Chapter 8:4-17 (ESV) - “You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
Why then has this people turned away
in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
the rules of the LORD.
“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the LORD is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD,
so what wisdom is in them?
Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the LORD.
When I would gather them, declares the LORD,
there are no grapes on the vine,
nor figs on the fig tree;
even the leaves are withered,
and what I gave them has passed away from them.”
Why do we sit still?
Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities
and perish there,
for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish
and has given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the LORD.
We looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
“The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan;
at the sound of the neighing of their stallions
the whole land quakes.
They come and devour the land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
For behold, I am sending among you serpents,
adders that cannot be charmed,
and they shall bite you,”
declares the LORD.
Question to consider: What was the “wisdom” used by the false teachers of that day?
The mark of the people of God is to recognize that we fall short of His glory and to repent of our sins. It’s not about remaining in a constant state of guilt, but in rekindling our desire to live according to the word of God and depending upon His mercy to restore us when we fail. The words of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah were ones of shock that instead of repenting of their sin, the people gave themselves over to it and accepted it.
If someone struggles with gluttony or laziness, they strive for self control and to glorify the LORD in everything they do. When they fall short of this, they appeal to the mercy of God to forgive them of their transgressions and try again. If instead people lift up obesity and laziness as virtues and define themselves by these things, they are acting like the people of Judah described by the LORD in today’s passage.
If it wasn’t bad enough that they allowed their sin to become their identity, they still proclaimed to be people of the Law. Their so-called wise men and scribes turned God’s Law into a lie. In the church, false teachers turn the word of God into a lie by interpreting it through a different lens. Instead of trying to understand the scriptures in light of their intended context, they may use the context of modern culture or narcissistically read themselves into the text. They may even take passages out of context to try and make it say what they wanted it to say.
The scribes did similar things. Remember that when the Law was given, the people asked Moses to deal directly with the LORD because they were too afraid, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:19) Moses spent time with the LORD on the holy mountain and therefore understood the ways of the LORD better than anyone. The scribes and teachers of the Law did not and therefore built traditions that contained both scriptural and worldly wisdom. They committed abominations without shame and taught their disciples to do likewise.
The image of the LORD going to the fig tree and the grape vine and finding no fruit, only withered leaves, was similar to Christ’s point when He talked about a good tree bearing good fruit. Confusing the word of God with human wisdom produced worthless disciples. Jesus cursed them for this, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15)
The response of the false prophets to this curse from God was to go back into the city walls and await their doom. The LORD once sent serpents into the assembly of Israel in judgment, and as an act of mercy, promised to heal them if they looked upon the bronze serpent the LORD had Moses mount upon a stick. This serpent pointed to Christ becoming sin for us and being hung on a tree. However, at this time, Judah was going to face the consequences of their sin. There would be no mercy from the Babylonians.
Dear heavenly Father, please give us discernment in reading Your word so that we may understand it in light of Your wisdom instead of our own sinful desires. You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia, amen.