Jeremiah 5:1-6
LACK OF TRUTH AND FAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE... [ Continue Reading ]
LACK OF TRUTH AND FAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE... [ Continue Reading ]
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, searching the lanes of the city, AND SEE NOW, AND KNOW, AND SEEK IN THE BROAD PLACES THEREOF, in the wider streets and intersections of streets, where many people come together, IF YE CAN FIND A MAN, IF THERE BE ANY THAT EXECUTETH JUDGMENT, carryin... [ Continue Reading ]
And though they say, in a form of assurance which had become habitual with them, even as with many thoughtless people in our days, THE LORD LIVETH, SURELY THEY SWEAR FALSELY. The oath under such circumstances had no validity, it was just as insincere as their profession of the worship of Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
O Lord, are not Thine eyes upon the truth? Does not Jehovah seek faithfulness and sincerity in all things? Is He not ever the God of truth? THOU HAST STRICKEN THEM, BUT THEY HAVE NOT GRIEVED, they do not feel the pain, the punishment makes no impression upon them; THOU HAST CONSUMED THEM, destroying... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor, the prophet here interrupting himself to voice an objection to the Lord; THEY ARE FOOLISH, acting foolishly on account of their ignorance; FOR THEY KNOW NOT THE WAY OF THE LORD NOR THE JUDGMENT OF THEIR GOD. The prophet assumes that only the untaught poor are... [ Continue Reading ]
I will get me unto the great men, those of the so-called higher classes, AND WILL SPEAK UNTO THEM; FOR THEY HAVE KNOWN THE WAY OF THE LORD AND THE JUDGMENT OF THEIR GOD, that is, Surely one might expect to find better knowledge among these people, considering their position. BUT THESE HAVE ALTOGETHE... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them and a wolf of the evenings, one of those found in the great steppes and deserts, SHALL SPOIL THEM, A LEOPARD SHALL WATCH OVER THEIR CITIES, lurking for his prey nearby, the strongest, the most ravenous, and the swiftest of the beasts of prey being c... [ Continue Reading ]
How shall I pardon thee for this? It would obviously be inconsistent with God's holiness to overlook the transgressions of Israel, to let their wickedness go unpunished. THY CHILDREN HAVE FORSAKEN ME AND SWORN BY THEM THAT ARE NO GODS, or, more emphatic, "by that which is no god," worshiping a creat... [ Continue Reading ]
FAITHLESSNESS AND TREACHERY... [ Continue Reading ]
They were as fed horses in the morning, fat and dissolute stallions; EVERY ONE NEIGHED AFTER HIS NEIGHBOR'S WIFE, inflamed with sinful lust.... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall I not visit for these things, punishing the guilty ones to the limit, SAITH THE LORD, AND SHALL NOT MY SOUL BE AVENGED ON SUCH A NATION AS THIS? How could His anger be withheld under such circumstances? The Lord therefore turns to the Chaldeans, calling upon them to carry out His punishment up... [ Continue Reading ]
Go ye up upon her walls and destroy, scaling them in a successful attack upon them; BUT MAKE NOT A FULL END, so that Judah's existence would forever be at an end; TAKE AWAY HER BATTLEMENTS, or, "hew off her branches," remove her tendrils, namely, the chief men of the nation, for they are not the Lor... [ Continue Reading ]
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah, the entire nation of God's chosen people, HAVE DEALT VERY TREACHEROUSLY AGAINST ME, SAITH THE LORD, their faithlessness being the Lord's chief reason for complaint.... [ Continue Reading ]
They have belied the Lord, denying Jehovah, the God of the covenant, AND SAID, IT IS NOT HE, insisting that He was not the true and only God, NEITHER SHALL EVIL COME UPON US, NEITHER SHALL WE SEE SWORD NOR FAMINE, thus both denying and challenging the threat of the Lord regarding the punishment whic... [ Continue Reading ]
and the prophets shall become wind, their warnings, in the estimation of the scoffers, being nothing but idle threats, AND THE WORD IS NOT IN THEM, the unbelieving rebels declaring that God did not speak through those prophets who rebuked their wickedness; THUS SHALL IT BE DONE UNTO THEM, that is, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the mighty Captain of the heavenly armies, BECAUSE YE SPEAK THIS WORD, BEHOLD, I WILL MAKE MY WORDS IN THY MOUTH FIRE, Jeremiah being given a sharp and scathing message to the rebellious people whom the Lord here puts far from Him, AND THIS PEOPLE WOOD, f... [ Continue Reading ]
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, this being the specific manner in which His punishment of destruction would be carried out. IT IS A MIGHTY NATION, IT IS AN ANCIENT NATION, one of great antiquity in history, A NATION WHOSE LANGUAGE THOU KNOWEST NOT, a f... [ Continue Reading ]
Their quiver is as an open sepulcher, on account of the death-dealing arrows which it contained, THEY ARE ALL MIGHTY MEN, distinguished for their strength and bravery.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall eat up thine harvest, the standing grain, AND THY BREAD, WHICH THY SONS AND THY DAUGHTERS SHOULD EAT, which was intended for their food; THEY SHALL EAT UP THY FLOCKS AND THINE HERDS; THEY SHALL EAT UP THY VINES AND THY FIG-TREES, everything that in any manner yielded food; THEY SHALL... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless, in those days, when this severe punishment strikes the nation, SAITH THE LORD, I WILL NOT MAKE A FULL END WITH YOU, He would not yet bring total annihilation upon them. Thus the Lord is gracious and merciful and long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ever more ready to sho... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord, our God, all these things unto us? when they finally reach the point that they make inquiry concerning the punishment striking them, THEN SHALL THOU ANSWER THEM, LIKE AS YE HAVE FORSAKEN ME AND SERVED STRANGE GODS IN YOUR LAND,... [ Continue Reading ]
BLINDNESS OF HEART, INGRATITUDE, DECEIT, AND VIOLENCE... [ Continue Reading ]
Declare this in the house of Jacob and publish it in Judah, saying, for the benefit of the whole nation,... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear now this, O foolish people and without understanding, lacking in spiritual insight, WHICH HAVE EYES AND SEE NOT, WHICH HAVE EARS AND HEAR NOT, who are afflicted with spiritual blindness and dullness, who have hardened their hearts against every influence for good:... [ Continue Reading ]
Fear ye not Me? saith the Lord; will ye not tremble at My presence, standing in awe and reverence before Him, WHICH HAVE PLACED THE SAND FOR THE BOUND OF THE SEA, defining the shore-line, BY A PERPETUAL DECREE THAT IT CANNOT PASS IT, being held in check by the barriers erected by the Creator; AND TH... [ Continue Reading ]
But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart, not only apostate, but positively hostile to the Lord; THEY ARE REVOLTED, breaking loose from their affiliation with the Lord, and gone, far away from Him who is the one Hope of their deliverance.... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither say they in their heart, in repenting of their evil ways. LET US NOW FEAR THE LORD, OUR GOD, THAT GIVETH RAIN, BOTH THE FORMER, shortly after the crop has been sown, from October to December, AND THE LATTER, which falls before harvest, in March and April, IN HIS SEASON; HE RESERVETH UNTO US... [ Continue Reading ]
Your iniquities have turned away these things, the blessings of God's goodness, AND YOUR SINS HAVE WITHHOLDEN GOOD THINGS FROM YOU, acting as a barrier against the flow of God's gifts.... [ Continue Reading ]
For among My people are found wicked men, evil and godless persons; THEY LAY WAIT, they spend their time in lurking, AS HE THAT SETTETH SNARES, as fowlers crouch when laying their snares; THEY SET A TRAP, THEY CATCH MEN, namely, for the purpose of destroying them.... [ Continue Reading ]
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit, filled with treasures gained by fraud; THEREFORE THEY ARE BECOME GREAT AND WAXEN RICH, their unrighteous wealth giving them a position of honor before the world.... [ Continue Reading ]
They are waxen fat, from a life of laziness and indulgence, THEY SHINE, with the sleekness due to their luxurious living; YEA, THEY OVERPASS THE DEEDS OF THE WICKED, exceeding the ordinary measure of wickedness, as presented in the case of the Gentiles; THEY JUDGE NOT THE CAUSE, they do not carry ou... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord? Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Cf v. 9.... [ Continue Reading ]
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land, something fearful and horrible has happened, 18:13; 23:14; Hosea 6:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophets prophesy falsely, proclaiming lies, AND THE PRIESTS BEAR RULE BY THEIR MEANS, literally, "by their hands," that is, at their side, under the guidance of the false prophets, lording it over the people by such shady methods; AND MY PEOPLE LOVE TO HAVE IT SO, are altogether satisfied with... [ Continue Reading ]