Jer 5:1-13 They Have Refused to Receive Correction

[Study Aired March 14, 2021]

Jer 5:1  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.
Jer 5:2  And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Jer 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.
Jer 5:4  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.
Jer 5:5  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.
Jer 5:6  Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of 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.
Jer 5:7  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.
Jer 5:8  They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
Jer 5:9  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 5:10  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.
Jer 5:11  For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
Jer 5:12  They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
Jer 5:13  And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

The first verse of this fifth chapter of Jeremiah reveals that the story of the destruction of Sodom is a type of the destruction of our hypocritical, self-righteous old man, typified first by Jerusalem and then by Babylon.

Jer 5:1  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.

Let us compare this verse to what the Lord promised Abraham concerning Sodom:

Gen 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.

Abraham was taking full advantage of the Lord’s mercy and patience because this request was anything but “this once”. Abraham had started with “[If] there be fifty righteous within the city…”

Gen 18:23  And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Gen 18:24  Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
Gen 18:25  That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Gen 18:26  And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

Abraham then pleaded for the Lord to spare Sodom for the sake of forty-five, then forty, then twenty and finally he stopped at ten.

The Lord knew there were not even ten righteous men in Sodom. Only Lot and his two daughters were spared out of Sodom and all the cities of the plain:

Gen 19:29  And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

The Lord also knows that He will not “find a man… that executes judgment [and] seeks Truth” even as He promises to pardon it if there is but one man. He knows there is not one man in Babylon, backslidden Jerusalem, (Isa 1:21) because every man who is “executing judgment and seeking the Truth has “come out of her”:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Babylon will not “acknowledge [her] transgressions”. Christ drags us out just as He dragged Lot and His daughters out of Sodom. Babylon is self-righteous and rebellious to the end:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Nothing had changed from the days of Jeremiah to the writing of the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

Jer 5:2  And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

These verses describe each of us when we are in Babylon. We claim His name and say, “The Lord lives,” but we refuse to ‘eat His meat or wear His apparel’:

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Seven signifies completion. The apostasy of the church is complete, and the seven churches of Asia demonstrate that point (Rev 1:4). The complete apostasy of the Christian church is signified by “the seven churches of Asia” fulfilling this prophecy here in Jeremiah. We are informed there is not one man in ‘Jerusalem’ (Babylon) who ‘executes judgment or seeks the Truth’.

Many wonderful works, casting out devils, and writing and singing many wonderful, inspiring songs, means nothing if we refuse of be obedient to our Husband:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Such is the mind of the great harlot because this is the spirit of the Lord’s estranged wife at this time:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

At this stage of our “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13), we believe in the lie of the ten-second sinner’s prayer. We believe that if we simply claim the name of Christ, include His name in our songs of praise to Him, do lots of good works for others, then our doctrine, our food and our clothing will be accepted of Him and certainly will not separate us from Him. However, our Husband is having no part of that mindset, and regardless of how many good works we perform in His name and how many very inspiring songs we write and sing which say, “The LORD liveth,” if we do not have and live by His doctrines the truth remains “surely we swear falsely” (Jer 5:2), and in the time of our judgment these are the words we will hear:

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This is who we are before we are humbled and brought to see our own self-righteous nakedness and shame. The very definition of self-righteousness is to ‘glory in our shame’, as the Pharisee looking down on the publican:

Luk 18:9  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

We are all self-righteous by nature. Therefore, we all just naturally glory in our own shameful self-righteousness.

Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

There is a time in our lives when we glory in our ‘shameful’ self-righteousness just as the world glories in its abominations. Nevertheless, Truth is always the Truth and as the parable of the Pharisee and the publican demonstrates, self-righteousness is the most egregious of all sins, and no circumstance can change that fact. Self-righteousness blinds us to the Lord’s chastening hand in our lives.

Jer 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.

“You have stricken them” is speaking of you and me. In Babylon we live the life of a hypocritical, self-righteous harlot while we blindly live and teach others to live lives which blatantly disobey and disrespect the Lord and His doctrines. While we are in the clutches of this great whore’s church doctrines, our Babylonian leaders have much more influence over us than the words of God in “that which is written”:

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other. (ACV)

A “face harder than a rock” is the mind of an extremely self-righteous stubborn man or a spiritual harlot. It is common in many of the churches to belittle scripture as mere ‘ink on paper, nowhere near as powerful or reliable as the work of the holy spirit’. This doctrine teaches that the holy spirit can and does supersede scripture.

Of course, the Truth is that all this doctrine accomplishes is to place the man of sin in the temple of God proclaiming himself and his “above that which is written” thoughts and commandments superior to “that which is written”. When we given over to that lie, we simply nullify “that which is written”, placing ourselves in the temple of God, and telling the Lord “we will eat our own meat and wear our own apparel”.

2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Christ Himself sees no such dichotomy between the written word and the spirit, as He makes clear when He tells us:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the [“that which is written”] words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Paul tells us the same thing in these written words concerning “that which is written”:

Heb 4:12  For the word [“that which is written”] of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The “that which is written” words of God “are spirit and they are life”. They are far more reliable than the so-called words of the holy ghost proceeding out of the mouths of men which directly contradict “that which is written”. There has never yet been a secular trial or a ‘trying of the spirits’ (1Jo 4:1) without referring to “that which is written” (1Co 4:6).

We are told to “Try the spirits to see whether they are of God”:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

All who minimize the written Word as mere “ink on paper” have nothing with which to “try the spirits”, and they now have no anchor to keep them from being swept out into the merciless sea of false doctrines.

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Here is what the Lord said of His own harlot wife while speaking to the prophet Ezekiel:

Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

The Lord repeats this description of our deep-seated rebellion against Him and His way in:

Zec 7:12  Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

These verses are just another way of saying, “They have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.” (Isa 5:3)

It is very instructive for us to know that the word translated as ‘adamant’ (H8068, shamiyr) in Ezekiel and Zechariah is most often translated as ‘briers’:

H8068
שׁמיר
shâmı̂yr
Total KJV Occurrences: 12
briers, 8
Isa_5:6, Isa_7:23-25 (3), Isa_9:18, Isa_10:17, Isa_27:4, Isa_32:13
adamant, 2
Eze_3:9, Zec_7:12
diamond, 1
Jer_17:1
stone, 1
Zec_7:12

‘Briers and thorns’ throughout scripture typify lying, self-righteous, false doctrines.

Isa 10:17  And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

Jer 5:4  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.
Jer 5:5  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.

It was “the great men” who ‘broke the yoke’ and actually took the lead in inciting the entire nation to reject their own Savior:

Psa 2:1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

It was the chief priests, who were Sadducees, and the Pharisees, “the great men” of Christ’s day, who set aside their differences to unite in their utter hatred of “the Lord and His Christ”, and until this very day it is the religious leaders of this world who incite us to turn our backs on the Word of God.

It is just such spiritual fornication which gives the Lord the occasion He is seeking to judge us and drag us out of Babylon and then use us to judge Babylon. This is what we read of this ongoing process later in this same prophecy:

Jer 25:34  Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
Jer 25:35  And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
Jer 25:36  A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.

Jer 5:6  Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of 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.

This “lion… wolf” and “leopard” are all one and the same “beast” [with] ten horns” which the Lord is sending “to fulfil His will” and to judge His harlot wife:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

This entire prophecy of Jeremiah is addressed to the same harlot churches to which the entire book of Revelation is addressed. That includes Revelation chapters 17-18 which concern themselves with the judgment of this great whore who rules over all the kings of the earth:

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

‘The merchants of the earth’ are the Babylonian ministers who ‘peddle the gospel’.

2Co 2:17 For we are not as the majority, who are peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking. (CLV)

The pardon of our sins is always accompanied by the chastening wrath of our Lord:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

That is how we are pardoned. It is the chastening grace of God that leads us to repentance:

Jer 5:7  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 [Babylonian harlot churches].

Being “fed to the full” in this verse refers to living with a hedge about us in an outward sense. It is the Lord’s chastening grace which brings us to repentance:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: paideuo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

It is good to have all our physical needs met, but without trials, flesh simply cannot appreciate mercy, and being corruptible flesh, we become corrupt:

Jer 5:8  They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

Fidelity is not a natural human trait. Infidelity comes to us all as naturally as breathing and as naturally as turning our back on our Lord. Our own self-righteousness and our own false doctrines are spiritual adultery. Self-righteousness is the worst most insidious form of infidelity because it denies that our righteousness is of Christ.

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

We cannot rebel against the powers that be in heaven or on earth and expect to get by without being punished for our insubordination. God will avenge Himself of our transgressions against Himself:

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

In writing those words, Paul was simply aware of the scriptural doctrine of God’s vengeance against the  kingdom of our rebellious old man which our next verse demonstrates:

Jer 5:9  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

“Vengeance is mine saith the Lord” answers that question, and while there are many verses which demonstrate the Lord’s wrath against our rebellious old man, I will add one more:

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

This is the Lord’s ‘judgment and vengeance’:

Jer 5:10  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.

Walls symbolize spiritual defense, and “her walls” (the walls of Babylon) provide no defense at all against the judgments of the truths of the Words of the Lord. “They are not the Lord’s… battlements”, they are lies and self-righteous false doctrines against which the Lord will be avenged:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

This “mighty city”, [this] whore is being burned up within us at this very moment, and she is also being hated and made desolate and naked and having her flesh eaten and being burned up with the fires of this prophecy outwardly at this very moment. You and I reading these words and applying them where they belong, both within and outwardly, are breathing out spiritual fire which is at this very moment producing “the smoke of her burning”. I will quote the first verse of our next study to make this point:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of 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.

“But make not a full end” refers to the fact that the Lord always leaves Himself “a remnant … [in] this present time”, who are “the first to believe” on Him, and upon whom He first pours out the bowls of His “judgment and vengeance”.

Isa 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

“We” are the “souls… under the altar… their fellowservants also and their brothers, that should be killed as they were”. We are this “very small remnant” who are the “first” to be shown the Lord’s mercy at “this present time”. If we “endure to the end”, we are the channel through which the Lord will redeem all the rest of mankind:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

The Lord’s “ways… His… unsearchable judgments [are indeed] past finding out” for our natural man, “but God has revealed them unto us by His spirit”:

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him [Obey him (1Jo 5:2)].
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

What are “the deep things of God”? They are “His unsearchable judgments and His ways…” (Rom 11:33), with which we concern ourselves in all our studies of His Words.

Before we were dragged and judged for our transgressions, we first lived out these words:

Jer 5:11  For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
Jer 5:12  They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

“They have belied the Lord [by saying] It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us…” is telling us that we taught the Lord will not judge us through the seven bowls that fill up His wrath against our Babylonian transgressions. Whether the false doctrines of a secret rapture or a place of safety, we have all believed and taught that the Lord’s wrath is only for those wicked people ‘out there’ somewhere. The wicked who must endure the wrath of God are anyone else but ourselves until our eyes and ears are opened to see that “every man’s works shall be tried by fire” (1Co 3:13) and that “no man can enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled” (Rev 15:8).

Many years back while working as a team with a brother who later separated himself from us, I read an entry on his web page forum which stated, “I do not like listening to anything Mike Vinson writes because all he ever talks about is judgment.” Reading that statement had the Lord’s desired effect on me. It did not make me deny that the Lord does indeed judge us, and I did not deny that He takes His vengeance upon the kingdom of our old man, but He also never fails to remind us:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Having part in the first resurrection is the greatest honor the Lord bestows upon any man. That first resurrection is “the marriage supper of the Lamb” of which we are again informed:

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Even the great harlot, in her attempt to paint herself and make herself beautiful for her lovers, has over the years begun to speak less about her monstrous false doctrine of a day of judgment which condemns the vast majority of mankind to an eternity of excruciating physical pain in physical flames of physical fire.

Jer 5:13  And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

The brother with whom I worked so closely for several years had “the light that was in [him made] darkness”, and he literally screamed at me these very words, “I will not have you telling these babes in Christ that they must endure the seven last plagues of the wrath of God!!!”

Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

It was clear to me at that point that my dear brother was given to fulfill these prophetic words of Isaiah, Jeremiah’s predecessor:

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

My partner in the gospel had come to identify with the man who had written in on his website forum. He, too, was tired of hearing about a most essential element of our salvation – the element of God’s fiery judgment which brings us to repentance and teaches us righteousness:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth [our earth], the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God [His chastening grace, His judgments] leadeth thee to repentance?

When a prophet is deceived, he is deceived by the Lord Himself, and “Who can make straight that which the Lord has made crooked?”

Ecc 7:13  Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

Most Christians think those are two verses which do not belong in the Bible. They think in that way because “the Lord [has] deceived [them]”, and they have been given by the Lord “eyes that see but cannot perceive and ears that hear but do not understand”:

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Let us, on the other hand, greatly rejoice in these words:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

That is our study for today. Here are the verses for our next study:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of 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.
Jer 5:15  Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of 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.
Jer 5:16  Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
Jer 5:17  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.
Jer 5:18  Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
Jer 5:19  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.
Jer 5:20  Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Jer 5:21  Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Jer 5:22  Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of 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?
Jer 5:23  But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Jer 5:24  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 of the harvest.
Jer 5:25  Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Jer 5:26  For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
Jer 5:27  As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
Jer 5:28  They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Jer 5:29  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 5:30  A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
Jer 5:31  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?