Jeremiah 5

Jeremiah Chapter Five Verse 1 5 A SAD OF OF JUDAHOne would find it difficult to exaggerate the extent of Judah’s wickedness. Halley gave a summary of the chapter thus: Not a single righteous person was found in the whole kingdom; there was promiscuous sexual indulgence of all the people whose behavior was compared to that of animals; the people openly scoffed at the prophetic warnings; they were continually engaged in deceit, oppression, and robbery; they were contented with wholesale corruption in both their religion and their government.[1]Cheyne divided the chapter into only four major divisions; but we shall break it down into smaller units. Jeremiah 5:1-3THE SEARCH FOR AN HONEST MAN"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 doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her. And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely. O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were 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.“We may exclaim with horror over Jeremiah’s inability to find an honest man in Jerusalem; but as McGee said, “Today you would probably have the same difficulty in Los Angeles or your own town!"[2]Henderson proposed a solution to this difficulty, pointing out that: “It is beyond dispute that there did live in Jerusalem at the time of the prophet such good men as Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah … therefore we may suppose (1) either that the search was confined to certain classes of people (the magistrates, for example), or (2) that the pious had withdrawn into hiding or retirement."[3]We do not believe any such explanation is necessary. The language here is evidently hyperbole, a figure of speech in which there is a deliberate exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis. Such figures abound throughout the Bible. A New Testament example is Matthew 3:5, “Then went out Jerusalem and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan; and they were baptized of him in Jordan!” This is hyperbole, becauseLuke 7:30 declares that the Pharisees and lawyers were not baptized. Making full allowance for this, however, cannot conceal the terrible state of Jewish morals at that time, shortly before the fall of the nation to Babylon. Some have suggested that the words here are the words of Jeremiah and not the words of Jehovah, “But such a distinction is merely academic; because Jeremiah was not preaching his own thoughts, but the word of Jehovah."[4]The purpose of these verses has been described as “a theodicy,"[5] that being, of course, an explanation of why the just and merciful God must, on occasion, severely punish and destroy sinful men. These verses fully explain why it was necessary to bring suffering and death upon God’s people. It was all because of the terrible wickedness of the people. It is of interest that the search for an honest man, recounted here, came centuries before the behavior of Diogenes, the fourth century cynic, who is supposed to have gone about with a lantern in broad open daylight, “looking for an honest man!"[6]“I will pardon her …” (Jeremiah 5:1). God promised Abraham to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous persons could be found; but here he even went beyond that, showing his great love and affection for the Chosen People. “Run to and fro through the streets …” (Jeremiah 5:1). “The verb here is plural; and this direction is addressed to the whole city."[7]“They swear falsely …” (Jeremiah 5:2). “This does not refer to a judicial oath, but means that their professions of faith in Jehovah were insincere."[8]In spite of repeated punishments by the Lord and his constant pleading with them to return to him, the people continued in stubborn rebellion. Verse 4 “Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God: I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, and the justice of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.“Among other things, these verses suggest that the initial search for the honest man had not indeed included a search of the whole population, but that it was somewhat partial, hence the decision here to search among the higher echelons of society; but the results were no better. “Once Judah had abandoned Jehovah and acknowledged some other sovereignty, it was inevitable that the curses of the covenant would follow. It was natural, therefore, that Jeremiah in this passage should have mentioned their failure to worship the Lord sincerely. As Thompson accurately noted, Moral and religious evils are finally inseparable since they stem from a common cause.'"[9]"They have broken the yoke ... burst the bonds ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/5" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:5</a>). "The bonds were the fastenings by which the yoke was securely fixed upon the neck of the animal."[10] The meaning of the verse is simply that the well educated, "great men" were just as wicked as the remainder of the population. "The lion, the wolf, the leopard ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/6" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:6</a>). These wild and dangerous animals metaphorically represent the Babylonians whom the Lord was shortly to bring against Judah. Following the fall of the Northern Israel, such wild animals became a great threat to the safety of the people living in the depopulated area (See <a href="/bible/parallel/2KI/17/25" class="green-link">2 Kings 17:25</a> ff). Although not stressed here, the message is clear enough. The ox that throws off the yoke and flees from its owner will be devoured by wild beasts. Henderson's comment stressed the aptness of choosing these three wild animals to represent the terror coming upon God's people. "The lion is the strongest, the wolf the most ravenous, and the leopard the swiftest of the wild animals."[11]Verse 7 "How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlot's houses; they were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"The sentiment voiced in <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/9" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:9</a> here surfaces again in <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/29" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:29</a>, forming a kind of recurring refrain in the prophecy. "Committed adultery and assembled ... in harlot's houses ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/7" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:7</a>). "The reference here is both to the worship of the no-gods,’ and to the literal immorality which resulted."[12]“Immorality always accompanied idolatry. Apostasy and adultery are a horrendous pair. Publicly and unashamedly the people thronged to the prostitute’s house, that is, the idol temple (the noun here in the Hebrew is singular!). Jeremiah 5:8 proves that their sins included physical immorality."[13]“Only stern retribution and burning judgment were in store for such a generation, notwithstanding the word of the false prophets whose words would prove to be nothing but wind."[14]Verse 10 “Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches; for they are not Jehovah’s.“Due to its importance, we shall take a careful look at this verse. Note the figure of pruning the grapevine, “Take away her branches,” the ones that do not pertain to Jehovah. The figure here is not that of destroying the vine completely, but that of pruning it severely. This is important in refuting the speculations that would delete the pledge here that God would not allow the complete destruction of Judah. Not only here, but inJeremiah 5:18 below, and in Jeremiah 4:27 above, this pledge is given no less than three times. It is one of the most important things in Jeremiah. It meant that all of the glorious promises to the patriarchs would yet be fulfilled in that “righteous remnant” announced by Isaiah, which would indeed return from Babylon and form the nucleus of the New Israel in Jesus Christ. We shall note together what the critics have said about this pledge of “no full end” in both Jeremiah 5:10 andJeremiah 5:18. Robinson stated that, “Like many similar remarks, this seems to be a later insertion meant to qualify the rigor of the destruction in Jeremiah 5:17."[15] On this expression in Jeremiah 5:10, Hyatt declaimed, “The word not' is probably a mitigating gloss."[16] Notice the absolute lack of evidence cited in support of these presumptuous and arrogant denials of what the Word of God says. Fortunately, this type of blatant denial has been tempered significantly by current critics, who still mention the old prejudice against these pledges, but point out reasons for rejecting them. Feinberg, for example, mentioned the old canard about those pledges in <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/10" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:10</a>; <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/18" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:18</a>. being "later additions or glosses"; but immediately added that, "That view lacks MS authority; furthermore the immediate context speaks of pruning not of destroying the vine." (This comment, written in 1965, shows how far we have come from the arrogant denial of Robinson in 1924). Why do not the critics ever tell us that no MS authority whatever backs up their devices against these verses but that the, "Syriac, Septuagint, and Arabic versions all agree with the words, Destroy, but make not a full end’? (See Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), p. 369). We learned long ago that the strict fairness of radical critics cannot be counted upon. We also appreciate what Ash said about this: “Some suggest that the word not' be deleted from <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/10" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:10</a>; but since the vine was not uprooted, the idea of its continued existence can be supported from the rest of the verse."[17]We shall be happier when Christian scholars no longer feel it is necessary to pay lip service to those old shibboleths of the radical critics. They have already been long discredited and rejected by believers. Verse 11 "For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah, They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them.""It is not he ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/5/12" class="green-link">Jeremiah 5:12</a>). Ash tells us that the Hebrew expression, "It is not he," simply means that, "God will do no such thing as punish us, regardless of what any prophet says."[18] Zephaniah accused the people of exactly that same attitude (<a href="/bible/parallel/ZEP/1/12" class="green-link">Zephaniah 1:12</a>). It is strange indeed that, despite all of the specific warnings God gave to his people through Moses in such specific terms as those of the last three or four chapters of Deuteronomy, the Jewish people should have decided that, as God's Chosen People, they were blessed forever no matter what they did! Green gave an explanation of that thus: "The people perverted the doctrine of election. Instead of regarding it as a moral act subject to moral criticism and control, they came to look upon it as an unconditional relationship, guaranteeing them national victory and glory. They made it the basis of grandiose dreams and; It can’t happen here … not to us… God’s elect!’"[19]Verse 14 “Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the 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. Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword. But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.“In regard to the identity of that terrible nation God would bring against Judah, two clues are given here. (1) It is an ancient nation, which excludes the Scythians and points squarely at Babylon. Ash, quoting Herodotus, called the Scythians, “The youngest of the nations."[20] (2) The other clue comes from the words “mighty nation,” rendered “enduring nation” by Ash. “These words describe Babylon, not the Scythians."[21]Feinberg listed the earmarks of Babylonian identity here as: (1) distant, (2) ancient, (3) enduring, (4) unintelligible in speech, and (5) deadly in war, all of these being evident in this passage.[22]“Their quiver is an open sepulchre …” (Jeremiah 5:16). This is an unusual metaphor indicating the deadliness of the Babylonians in waging war. “I will not make a full end with you …” (Jeremiah 5:18). See a full discussion of this promise underJeremiah 5:10. This is one of the great phases of Jeremiah’s prophecy, reiterating God’s pledge to spare a remnant of the rebellious nation. It is a remarkable contrast with God’s promise to make “a full end” of Nineveh (Nahum 8), ranking it among the most remarkable predictive prophecies of the Bible. Anyone familiar with critical writing against the scriptures has no difficulty at all of pinpointing right here the reason behind critical hostility toward this and similar passages throughout Jeremiah. “If it is undeniably a predictive prophecy,” according to critical bias, “Get rid of it by any means whatsoever: (1) call it gloss; (2) ascribe it to another writer; (3) late-date it; (4) refer it to some unrelated subject; (5) delete it from the text; (6) mis-translate it; or (7) simply declare, “Of course, we must not make too much of this!” Verse 19 “And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.“Here is a definite prophecy of the captivity. “So shall ye serve strangers …” (Jeremiah 5:19). “Serving strangers is a detail that would not fit the Scythians, who sold their prisoners as slaves."[23] Thus we should add this to the details mentioned underJeremiah 5:18, above. Verse 20 “Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not; Fear ye not me? saith Jehovah: will ye not tremble at my presence, who 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 they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it. But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you.““Eyes, and see not, and have ears, and hear not …” (Jeremiah 5:21). This, of course, is a reference to the judicial hardening that had already been divinely inflicted upon the unfaithful people, as is clear enough from the following verse. “Will ye not tremble at my presence …” (Jeremiah 5:22)? What an incredible marvel is it when intelligent people will not fear God, the great and Almighty God who hurled the suns in space, who set the planets in their orbits, who lifted the continents above the rolling seas, and whose tenderness and concern for human beings sends the former and the latter rains! Now wonder, God Himself exclaimed, “Will ye not fear me? will ye not tremble at my presence?” Since the sun, moon, and stars obey God’s will, what incredible folly it was for Israel or for any one who ever lived, to rebel against the will of God! Verse 26 “For among my people are found wicked men: they watch as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich. They are waxed fat, they shine; yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?“In this paragraph goes a step beyond the religious failure of the nation and cites the social oppression and injustice that inevitably follow unfaithfulness in the worship of God. “Waxed rich … waxed fat …” (Jeremiah 5:27-28). The intransitive verb “wax” is now obsolete; but it is an Old English word that means, “to grow, to increase” or “to become.” It contrasts with its opposite, “to wane,” which means “to decrease” or “to diminish.” “Shall I not visit for these things …” (Jeremiah 5:19)? By such statements as this, Jehovah strives to convince the rebellious nation of the justice of the judgment and punishment about to fail upon them. The whole paragraph pertains, “To three classes of people: the rich who oppress the poor, the false prophets who deceive, and the priests who also misbehave."[24]Verse 30 “A wonderful and horrible thing has come to pass in the land: 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?“This, in fact is an eloquent summary of the prevailing conditions in Judah in the times of Jeremiah, preceding the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of God’s people. The cause of the trouble is the failure of the nation to honor their religious duty of praising and worshipping God. This made way for the false prophets and the reprobate priests who deceived and encouraged the people in their wickedness. With all religious restraint out of the way, the whole people at once fell into the pursuit of selfish and lustful goals. With no adequate guidance, they quickly degenerated into a nation of idolaters, oppressors, and debauchees; and “the people just loved it!” There was no genuine hope whatever of such a condition ever healing itself. As it was in the days of the flood when every thought and imagination of men’s hearts was evil, and only evil, continually, the mission of Abraham and his posterity to keep alive the knowledge and love of the true God had, at last, totally failed (except for the righteous remnant). “What will ye do at the end thereof …” (Jeremiah 5:31)? This was the question that not only concerned Israel, but God Himself. What would God do, now that the Chosen People had failed in one of their principal purposes? No disaster ever took God by surprise; and we can read God’s answer to the disastrous situation that surfaces here in the first two chapters of Paul’s Book of Romans. GOD’S ANSWERThe judicial hardening of mankind was at this point complete, it was the third such emergency in God’s dealings with humanity. (1) There was the condition before the flood; and God’s answer then was the Great Deluge. (2) Then there was the organized wickedness that culminated in the Tower of Babel; and God’s answer then was the confounding of the languages of humanity and the introduction of the device of the Chosen People; (3) Now that the whole race of Adam, Jews and Gentiles alike, had given themselves to Satan for the third time, what would God do? He sent the Blessed Saviour in his FIRST ADVENT. That is the reason God has been so careful to announce three times in the last two chapters that “this is not the end of Israel.” This will be a mission of mercy. Is this hardening of all mankind ever going to happen again? The answer is yes. And what will God do then? (4) The Final Judgment will come upon Adam’s rebellious race.

Jeremiah 5:1

Jeremiah 5:1. When God was threatening to destroy Sodom (Genesis 18:26) he promised Abraham he would spare the city provided certain conditions could be found. He knew those conditions did not exist and hence was determined to go ahead with his plan for the destruction of the wicked place. Likewise the Lord puts the case of Jerusalem (capital of Judah) on a proviso, which is that a man can be found that executes judgment or ad ministers justice. It is true that some individual, unofficial men were there who were righteous, but the city in its official conduct was corrupt. The last word of the verse is a pronoun and refers to Jerusalem, meaning that if the city could produce the characters described the Lord would pardon it, the city.

Jeremiah 5:2

Jeremiah 5:2. Mere professions of respect for God do not count for anything. The people of Judah were outwardly very liberal with their compliments even as they appeared to be very active in the sacrificial services. But God knows the heart and he declares the professions of his people are false.

Jeremiah 5:3

Jeremiah 5:3. This verse specifies the false professions referred to in the preceding verse. Every statement is the truth but it was not made wiih sincerity.

Jeremiah 5:4

Jeremiah 5:4. The prophet incidentally tells us what constitutes a poor and foolish man: it is one who knows not the way and judgment of God. And that does not mean one who is thus ignorant because of circumstances beyond his control. The Lord has offered full information on these subjects in his law and all have the privilege of learning it for it has been composed in language adapted to man’ s understanding.

Jeremiah 5:5

Jeremiah 5:5. According to Strong the original for great means “great in any sense.” It is like the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:19, that keeping the commandments of the Lord constitutes true greatness. The leaders in the kingdom could have been great men in this good sense had they been obedient to the law of God. They were disobedient and hence incurred the wrath of God. On the other hand, there were some of the common people who were respectful toward the divine statutes. Get me unto means the Lord would look with favor upon the humble folks.

This great truth is a divinely established principle and is taught in Isaiah 66:2. The pronoun these refers to the disbodient leaders described In the first of this paragraph. But in thus classifying the leaders we should not restrict the subject to them personally. They were chiefly to blame, but since the people generally “ loved to have It so” (v. 31). almost the entire nation would come under the same condemnation.

Jeremiah 5:6

Jeremiah 5:6. Some figurative language is again used and the wild animals named refer to the Babylonians. The forest means the territory in the region of the Euphrates River. God was going to suffer these enemies to come against his people because their transgressions are many.

Jeremiah 5:7

Jeremiah 5:7. Thee means the- nation of Judah and the children are the individual citizens of the kingdom. The captivity could not be avoided because nothing else was able to purify them from their love of idolatry, and untii they are thus purified the Lord would not pardon them. Idolatry is again compared to adultery because in both evils a companion proves untrue to the one who is the rightful partner. When, I had fed them is significant and portrays the ingratitude that is often shown by a fleshly wife. She will make full use of the home and support her husband provides for her, then turn her attention to the unlawful admirer to whom she is under no obligation either morally or socially. Troops has no word In the original, hut ihe clause means the people of Judah assembled in the bouses (temples) of harlots or the false gods.

Jeremiah 5:8

Jeremiah 5:8. Idolatry ts illustrated by different figures. Sometimes it is a human being betraying his true love companion by an unlawful affair with a stranger. In this verse the comparison is drawn from the conduct of a horse that is full of vim from a plentiful supply of feed, then seeks to give vent to that energy by spending it on the creature that the owner intends to mate with another.

Jeremiah 5:9

Jeremiah 5:9. Strong’s definition of the original for visit is, “ A primitive root; to visit (with friendly or hostile intent).’ 1 It is used in the latter sense because God was determined to show his disapproval of his people by de-livering them into captivity. In treating the nation- thus the Lord would obtain vengeance against it, and it would he righteous vengeance because that authority belongs to Him. (Romans 12:19.)

Jeremiah 5:10

Jeremiah 5:10. God’ s feeling of compassion never ceases, and usually it will be expressed even in the midst of severe threatenings. It is predicted that the wails of the peooie were to he mounted and destroyed, hut make not a full end. This is a reference to the “remnant” that has been mentioned frequently and fulfilled in Ezra 2:64.

Jeremiah 5:11

Jeremiah 5:11, Israel often means the whole nation of the Jews or any part of it; however, when used In connection with Judah it means the ten tribes. Dealt very treacherously means they have been deceitful and acted as if they believed they could mislead the Lord Into accepting their professions of devotion. Israel has been in exile more than a century and Judah is soon to suffer a like experience. Both kingdoms were guilty of the same iniquity which was the worshiping of idols.

Jeremiah 5:12

Jeremiah 5:12. To belie one means to accuse him of falsehood, and the houses of the Jews had acted as if the Lord did not mean what he said. Not he was a short way of saying that if evil should come it would not be the Lord who brought it. And since the Lord would not bring evil upon his people (as they thought.) they need not fear that any will come; such was the false reasoning of the nation.

Jeremiah 5:13

Jeremiah 5:13. Prophets shall become wind denotes that the unrighteous prophets will be proved to have been false in promising peace to the nation, and all people will see that they were not speaking by the word of God.

Jeremiah 5:14

Jeremiah 5:14. The singular pronouns ye and thy refer to Jeremiah who was a true prophet and spoke this word which came from the Lord. Fire and icood are used figuratively and refer to the severe predictions which the prophet was inspired to make. His fiery threatenings w-ere to be against this people who had been so unfaithful to God. This suggested the figure of wood because the unrighteous people will be as fuel for the burning wrath of God.

Jeremiah 5:15

Jeremiah 5:15. The figures are dropped and the prediction is made of a literal fact to be enacted. House of Israel is used in its general sense although it is Judah who is specifically meant. The nation that was to be brought upon Israel was that of the Babylonians. and it would be from far since that kingdom was located beyond the Euphrates River. This nation did not use the language of the Jews hence it would be strange to the people who were to be ihe victims of this mighty and ancient nation.

Jeremiah 5:16

Jeremiah 5:16. A quiver is a case for carrying arrows, a common weapon in ancient ties. Open sepulchre is figurative and means the Babylonians will be so successful in their war activities that the narrow case may be compared to a tomb for the dead.

Jeremiah 5:17

Jeremiah 5:17. This verse is almost literal in that it predicts what was done by the Babylonians in taking possession of the property in Palestine. The last chapter of 2 Kings gives a history of the final invasion wherein the country was taken over.

Jeremiah 5:18

Jeremiah 5:18. Not make a full end is a prediction referring to the remnant that was to be spared from the captivity or from its destructive effect. Ezra 2:64 states the number as 42,000 whereas the previous population was about three million.

Jeremiah 5:19

Jeremiah 5:19, A spirit of inquiry will naturally arise as to why the Lord would thus deal with his people. The answer is given by reminding them of their unfaithfulness in going after strange or foreign gods. Shall ye serve strangers predicts that during the captivity the Jews were not permitted to practice the service required by their law. One thing that was to be accomplished by that period of chastisement was the cure of idolatry. Being compelled to continue in idolatrous worship would help serve that end in that they would thus realize the folly of sueh a system.

Jeremiah 5:20

Jeremiah 5:20, The Lord directs the prophet to declare this prediction in a public manner. Jacob and Judah refer to the same people but from different standpoints. The first was the common ancestor of all the tribes, the second was that portion of them that made up the kingdom of Judah.

Jeremiah 5:21

Jeremiah 5:21. There is no one as blind as a man who will not see, nor as deaf as one who will not hear. The ignorance of the people was not due to any lack of intelligence but it was because they failed to use that faculty in connection with the word of the Lord. The prophet Isaiah (ch. 1: 3) explains their ignorance by saying it was because they “doth not Consider.” The sad experiences in Babylonian captivity was intended to open their eyes to see the truth of all the divine warnings.

Jeremiah 5:22

Jeremiah 5:22. The foolish people are- asked to consider the might of God as it is demonstrated before their own eyes. The boundless sea even is limited by His power so that it cannot pass beyond the decreed limits. Certainly a Being so great deserves the most respectful attention of mortal man who is powerless before those wild billows. They were unwilling to show proper regard while their way seemed prosperous in the homeland, therefore the captivity was decreed to force that impression on them.

Jeremiah 5:23

Jeremiah 5:23. Revolting and rebellious are about the same except as to the degree of their unfavorable attitude. The latter refers especially to the state of mind and the former means the act of leaving due to that attitude. The people had not gone away literally but had done so in conduct, hence the Lord decided to send them out of the land bodily and as a nation into the territory of another.

Jeremiah 5:24

Jeremiah 5:24. Ingratitude is one of the most outstanding shortcomings of man. The people of Israel were enjoying tiie blessings of God in their seasons and harvests yet they failed to remember it. Instead, they were using part of those very blessings in service to false gods that could give them nothing.

Jeremiah 5:25

Jeremiah 5:25. The leaders had such a power over the people that most of the good things of life were appropriated to themselves and the common people were defrauded.

Jeremiah 5:26

Jeremiah 5:26, The wicked men were leaders so frequently mentioned who took advantage of the people. The snares and traps were the deceptive means they used to make them think they were being favored.

Jeremiah 5:27

Jeremiah 5:27. A cage full of birds is a figure to describe the completeness of the oppression suffered at the hands of these wicked leaders. Waxen rich gives the key to the deceptive procedure of these evil men. The love of money is not a corruption that was restricted to the days of Paul but was prominent in those of ancient Israel.

Jeremiah 5:28

Jeremiah 5:28. Overpass the deeds of the wicked is rendered “overpass in deeds of wickedness” in the American Standard Version. The phrase is intended to state the degree of wicked zeal shown by these covetous leaders. Judge not tile cause means they were not concerned to see that justice was done for the poor and unfortunate people.

Jeremiah 5:29

Jeremiah 5:29. To uisit means to bring some form of vengeance on the nation, which was to come in the way of the Babylonian captivity.

Jeremiah 5:30

Jeremiah 5:30. This verse is a general description of conditions that existed at the time Jeremiah was writing; the situation will be itemized in the next verse.

Jeremiah 5:31

Jeremiah 5:31. The citizens of the nation are put in three classes, the -prophets, priests and people. The duty of the first is to teach the law of the Lord, that of the second to bear rule or execute that teaching, and the third to be regulated in their conduct by the leadership of the others. But the principle of responsibility is never confined to any one person or group of persons. This verse is very fundamental in its portrayal of God’s requirement of his servants. The degree of responsibility is not always the same, but no one can bear that which belongs to another. (See Galatians 6:5.) The leaders (prophets and priests) were chiefly to blame for the evils of the nation and hence are usually condemned in especially severe language.

But the common people also were at fault because they agreed to the corrupt leadership. A man does not have to take active part in a sinful practice to share in its guilt. This verse and the one in Romans 1:32 reveals the truth of God’ s law on the subject. If a man is merely favorable towards the wicked teaching and practices of another it makes him a partaker of those evils.