“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: When men fall down, do they not get up? When a man turns away, does he not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle. Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrust observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirement of the Lord.
How can you say, “We are wise for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying hand of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when their is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 8:4-12
This is what the prophet Jeremiah wrote concerning the nation of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had already disobeyed God to such an extent that they were taken captive by the Assyrians. Now Judah was following her example. God says through Jeremiah: “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.” Jeremiah 5:1
The city was so corrupt that Jeremiah only had a few friends after King Josiah died: Ahikam (Jeremiah 26:24), who supported Jeremiah so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death, Ebed-Melech (Jeremiah 38:7-13) who had Jeremiah rescued from a cistern, Gelaiah (Jeremiah 39:11-41:3), whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon appointed as governor over the captured Judah, and Baruch, who wrote down Jeremiah’s words as he dictated them (Jeremiah 36:4-32). Imagine living in a land that is supposed to be chosen by God, and there are only a few people that could be considered righteous in any way?
God says, “I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right.” (v. 6) Are we ever guilty of not saying what is right, especially considering God and His Word? Before we accept anything as being from God, we must study to make sure what is said or done is in agreement with the whole counsel of God. We must be like the Bereans and examine the Scriptures every day to determine if what is being said and done is approved by God: “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11 In Matthew 24 Jesus gives us a summary of end time events. Twice in that chapter, He warns us about deceivers, false Christs and false prophets. Deceivers will be a characteristic of end times. How very important that we examine the Scriptures daily so that we say and do what is right and correctly discern if what other say and do is right.
“No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” (v. 6) Hearing the Word of the Lord is supposed to cause us to change. We are always to be growing in God, that means we are always supposed to be repenting or changing when we realize that what we are doing is not quite right. If we discover that what we are doing is right, we just need to thank the Lord for His clear direction. Nothing brings joy a person more than being used by the Lord, knowing that we are doing His will.
“But my people do not know the requirement of the Lord.” (v. 7) Actually, the requirements of the Lord are straightforward. It is our sinful hearts that make it complicated. “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
The best guideline for knowing the Lord’s will in is found in Matthew 22:34-40: “Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question” ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
If we love God, we will follow the Ten Commandments. We will not put anything before Him, we would never take His name in vain or do anything to bring dishonor to His name and we would honor our parents that He has put in authority over us. If we love God with everything that is in us, we will obey Him. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:9-14 If we love God we will obey Him.
This passage also shows us why Jesus said the second command was like the first commandment. If we love God, we will love the people He has created. If we love our neighbor as ourselves we will obey the fifth through the tenth commandment. We will not hate (Jesus explained in Matthew 5:21-30 that hate is the same as murder) our brother or fellow believer. We will love him because we love ourselves. We will not commit adultery. In fact, we will respect other people so that we would not consider having sex outside of marriage or even desiring to do so. We will not steal from anyone or in any way be dishonest in our dealings with anyone because if we love them as ourselves, we will consider their possessions as important or even more important than our own, We will always tell the truth about our neighbor for their best interest. We will never covet anything of our neighbors for we will be devoted to one another in brotherly love, will honor one another above ourselves and will consider others better than ourselves (Romans 12:10; Philippians 2:3). If we remember those two commandments we remember everything that is required of us.
“How can you say, we are wise for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying hand of the scribes has handled it falsely?” (v. 8) Many people are preaching the law of the Lord are handling it falsely. Here again, we are admonished to study the Bible for ourselves. We need to hear the insights of others, but it is our responsibility to see that what they say lines up with the Word of God.
“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when their is no peace.” (v. 11) We have a strong tendency to try to please others, especially our friends. These prophets and priests were saying “peace, peace” because they did not recognize sin and so thought everything was OK. Also, they wanted to keep their positions of authority so said what the people wanted to hear.
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:3 Although this is Paul writing to Timothy at a much later date and referring to the end times, it also marks the state of Israel at this time. Men were gathering around them teachers that would gloss over their sins. What were their sins?
Some are mentioned in this passage, “They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right.” (vs. 5-6) and “From the least to the greatest all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike all practice deceit.” (vs. 10 ) They practiced deceit both in dealing with the law of the Lord and in their daily practices. When a person is sinning his conscience can be so seared that he does not recognize his sin: “The Spirit says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” 1 Timothy 4:1-2 The prophets and priests of Jeremiah’s time had gotten to this point, just as they will “in later times".
“No one repents of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle. Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrust observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirement of the Lord.” (vs. 6-7) and “Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.” (v.12)
The best protection we have against being deceived is to know His truth and to live His truth: “…who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14 If we constantly practice what is right, we will train ourselves to distinguish between good and evil. Today, as in Jeremiah’s day, we can stay true to God even if the rest of the world is falling away: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” Matthew 24:12 Just because leaders fall away is no excuse of us: “I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.” Psalm 119:100
Then punishment will come: “Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners.” (v. 10) and “So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.” (v. 12)
Sometimes people forget that God will avenge every sin of which we do not repent: “…It is mine to avenge; I will repay…” Romans 12:19 and “For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:30-31
However, the good news is that we can repent anytime of any sin. We may have to suffer some of the consequences and we may have to made restitution to others we have been dishonest with, but a truly repentant heart will bring God joy: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17