Jeremiah 5

REVIEW OF CHAPTER SIX

I. Facts to Master.

The interpretation of evil from the north and destroyer of nations (Jeremiah 4:6-7).

The charge which Jeremiah makes against God (Jeremiah 4:10).

That which was essential if Judah was to be saved in the coming invasion (Jeremiah 4:14).

Jeremiah’s personal feelings as he contemplated the impending disaster (Jeremiah 4:19-22).

That which the nation tried to do to avert disaster (Jeremiah 4:30).

A favorite comparison of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 4:31).

The search which Jeremiah is bidden to under take (Jeremiah 5:1).

The words they used in taking an oath (Jeremiah 5:2).

What the people had been saying about their prophets (Jeremiah 5:13).

The fate of those who had served foreign gods (Jeremiah 5:19).

The appalling thing which had happened in the land (Jeremiah 5:30).

The figure with which Jeremiah describes the obstinacy of the people (Jeremiah 6:10).

That which the false priests and prophets were proclaiming (Jeremiah 6:14).

That for which the people should ask (Jeremiah 6:16).

That which was no longer acceptable to God (Jeremiah 6:20).

Two metaphors used to describe the prophet (Jeremiah 6:27 ASV).

II. Questions to Ponder.

How can the heart of the sinner be compared to fallow ground? How can the preacher of the Gospel precondition the soil of the heart for a favorable reception of the seed of the Word? Jeremiah 4:3

Why does Jeremiah call upon these Jews to circumcise themselves?

What literary technique does the prophet employ in Jeremiah 4:5-18 and Jeremiah 6:1-6?

What was the prophet’s personal reaction to the destruction of his people? Jeremiah 4:19-22.

What is meant by the expression yet I will not make a full end? Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 5:10; Jeremiah 5:18.

Was the sin of Judah a matter of ignorance? Justify your answer. Jeremiah 5:1-6.

What were some of the pagan gods worshiped in Judah in the days of Jeremiah?

What was the root cause of the apostasy in Judah? Jeremiah 5:23.

What was the attitude of Jeremiah toward social injustice? Jeremiah 5:28. Should church leaders today be come involved in social action projects?

What does the prophet mean in Jeremiah 6:8 when he urges the people of Jerusalem to be instructed?

What is the significance of the figure of the grape gatherer in Jeremiah 6:9?

Who is speaking in Jeremiah 6:11 b? Is this a prayer on the part of the prophet or a command on the part of God?

What inadequate remedies for the hurt of God’s people are the spiritual leaders of our nation offering? See Jeremiah 6:14.

Why do you think Jeremiah 6:16 was such a popular preaching text among the preachers of the Restoration Movement?

What kind of rest comes to those who walk the old paths? Is it the rest of inactivity? See Jeremiah 6:16. Also Matthew 11:28.

16. Why is ritual without righteousness worthless?

Does Jeremiah here completely repudiate the Mosaic sacrificial system? Jeremiah 6:20.

Jeremiah 5:1-6

C. Causes of Coming Judgment Jeremiah 5:1-31

In chapter five Jeremiah discusses the various reasons why God must judge His people. The nation has been guilty of at least six terrible sins: (1) moral corruption (Jeremiah 5:1-6); (2) sexual impurity (Jeremiah 5:7-9); (3) treacherous unbelief (Jeremiah 5:10-18); (4) religious apostasy (Jeremiah 5:19-24);

(5) social injustice (Jeremiah 5:25-29); and (6) international deception (Jeremiah 5:30-31).

1. Moral corruption (Jeremiah 5:1-6)

TRANSLATION

(1) Roam through the streets of Jerusalem, look and find out for yourself! Seek in her broad places if you can find a man or if there is one who does justly, seeking truth, that I may forgive her. (2) And though they sware, As the LORD lives, surely they sware falsely. (3) O LORD are not Your eyes on truth? You have smitten them but they felt no pain; You consumed them, they have refused to accept instruction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They refuse to repent. (4) And as for me, I said, Surely these are poor! They are foolish for they do not know the way of the LORD, the judgment of their God. (5) I will go up unto the great ones and speak to them for they know the way of the LORD, the judgment of their God. But they altogether have broken the yoke, they have burst the straps. (6) Therefore a lion from the forest shall smite them, a wolf from the desert shall plunder them, a leopard watches over their cities. Anyone who goes out from thence shall be torn because their transgressions are many, their backsliding are without number.

COMMENTS

In order to impress upon the mind of the prophet the necessity for divine judgment the Lord instructs Jeremiah to walk to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and make a personal observation of the moral condition of the city. Specifically he is to search in the broad places or marketplaces for a man, i.e., someone who was worthy to be called a man. Jeremiah was to search for a man who does what is just and right and who seeks truth or faithfulness. The Hebrew word translated truth often times refers to the faithfulness of a man in performing his duties to God and his fellowmen.[160] The prophet is looking for a man who was true to God, true to man and true to himself. But sometimes in the Old Testament this Hebrew word has a more specialized meaning. It refers to faith in the promise of God to bring a Redeemer into the world.[161] Faith in the Gospel promise sustained the Old Testament heroes.[162] It may well be that Jeremiah here is to search for a man who possessed Messianic faith.[163] Abraham prayed that Sodom be spared if there were ten righteous men. But God here goes even further. If Jeremiah can find one just man in the city who seeks truth or faith He will forgive Jerusalem and withhold the execution of His wrath.

[160] 1 Chronicles 9:22; 1 Chronicles 9:26; 1 Chronicles 9:31; 2 Chronicles 31:15; 2 Chronicles 31:18, etc.

[161] Habakkuk 2:4. Cf. Romans 1:17.

[162] Genesis 4:1; Genesis 5:29; Genesis 49:18; 2 Samuel 7:18-29; Hebrews 11.

[163] Laetsch, op. cit., p. 73.

With the zeal of Diogenes Jeremiah searched for a real man in the streets of Jerusalem. He found many who used the name of the Lord in their oaths but only to sware to that which was untrue (Jeremiah 5:2). To use God’s name in a solemn oath and then lie was tantamount to blasphemy against the holy name. God was looking for truth or faithfulness or faith in the hearts of men. Not finding it in the men of Judah God brought disciplinary disasters upon them. The judgments of God are sometimes rehabilitative and sometimes retributive. Here the former class of judgments is intended. God had smitten them but they felt no pain; God had almost completely destroyed them but they refused to accept the correction. With stoic determination they endured the discipline of God hardening their faces and refusing to repent (Jeremiah 5:3).

Jeremiah could not believe what he saw among the common people on the streets of Jerusalem and so he began to make excuses for them. These people are poor; they are uneducated in the way of the Lord; they know nothing of the judgment, i.e., religious law of their God. It is their lack of education which causes them to foolishly sin, and the hardship of their poverty has caused them to harden their hearts in unbelief (Jeremiah 5:4). Jeremiah was confident that he would not find a real man among the down and out; but he was not ready to relinquish his search. He decided to check on the great ones, the wealthy and cultured of the nation. They had all the advantages of education and instruction in the way of the Lord. They were literate and could read the law of God for themselves. But Jeremiah found that the up and out were worse than the down and out. Among the elite he found nothing but lawlessness and license. They had altogether broken the yoke of divine restraint (Jeremiah 5:5). The straps which they burst were the thongs by which the yoke was secured to the neck (cf. Isaiah 58:6). These men wanted to be free from the law of God and from any divine control. They wanted to do their own thing. Thus, in the entire nation Jeremiah could not find one man who by God’s standards was a real man.[164]

[164] Following the marginal reading in the American Standard Version.

Because of the all-pervasive apostasy, God will bring judgment upon Judah: a lion from the forest, a wolf from the desert; and a leopard or panther watching over their cities (Jeremiah 5:6). Lions were common in the hills and valleys of Palestine. A few leopards are still to be found in the hills of Galilee. The singular words: lion, wolf, leopard, are probably to be regarded as collective singulars. These animals may be symbols of the calamity which would befall Judah. On the other hand, numerous prophecies make it clear that the land would be overrun by wild creatures after the Jews had been deported.[165]

[165] Ezekiel 14:16; Ezekiel 14:21; Leviticus 26:22; Deuteronomy 32:24; 2 Kings 17:25 ff.

Jeremiah 5:7-9

2. Sexual impurity (Jeremiah 5:7-9)

TRANSLATION

(7) Wherefore should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and have sworn by no-gods; and when I fed them, then they committed adultery and they flocked to the house of a harlot. (8) They have become well-fed stallions roaming about; each man neighs unto the wife of his neighbor. (9) On account of these things shall I not punish (oracle of the LORD)? Shall not MY soul take vengeance on a nation which is like this?

COMMENTS

Persistent unbelief makes divine forgiveness of Judah impossible. The children of Judah have forsaken God and have indicated their allegiance to idols by swearing in the name of these non-entities. God had fed them, granted to them prosperity. But instead of gratitude, here is depravity. They had committed the sin of adultery. The prophet may be referring to literal adultery here or he may be using adultery as a metaphor for apostasy. The men of Judah flocked (lit., assembled in troops) to the house of the harlot (Jeremiah 5:7). They were utterly unashamed of their actions and made no attempt to hide their immoral acts. The reference here might be to the obscene orgies which characterized certain of the Canaanite cults. In any case, the immoral acts of the Baal cult could not be confined to religious exercises. The men of Judah roam about like well-fed[166] stallions, each one neighing to the wife of his neighbor (Jeremiah 5:8). The morals of a nation have sunk to rock bottom when sexual desire becomes merely an animal appetite to be satisfied in any manner and with anyone. Can God do anything other than bring punishment and divine vengeance upon such a nation? (Jeremiah 5:9). Divine vengeance in Scripture is just retribution for sins which are an affront to God.

[166] The meaning of the Hebrew word is obscure. The best Hebrew authorities suggest that the word means weighted or furnished with weights.

Jeremiah 5:10-18

3. Treacherous unbelief (Jeremiah 5:10-18)

TRANSLATION

(10) Go up against her rows and destroy, but do not make a full end; Remove her shoots for they do not belong to the LORD. (11) For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been thoroughly treacherous with me (oracle of the LORD). (12) They have lied against the LORD and have said, lie is not and the calamity shall not come against us. We shall not see sword and famine. (13) And the prophets are windbags and the word is not in them. Thus let it be done to them. (14) Therefore thus says the LORD God of Hosts: because you have said this thing, behold, I am about to place My words in your mouth as fire and this people as wood and it shall consume them. (15) Behold, I am about to bring against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel (oracle of the LORD), a powerful nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose tongue you do not know nor can you understand what they say. (16) Their quiver is like a open grave; all of them are mighty men. (17) They shall eat your harvest and your bread, they shall eat up your sheep and your cattle, they shall eat your vines and your fig trees, they shall batter with the sword your fortified cities in which you are trusting. (18) But even in those days (oracle of the LORD) I will not make a full end of you.

COMMENTS

Frequently in prophetic literature the Lord through his prophet will exhort the enemy to get busy with the work of judgment against Israel. In verse ten Judah is compared to a vineyard or perhaps an olive orchard. The enemy is instructed to go up against the rows[167] of vines and begin a ruthless pruning operation. The degenerate and dead shoots,[168] the apostate people who no longer render allegiance to the Lord, are to be removed. But the enemy is not to completely destroy the vine. Through the process of their pruning the degenerate members of the nation will be removed and the believing kernel of the nation will be left (Jeremiah 5:10). Here again is the idea of the remnant which plays such an important role in the Old Testament (cf. Jeremiah 4:27).

[167] The American Standard and King James versions have rendered this Hebrew word as walls. While this translation has the support of some of the ancient versions the translation rows is equally possible and fits better the imagery of the verse. [168] The rendering of the American Standard, branches, is much to be preferred over the King James battlements.

But why must any judgment against Judah take place? The house of Israel and the house of Judah, both kingdoms, have been treacherous with the Lord (Jeremiah 5:11). The word treacherous in the Old Testament carries the idea of violating the most sacred relationships as, for example, marriage vows (Malachi 2:11). Furthermore, the people of Judah have lied against the Lord (Jeremiah 5:12). They were saying, No calamity of any kind shall befall us for His is not (lit., not He!). Were they denying the very existence of God? This is not likely. Were they saying, God has nothing to do with either our well-being or our misfortune? In view of the prevailing religious attitudes of that day this again seems unlikely. Were they saying, It is not He who is speaking through prophets like Jeremiah? This seems to be reading too much into the text. In the view of the present writer the people were saying,

God will not turn against us, He will not bring calamity upon us. The notion that God could not destroy Judah because of the covenant with them was deeply rooted in the popular theology of that time. Whatever it was that they were saying God regarded it as a lie concerning Himself.

Not only were the people lying against God, they were ridiculing the prophets of God. They regarded the prophets who claimed to be men of the Spirit as nothing but windbags.[169] The word of God is not in them (lit., He who speaks is not in them). Let these prophecies of doom fall upon those who utter them, sneered the people (Jeremiah 5:13). But God will not let the slanderous words of the people go unchallenged. He acknowledges Jeremiah as His spokesman and affirms that He, the Almighty, has placed those words upon the lips of the prophet. The judgment words spoken by Jeremiah will eventually consume the people as fire consumes dead timber (Jeremiah 5:14). The title Lord God of Hosts appears in Jeremiah 5:14 for the first time in the book. This title, frequent in Isaiah, became even more popular in the period of the exile and restoration. The identity of the hosts is uncertain. Is He Lord of the hosts of angels, the hosts (armies) of Israel or the hosts of the nations? God is Lord of all hosts; He is sovereign over all men and angels.

[169] The same Hebrew word can be rendered spirit or wind.

The threat of divine judgment so repugnant to the people of Judah is repeated in Jeremiah 5:15-18. God is about to bring a powerful and ancient nation against the house of Israel. The house of Israel is here the kingdom of Judah, for after the destruction of Samaria in 722 B.C. Judah became the sole representative of the people of Israel. The attacking nation is powerful. The word used here is one used primarily of rivers which flow the year around. The enemies have inexhaustible resources and therefore do not fail in the purpose which they undertake. The nation is ancient, dating back to the very dawn of history. They speak a language which the men of Judah cannot comprehend (Jeremiah 5:15). Here Jeremiah seems to borrow the terminology used earlier by Isaiah to describe the Assyrians (Isaiah 28:11; Isaiah 33:19). Every man in the enemy army is a mighty of valor. The arrows of their archers are deadly (Jeremiah 5:16). The armies of the enemy sweep over the land and devour the crops and the cattle. The phrase, they shall eat up your sons and your daughters, is metaphorical, meaning they shall eat the food which the children would normally eat. This would mean, of course, that the children would then die of starvation. With the sword, i.e., with their weapons of war, they will batter down the walls of the cities in which the men of Judah placed their confidence (Jeremiah 5:17). Yet as terrible as this judgment is, the nation will not be utterly destroyed. A remnant will survive (cf. Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 5:10).

Jeremiah 5:19-24

4. Religious apostasy (Jeremiah 5:19-24)

TRANSLATION

(19) And it shall come to pass when you shall say, For what reason did the LORD our God do all these things to us? Then you shall say unto them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served strange gods in your land, thus you shall serve strangers in a land not your own. (20) Declare this in the house of Jacob and make it known in Judah, saying, (21) Hear now this: O foolish people who are without understanding, who have eyes and see not, who have ears and do not hear. (22) Do you not fear Me (oracle of the LORD)? Do you not tremble from before My face who placed the sand as a border to the sea, an eternal statute and it shall not cross over it. (23) But this people has a revolting and rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone. (24) They did not say in their heart, Let us fear now the LORD our God who gives us the rain in season, even showers of autumn and spring, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

COMMENTS

Once the divine calamity begins to fall upon Judah men will inquire of the prophet as to why their nation is suffering so. His answer is to be honest and uncompromising: you willingly forsook God and served strange gods in your own land. As your punishment you must serve strange people in a foreign land (Jeremiah 5:19). The divine punishment corresponds to the crime which the people have committed against God. On at least four occasions, possibly more, Nebuchadnezzar led away captives from Jerusalem, in 605, 597, 587 and 582 B.C.

In order to impress once again the seriousness of the national apostasy upon the people Jeremiah is commissioned to deliver another oracle to the house of Jacob, i.e., Judah (Jeremiah 5:20). The people of Judah are foolish, without understanding. They have eyes and ears but they do not see and hear (Jeremiah 5:21). This same terminology is used in Psalms 115:5 f. where it refers to idols. Perhaps by applying this familiar terminology to the people of Judah Jeremiah is suggesting that people become like the object of their worship (cf. Ezekiel 12:2). These people are blind to the omnipotence of God revealed in nature. In the Hebrew Me and My presence are placed in an emphatic position as if to stress how incomprehensible it is that people cannot recognize the might and majesty of the Creator. As but one example of His handiwork Jeremiah mentions how the creator has placed the sand as an impassable barrier to the sea. This is an eternal statute or perpetual decree, a law of nature (Jeremiah 5:22). But while inanimate nature is submissive to the divine will, Israel has a rebellious heart or will. They have actually defied and opposed their God and gone away from His will (Jeremiah 5:23). They, were utterly blind to their dependence upon God for their sustenance. God had faithfully given to His people the autumn and spring rains upon which the agricultural prosperity of Palestine depends. Year in and year out God kept the weeks of the harvest for the benefit of His people. This expression may simply mean that God granted to His people an annual harvest in late April or early May. On the other hand, God may have kept the harvest in the sense of preserving the harvest period from rain until the crops were gathered. In other words, God gave them rain when they needed it and restrained the rain when it would have been harmful to them. Yet in blind ingratitude they never thought of rendering to God the fear and reverence due to Him (Jeremiah 5:24).

Jeremiah 5:25-29

5. Social injustice (Jeremiah 5:25-29)

TRANSLATION

(25) Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withheld good from you. (26) For wicked men are found among My people. They watch, with the crouching of fowlers; they set the traps; they catch men. (27) As a cage full of birds so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they become great and they become rich. (28) They have become fat, they are sleek, they have surpassed the deeds of the wicked. They do not plead the case, the case of the orphan that they might prosper and the cause of the poor they do not judge. (29) On account of these things shall I not punish (oracle of the LORD)? Shall not My soul take vengeance on a nation which is like this?

COMMENTS

The iniquities of the people of Judah have deprived them of continued divine blessing (Jeremiah 5:25). The judgment envisioned by Jeremiah was not wholly in the future. A foretaste of that judgment was already being given in the form of disciplinary disasters designed to shake the people up and bring them to repentance (cf. Amos 4). These judgments are necessary because there are wicked men among the people of God, men who will stop at nothing to enrich themselves. Like the fowler (cf. Micah 7:2) they crouch and wait until an innocent and helpless victim is ensnared in their trap. By wicked and diabolical schemes they are attempting to catch men (Jeremiah 5:26). As the home of the successful fowler is full of caged birds, so the homes of these wicked schemers give evidence of their prowess. Their homes are full of deceit, i.e., objects obtained through deceit, ill-gotten gain (Jeremiah 5:27). These wicked men grow fat and sleek as their riches increase. Their wickedness grows ever more bold and reprehensible. They exceed or go beyond the deeds of the most wicked men. No crime is out of the question if it serves to enhance their wealth and power. They were totally inconsiderate of the rights of helpless minorities, the poor and the fatherless. Never would one of these powerful men intervene to help the less fortunate get justice in the courts (Jeremiah 5:28). Repeating the rhetorical question of Jer 5:9 the Lord asks, Shall I not take vengeance on such a nation as this? Acts of injustice are offences against God and He must avenge them. The intervention of God on behalf of the helpless and in judgment upon those who oppress them is one of the major themes of prophetic literature.

6. Intentional deception (Jeremiah 5:30-31)

TRANSLATION

(30) An astonishing and horrible thing has come to pass in the land. (31) The prophets have prophesied falsehoods and the priests rule at their side and My people love it so! And what shall you do at its end?

COMMENTS

That which is commonplace among men often is shocking in the eyes of God. As the Lord evaluated the religious situation in Judah He regarded what was taking place as astonishing and horrible (Jeremiah 5:30). Not only the political rulers (Jeremiah 5:28) but the spiritual rulers as well were utterly corrupt. Jeremiah was both prophet and priest and he criticized those who held both offices. The prophets were prophesying falsehoods, promising the people that God was on their side and no ill would befall their nation. They peddled a false security based on empty forms and rituals. It was a superficial religion, a religion which did not get in the way of one’s everyday life. The priests rule at their side, i.e., at the beck and call of the prophets. But the people were as guilty as their religious leaders for they encouraged and supported them. Falsehood is generally far more pleasant to the ear than truth and the men of Judah were quite anxious to hear the assurances of peace and prosperity. But what will all of these men do at the end when they ultimately face the God of judgment and truth? The word end might refer to the death of the individual apostates or to the end of the national existence when Judah would as a nation stand face to face with God.