses, and says, “Nevertheless,”—listen to the gentle note of pity in that word,— “Nevertheless, in those days, saith the Lord, I will not, make a full end with you.” Still does he spare the guilty, and in his longsuffering he gives them further opportunities for repentance. C. H. Spurgeon
Why has the Lord God done all these things to us - The penitent heart knows the answer right away, but they will ask the prophets, consult God's word, and He gives them what their confession should be, "As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours." Every generation should be learning this from the preceding, but woe is me, we have diluted the medicine, replaced the life giving sustenance with empty sweets. Our prophets are running about saying there is no God, or some have offered another god, substituted repentance for programs, shepherds have been replaced by motivational, self help gurus and prosperity teachers, and none of them represent the voice of God.
20-29. Do you not tremble before me - They don't, and sadly there is a much more fearful reality in an eternal God then in the coming Babylonians. Babylon will fall like every other civilization, it's leaders will die like all men and women do, but the holiness of God, which they refuse to bow to, will go on infinitely. Be more afraid of the One who made and can stir up Babylon at His will, the One who called out Babylon's destroyer, Cyrus, by name before he was born.
4I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him! 6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.… Luke 12: 4-6
A perpetual barrier that it cannot pass - God is Creator, and this should be cause for reverence. It is He, Who has put all things in order, so that they cannot come outside of the boundaries of His restraint. Babylon would not come if God did not allow it, and God would not allow it if His people had repentant hearts. All things are subject to Him, it is delusion that chases other avenues, that opposes omnipotence.
They lurk like fowlers lying in wait - These are people in the congregation, those that would lead others astray, cause controversies, lay stumbling blocks before the weak. Some of the greatest criminals are atheist at heart, but pretend at knowing God in order to fleece those that believe in the brand of god that these men are pedaling. They will use good men to gain accreditation, they smile, involve themselves in the affairs of the church, but inwardly they do not know God, and rely on their own strength, deception. These are parrots that learn to repeat, and they love clichés. They love the approval of men and are more than willing to twist God's word to obtain more earthly approval.
…43Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.” 45One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.”…
…46“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “You weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load. 47Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them. 48So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.… Luke 11: 43-48
Shall I not punish them for these things - If the whole world is under the curse of sin, and yet these are My people, warned by God, shown the ways of righteousness and repentance, yet stubbornly clinging on to what God has deemed to be deserving of death, how could He be just and not punish them? They have sold out widows, robbed the fatherless, left the poor to fend for themselves when it comes to justice. These men are not just, they require money to get what they are calling justice, and whoever has the most has the sway. They do not even follow the rules that they require of others, but go around claiming the name of a God who hates their immorality, loathes their cruelty, a God Who would have mercy rather than sacrifice. He must restore His good name.
…46“Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 47They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.” Luke 20: 46-47
30-31. My people love to have it so - They are all complicit in this, false prophets, priest who should recognize them as such, and people who love having their bellies scratched and ears tickled. Supply and demand, these people wanted another gospel that was centered on them, exalted them, excused their sin, applauded it even, and these men saw the opportunity for filthy gain. They all have loved what God is here calling a horrible and appalling thing. This is the state of most of what is called the church today.
3Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints. 4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed— ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.… Jude 3-5
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