I’d like to start from this verse:
Jeremiah 5:1 "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 executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it."
God was going to send judgment on Jerusalem, and he was not going to pardon it. Why? Because there was not one man in the whole of Jerusalem that executeth judgment, and none that seeketh the truth. The next few verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:2-3 "And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have 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."
There were many “Christians” in Jerusalem, but they were nothing more than hypocrites who swore falsely and won’t repent from their sins. They have refused to receive correction and made their faces harder than a rock. The next verse tells us:
Jeremiah 5:4 "Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God."
If Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), those Christians have not known the LORD, nor the judgment of God. Jeremiah calls them “foolish.” They are as a fool who saith in his heart “there is no God.” (Psalms 14:1) Even though they professed to believe in God, their works had shown otherwise. The next verse tells us:
Jeremiah 5:5 "I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds."
The “great men” are like the church leaders in Jeremiah’s time. Those were men of God who were supposed to know the way of the LORD, and the judgment of God. Yet, they had altogether broken themselves from the yoke of God (Matthew 11:29-30) and burst the bonds asunder. They were not constrained by the words of the Lord. The next verse tells us:
Jeremiah 5:6 "Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased."
They had made the word of God of none effect by their tradition (Mark 7:13). Because of that, their transgressions were many, and their backslidings were increased. The law of God which is supposed to protect believers from devils could no longer afford them any protection, because they had transgressed the law of God, and stepped out of the boundary of safety. The next verse tells us:
Jeremiah 5:7 "¶ How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses."
They said “the LORD liveth,” yet they sworn by other little-g gods. They had committed adultery with another god. They had forsaken the one and true God. They had forgotten the LORD their God. The next verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:8-9 "They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife. 9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"
They had become a covetous people altogether. The next verse tells us:
Jeremiah 5:10 "¶ Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’S."
Though God will send judgment, yet he will not make a full end on this hypocritical nation. The next verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:11-13 "For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. 12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them."
Jerusalem had dealt very treacherous against the LORD. The prophets had prophesied falsely when the LORD had not spoken by them, saying “it is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.” That also goes to show that Jerusalem was in a time of material prosperity before God’s judgment came. The next verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:14-16 "Wherefore thus saith the LORD 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. 15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. 16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men."
Since those prophets had falsely prophesied “peace and safety” (1 Thessalonians 5:3) for Jerusalem, God would do the exact opposite. The judgment was this, that he would bring a nation from afar upon the house of Israel: a mighty nation and an ancient one whose tongue they understood not. Their quiver was as an open sepulchre. They would not shew any mercy. The next verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:17-18 "And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. 18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you."
They shall eat up the harvest, the flocks and the herds, the vines and the fig trees, and shall impoverish the fenced cities. This passage of scripture is a reference to Isaiah 5:5-7 where God removed the invisible hedge he had made about Jerusalem to protect her from intruders. When the hedge is taken down, the intruders are allowed to enter in to plunder and tread down everything that is within. Yet in all these, God had not made a full end with the children of Israel. The next verse tells us:
Jeremiah 5:19 "¶ And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours."
For committing adultery with little-g gods in the land of their nativity, the punishment for the children of Israel was that “so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.” God would allow the children of Israel to be carried into Babylon for a time. The next verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:20-22 "Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which 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 can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?"
The fear of the LORD was not in the house of Jacob. They have become a foolish people without understanding: with eyes but could not see, with ears but could not hear. In the words of Jesus: “because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” (Matthew 13:13) Understanding has been removed when the “great men” who were supposed to be their church leaders had made the word of God of none effect by their tradition, and the prophets had prophesied falsely, saying “peace and safety.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3) The next verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:23-24 "But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest."
The bottomline was that these people already had a revolting and rebellious heart, and they were further embolden by the erroneous doctrines of the “great men” they looked up to, and the false prophets they listen to, so that they feared not the LORD who gave them rain in his season and reserved unto them the appointed weeks of the harvest, that they had no lack. Jeremiah continues:
Jeremiah 5:25 "¶ Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you."
Notice it is “your iniquities” and “your sins.” It started with the fear of the LORD that was removed from the people by the false doctrines and false prophecies. When the word of God has been removed from the people and the truth of God misrepresented, the fear of the LORD goes along with it. As a result, the people no longer feared God. They were no longer afraid to transgress the Law and Commandment of the LORD. BTW, the “fear of the Lord” is one of the seven spirits of God according to Isaiah 11:2. When the fear of the Lord is removed, that is the Spirit of God taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Jeremiah continues:
Jeremiah 5:26 "For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men."
Those were wicked men who came in privily, as false brethren unawares brought in who came to “spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.” (Galatians 2:4) They lay wait as a hunter who setteth snares for his prey. They set a trap to catch men. The next verses tell us:
Jeremiah 5:27-28 "As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge."
Those wicked men who made themselves “great men” (Jeremiah 5:5) became very rich. They overpassed the deeds of the wicked: they judged not the cause of the fatherless, and the right of the needy they did not judge; yet they prospered. They didn't know it was God who put them in “slippery places” (Psalms 73:18) to set them up for a fall. They are like the celebrity pastors of modern times in the leadership of churches all over the world, pretending to be part of the sheepfold, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Their success was a delusion sent by God. (Isaiah 66:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:11) The next verses continue:
Jeremiah 5:29-31 "Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30 ¶ A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; 31 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 thereof?"
God eventually avenged himself on a hypocritical nation when the Babylonians came and carried the children of Israel into a strange land. Today, we have many countries all over the world which churches that have overpassed the deeds of the wicked, and judge not the cause of the needy and the fatherless. The day will come when God will say: "Enough is enough!" Then, he will send the rod of his anger.
Isaiah 10:5-6 "¶ O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets."
Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 5:31 “the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so.” This so resembles the mainstream Christianity of today where Christians will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. (2 Timothy 4:3). Just like how God sent the Babylonians against Israel, he too, will send the rod of his anger against the people of his wrath to tread them down like the mire of the streets. As the church goes, so goes the nation. God will give them over to the “Assyrian,” including everything they own. Solomon tells us: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Isaiah said 'the end is told from the beginning'. (Isaiah 46:10) And Jeremiah has definitely told us the end.. A rebellious people - aspostate. Because, as the Lord God lamented, my people like it that way.
Thanks Max, the quote shown by Thomas Wilson is simple yet profound, to easily offence is taken where the truth is seen and heard “Matthew 7: 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.“