Summary: Have the churches been faithful in relaying the gospel, or has Christianity become something infused into the culture without being a dynamic force? Wicked men flourish. In Judah the people were spiritually blind and deaf. We need to take note ourselves.

PERSONAL STUDY AND TEACHING IN JEREMIAH – PART 20 – TEACH YOUR GENERATION - AND WICKED MEN IN NATIONS LIE IN WAIT FOR EVIL

PART 20 - Jeremiah 5:18-27

CHAPTER 5

[A]. THE MESSAGE TO BE PASSED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

{{Jeremiah 5:18 “Yet even IN THOSE DAYS,” declares the LORD, “I will not make you a complete destruction, Jeremiah 5:19 and it shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ THEN YOU SHALL SAY to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’}}

Do you know what is wrong with our societies today? Well, what a debate could ensue from that question but if it was tackled seriously, I think of all the reasons proposed, it would get down to the departure from God and the foundations of the bible such as what true marriage is. Our governments and rulers and institutions and people have turned away from God. Why is that we might wonder? Well has the message been passed from one generation to another? Have the churches been faithful in relaying the gospel, or has Christianity become something infused into the culture without being a dynamic force?

In any case when the message of the gospel is no longer relevant and Christians are in decline, then the populace becomes very anti-God, anti-Christian and anti-Semitic. That is where we stand today. After World War 1, it was said to be the war that ended all wars, so terrible it was, but then came World War 2. Someone once said the only thing we ever learn from history is that we never learn anything from history. It is so true. People are so sinful and so bent in their direction away from God, that it is unchangeable apart from the dramatic conversion through the Spirit of God.

The same principle applies to Israel. Did they ever learn from their departure from the Lord? Sadly, NO. Destruction was certainly coming for the nation but God declares it will not be a complete destruction in the sense of total annihilation, for He will leave a remnant. God always has a remnant, a faithful remnant. The “those days” of verse 18 is the invading Babylonian army.

Then comes a look into the days and years following the destruction, and the answer for those yet to be born who might inquire why Judah was overthrown. The question posed in verse 19 puts the agency of destruction as God, but more honest is, “Why has God allowed this to happen to us?” The answer is very clear, and it is God who actually answers, the reason being, the people forsook God and served foreign gods in the land of Judah. God then indicates that BECAUSE THEY BOUND THEMSELVES TO FOREIGN GODS IN THEIR OWN LAND, THEN HE WOULD SEND THEM BOUND INTO A FOREIGN LAND TO SERVE STRANGERS (the Babylonians and the Medes and Persians).

The truth is to be told to generations following lest they also go down that path to destruction. Honesty is required and we must never cover up our sins of the past. Today in China the people are fed the most blatant lies about the great Chairman Mao as if he was the angel who came from the great paradise of socialism. Yet, the Chinese populace is absolutely unaware that Mao is the greatest butcher in the history of the world with up to 80 million victims to his name.

Succeeding generations must be told the truth about the past. That must include the times of blessing when God was honoured and worshipped; and the times of failure and deprivation when God was dismissed and dishonoured. Our nations today are in that latter category and we are quickly heading to destruction. Today Mao is in the torment of hell in the flames because he deserves it.

The verse (19) singles out just one charge against Judah, and that was their root problem that affected their whole lifestyle. Any man’s relationship with God, or against God, will be reflected in that person’s lifestyle. It is the single and fundamental issue that a person’s life be correctly connected with God, and if not, then everything else is out of harmony. God has been forsaken by Israel, and so all these terrors came upon them. MAKE SURE THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS ARE TOLD AND PROPERLY NURTURED. Today the very opposite happens. The education system is twisting young minds into godless, manipulated individuals making up nations of wickedness.

[B]. A SERIES OF DOUBLES DESCRIBES JUDAH’S WOEFUL CONDITION

{{Jeremiah 5:20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, Jeremiah 5:21 ‘Hear this, O foolish and senseless people who have eyes, but do not see; who have ears, but do not hear. Jeremiah 5:22 DO YOU NOT FEAR ME?’ DECLARES THE LORD. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it, Jeremiah 5:23 but this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart. They have turned aside and departed.}}

This is a rich section of the book with a pointed message to Judah. There is a double naming in verse 20, a declaration for the house of Jacob, and a proclamation for Judah, but the message is the same. We may wonder why there was no message for Israel, which went into captivity to Assyria a couple of centuries earlier. There is a double reason for that, and the first is that both Samaria or Israel, and Judah, were all of the house of Jacob, one nation before the division, and one nation again after 1947. When the Lord was on earth, the division of Judah and Samaria was still existing. The second reason of this double is that Judah was to suffer the same destiny as did Israel, for both nations were guilty of the same offences and would suffer the same fate.

The people are addressed as foolish and senseless in verse 21. That is another double pairing. One may wonder what the difference is between the two words. I think foolish indicates action, and senseless indicates standing. God saw them as senseless because they lacked any sense to reason the existence of God, or to understand God’s dealings with His people since the time of Abraham. They were foolish because they turned to foolish things like idols and heathen darkness, and their actions were found in serving this adultery.

Then comes yet another double pairing, this time, the response of two of the senses, seeing and hearing. Their eyes were dull – they could not see (discern) God or His presence; their ears were deaf to spiritual things. Why was this colourful comparison language used, and the doubles also? I think it was for the purpose of emphasis, much like someone may exclaim, “You dishonest and false person,” even though some might argue redundancy. The combination of eyes and ears is not uncommon in Scripture and was frequently employed by the Major Prophets, and by the Lord in the New Testament, and by Paul.

Verse 21 attributes the blind eyes and deaf ears to the foolish and senseless people, all those of Judah who are deluded by their idols and are in bondage to them so they can not understand God. For Jeremiah, it was the people who were with eye and ear problems, but in the Psalms, it is the actual idols themselves. One could say, “like idol, like people” – {{Psalm 115:4-8 “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands. They have MOUTHS, BUT THEY CANNOT SPEAK. They have EYES, BUT THEY CANNOT SEE. They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot feel. They have feet, but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them.”}} It is true that what you commit to is what you become.

Isaiah instructs his nation, but we know, to no avail – {{Isaiah 43:8 “Bring out the people who are blind even though they have eyes, and the deaf even though they have ears.”}} An Ezekiel verse is similar to Jeremiah – {{Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.”}}.

There is a passage in Isaiah that is repeated in the New Testament by both the Lord and by Paul – {{Isaiah 6:9-10 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening but do not perceive; keep on looking but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive for their EARS are dull and their EYES dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”}} {{Matthew 13:14-16 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled which says, ‘You will keep on hearing but will not understand, and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive, for the heart of this people has become dull and with their EARS they scarcely hear, and they have closed their EYES lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them,’ but blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”}} {{Acts 28:25-27 and when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive, for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their EARS they scarcely hear, and they have closed their EYES lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.”’}}

In Romans, Paul is explaining why the Jews in the Church age are not responsive to the gospel – {{Romans 11:7-8 What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened, just as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, EYES to see not, and EARS to hear not, down to this very day,”}} but in the day of Israel’s restoration and redemption, the scales will be lifted – {{Isaiah 35:4-6 Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come, but He will save you.” Then the EYES of the blind will be opened and the EARS of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy for waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.”}}

For further meditation, the following verses are given for any who want to examine eyes and ears even more – 2 Chronicles 6:40 and Psalm 34:15 and Isaiah 6:10; 11:3; 32:3, and Ezekiel 8:18; 40:4; 44:5 and Mark 8:18.

Verse 22 asks a valid question of these foolish and senseless people in another double, inferring they do not fear the Lord, or tremble in His presence. The same questions can be put to people of the modern era. The era is only modern because of time, but the hearts and the sinful state of modern people are no different from those of earlier eras. The heart of man is evil and deceitful and will remain so until sin is finally ended and every evil thing is thrown into the lake of fire.

In verses 22 and 23, the prophet is saying that even the sea recognises its boundaries, the limits set by God, and will not cross over the limits of God, but the sinful people of Israel break God’s limits all the time, surging out into sin. The sea obeys its limits, not Israel. Even in a freak, natural event like a tsunami, the sea returns very quickly, not like Israel. In verse 23 the nation is described by yet another double – a stubborn and rebellious heart. The oceans are obedient. Judah is stubborn and rebellious. Then these few verses conclude with the last double in the passage, that of Judah’s willful action. They have turned aside and departed, a decision made to turn from God, but they never returned for they departed and kept on departing. This verse concludes a series of doubles.

[C]. ISRAEL SEES NOT THE LORD IN NATURE WHILE WICKED MEN FLOURISH

{{Jeremiah 5:24 They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn rain and the spring rain, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.” Jeremiah 5:25 ‘Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have withheld good from you. Jeremiah 5:26 Wicked men are found among My people. They watch like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap. They catch men. Jeremiah 5:27 Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and rich.”}}

The prophet is still speaking of the stubborn and senseless people and in verse 24 he adds they are not capable of repentance, which is the deed of action in the fear of the Lord. No fear of God will see no repentance. No fear of God brings utter lawless stupidity – {{Psalm 111:10 “THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. Psalm 112:1 Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.”}} People who do not fear the Lord bring their nations to ruin. Today all sorts of lawless deviants and corrupt persons have control of societies and Governments and there seems to be no longer, any accountability.

In Romans, Paul says “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18) and that is the dire condition of a sinful people, for they can not come to repentance. The observable basis suggested by Jeremiah for repentance is that of Nature. God ordered a logical set of blessing for Israel, all related to the land, all in connection with rainfall and harvests. It is by the logical order of Nature and by observing and knowing the logical order of physics, that man must come to acknowledge the existence of God. The majesty of the diverse life forms and their habits as seen in so many film documentaries these days, along with the absolute majesty and power of the universe, ought to cause man to conclude that there is an all-powerful God, and therefore, to address one’s life according to that fact. Not to do so, is foolishness.

Again Paul speaks of this same thing in Romans – {{Romans 1:19-20 “. . . because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them, for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, SO THAT THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE.”}} Just as the Jews of old rejected God’s voice in Nature, so too did the ancient Gentile world, and our generation does the same. In fact our generation is worse because it follows the myth of evolution that was unthinkable even to the ancients.

The outcome for the Gentiles through that action is the same as today, as outlined in the following Roman verses – {{Romans 1:22-23 “Professing to be wise, THEY BECAME FOOLS, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”}} They reject God and turn to idolatry. The Jews followed by accepting the Gentile idolatry. Modern man may not bow in worship to images of four-footed creatures and crawling animals, but he has his own set of gods in the form of money and power and fame and futility and countless empires he has built for himself. The fear of God is not before his eyes, but fame and fortune and pleasure and fleshly desires and ways to satisfy them, are before his eyes.

Jeremiah identifies the sins of the people as the reason why all God’s blessings in the land have been withheld from Judah, another double of iniquities and sins (verse 25). The blame must fall where it belongs, and it must rest on the people’s heads. Amos decries the injustice of his time with a double reference to sin – {{Amos 5:12 “I know your transgressions are many and YOUR SINS ARE GREAT, you who DISTRESS THE RIGHTEOUS and accept bribes, and TURN ASIDE THE POOR in the gate.”}}

Among the nation are very wicked men, more wicked than others, and these are ruthless schemers who set traps to catch men. We have the equivalent today where all sorts of scammers and deceivers and imposters are operating to fleece people of their savings and to take people down. These operators are devoid of conscience and morality, and are found throughout the business world, in public, and on the internet. Also these fowlers are in religious circles ensnaring people with their wicked doctrines while some of them live in luxury, ones like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and a whole train full of them. It is similar to this verse – {{2Timothy 3:6 “Among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.”}}

Fowlers operate their traps not only in the corporate world, but in personal households. They are wicked, to use God’s word in verse 26. In Jeremiah’s time, these fowlers of people defrauded, debased, conned and misled anyone they could trap for their own gains. {{Psalm 124:7 “Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper. The snare is broken and we have escaped.”}}. God delivers His own. Jeremiah says their own houses are like a cage full of birds, that is, all they have is gained through their corruption of people they have ensnared, for the purpose of making the owners wealthy, but it was done through deceit. These deceivers have become great and rich. May we conduct our dealings in an honest way that will never defraud others for our own personal gain. May we put others before ourselves. For the Christian, godliness with contentment is great gain.