JEREMIAH 5 - Not one is upright

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

** We were all born sinners; no one is righteous

Jeremiah 5:1 NIV

[1] “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,

 look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.

** The Lord engaged in the back-and-forth dialog because Abraham revealed his heart to save others  <H86>

• Abraham knew Lot’s family had 10 members

• We know God would spare punishment for one righteous person (Jer 5:1)

• God will not indiscriminately mix punishment on the righteous and unrighteous

• God can separate His punishment on those deserving it, as He did via hailstones that rained down and specifically killed non-Jews in Joshua’s battle while leaving every Jew alive (Josh 10:8-11)

• In the meantime, we are to grow alongside evil (as wheat and tares) patiently waiting for the end of the world as we know it and His impending judgment (Matt 13:30)

• As God did with Lot’s family, He will remove the righteous via the Rapture before invoking His wrath via the Tribulation judging the earth  

Genesis 18:30-32 NIV

[30] Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” [31] Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” [32] Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

Jeremiah 5:1 NIV

[1] “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,

 look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.

Joshua 10:8-11 NIV

[8] The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” [9] After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. [10] The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. [11] As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

Matthew 13:30 NIV

[30] Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' ”

** God’s people had hardened their hearts so much that God’s discipline did not have an effect on them

Jeremiah 5:3-5 NIV

[3] Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. [4] I thought, “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. [5] So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God.” But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds.

Jeremiah 7:13-15 NIV

[13] While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. [14] Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. [15] I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.'

Jeremiah 7:24-26 NIV

[24] But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. [25] From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. [26] But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.'

Jeremiah 17:23 NIV

[23] Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.

** God is clear how He feels about extra-marital relations; this sin deserves His punishment

Jeremiah 5:7-9 NIV

[7] “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. [8] They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man's wife. [9] Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

** Jeremiah was in anguish as he wrote these verses because he knew of the impending near-complete disaster God would inflict on His people and the fact his audience was not taking this seriously

Jeremiah 4:19-21 NIV

[19] Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. [20] Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. [21] How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Jeremiah 4:24-27 NIV

[24] I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. [25] I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away. [26] I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger. [27] This is what the Lord says: “The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.

Jeremiah 4:30 NIV

[30] What are you doing, you devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why highlight your eyes with makeup? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they want to kill you.

Jeremiah 5:11-15 NIV

[11] The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. [12] They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. [13] The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.” [14] Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says: “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes. [15] People of Israel,” declares the Lord, “I am bringing a distant nation against you---an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand.

Jeremiah 6:27-29 NIV

[27] “I have made you a tester of metals and my people the ore, that you may observe and test their ways. [28] They are all hardened rebels, going about to slander. They are bronze and iron; they all act corruptly. [29] The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire, but the refining goes on in vain; the wicked are not purged out.

Jeremiah 8:18,21-22 NIV

[18] You who are my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. [21] Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. [22] Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?

Jeremiah 10:19 NIV

[19] Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself, “This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”

** Do we understand the seriousness of sin and how it hurts God when we abandon Him?  Can we hear the pain in God’s voice when He questions Israel regarding her sin and the discipline needed?

Jeremiah 2:31-32 NIV

[31] “You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord: “Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, 'We are free to roam; we will come to you no more'? [32] Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.

Jeremiah 5:19,25-29 NIV

[19] And when the people ask, 'Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.' [25] Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. [26] “Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people. [27] Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful [28] and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor. [29] Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

Jeremiah 8:19b NIV

[19]“Why have they aroused my anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?”

** Christ's admonition for those to have 'eyes to see' and 'ears to hear' – to understand what is written in Scripture and Christ’s teachings – is recorded by numerous authors throughout Scripture

Jeremiah 5:20-21 NIV

[20] “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: [21] Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:

Matthew 13:15 NIV

[15] For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'

Mark 8:17-18 NIV

[17] Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? [18] Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember?

Isaiah 29:18 NIV

[18] In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

** We are to have a healthy fear of God who created and controls all things

Jeremiah 5:20-24 NIV

[20] “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: [21] Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: [22] Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. [23] But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. [24] They do not say to themselves, 'Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'

** We experience consequences as a result of our decisions and actions; God gives us over to what we trust

Jeremiah 2:17 NIV

[17] Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when he led you in the way?

Jeremiah 2:36-37 NIV

[36] Why do you go about so much, changing your ways? You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria. [37] You will also leave that place with your hands on your head, for the Lord has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them.

Jeremiah 5:30-31 NIV

[30] “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: [31] The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?