At some point, in the not-to-distant future, God will judge EVERYONE. No one will escape God’s judgment. With that said, the Good News is that if you are a born-again believer, you are already pardoned! What you’ll get is a crown — a reward — based on the life you led on earth. Obviously, if you’re NOT born again, then you are doomed to spend eternity in hell. Therefore, it behooves you to pay attention to what the true teachers of the Word of God say and ignore what false prophets say. Learn from the past. Let’s dig in…
Jeremiah 5 – The Sins of Judah
“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the Lord.
“Look high and low; search throughout the city!
If you can find even one just and honest person,
I will not destroy the city.
2 But even when they are under oath,
saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
they are still telling lies!”3 Lord, you are searching for honesty.
You struck your people,
but they paid no attention.
You crushed them,
but they refused to be corrected.
They are determined, with faces set like stone;
they have refused to repent.4 Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor?
They are ignorant.
They don’t know the ways of the Lord.
They don’t understand God’s laws.
5 So I will go and speak to their leaders.
Surely they know the ways of the Lord
and understand God’s laws.”
But the leaders, too, as one man,
had thrown off God’s yoke
and broken his chains.
6 So now a lion from the forest will attack them;
a wolf from the desert will pounce on them.
A leopard will lurk near their towns,
tearing apart any who dare to venture out.
For their rebellion is great,
and their sins are many.7 “How can I pardon you?
For even your children have turned from me.
They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all!
I fed my people until they were full.
But they thanked me by committing adultery
and lining up at the brothels.
8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9 Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?10 “Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines,
leaving a scattered few alive.
Strip the branches from the vines,
for these people do not belong to the Lord.
11 The people of Israel and Judah
are full of treachery against me,”
says the Lord.
12 “They have lied about the Lord
and said, ‘He won’t bother us!
No disasters will come upon us.
There will be no war or famine.
13 God’s prophets are all windbags
who don’t really speak for him.
Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Because the people are talking like this,
my messages will flame out of your mouth
and burn the people like kindling wood.
15 O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,”
says the Lord.
“It is a mighty nation,
an ancient nation,
a people whose language you do not know,
whose speech you cannot understand.
16 Their weapons are deadly;
their warriors are mighty.
17 They will devour the food of your harvest;
they will devour your sons and daughters.
They will devour your flocks and herds;
they will devour your grapes and figs.
And they will destroy your fortified towns,
which you think are so safe.18 “Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the Lord. 19 “And when your people ask, ‘Why did the Lord our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’
A Warning for God’s People
20 “Make this announcement to Israel (Jacob),
and say this to Judah:
21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
with eyes that do not see
and ears that do not hear.
22 Have you no respect for me?
Why don’t you tremble in my presence?
I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.
The waves may toss and roar,
but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
23 But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned away and abandoned me.
24 They do not say from the heart,
‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
25 Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings.
Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.26 “Among my people are wicked men
Jeremiah 5 NLT
who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind.
They continually set traps
to catch people.
27 Like a cage filled with birds,
their homes are filled with evil plots.
And now they are great and rich.
28 They are fat and sleek,
and there is no limit to their wicked deeds.
They refuse to provide justice to orphans
and deny the rights of the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?
30 A horrible and shocking thing
has happened in this land—
31 the prophets give false prophecies,
and the priests rule with an iron hand.
Worse yet, my people like it that way!
But what will you do when the end comes?
That is a great question!
What Will YOU Do When the End Comes?!
What happened back then is happening now. Yes, history is repeating itself! It does that, you know. Let’s digest this chapter…
- First God challenges Jeremiah to go around Jerusalem and search for 1, just 1 righteous, honest person. If He finds that person, God will spare the whole city. Problem is, there is not even 1 good person who follows the law that God so carefully laid out for them.
- God tried shaking them up, but they refuse to repent. I believe that America is going through God’s “shaking up” right now. Where are people turning to? Not to God. A recent Pew Research poll showed that the fastest growing religion in the U.S. are the “nones”. These are people who have walked away from God and the church.
- The people back then refused to be corrected. They refused to repent. These are known as backsliders. They hear the Word of God, but they don’t want to leave their lives of sin. Jesus talked about these in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. I had a friend in my very liberal, Progressive church back in Florida, who later converted to Judaism. I couldn’t figure out how she could deny that Jesus was the Messiah! I met with her years later and I realized that she was never a believer. Which goes to show that she wasn’t being fed the truth in the Progressive church, so she went to a religion where she felt comfortable.
- These false preachers teach a “feel-good” gospel that’s no gospel at all. They just want to fill seats and the donation buckets. They don’t care that they’re leading people to eternal damnation.
- That’s an example of the false teachers or leaders that Jeremiah mentions in verse 5. Surely, THEY would preach the truth, but no, they didn’t then and don’t now. They’ve departed from God’s Word. Today, they’re called “woke” pastors. It’s apostasy — the turning away from the church — the true faith — the truth — the Good News. Paul warned Timothy…
Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.
1 Timothy 4:1-3 NLT
- Here, Jeremiah speaks of the coming Babylonian invasion. They wiped Judah and Jerusalem off the map — almost. With God, Judgment is severe, but it was not total annihilation. They weren’t totally wiped off the face of the earth like at the Flood.
- Since they were so fond of the foreign gods, they were carted off to a foreign land, with foreign customs and a foreign language, which they did not understand. (We’ll learn the details of how life was in Babylon when we get to the Books of Daniel, Esther and Ezekiel.)
- They took God’s blessings for granted without thanking and praising Him.
A Clear Warning to the People — and Us, too!
In verse 22, God asks, “Have you no respect for me?” That’s the “fear of God” — seeing and understanding that God is the almighty. He is EVERYWHERE and sees EVERYTHING. He also KNOWS EVERYTHING. There is NOTHING you can do that He doesn’t know about! Period. (Related: God’s “I AM” statements)
The last 2 verse should shake you…
30 A horrible and shocking thing
Jeremiah 5:30-31 NLT
has happened in this land—
31 the prophets give false prophecies,
and the priests rule with an iron hand.
Worse yet, my people like it that way!
But what will you do when the end comes?
False teachers lie about the Lord. They water down the Gospel to make people feel good in church. Clearly, the people are either satisfied with the false teachings or they just walk away from the church. (Related: How to Discern between a False Teacher and the Gospel Truth)
I was one of those who walked away from the Catholic Church when I was 18. Something was telling me that their false teachings where not right. However, at that age, let loose in college, I became a prodigal — one of the “nones” — no church, no praying, I walked away from God. God led me back, but I resisted. (My testimony links are at the bottom.)
Which brings us back to the question, what will you do when the end comes?
In case you haven’t noticed, we are living in the end times — the last days. Check out these Bible Prophecy Links if you don’t believe me.
Check out my study on the Book of Revelation.
It’s time to GET RIGHT WITH GOD — before it’s too late!
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
Here’s the Real Threat | Prophecy Update with Tom Hughes
My Testimony…
- From Catholic to Prodigal: Surviving College
- From Prodigal to Progressive: Surviving Hurricanes
- From Progressive to Born Again Christian: Surviving Unemployment
