Jeremiah Chapter 5
Jeremiah 5
Searching for a Righteous Man
Jeremiah 5:1-2, Looking for Someone Who Seeks Truth
Jeremiah 5:1-2, “Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I will pardon it. And though they say, The LORD liveth, surely they swear falsely.”
Jeremiah 5 opens with a startling command. The LORD tells Jeremiah to run through the streets of Jerusalem, to search its public places, and to see whether he can find even one man who executes judgment and seeks the truth. This is not a search for a man who merely has religious vocabulary, temple attendance, national pride, or outward morality. God is looking for a man whose life is marked by justice, truth, and genuine faithfulness.
This search exposes the depth of Jerusalem’s corruption. The city had the temple, priests, sacrifices, prophets, rulers, and covenant history, yet God says that if one righteous man could be found, He would pardon the city. This shows both the severity of Judah’s sin and the mercy of God. The LORD was not eager to destroy. He was willing to spare if righteousness and truth could be found.
This passage has similarities to the account of Sodom, where Abraham pleaded with God concerning the righteous.
Genesis 18:32, “And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once, Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.”
In Genesis, God would have spared Sodom for ten righteous persons. In Jeremiah 5, God speaks of sparing Jerusalem if one man could be found who truly executed judgment and sought truth. The comparison is sobering. Jerusalem, the city that possessed the temple and the law, had become so corrupt that the search for a righteous man came up empty.
There is also a larger biblical truth here. If the search is pressed to its fullest extent, there is only one Man who perfectly executes judgment and seeks truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is righteous in Himself. He alone can save a city, a nation, or a soul from judgment.
Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one, There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
The people of Jerusalem still used religious language. They said, “The LORD liveth.” They knew the proper covenant vocabulary. They could speak orthodox phrases while their hearts were false. God says, “surely they swear falsely.” This is one of the dangers of religious culture. A man can say true words falsely when his life contradicts his confession. Judah had religious speech without truthful submission.
Jeremiah 5:3, Jeremiah’s Prayer
Jeremiah 5:3, “O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved, thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction, they have made their faces harder than a rock, they have refused to return.”
Jeremiah responds in prayer. “O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth?” The prophet appeals to the God who sees truthfulness, faithfulness, and integrity. This is not merely abstract doctrinal truth, though doctrine matters. Jeremiah is speaking of practical truth, truth in the heart, truth in conduct, truth in covenant loyalty, truth that is lived before God.
The LORD had stricken the people, but they had not grieved. God had disciplined them, but they had not been humbled. He had consumed them, but they refused correction. This is one of the most dangerous conditions a person or nation can reach, when judgment no longer awakens repentance. Pain by itself does not sanctify. Trouble by itself does not produce holiness. If the heart is proud, even discipline can be resisted.
“They have made their faces harder than a rock.” This means Judah had become shameless, stubborn, and resistant. The face that should have been lowered in humility became hardened in defiance. They refused to return. This connects directly with Jeremiah 3 and 4, where God repeatedly called His people to return. Their problem was not ignorance of the invitation. Their problem was refusal.
Proverbs 29:1, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
This verse fits Jeremiah’s concern. Judah had been often reproved, yet refused correction. When a people harden themselves under repeated warnings, judgment eventually comes suddenly and without remedy.
Jeremiah 5:4-5, Jeremiah Appeals to the Great Men
Jeremiah 5:4-5, “Therefore I said, Surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them, for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God, but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.”
Jeremiah first considers that perhaps the problem is among the poor and uneducated. He says, “Surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the LORD.” He is not despising the poor. He is reasoning that perhaps those without education, influence, and access to instruction lacked understanding. Maybe the common people had not been taught properly.
So Jeremiah decides to go to the great men. These were the nobles, leaders, educated men, rulers, and aristocrats of Jerusalem. Surely they would know the way of the LORD and the judgment of their God. Surely those with privilege and instruction would be faithful.
But Jeremiah finds the same rebellion among the great men. “These have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.” The yoke and bonds refer to God’s rule, His commandments, and covenant authority. The leaders did not merely fail in ignorance. They rebelled with knowledge. They had more light, but not more obedience.
This shows that sin is not cured by class, money, education, office, or intelligence. The poor may be foolish through lack of instruction, but the great men may be worse because they rebel against what they know. A man can have degrees, position, influence, and religious access while still breaking the yoke of God.
Luke 12:48, “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, him shall be much required, and to whom men have committed much, him they will ask the more.”
Judah’s leaders had been given much, therefore much was required. Their rebellion carried greater guilt because they sinned against greater knowledge.
Jeremiah 5:6-9, The Penalty Coming to a Rebellious City
Jeremiah 5:6-9, “Wherefore a lion out the forest shall slay them, and a wolf the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities, every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods, when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. They were as fed horses in the morning, every one neighed after his neighbour's wife. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”
Because the people refused correction, judgment would come. Jeremiah uses the imagery of a lion, a wolf, and a leopard. These animals picture strength, ravenous hunger, swiftness, and deadly watchfulness. They likely represent the coming invading powers, especially Babylon, though the imagery also suggests that the land would become desolate and dangerous. War would reduce Judah to ruin.
The reason is clear, “because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.” The judgment was not arbitrary. Judah had multiplied sin. Their rebellion had increased. The backsliding that God had called them to forsake had become worse.
God asks, “How shall I pardon thee for this?” This question does not mean God lacks mercy. It means Judah’s rebellion had reached a level where pardon without repentance would contradict justice. God is merciful, but He does not pretend that treachery is righteousness.
The sin is described as both spiritual and sexual adultery. “Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods.” They abandoned the LORD and swore by false gods. When God fed them to the full, they responded with adultery. Their prosperity did not produce gratitude. It produced lust, idolatry, and moral corruption.
This is a repeated biblical pattern. When people forget the source of blessing, prosperity often becomes fuel for rebellion.
Deuteronomy 8:11-14, “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein, And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out the land Egypt, from the house bondage.”
The phrase, “assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses,” shows the organized, widespread nature of the corruption. They did not merely stumble privately. They gathered in groups for immorality. This likely includes both literal adultery and the ritual immorality associated with pagan worship. Their spiritual adultery and sexual adultery were tied together.
“They were as fed horses in the morning, every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.” The imagery is blunt. The people were full, strong, uncontrolled, and driven by lust. Instead of covenant fidelity, they pursued another man’s wife. God’s question follows, “Shall I not visit for these things?” The answer is obvious. The LORD must punish such sin. A holy God cannot treat this kind of national corruption as a small matter.
Jeremiah 5:10-13, Destruction Without a Complete End
Jeremiah 5:10-13, “Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy, but make not a full end, take away her battlements, for they are not the LORD'S. For the house Israel and the house Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he, neither shall evil come upon us, neither shall we see sword nor famine, And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them, thus shall it be done unto them.”
God commands destruction upon Jerusalem’s walls, but He adds, “make not a full end.” This is a severe judgment with a gracious limit. Jerusalem would be destroyed, but God would not utterly erase His covenant people. The same theme appeared in Jeremiah 4:27. God would judge, but He would preserve a remnant.
“Take away her battlements, for they are not the LORD’S.” The branches, defenses, or battlements that did not belong to the LORD would be removed. Judah had become like a vine with unfruitful branches. This anticipates the biblical principle that fruitlessness invites removal.
John 15:1-6, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches, He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
The house of Israel and the house of Judah had dealt treacherously with the LORD. This included both northern Israel and southern Judah. The nation as a whole had violated covenant loyalty.
“They have belied the LORD,” meaning they lied about Him. They denied His warnings. They said, “It is not he,” refusing to believe that the coming trouble was from God’s hand. They also said, “Neither shall evil come upon us, neither shall we see sword nor famine.” This is the language of false security.
The false prophets became wind because the word was not in them. They had motion, sound, and influence, but no substance from God. A prophet without the word of God is only wind. He may impress men, but he cannot save them. He may be popular, but he is empty.
This is a serious warning for every generation. When a preacher assures rebellious people that no judgment will come, he lies about the LORD. Encouragement that contradicts God’s word is not compassion. It is spiritual malpractice.
Jeremiah 5:14-17, The Word of the Prophet of Fire
Jeremiah 5:14-17, “Wherefore thus saith the LORD God hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house Israel, saith the LORD, it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat, they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds, they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees, they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.”
In contrast to the prophets of wind, Jeremiah would be made a prophet of fire. God says, “I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.” Jeremiah’s message would not be empty speech. It would carry the burning force of divine judgment. The word of God through Jeremiah would expose, consume, and announce destruction.
Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner the thoughts and intents the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes him with whom we have to do.”
God’s word is not decorative language. It discerns, cuts, exposes, and judges. Jeremiah’s words were fire because they were God’s words.
The nation from far is Babylon. God describes it as mighty, ancient, foreign, and terrifying. Their language would not be understood, which would intensify Judah’s fear and helplessness. Their quiver is “as an open sepulchre,” meaning their arrows bring death. The invaders are mighty men, trained for war and destruction.
The judgment would touch every part of life. They would eat up the harvest and bread that should have fed Judah’s sons and daughters. They would consume flocks and herds. They would destroy vines and fig trees. They would impoverish the fenced cities in which Judah trusted. Food, family provision, economy, agriculture, and national defense would all collapse.
This is the reversal of covenant blessing. The land that should have been fruitful under obedience would be stripped under judgment. Judah trusted fenced cities, but fortified walls cannot protect a people from the LORD’s sentence.
Jeremiah 5:18-19, The Divine Logic Behind Judgment
Jeremiah 5:18-19, “Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.”
Again, God repeats the gracious limit, “I will not make a full end with you.” Judgment would be devastating, but not total. The covenant people would be disciplined, scattered, and humbled, but not erased. God’s faithfulness to His promises would remain.
The people would ask, “Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us?” This question would come when judgment arrived. God already gives Jeremiah the answer. “Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.”
The logic is precise. Judah chose strange gods in the land God gave them, therefore they would serve strange masters in a land not theirs. Their punishment fit their sin. They wanted foreign gods, so they would live under foreign domination. They rejected the LORD’s rule, so they would experience the yoke of pagan empire.
This is covenant justice. God’s judgment is not random cruelty. It is morally fitted to the rebellion. The people chose slavery to idols, and God would let them taste slavery under foreigners.
Jeremiah 5:20-25, The Foolishness of Failing to Learn from Nature
Jeremiah 5:20-25, “Declare this in the house Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, which have eyes, and see not, which have ears, and hear not, Fear ye not me? saith the LORD, will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it, and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail, though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart, they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season, he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.”
God commands this message to be declared in Jacob and published in Judah. The people are called foolish and without understanding. They have eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear. This is spiritual dullness. They possess the faculties to perceive truth, but they refuse to receive it.
Isaiah 6:9-10, “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”
Judah’s blindness was not lack of revelation. It was hardened resistance to revelation.
God then gives a lesson from nature. He placed the sand as the boundary of the sea by perpetual decree. The waves toss, roar, and pound against the shore, yet they cannot pass beyond the boundary God has set. The mighty sea obeys God. The roaring waters are restrained by His command.
The contrast is devastating. The sea obeys God’s boundaries, but Judah does not. Creation responds to divine decree, but God’s covenant people rebel. The waves may be strong, but they know their limit. Man, though weak, defies the God who made him.
The LORD says, “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart, they are revolted and gone.” The problem is the heart. Their rebellion was not occasional weakness. It was inward revolt. They had departed from the LORD.
They did not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the LORD our God.” They should have feared the One who gives rain, the former and latter rain in season, and who reserves the appointed weeks of harvest. Judah depended on God for rain and harvest, yet refused to fear Him.
This connects to the earlier irony in Jeremiah 3. They pursued fertility gods for agricultural blessing, but it was the LORD who gave rain. Their iniquities turned these blessings away. Their sins withheld good things from them. Sin does not merely bring punishment. It also blocks blessing.
Psalm 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield, the LORD will give grace and glory, no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly, but Jeremiah says Judah’s sins withheld good things from them. The issue was not divine stinginess. The issue was covenant rebellion.
Jeremiah 5:26-29, The Wickedness of Those Who Exploit Others
Jeremiah 5:26-29, “For among my people are found wicked men, they lay wait, as he that setteth snares, they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full birds, so are their houses full deceit, therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine, yea, they overpass the deeds the wicked, they judge not the cause, the cause the fatherless, yet they prosper, and the right the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD, shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”
The LORD now exposes social corruption. “Among my people are found wicked men.” These wicked men are compared to hunters or bird catchers who set snares and traps. But they are not catching birds. They are catching men. This likely refers to the powerful exploiting the weak through deceit, manipulation, and corrupt systems.
“As a cage is full birds, so are their houses full deceit.” Their wealth was built on treachery. They became great and rich, but not by righteousness. Their prosperity was not the blessing of God. It was the result of wicked ambition and exploitation.
“They are waxen fat, they shine.” This pictures luxury, ease, and self satisfaction. They looked successful. They appeared prosperous. But God saw that they surpassed the deeds of the wicked. Their outward success concealed inward corruption.
The specific failure is injustice toward the vulnerable. “They judge not the cause, the cause the fatherless.” They did not defend the fatherless. “The right the needy do they not judge.” They ignored the needy. In Scripture, treatment of the fatherless, widow, poor, and needy is a major test of justice. Judah’s powerful men used their strength to enrich themselves instead of protecting those who needed righteous judgment.
Exodus 22:22-24, “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry, And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”
Proverbs 31:8-9, “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause the poor and needy.”
God again asks, “Shall I not visit for these things?” The answer is clear. A nation that allows wicked men to trap others, grow rich through deceit, and ignore the fatherless and needy invites divine judgment. God’s concern for justice is not optional. It is rooted in His character.
Jeremiah 5:30-31, False Prophets, Corrupt Priests, and People Who Love It
Jeremiah 5:30-31, “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land, The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so, and what will ye do in the end thereof?”
The chapter ends with one of the most chilling summaries in Jeremiah. “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land.” The word wonderful here carries the sense of astonishing. This is not wonderful as in good. It is shocking, appalling, and horrible.
First, “The prophets prophesy falsely.” These men claimed to speak for God, but they lied. They gave the people false comfort. They denied judgment. They spoke visions from their own hearts. False prophets are among the most dangerous people in any nation because they put religious language on rebellion and make sinners feel safe while they remain under judgment.
Second, “the priests bear rule by their means.” The priests ruled by their own power, authority, and methods, not by the word and authority of God. They used religious office for control. They operated by human power rather than divine truth.
Third, “my people love to have it so.” This is the final proof of national decay. The people were not merely victims of bad leaders. They loved the arrangement. They liked false prophets because false prophets did not confront their sin. They liked corrupt priests because corrupt priests allowed them to continue in rebellion. The leaders told lies, and the people wanted the lies.
This is a hard truth. False teachers often exist because people desire them.
2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Jeremiah’s question is final and devastating, “what will ye do in the end thereof?” False religion may work for a season. It may keep people comfortable. It may draw crowds. It may protect corrupt systems. It may silence conviction. But what will they do in the end? When judgment comes, false prophets cannot save. Corrupt priests cannot mediate. Popular lies cannot stand before God.
This question is one of the great questions of life. A man may live comfortably in deception for years, but what will he do in the end? A nation may celebrate its rebellion, but what will it do in the end? A church may tolerate false doctrine, but what will it do in the end? The end tests everything.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Jeremiah 5 teaches that God looks for truth in the inward life, not merely religious language. Jerusalem had people who could say, “The LORD liveth,” but they swore falsely. Orthodoxy on the lips without obedience in the life is hypocrisy.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that judgment is often restrained by God’s mercy. The LORD was willing to pardon if one righteous man could be found. Later, He repeatedly says He will not make a full end. God’s judgment is real, but His mercy restrains total destruction according to His covenant purposes.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that discipline does not automatically produce repentance. Judah had been stricken and consumed, but they refused correction. Suffering can either soften the heart or reveal how hard it has become.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that education and status do not cure rebellion. Jeremiah searched among the poor and then among the great men. Both were corrupt. Sin is a heart problem, not merely a class problem.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that prosperity can make sin worse when gratitude is absent. God had fed Judah to the full, and they responded with adultery. Blessing without humility often leads to arrogance and indulgence.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that false prophets are wind, but God’s true word is fire. Empty preaching may move people emotionally, but it has no substance if the word of God is not in it. True preaching may burn because it carries divine truth.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that God’s judgment often fits the sin. Judah served foreign gods in God’s land, so they would serve foreigners in a land not theirs. God’s justice is morally exact.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that creation obeys God better than rebellious man. The sea stays within its appointed boundary, but Judah refused to remain within God’s moral boundaries. The created order rebukes human rebellion.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that social injustice is not separate from spiritual apostasy. The same people who forsook God also trapped men, filled their houses with deceit, neglected the fatherless, and ignored the needy. False worship produces corrupt ethics.
Jeremiah 5 teaches that corrupt leadership often survives because the people want it. The prophets lied, the priests ruled by their own power, and the people loved it that way. A people that loves falsehood will eventually be ruled by falsehood.
Summary
Jeremiah 5 presents Jerusalem as a city so corrupt that God calls for a search to find one man who executes judgment and seeks truth. The people speak religious words, but swear falsely. They have been disciplined, but refuse correction. Jeremiah searches among the poor and the great, but finds rebellion in both groups.
The chapter exposes Judah’s many sins, backsliding, spiritual adultery, sexual immorality, false confidence, lying prophets, corrupt priests, injustice against the fatherless and needy, and refusal to fear the LORD. God announces judgment through a foreign nation, yet repeatedly promises not to make a full end. The people forsook God and served strange gods in their own land, so they would serve strangers in a foreign land.
The chapter ends with the terrible reality that prophets prophesy falsely, priests rule by their own power, and the people love it so. The final question remains, “what will ye do in the end thereof?”
