Just to show how bad things are, God says, presumably to Jeremiah, to go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, Jeremiah 5:1. He is to search to see if he can find just one upright man and if he finds just one honest, truthful man, Jeremiah 5:1.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is probably ‘hyperbole’, that is, a figure of speech in which there is a deliberate exaggeration, for the purpose of emphasis. There are plenty of instances of this in the Bible. In the New Testament, for instance, in Matthew 3:5, ‘People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.’
Matthew 3:6 says that they were baptised by John the Baptist. This is hyperbole because Luke 7:30 says that the Pharisees and the experts of the law rejected God and weren’t baptised by John.’
Today, we could probably have the same difficulty in our cities or perhaps in our own town in trying to find one honest, truthful man, but we know in Jeremiah’s time that there were good men such as Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah.
Henderson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is beyond dispute that there did live in Jerusalem at the time of the prophet such good men as Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah, therefore we may suppose 1. either that the search was confined to certain classes of people (the magistrates, for example), or 2. that the pious had withdrawn into hiding or retirement.’
The latter part of Jeremiah 5:1 says, ‘I will forgive this city.’ God promised Abraham He would spare Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous persons could be found, Genesis 18:22-23.
But here in Jeremiah, He went further than that, showing His great love and affection for His chosen people. Though these people used God’s name, they didn’t follow Him, Jeremiah 5:2 / Jeremiah 4:2. God has tried to chastise them, but it didn’t seem to bother them.
God has brought famine and drought, but it hasn’t affected them for the good, and so they are harder than stone, Jeremiah 5:3. They are not grieved at anything. We may feel the horror that Jeremiah was not able to find an honest man in Jerusalem.
These verses suggest that the initial search for the honest man hadn’t included a search of the whole population. It suggests that it was partial. So now there is a decision to search among the poorer class of society, Jeremiah 5:4, and then the higher class of society, Jeremiah 5:5, but the results were no better. They simply don’t know God’s requirements, Jeremiah 5:4-5.
Jeremiah says they too had broken off the yoke, Jeremiah 5:5. These were the fastenings that secured the yoke around the animal’s neck. The simple meaning here is that the well-educated were just as sinful as the remainder of the population.
These dangerous animals, the lion, the wolf, and the leopard, Jeremiah 5:6, signify the Babylonians, whom the Lord would use against Judah. After the fall of the Northern kingdom, Israel, such wild animals became a great threat to the safety of the people living in certain areas, 2 Kings 17:25-41.
Although it’s not been stressed here, the message is clear. The ox throws off its yoke and flees from its master and is devoured by the wild beasts, Jeremiah 5:5. The lion is known for its strength, Jeremiah 5:6. The wolf is most ravenous, and the leopard is the swiftest of the wild animals, Jeremiah 5:6.
So, what does this tell us? The wolf is ravenous, the lion will attack, and the leopard lies in wait, referring to the army that is coming. The problem really isn’t about them not knowing God; the problem is that they simply didn’t care and rejected God. God says, If that is the way that you want it, I will let others devour you as well.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning Jeremiah 5:6.
‘Nebuchadnezzar, according to the general opinion, who is called here a lion for his courage and violence, a bear for his rapaciousness, and a leopard for his activity.’
Here we read of God’s reasoning over the rebellion. God had been pleading with them because of the rebellion. Now he is reasoning over them because of the rebellion. God asks, Why should I forgive you? Jeremiah 5:7.
It’s impossible to forgive anyone if they don’t believe they’ve done anything wrong. The truth was they had forsaken God and practised idolatry, Jeremiah 5:7.
God has blessed them and provided everything they needed, but they used those blessings to sin, Jeremiah 5:7. They are committing adultery and going to the houses of prostitutes, Jeremiah 5:7. They are out of control with their sexual desires, Jeremiah 5:8.
Feinberg, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Immorality always accompanied idolatry. Apostasy and adultery are a horrendous pair. Publicly and unashamedly, the people thronged to the prostitute’s house, that is, the idol temple, the noun here in the Hebrew is singular!. Jeremiah 5:8 proves that their sins included physical immorality.’
And so God cannot forgive them because they have gone too far, and God says that He has to punish them for their sins, Jeremiah 5:9. Notice the words, ‘go through her vineyards and ravage them,’ Jeremiah 5:10. Let’s look at this verse carefully because of its importance. Note the phrase ‘strip off her branches’. This refers to pruning the grapevine.
This is not to destroy the vine completely, but it does mean to prune it severely. This shows the importance of God’s promise that He would not destroy Judah completely. Not only here, but in Jeremiah 5:18, God says, ‘I will not destroy you completely,’ and in Jeremiah 4:27, God says, ‘I will not destroy it completely.’
God says that His people haven’t been faithful to Him, Jeremiah 5:11, and they have lied about Him, saying that God won’t judge them, or harm them, Jeremiah 5:12 / Zephaniah 1:12.
The prophets don’t have God’s Word in them, Jeremiah 5:13, and so, God’s words will become a fire in Jeremiah’s mouth, Jeremiah 5:14, a consuming judgment on the people’s hearts and on the people’s sins, Jeremiah 5:14 / Jude 4.
God is going to bring a distant nation, an ancient and enduring nation, against His people, that is, Babylon. A people who didn’t speak Hebrew, a language that His people can’t understand, Jeremiah 5:15. They are mighty warriors, Jeremiah 5:16, who will completely destroy them and the land, Jeremiah 5:17.
God says, ‘I will not destroy it completely,’ Jeremiah 5:18 / Jeremiah 4:27. This shows the importance of God’s promise that He would not destroy Judah completely. This pledge is given no less than three times in these two chapters.
It is one of the most important themes throughout the book of Jeremiah. It means that all of the glorious promises to the patriarchs would be fulfilled. It’s that ‘righteous remnant’ that we referred to earlier from Isaiah. They would, indeed, return from Babylon and form the nucleus of the New Israel in Jesus Christ.
When the people ask, why has the LORD our God done all this to us?, Jeremiah is to tell them they have forsaken God by committing spiritual adultery with foreign gods, Jeremiah 5:19.
Jeremiah is to announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, Jeremiah 5:20. God’s people are foolish and senseless, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear, Jeremiah 5:21.
Two questions are now asked: why won’t you fear the Lord? Why don’t you tremble in God’s presence? Jeremiah 5:22. The reason they should fear him is because of God’s power, He created the boundary for the sea and the sea listens and obeys, Jeremiah 5:22.
In other words, creation itself listens and fears God but His people don’t, they have stubborn and rebellious hearts and they have turned away from God, Jeremiah 5:23. They don’t say to themselves that they should fear God because He gives them everything they need in life, Jeremiah 5:24.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning Jeremiah 5:24.
‘As the early rains fell in the northern parts of Judea about the end of September, in the civil year of the Hebrews, so the latter rains fell before harvest, in the months of March and April. The appointed weeks of the harvest were those which fell between the Passover and Pentecost. In the southern parts, the harvest was earlier than in the northern.’
And so, God says that their wrongdoing and sins have resulted in those blessings being taken away, Jeremiah 5:25 / Jeremiah 3:3. Notice how His people are described as men trapping men like birds, and they are deceiving men to line their own pockets, Jeremiah 5:26-27.
They have become rich and powerful, Jeremiah 5:27, but it’s clear they don’t care about God, Matthew 19:24 / 1 Timothy 6:17. They have grown sleek and fat and at the same time there is civil disobedience and they not exercising justice, and notice their evil deeds have no limit, Jeremiah 5:28. God’s message to man is lost and man’s plea to God is lost.
Jeremiah 5:30-31 is a summary of the conditions of Judah in the days of Jeremiah, preceding the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of God’s people. The cause of the problem is the failure of Judah to honour their religious duty, of praising and worshipping God.
This made way for the false prophets and the deceiving priests who deceived and encouraged the people to sin, Jeremiah 5:31. The last sentence of this chapter says, ‘What will you do in the end?’ Jeremiah 5:31. This was not only a question that concerned God’s people but God Himself.
What would God do? What would God do now that His people had failed, once again? There was no genuine hope; there was no hope whatsoever of the condition ever healing itself.
With no true religious believers to follow, the people fell into all sorts of selfish and lustful sins. With no adequate guidance, they quickly degenerated into a nation of idolaters, oppressors, into debauchery, and the people loved it, Jeremiah 5:31.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘As it was in the days of the flood, every thought and imagination of men’s hearts were evil, evil continually, Genesis 6:5. The mission of Abraham and his followers to keep alive the knowledge and love of the true God had, at last, totally failed, except for the righteous remnant. One thing is certain: nothing ever takes God by surprise, and this disaster didn’t take Him by surprise. When we read the first two chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we can get a glimpse of the disastrous situation that comes to the surface as a result of sin. So, what do we conclude from this chapter? Not one honest man was found in the streets of Jerusalem.’