5:1Jerusalem was the capital city and center of worship for Judah. God was willing to spare the city if only one person who was just and honest could be found (he made a similar statement about Sodom; see Genesis 18:32). Think how significant your testimony may be in your city or community. You may represent the only witness for God to many people. Are you faithful to that opportunity?
Life Application Study BibleJeremiahChapter 5
Jeremiah 5
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1210, 1211, 1212
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
5Jeremiah 5
1I will not destroy the city. 2But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the Lor» lives,’ they are still telling lies!”
3LORD, you are searching for honesty.You struck your people,but they paid no attention.You crushed them,but they refused to be corrected.They are determined, with faces set like stone;they have refused to repent.
4Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor?They are ignorant.They don’t know the ways of the LORD.They don’t understand God’s laws.
5So I will go and speak to their leaders.Surely they know the ways of the LORDand understand God's laws.”But the leaders, too, as one man,had thrown off God’s yokeand broken his chains.
6So nowa lion from the forest will attack them;a wolf from the desert will pounce on them.A leopard will lurk near their towns,tearing apart any who dare to venture out.For their rebellion is great,and their sins are many.
7“How can I pardon you?For even your children have turned from me.They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all!I fed my people until they were full.But they thanked me by committing adulteryand lining up at the brothels.
8They are well-fed, lusty stallions,each neighing for his neighbor's wife.
9Shoutd I not punish them for this?” says the LORD.“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?
10“Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines,leaving a scattered few alive.Strip the branches from the vines,for these people do not belong to the LORD.
11The people of Israel and Judahare full of treachery against me,”says the LORD.
12“They have lied about the LORDand said, ‘He won't bother us!No disasters will come upon us.There will be no war or famine.
13God’s prophets are all windbagswho don't really speak for him.Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselvesyr
14Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says:“Because the people are talking like this,my messages will flame out of your mouthand burn the people like kindling wood.
15Q Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,”says the LORD.“It is a mighty nation,an ancient nation,a people whose language you do not know,whose speech you cannot understand.
16Their weapons are deadly;their warriors are mighty.
17They will devour the food of your harvest;they will devour your sons and daughters.They will devour your flocks and herds;they will devour your grapes and figs.And they will destroy your fortified towns,which you think are so safe.
18“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD. 19“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’
A Warning for God’s People
2020 “Make this announcement to Israel,*and say this to Judah:
21Listen, you foolish and senseless people,with eyes that do not seeand ears that do not hear.
22Have you no respect for me?Why don’t you tremble in my presence?I, the LORD, define the ocean's sandy shorelineas an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.The waves may toss and roar,but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
23But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.They have turned away and abandoned me.
24They do not say from the heart,‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God,for he gives us rain each spring and fall,assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
25Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings.Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.
26“Among my people are wicked menwho lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind.They continually set trapsto catch people.
27Like a cage filled with birds,their homes are filled with evil plots.And now they are great and rich.
28They are fat and sleek,and there is no limit to their wicked deeds.They refuse to provide justice to orphansand deny the rights of the poor.
29Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD.“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?
30A horrible and shocking thinghas happened in this land—31 the prophets give false prophecies,and the priests rule with an iron hand.Worse yet, my people like it that way!But what will you do when the end comes?
Jerusalem's Last Warning
61 “Run for your lives, you people of Benjamin!Get out of Jerusalem!Sound the alarm in Tekoa!Send up a signal at Beth-hakkerem!A powerful army is coming from the north,
Textual footnotes
- Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
- 5:20 Hebrew to the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the
Life Application Notes 8 notes
5:3Nothing but honesty is acceptable to God. When we pray, sing, speak, or serve, nothing closes the door of God’s acceptance more than hypocrisy, lying, or pretense. God sees through us and refuses to listen. To be close to God, be honest with him.
5:4,5Even the leaders who knew God’s laws and understood his words of judgment had rejected him. They were supposed to teach and guide the people, but instead they led them into sin. Jeremiah observed the poor and ignorant—those who were uninformed of God’s ways—and realized they were not learning God's laws from their leaders. Thus, God’s search in Jerusalem was complete. There were no true followers in any level of society.
5:7God held these people responsible for the sins of their children because the children had followed their parents’ example. The sin of leading others, especially our children, astray by our example is one for which God will hold us accountable.
5:15Babylon was indeed an ancient nation. The old Babylonian Empire had lasted from about 1900 to 1550 B.C., and earlier kingdoms had been on her soil as early as 3000 B.C. Babylon in Jeremiah’s day would shortly rebel against Assyrian domination, form its own army, conquer Assyria, and become the next dominant world power.
5:21Have you ever spoken to someone, only to realize that the person didn’t hear a word you were saying? Jeremiah told the people that their eyes and ears did them no good because they refused to see or hear God’s message. The people of Judah and Israel were foolishly deaf when God promised blessings for obedience and destruction for disobedience. When Gad speaks through his Word or his messengers, we harm ourselves if we fail to listen. God’s message will never change us unless we heed it.
5:22-24What is your attitude when you come into God’s presence? We should come with respect and trembling because God sets the boundaries of the roaring ocean and sends the rain, assuring us of plentiful harvests. God had to strip away all the benefits that Judah and Israel had grown to expect from him and give the people another opportunity to turn back to him. God still sometimes uses the same method of blessing or withholding blessing to get our attention. Don’t wait until God removes your cherished resources before committing yourself to him as you should.
5:28,29People and nations who please God treat the fatherless (orphans) justly and care for the poor. Wicked men in Israel treated the defenseless unjustly, which displeased God greatly. Some defenseless people—orphans, the poor, the homeless, and the lonely—are within your reach. What action can you take to help at least one of them?
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§:21 Matt 13:14 tMark 8:18