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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 5:19 - 5:31
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Blindness of Heart, Ingratitude, Deceit, and Violence
v. 19. 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, in idolatrous worship, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. Cf Deu_28:47-48. This was the Lord's retribution, which repaid the idolatrous people in kind.
v. 20. Declare this in the house of Jacob and publish it in Judah, saying, for the benefit of the whole nation,
v. 21. 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:
v. 22. 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 though the waves thereof toss themselves, in rage and fury, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? The immense body of the ocean with its turbulent waves, the wildest and most irresistible force of nature, is yet held in check by the power of the one true God; who, then, will not fear Him?
v. 23. 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.
v. 24. 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 the appointed weeks of the harvest, whence it follows that His goodness ought to lead men to repentance and to a proper fear of Him.
v. 25. 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.
v. 26. 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.
v. 27. 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.
v. 28. 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 out the principles of right and justice, the cause of the fatherless, although the care of widows and orphans was especially enjoined in Scripture, yet they prosper, and the right of the needy do they not judge, they not only prosecute the fatherless, but they take no steps to defend the rights of the poor. Therefore the Lord once more asks His searching question,
v. 29. 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.
v. 30. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land, something fearful and horrible has happened, 18:13; 23:14; Hos_6:10.
v. 31. 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 such deception, their sound sense having left them to such an extent that they do not react against oppression and injustice; and what will ye do in the end thereof? Under such circumstances the judgment is inevitable, is bound to be the fatal issue of this sinful course; and who will be able to avert it? The attitude of the men of Noah's time and of people in every crisis of the world's history is found also in our days, in spite of the earnest warning which the Lord issues in so many passages of the Bible. Cf 1Co_10:1-13; 2Pe_3:5-10.