Since the people would not listen to God’s word, God told Jeremiah to “act out” his message. This is the first of at least ten “action sermons” found in Jeremiah. Meanwhile, this chapter deals with four sins of the people of Jerusalem.
Investigation: they were ungodly (vv. 1–6). God commanded Jeremiah to conduct a search of all the city of Jerusalem. If even one righteous person were discovered, the Lord would forgive the wicked city and call off the invasion. The background for this “action sermon” is God’s agreement with Abraham to spare Sodom if ten righteous men were in the city (Gen. 18:22–33). The test in Jerusalem was, “Does the person practice justice and truth?”
Jeremiah found nobody among the poor who qualified, but he concluded that their lack of religious education would excuse them. The prophet then went to the nobles and the leaders, who he discovered knew God’s commandments but threw off the yoke and turned away from the law (Jer. 5:5; see 2:20; Ps. 2:1–3). When the survey was concluded, not one person was found who was honest and truthful.
One thing was left for God to do: He would allow the invaders to enter the land like marauding animals and destroy the people (see Jer. 2:15; 4:7). The animal had gotten loose from the yoke and run away from the master, only to be met by a lion, a wolf, and a leopard! What kind of freedom was that?
Condemnation: they were ungrateful (vv. 7–9). God asked two questions: “Why should I forgive you?” (v. 7 niv) and “Shall I not punish them for these things?” (v. 9 nkjv). “God fed them to the full” (v. 7; “supplied all their needs” niv), yet they used His gifts in order to commit sin and serve their idols. The goodness of God should have brought them to repentance (Rom. 2:4), but they were ungrateful for His blessings (Hos. 2:4–13). Instead of acting like men and women made in the image of God, they became like animals in heat (“well-fed, lusty stallions,” Jer. 5: niv; see 2:24).
The idolatrous nations in Canaan conducted a worship that was unbelievably immoral. In their minds, consorting with the temple prostitutes could guarantee a fruitful harvest. Baal was the storm god who provided the needed rain. Thus, when the Lord held back the rain to warn His people, they turned to pagan idols for help. Josiah had gotten rid of the temple prostitutes, but these prostitutes found other ways to carry on their trade and satisfy the desires they had inflamed in the men of Judah. Not unlike society today, the people worshipped sex and saw nothing wrong with what they were doing.
Devastation: they were unfaithful (vv. 10–19). This is the heart of the matter: Since the people did not believe God’s word, they turned their backs on God and went their own way. “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’” (Jer. 5: niv). They rejected the word God spoke through the prophets and called it “wind.” As a result, God called for devastating judgment to come to His vineyard (vv. 10–11; see 2:21).
God, however, said His word would be a fire that would consume the people like wood (5:14; see 23:29). Note the repetition of the phrase “eat up” (“devour” niv) in 5:17, an announcement that the Babylonian invasion would consume the land and the people. This invasion would fulfill the warning given in Deuteronomy 28:49–52, a warning that the people knew. The Jews had forsaken the Lord and served idols in their own land. Now they would be temporarily forsaken by the Lord and taken to Babylon, where they would serve idols in a foreign land.
Yet, this warning opened and closed with the promise that God would not destroy the nation completely (Jer. 5:10, 18; see 4:27; 30:11; 46:28). Even in wrath, He remembers mercy (Hab. 3:2). The Jewish prophets announced judgment, but they also promised that a “remnant” would be spared. Isaiah repeated this promise (Isa. 1:19; 10:20–22; 11:11, 16; 14:22; 46:3) and even named one of his sons “a remnant returns” (Shearjashub, 7:3); Micah echoed the same promise (Mic. 2:12; 4:7; 5:3, 7–8; 7:18).
The remnant that returned to Judah from Babylon after the captivity restored the nation, rebuilt the temple, and maintained the testimony, preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah. God had covenanted with Abraham that through his descendants all the world would be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3), and God kept His promise.
Proclamation: they were unconcerned (vv. 20–31). Jeremiah was a retiring sort of person. Yet God told him to announce and proclaim boldly to the whole house of Jacob just what the people were like. The prophet’s description of the people must have angered them, but it didn’t shake them out of their complacency. Jeremiah told them that they were foolish, senseless, blind, and deaf, and that they had no fear of God. They were stubborn and rebellious, having turned away from serving the Lord. The mighty seas obeyed God’s rule, but His own people rejected Him. God sent the rains and gave the harvests, but His people refused to thank Him.
Instead of encouraging one another to fear God, they exploited one another like hunters snaring birds. Thus the rich grew richer as the poor languished. The courts were corrupt, the prophets were liars, the priests went right along with them—and the people approved what was done and enjoyed it! “My people love to have it so” (Jer. 5:31). When a nation becomes that corrupt, there is no hope.
The sinners thought they were getting away with their crimes, but God asked them, “What will you do in the end?” (5: niv). “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14: nkjv).