A Stubborn Nation (2)

A Stubborn Nation

Jeremiah 5

1. The Search for the Righteous (1-6).

A. God commands Jeremiah to search for the righteous (1-2).

In verse one we have the Lord giving the command to Jeremiah. The language reminds us of Abraham who sought for righteous people among Sodom (Gen. 18). Jeremiah is to search diligently for a righteous person in Jerusalem.

Run to and fro

Look, Take note

Search her squares

It’s to be a comprehensive search, not a superficial one. We do know that there were a few godly people. Jeremiah was godly. King Josiah was godly. The prophet Zephaniah was a contemporary of Jeremiah and we know he was godly. The language used is meant to show that there were virtually no righteous people in the city. Because the overwhelming majority of people had abandoned the Lord the city would not be spared.

Think of how difficult it is to find someone who serves the Lord today. It is easy to find someone who attends church, but to find someone who loves the Lord is very difficult. It was even more difficult for Jeremiah.

There were people who said they served the Lord. Look at verse 2. They use religious language “As the Lord lives” they say, but they couple their religious language with lies. They make oaths to the Lord but they are not sincere.

As Jeremiah searches he realizes there are no righteous people. Look how he describes the people in verse 3.

The Lord is looking for truth but He found none. Even though He had disciplined the people, they still continued in their sin.

The Lord struck them down, but they felt no anguish.

The Lord consumed them but they refused correction.

In response to God’s discipline they became hardened and refused to repent. Many respond to God in the same way today. They live in sin, their life falls apart but instead of repenting and getting right with God they become angrier and more stubborn. This only hurts them more.

B. Jeremiah is surprised at what he finds (4-5).

The first place he searches is among the poor. Often those who are low on the social ladder trust in the Lord. He may be the only hope they have. But he can’t find any righteous among the poor. Jeremiah’s reasons that perhaps the poor have grown hardened toward God because they have been the victims of injustice. Or perhaps they are simply uneducated and that’s why they don’t trust in the Lord.

Next Jeremiah searches among the great. These would be the leaders as well as the wealthier in society. He assures himself that they are educated, and they know the justice of God. But he found them to be just like the poor.

“They had all alike broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds.”

In other words, they had escaped from God. They didn’t want His restrictive rules placed upon them.

A couple of things we get from this:

1) We shouldn’t make excuses for people’s sins. Whether they are rich, or poor does not matter. God has called all to obey Him.

2) People who live in sin are in rebellion to God.

C. God describes the enemy (6).

The nation of Babylon is coming against Judah. Babylon is likened to several wild animals:

A lion from the forest will strike them down.

A wolf from the desert shall devastate them.

A leopard is watching their cities.

All of these animals were untamed predators that were feared. The animals may represent the power, the viciousness, and the speed of Babylon.

Notice the end of verse 6. The enemy is coming because “their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.”

They should have already experienced devastation. God had allowed their sin to continue for a long time. God has many reasons to punish them. Their sin great and compounded.

2. The Moral State of Judah (7-13).

A. God’s Charge against Judah (7-9).

God asks Judah how He can pardon them. God will not forgive those who refuse to repent. The people had forsaken God and embraced idols. If they were not willing to turn from that sin they would not be forgiven for that sin. God lists some sins they needed to repent of.

1) We already mentioned the embracing of idols (7).

2) Sexual sin.

Look at verses 8-9. God had blessed the people with abundance. He fed them until they were full. But they acted like animals who could not control their passion. They went in great number to the houses of prostitutes. The committed adultery with their neighbor’s wife. God says they were like well fed lusty stallions neighing after their neighbor’s wife.

The sexual sin is coupled with idolatry because pagan fertility rites often included a freedom with sexuality. The sinful practices of these idolaters was a temptation that the Jewish people fell into.

God asks, “Should I not judge these people?” Of course He should. Their sin was obvious. Sexual sin is especially offensive to God but it is also a sin that is deceptive and particularly binding. Once entered into it is not easy to defeat. Whether the sexual sin is fornication, pornography, adultery, or homosexuality, once embraced it is difficult to overcome. But unless it is repented of it will not be forgiven.

B. God’s instruction to Babylon (10-11).

God, unbeknownst to Babylon, would stir them up against Judah. He would even restrict their devastation. He would lay on their heart not to completely destroy. Judah. A remnant of people would survive.

Both Israel and Judah had forsaken the Lord. Just as the Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria, the Southern kingdom would now fall top Babylon. Despite the fact that the people of God had utterly forsaken God, He would not utterly forsake them. He would not allow Babylon to annihilate His people.

C. The unbelief of Judah (12-13).

Look at how Judah spoke of God. They said:

He will do nothing

No disaster will come upon us

We will not see sword or famine

The prophets words aren’t true

They don’t believe the Lord will do anything to them concerning their sin. They believe they will live how they want and God will do nothing about it. Notice what they say about the prophets. They are talking about the real prophets, men like Jeremiah. When Jeremiah warns them about the judgment of the Lord they say “the prophets will become wind.” What does that mean? It was probably an insult to them. They are probably saying the prophets are just full of hot air. They are likely calling them windbags.

They even say that what the prophets say is going to happen to others is actually going to happen to the prophets. We can see the moral state of Judah is not good. They won’t listen to the true prophets; they are engaged in idolatry and they are consumed with sexual sin.

3. The Instrument of God’s Judgment (14-19).

A. Jeremiah is God’s mouthpiece (14).

Judah may think Jeremiah is a windbag, but God says his words will be like fire. This has more to do with the message of Jeremiah rather than the delivery. I am sure he was a passionate preacher. However, it’s not his style of preaching the Lord is referring to. God will bring a message of fire upon the people of Judah because they have rejected God’s Word. The fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecies would be the consuming of many of the people. They would be consumed in judgment as wood is consumed in a fire. It is important for us to remember that delivery matters little when it comes to preaching. Truth is what matters.

B. A description of the invaders (15-16).

1. A far nation- The invaders would come from the North, crossing what used to be the Northern Kingdom.

2. An enduring nation- difficult to defeat.

3. An ancient nation- not a newly formed nation. One settled and proven.

4. A nation that speaks an unknown language- one far enough away that they do not recognize nor understand the language they speak.

5. A brutal nation- deadly and cruel. “Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all like mighty warriors.” That means their arrows do not miss, they are a well trained and strong army.

The nation of Babylon fits this description.

C. The devastation of the invaders (17-19).

When an invading army defeated a land they took everything that land had for their own. This army would take Judah’s:

Food

Children

Livestock

Crops

Cities

They would beat Judah down with their sword. The enemy would take their cities and everything in them.

Yet we still see hope in verse 18. Again, the Lord promises there will be a remnant. He will not bring a complete end to his people.

Look at verse 19. When the people see what has happened to them, they will ask why the Lord has done all these things. They will have to admit that it was their own fault. Because they served foreign gods they would be exiled to a foreign land.

God never punishes His people without reason. But if a people are determined to continue in rebellion against him He will punish them. In this case He used another nation to be His instrument of judgment.

4. The foolishness of the people (20-31).

A. They had become like their gods (20-21).

The House of Jacob refers to Israel as a whole. Both the Northern and Southern kingdom fell for the same reason- idolatry. God wants all of Israel to take notice of what He is about to say. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) failed to learn from the fall of the Northern kingdom. God is saying to all of Israel “Listen up!”

The phrase “eyes to see but see not and ears to hear but hear not” is used to describe the idols Judah embraced. Psalm 115:4-7 says

Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

Judah had become as spiritually useless as the idols she worshipped. She was foolish and senseless. Even though she could not see nor hear God was still calling her to repentance. Wisdom is found by those who repent of their sins and put their trust in God.

B. They had become bold in their sin (22-25).

They were both ignorant and arrogant.

The Lord asks:

Do you not fear Me?

Do you not tremble before Me?

They did not and that was proven by their lifestyle. Those who live in sin do so because they don’t fear God. Fearing God is what keeps us from a life of sin. Spiritual ignorance leads to spiritual arrogance. The less you know about God the more you will embrace a sinful lifestyle.

God reminds them of His power. He is the one who keeps the sea from consuming the entire earth. He tells the tides how high they can come. He has drawn a line that the sea will not cross.

Look at verse 23 He has also drawn a line for Judah with his word. Yet they cross it with no fear whatsoever. The people of Judah are certainly not as powerful as the ocean. Why would they tempt the Lord? They are stubborn and rebellious.

Even though it is God who gives them the rains they need to reap a harvest and He has reminded them of this by withholding the rains (25), they still do not fear the Lord. Sin makes us bold. The longer we hold onto our sin the bolder we will become in it. This is why it is so important to deal with our sin immediately.

C. They took advantage of their own people (26-28).

Jeremiah brings wicked men to our attention. They are among the people of Judah.

They are ungodly rich men. Look at them in verse 27-28:

They are great and rich- Their position.

They are fat and sleek- Their appearance.

What are they guilty of?

They trick men for their own advantage (26-27). They do whatever it takes to fill their own pockets. They don’t care that they are hurting people. They profit off of the poor and the weak. They treat people as if they were as invaluable as a bird. The fill their houses with ill gotten gain just as easily as a fowler fills a basket with birds. They don’t even care about the most vulnerable in the land: the orphans and the poor.

These are probably people who take bribes, who take land from the poor, and who overlook injustices done to others if it will make their own life better. Not only did Judah not love God, they didn’t love people either.

D. They left God no choice (29-31).

God asks a question. He asks “Shall I not punish them for these things?”

Would we expect God to turn a blind eye to this? They have sinned greatly against God and man. They left God no choice. He must act.

The last thing God mentions is interesting. He calls it a horrible and an appalling thing. It’s almost as if the worst thing was left until last in this chapter. We see three things in verse 31:

1. The prophets prophesy falsely. We will see this throughout the book. There will be prophets who contradict Jeremiah. They will tell the people everything is fine.

2. The priests rule at their direction. In other words, based on their own authority. They now set the standard. They say what is right and what is wrong.

3. The people love to have it so. They loved it because they could continue to live in sin. They were being told what they wanted to hear.

Look at the end of verse 31. The Lord asks “But what will you do when the end comes?”

You can live in your own reality but ultimately, you’ll have to deal with the consequences. They could live in denial for only so long. When Babylon came charging from the North then they would see the truth.

It is the same with many in our world. We can live in sin. We can find prophets and preachers who tell us everything is ok. But one day reality will hit us. One day we will have to stand before the Lord. What matters then is if we truly know Christ or not. Let us not be too stubborn to enter into the life Christ has for us.