LESSONS FROM JEREMIAH – PART 18 – JUDAH IS STUBBORN AND TREACHEROUS – CAUGHT BY THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN
PART 18 - Jeremiah 5:3-9
CHAPTER 5
[A]. JEREMIAH RECALLS GOD’S WORKINGS WITH JUDAH AND MAN’S REFUSAL TO REPENT
{{Jeremiah 5:3 “O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, but they did not weaken. You have consumed them, but THEY REFUSED TO TAKE CORRECTION. They have made their faces harder than rock. THEY HAVE REFUSED TO REPENT.”}}
Jeremiah’s assessment begins with truth, the very quality God seeks among His people, and then he lists the conditions of the nation. God disciplined the people many times in the past, and the purpose of discipline was to turn the people back to the right way, but they determined they would do the opposite. In sinful resolve, they would not give way but hardened their hearts. The prophet speaks of consuming them and that happened as they were killed by enemies and plague and famine.
God ate away at them in the hope they would repent but they refused any correction and dug their heels in, with their faces harder than rock, meaning irresolute and implacable, stubborn, and determined not to hand over to God. To sum it up, they refused to repent, but the truth is, once a man hardens his heart and becomes stubborn to God, then he becomes even harder and more inflexible. In the end nothing remains except rejection, and God rejected His people of Jeremiah’s time and would hand them over to the Babylonians.
WHAT CAUSES STUBBORNNESS? Why does man not change his ways in spite of knowing the consequences? Take a man who is a heavy smoker and the doctor has diagnosed a bad cancer and tells the man unless he quits he will likely die within two years. The man knows the facts but refuses to quit. He may say as many do, “You only live once,” but it is more than addiction at work. There is a deep stubbornness and rebellion in the hearts of men and women.
God will not force repentance from anyone but it must come voluntarily. The Lord may discipline to wake the person up from the insensitivity to sin, but He never forces repentance. In Judah’s case God appealed over and over and sent correction to them in the form of foreign invasion, famine, climatic influences but all to no avail. It is the hardness of man’s souls; the power sin has over a person’s thinking and life and decision-making.
In the Tribulation, just in Chapter 6 of Revelation, God has allowed world-wide wars, pestilences, famine, plus much more, and in the next few chapters, great interventions including demonic creatures who sting, 200 million of them. The most terrible things happen, with over 40% of mankind killed already, but then you read this – {{Revelation 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, DID NOT REPENT of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk, and THEY DID NOT REPENT of their murders, nor of their sorceries [this word is drugs], nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts.”}}
Great calamities such as the world has never seen before: 200 million horrific demons with the most terrifying stings in their tails, a great star Wormwood falling to earth, the sun and moon darkened, hail mixed with blood pounding the earth, and other supernatural judgements, make no difference to stubborn, unrepentant hearts.
[B]. JEREMIAH REASONS WHAT TO DO BUT KNOWS THE OUTCOME
{{Jeremiah 5:4 Then I said, “They are only the poor. They are foolish, for they do not know the way of the LORD or the ordinance of their God. Jeremiah 5:5 I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the LORD, and the ordinance of their God,” but with one accord, they too have broken the yoke and burst the bonds. Jeremiah 5:6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the deserts shall destroy them, a leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces because their transgressions are many. Their apostasies are numerous.”}}
We have Jeremiah reasoning with himself, or maybe, this is part of a plea with God, one that collapsed, because the enormity of sin squashed any plea at this time. In verse 4 the prophet raises four points as part of a defence for his people (it would seem these who are spoken of are just the average, ordinary people). Those points are, the people are poor, foolish (senseless), do not know the Lord’s way, and do not know the ORDINANCE of God (ESV = justice; NIV = requirements).
The people were lost, destitute, leaderless, ignorant - aspects that can be partially excused, but when help drew near through the prophets, they were reactionary and callous to God, unrepentant, defiant, unjust - qualities that can not, and will not be excused. It is a terrible state when those named as the Lord’s earthly people do not know about their Divine Head. The sheep should know their Shepherd, and the servant, his Master, but Israel did not know her God. Is it any better in the professing church? Lip service and ritual, but do the people really know the Lord, the Head of the Church?
Jeremiah had considered the poor in another sense in verse 4. Maybe it was the poor who were the worst departed from God. Verse 5 changes the aspect. Maybe the better educated ones and the more affluent, and the more influential ones, especially those taught in the Law of God, the priests and all the religious leaders, the scribes and teachers of the Law, maybe these will understand what God is saying and lead the nation in repentance. Maybe the response will originate with them.
Alas, when Jeremiah is thinking of going to these important people to speak with them, the powerful realisation of what they have done, comes to him. He states it clearly. “They too have broken the yoke and burst the bonds.” The bonds were the fastenings by which the yoke was fixed upon the necks of the oxen. If we fill that in a bit, we get, “they too have broken the (loving, caring) yoke (of God) and burst the (gentle, assuring) bonds (of relationship with the compassionate and protective God). It was a willful and treacherous act played out over many centuries where Israel tore God’s yoke from them in defiance and rebellion. The religious leaders – priests and Levites in particular, were motivated by their own sinfulness, and the whole lot of them (with one accord) were reprobate. Another Psalm verse could apply to them – {{Psalm 53:4 Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge, who eat up My people as though they ate bread, and have not called upon God?}}
Verse 6 begins with “therefore” and therefore, it is a follow on from the two previous verses. One can not even plead for the nation as it is too late, and it rushes on to certain invasion. God will let them fall prey to three preying animals, signifying the enemy who will take and destroy them. They are named as the lion from the forest, the wolf from the desert and the leopard from the grassland, though grassland is not mentioned, but is where the leopard hunts. The lion is strong. The wolf is cunning and fierce. The leopard is swift.
When Babylon comes, it will be powerful and cunning and swift, and in all areas of Judah (covered by the forest, desert and grassland), it will hunt and kill and capture. The verse implies no escape, heightened by the statement that all those leaving the cities will be torn apart. Of course the reason for all this mayhem is given in this verse, the usual complaints God laid at the nation’s door. They were their many, many sins and the continual apostasies (spiritual adulteries - joining with idols).
I must say again that Jeremiah lived in the time immediately before destruction hit Judah (and after that too). He warned and pleaded but there was no repentance. The times of Jeremiah very much parallel ours for we are now living in the days immediately before destruction will come on the earth. This is not being dramatic. We are at the end of the Church age and the rapture will remove God’s people as Noah was removed and then destruction will come. The people today are sinful, apostate, and want nothing to do with God. They want to live in their own peace, the peace sin gives them, but – {{1Thessalonians 5:2-3 for you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child and they shall not escape.”}}
The imagery of the lion, wolf, and leopard is quite significant. In Daniel, animals signify world empires, the first being Babylon pictured by the lion. Then came the Medes and Persians, pictured by the bear, and then came Greece, which was the leopard because Alexander the Great conquered so quickly it was like the speed of the leopard. The bear is savage, so is the wolf, so there is a prophetic touch to these verses as well.
In spite of all that was bad and in opposition to righteousness in Judah, Jeremiah still was faithful to the commission given by God, even if it meant persecution, which it did. We likewise must be true to our commission, for the Lord said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel . . . .” People may be rude and want to persecute you but God requires faithfulness and commitment.
I read there are some in that group I won’t name, who are strong on election and predestination who say God has elected those to be saved and He will do that. Then they will sit back and “let God do it”. NO. We are to go and preach and maintain the testimony so that “whosoever will may come”. It is very ironic these days that in some western nations, where once they sent missionaries out, now missionaries are coming to them. Such has been the decline of western Christianity.
[C]. JUDAH BETRAYED THE VERY GOD WHO ESTABLISHED THE PEOPLE – THAT IS TRAITOROUS
{{Jeremiah 5:7 “Why should I pardon you? Your sons have FORSAKEN Me and sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed ADULTERY and TROOPED to the harlot’s house. Jeremiah 5:8 They were well-fed, lusty horses, each one neighing after his neighbour’s wife. Jeremiah 5:9 Shall I not punish these people,” declares the LORD, “and on a nation such as this, shall I not avenge Myself?”}}
God takes up the charges again and outlines the case against them from the divine perspective. It begins with a terse question – “Why should I pardon you?” In view of all that has passed and the great accumulation of charges already, the Lord now adds more to their account, weighing down the scales on the side of no pardon. Verse 7 is focused on idolatry, and the two key thoughts are “forsaken” and “adultery” for Judah was guilty of both. The offspring of Jacob forsook their Lord, their Deliverer out of Egyptian bondage, so that they could put themselves into another bondage, that of slavery to idolatry.
This was done in full knowledge, a brazen, deliberate choice to leave God and go the enemy, the false gods of the nations. That is the adultery in verse 7. Even worse is the word “trooped”. You can see them racing off to the houses of harlotry, even in spite of the fact that the LORD had fed them to the full, that is, provided all they needed. That was not good enough though for they lusted after the gods of the nations. It is also true that the pagan gods often had cult prostitutes, men and women.
Men recognised human creations and craftsmanship as divine beings, so deluded they were to false gods. What would hurt a caring human being enormously, is when a person rescues another and builds that one up and cares for that one, only to be dismayed to see that one depart for something very detrimental to him. There is no acknowledgement of the closeness (it could be a marriage partner), just a departure. That would hurt a human being. The actions of Israel and Judah would hurt a loving and caring God. He had given them everything and established them by His own goodwill but when they were in their land, settled and blessed, they turned from Jehovah and allied themselves to the false gods of idolatry. They betrayed God, and they did it en-masse, for the word “trooped” pictures them going in droves to the heathen shrines and godless festivals, eager to be part of it all. They defected as a nation.
Verse 8 resorts to a metaphor to strengthen the charge. They were horses on heat in gay abandon, but ones who had gained maturity through the Lord’s care (well-fed). They lusted after foreign gods much like Solomon did when he abandoned God. The reference to each one neighing after his neighbour’s wife, I think means they were all out committing adultery by the adoption of the gods of Baal and the nations, but literally, were probably engaged in sexual unfaithfulness also, with or without the cult prostitutes.
Verse 9 sees a rhetorical question being asked by God about punishing the nation but the matter is already settled for He will punish them, and shall He not avenge Himself on them? The doubtless answer is again “Yes”. This chapter is a bit like justifying a verdict already decided, as God lays out charge after charge.
HOW FAITHFUL ARE WE FOR THE FUTURE?
A man is married and engaged actively in Christian service. I am speaking of a case I know. No one thinks badly of him at all and he is thought of as a loyal servant of the Lord. Then the attraction of another woman becomes too strong and he departs his wife, and of course, all Christian activity. That was many years ago and is the status quo today. How might such a thing happen, and do you think you are immune from a similar happening?
“O, that would never happen to me!”
There was a time in Israel/Judah when the people would have said, “We will never forsake Jehovah. He is our God. Apostasy is unthinkable. We will serve our God forever.”
The New Testament used an expression, found in this passage – {{Hebrews 3:12-13 “TAKE CARE, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God, but encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN.”}} That expression is “the deceitfulness of sin”. Sin is too cunning for human beings but the child of God has the Holy Spirit and He imparts the new nature. Yet, the Christian is still prone to the deceitfulness of sin, and if he allows himself to take that first step off the track, then he is likely to fall as Judah did.
The Christian life is not a picnic but a battle, a continuous battle for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against demonic forces aimed at destroying us. That is why Paul was so firm in urging the Ephesians to take up the WHOLE armour of God and to stand firm against the devil and his agents because, after all, we are on the winning side. All we must do is to stand firm in faith and resolve.
I often say by way of summary that there are two paramount words in Christian living and they are FAITHFULNESS and COMMITMENT. God requires both. I have studied various church groups as I have followed that in person and by reading, not only the churches’ home pages but in News releases. There is such a spectrum of positions within churches.
There are those who seem to be going along for the ride, not really committed to anything, and there are those who are committed to their faith. They are found faithful in church programs – prayer meetings, outreach, missionary support, bible studies and personal growth. The big problem I find is that most church people are in the middle and that in itself is not good.
Yes, Judah departed and the deceitfulness of sin was so strong it would not allow the nation to repent and to return. They carried themselves along the path to destruction.
