Jeremiah needed to find one person who judged rightly and sought the truth. If he could find just one, God promised to forgive his city.
Genesis 18:32: Abraham asked the Lord to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous people. The Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
Psalm 53:2: “God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God.”
Proverbs 20:6: “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?”
Ben Franklin wrote: “He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.”
2 Chronicles 16:9: “The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”
Ezekiel 22:30: The Lord said to Ezekiel. “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”
In Psalm 12:1, there is a prayer for godliness, “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.”
Jeremiah 5:2: “Though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”
Isaiah 29:13: The people had the right words but not the right hearts. They drew near to the Lord with their mouth and honored Him with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him.
Some people say they grew up in Church. They say they have a grandmother who believes in Jesus, but do THEY judge rightly and speak the truth?
Titus 1:16: “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”
Jeremiah 5:3: “Oh Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock. They have refused to return.”
Psalms 51:6: “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.”
“Lord Jesus, You who said to Pontius Pilate that You came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Please help us to believe Your truth with our minds and act upon Your truth with our hearts.”
Jeremiah 5:4: “Therefore I said, ‘Surely these are poor. They are foolish. For they do not know the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God.’”
Jeremiah had an outreach strategy. He targeted the poor first. Jesus preached the Gospel to the poor. But the poor in Jeremiah’s day could not relate with him.
Jeremiah 5:5: “I will go to the great men and speak to them, for they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. But these have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds.”
The great men broke their yokes. Yokes are worn by service animals. The great men rejected the Lord’s yoke. They left the farm to live among lions, wolves, and leopards. They traded the farm for the wild side. They exposed themselves to predators.
In Luke 19:14, Jesus also experienced rejection from so-called great men. He told a parable of a nobleman whose citizens did not want Him to reign over them.
Jeremiah 5:6: “Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them. A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them. A leopard will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many. Their backslidings have increased.”
The lion is an instrument of God’s judgment. In 1 King 13, a young prophet delivered God’s Word to King Jeroboam. But afterwards, disobeyed God’s Word to him. A lion killed him. This man serves as a warning to preachers. Preachers must also obey God’s Word.
When Israel turned from God, He became like a lion to them. Hosea 5:14-15: “For I will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver. I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek My face. In their affliction they will seek Me early.”
Betrayers of God suffer dearly. Hosea 13:6-9: “When they had pasture, they were filled… their heart was exalted… they forgot Me. So, I will be to them like a lion. I will lurk like a leopard by the road. I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs. I will tear open their rib cage. I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them. O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is from Me.” The lion, leopard, bear and beast also appear in Daniel 7:3-7.
Amos 5:18-19: “Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him!”
Habakkuk 1:8: “Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping [down] to devour.”
In Zephaniah 3:3-4, the Lord said of Assyria’s capital Ninevah, “Her princes in her midst are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.”
Revelation 13:2: “And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.” The lion, leopard, bear and dragon symbolize the nature of the kingdom of the antichrist.
The Lord gave Isaiah, Ezekiel and John visions of four cherubim. Some with features of animals! These visions proceed God’s judgment on evil and His restoration of fellowship with people.
If beasts characterize God’s wrath on sin, did Christ experience such wrath for our sins? Yes, bulls, lions and dogs...
Psalm 22:11-13, 16-21: “Be not far from Me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded Me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion.” “Dogs have surrounded Me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet. I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me. O, My Strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen!”
Hebrews 4:15: “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
Ravenous lions are overcome by God’s power. In Judges 14:5-6, Samson killed a lion by the power of God’s Spirit. In Daniel 6:22, he testified, “My God sent His angel, and He shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight.” In 2 Timothy 4:17, Paul testified, “I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.”
Jeremiah 5:7-8: “How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. They were like well-fed lusty stallions, everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.”
There is connection between idolatry and adultery. Proverbs 22:14 says, “The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit. He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.”
Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
Jeremiah 5:9: “Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord. And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
Leviticus 20:10 states that “both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”
God exercised great patience with Judah. He did not immediately remove them from their land. In fact, after many warnings, the bulk of them, but not all of them were removed in three successive deportations. After each deportation, those who remained behind had opportunity to repent but did not do so. Jeremiah remained with the remnant that outlasted all three deportations, but then, even those
who were left behind fled from Isreal to Egypt.
Jeremiah 5:10-11: “Go up on her walls and destroy, but do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously with Me, says the Lord.”
In Jeremiah 5:10, the Lord said, “Take away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s.” In John 15:6, Jesus taught, “If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” They trashed Christ in this life and ended up trashed in the next life. In John 8:34, Jesus said, “Unless you believe in Me, you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
“Do not make a complete end.” Amos 9:8 says, “The eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom to destroy it from the face of the earth, but the Lord will not totally destroy the house of Jacob.”
Descendants from Jacob to Jesus were necessary because Jesus is the Seed promised to Jacob’s father Abraham. Galatians 3:16 says that in Abraham’s Seed [Christ] all nations will be blessed.
Jeremiah 5:12: “They have lied about the Lord, and said, ‘It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.’”
They were in denial. They refused to believe that God was against them. They confidently predicted that all was going to be just fine.
Micah 3:11: “Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, her priests instruct for a price and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, ‘Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.’”
Jeremiah 5:13: “And the prophets become wind, for the Word is not in them. Thus, shall it be done to them.”
Proverbs 25:14: “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.”
Jude 1:4, 12: “Ungodly men turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the Lord… they serve themselves… Clouds without water …trees without fruit...”
Jeremiah 5:14: “Thus says the Lord God of hosts: because you speak this word, behold, I will make My Words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.” Jeremiah 23:29: “Is not My Word like fire, declares the Lord?”
2 Kings 1:10: “Elijah replied to the captain of 50, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.’ Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.”
Revelation 11:5: “If anyone wants to harm them [the two witnesses], fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so, if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.”
In Numbers 16:35, “A fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense.” These 250 men joined with Korah and rebelled against the Lord and His servant Moses.
Jeremiah 5:15-17: “Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, oh house of Israel, says the Lord. It is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb. They are all mighty men, and they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds. They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall destroy your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.”
The Lord promised to bring judgments against His people if they broke covenant with Him. Leviticus 26:16 says, “I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.”
Jeremiah 5:18: “Nevertheless, in those days, says the Lord, I will not make a complete end of you.”
Romans 11:1: “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”
Jeremiah 5:19: “And it will be when you say, ‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’”
The Lord promised Israel in Deuteronomy 28:45-47, “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything.”
Jeremiah 5:20-21: “Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, ‘Hear this now, oh foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not.”
Jesus speaks of spiritually impaired eyes and ears in Matthew 13:13 and in John 12:40. Paul speaks of these in Acts 28:26 and Romans 11:8
Jeremiah 5:22: “Do you not fear Me? says the Lord. Will you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.”
They should have welcomed God’s attempts to hem them in from harm, but no, they jumped over every guardrail.
Jeremiah 5:23-24: “This people has a defiant and rebellious heart. They have revolted and departed. They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the Lord our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’”
God imposed sanctions on Judah’s water supplies to lead them to repent of defiance and rebellion toward Him.
In Amos 4:7, about 150 years prior to Jeremiah’s day, the Lord said, “I withheld the rain from you while there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain on one city and on another city. I would not send rain; one part would be rained on, while the part not rained on would dry up.”
Jeremiah 5:25: “Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you.”
Isaiah 59:2: “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
Jeremiah 5:26-27: “For among My people are found wicked men. They lie in wait as one who sets snares. They set a trap. They catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore, they have become great and grown rich.”
Amos 2:6: “…They sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals.”
Revelation 18:2, 11, 13 : The end-times Babylon will be “a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.” Babylon trafficked, “the bodies and souls of men.”
Jeremiah 5:28-29: “They have grown fat, they are sleek. Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless. Yet they prosper, and the right of the needy they do not defend. Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord. Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
Similarly, in Luke 16:22-23, Jesus told of the death of a beggar and a rich man. Angels carried the poor man to Abraham’s side. The rich man ended up in Hades and was in torment.”
Jeremiah 5:30-31: “An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?”
The people preferred impersonators over genuine prophets. Their counterfeit leaders allowed them to be counterfeit people. They could wear God’s Name without knowing God.
In Matthew 7:15, Jesus said to, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
In 2 Timothy 4:3, Paul wrote, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.”
Jeremiah needed to find one person who judged rightly and sought the truth. If he could find just one, God promised to forgive his city. We need to find Him too. Then, God will forgive us.
Jesus Christ is the One who judged rightly and spoke the truth. Jesus is our Savior! In 1 Peter 3:8, it is written, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”
Without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, we are guilty because we have not received the means by which God makes us upright. Martin Luther put it this way, “The Law discovers the disease The Gospel gives the remedy.”
Attached is a link to a power point version of this article
which I have recorded on my YouTube channel:
No comments:
Post a Comment