Bible Study

INTRODUCTION
1. This chapter renrinds us that the.
basic cause of Judah's destruction by
Jehovah was her blatant and inexcusable
rejection of the sovereignty and cove-
nant of the Lord; and her to
another sovereignty in Baal. When this
happens, it is inevitable that the curses
of the covenant, (Lev. 26 and Deut.
28), become operative. .
2. Ute indictment of Judah has a
different emphasis in chapter 5 than it
did in chapter 2. In chapter 2 God in-
dicted I udah for her idolatry. In chapter
5 God indicts Judah for her personal and
social immorality. Faithfulness of Jeho-
vah and submission to his sovereignty
not only show themselves in purity of
worship, but alsQ in careful
to the laws of God's covenant in both
personal morality and public justice.
EXPOSIDON
A. (5:1-3) The Absence of Faith
1. The two most important factors
in a person's life were absent from the
whole population of Judah. These two
things God looks for in us more than
anything else.
a. The doing of justice. This is
the doing and establishing of what is
right in God's sight in our own lives
and our society. It is to do that which
God has established as the norm for all
to follow, 23:5, revealed in biblical
law. It means to make judgments, as-
sessments, and value judgments, solely
in terms of God's revealed standard of
right and wrong in the Bible.
b. The seeking of faith. The He-
brew word translated, "truth," in the
NASV, is "emtinah," meaning "the
faithful holding fast to God and his
Word." It is the same word used in Hab.
2:4, where it means "faith" and not "the
faithfUl performance of good deedS,"
which will, however, always come with
true "faith." The just shall live by faith
in Christ, not by dependence upon the
faithful observance of the Law. This is
the central message of Paul in Rom.
1:17, where he quotes as a proof-text,
Hab. 2:4. And this. faith, this firm ad-
herence to God's gospel promise
. missing m Judah.
c. Judah, in her apostasy, shout-.
ed, No! to the demands ofGcxrs .Law,
and they shouted, No! to the offers of
God's Gospel.
2. These preliminary judgments
. upon Judah, instead of softening them, ,
moved them to harden their hearts in un- .
belief and disobedience .
Creator, Redeemer, and Covenant taw-
giver; They deliberately refused to "trust
and obey."
B. (5:4-6) The Guilt of People
Leaders
1. (5:4) The Sin of the People
(The people were spiritually pover-
They were absorbed with
external and ritualistic purity, but they
knew nothing of ethical purity and
wholehearted commitment to the. et)-
tirety of God's covenant. They had com-
partmentalized life. Religion applies
only to the worship practices. Religion
does not apply to the m!lrket place, ,the
class room, the recreation center, the
court room, or the political But
religion is life, . and Judah's apostate
religion was prejudicing her entire life;
Cowpartrnentalization of life is an .
tempt to avoid the pressure of the de- .
mands of a divine Law man does . not
want to obey.)
2. (5:5) The Sin of the Leaders
(The leaders, on the other hand,
are not seen as ignorant, but as deliber- .
ate in . their defiant rebellion against
God. They know better. They are not
atheists who do not believe in Jehovah . .
They are deliberate anti-theists, who re-
cognize his existence but who hate his
supremacy.)
3. (5:6) The Ter:ror of Righteous
Judgment
(The consequences of breaking
God's covenant and rejecting his supre-
macy over all of life are depicted as the
vicious attacks of wild animals, which ;
tear apart their victims wimout rer
st:J:aint. God's judgment is terrifying, be-
cause Judah's sins are even tnorehid-
eous and terrifying.)
C. (5:7-9) The Justice ofJudgment
1. .Despite Josiah's reforms, the.
apostasy of .Manasseh was so deeply.
r09ted in the hearts of the people and.
the leaders, that divine judgment was ..
evitable.
z. How could God pardon them fo(
forsaking him for empty idols, for aban-:
doning themselves to adultery against.
him who, through the years, had so lov-
for all their needs?
3. Jeremiah is describing a crumb.
ling society in open revolt againsi the
commandments of Jehovah.
. D. (5:10-13} The Danger of False
Security
1. 1udah is often portrayed as Je>
hovah's vineyard, which he has planted
and cultivated, only to have it bear no
grapes. So, he, as the liusbandmah,
prunes off the dead and fruitless
Page 24 -.-.....-.......;.....-. .............. _ ___.....;;.;_...;.;.....;. ________ ___. ______ The CoullSel of Chaicedoil, July, 1988
;
branches, for they do not belong to
him. The vine itself, however, is not to
be totally uprooted. From that root will
spring the Messiah and his New Israel,
John 15 and Romans 11.
2. Judah was committing a danger-
ously treacherous sin by misrepresent-
ing their unchanging Lord. They pre-
sumed that, because they were his cove-
nant people, he could not turn against
them, even if they were utterly faith-
less. They were convinced that God
would not touch them with punish-
ment. This is blind complacency.
3. "The people, forgetful that breach
of covenant would result in the opera-
tion of the curses of the covenant, that
is, divine judgment, and stressing rather
the privileges of covenant membership
than its obligations, had deluded them-
selves into thinking that somehow the
God of the covenant would overlook
breaches of the covenant." -Thompson
4. The people were lulled and tran-
quilized into this attitude by the preach-
ing of false prophets, 14:13-15. This is
why God calls them "windbags, full of
hot air." What the true prophets had spo-
ken will come to pass.
E. (5:14-17) The Burning Fury of
God's Word
1. (5: 14) God identifies himself here
as "Jehovah, the God of Hosts." He is
the Lord of the hosts of heaven and
earth, i.e., the entire created universe.
This title speaks of the fulness of Jeho-
vah's power throughout creation. He is
the ultimate power and authority in the
universe. He speaks through Jeremiah.
He is the one against whom Judah's
sins. And he is the one who is angry
with Judah. Only a fool would resist
him. . .
2. (5:15) The judgment is fast ap-
proaching.
3. (5: 16-17) The judgment is com-
plete, in that it will purge every area of
Judah's life and society.
4. Everything Judah trusted in
would be totally demolished, because
God will not share his glory with anoth-
er: He tolerates no rivals.
F. (5:18-19) The Glinuner of Hope
(The destruction of God's judgment
on Judah will not be total nor final. AI-
though the judgment is severe and just,
there is a ray of hope. Judah's exile will
not be a final rejection. God's people
will be restored historically in Ezra and
Nehemiah, and fully in Jesus Christ.
The God of justice is also a God of mer-
cy.)
G. (5:20-24) The Disappearance of
Awe
1. (5:20-23) Judah had become in-
sensitive to the many evidences of Je-
hovah's sovereignty, majesty, and omni-
potence. They forgot that the Lord, not
Baal, controls the energies of creation
and the movements of history. What
stupidity and blasphemy not to stand in
awe before the almighty Jehovah.
2. (5:22, 24) The stupidity of Judah
consisted in this: they did not reverence
Jehovah, who controls the sea and the
weather. Everything is under the control
of Jehovah, so his faithful people have
nothing to fear in creation or history.
"What Baal could not control, Yahweh
could. It was therefore a cause of as-
tonishment that the people should fail
to bring to Yahweh the profound rever-
ence that was due him." -Thompson
H. (5:25-29) The Disappearance of
Public Justice
1. (5:25) Because Judah had wan-
dered away from the Lord and had
missed the goal he set for her, Jehovah
would withhold life-sustaining bless-
ings from her. This withholding of
blessings proved that God was still be-
ing faithful to his covenant, which they
were disregarding, Deut. 28: 15-68.
2. (5:26-29) Judah's economy was
dominated by dishonesty, greed, love-of-
money, and neglect of the poor; and her
political structures failed to deal with
the gross injustices throughout the
land. When a people turns from God's
law, they call good evil and evil good.
So Jehovah will have his vengeance on
them.
I. (5:30-31) The Appalling Horror of
the Ages
1. Jeremiah was horrified at the
grossest of all sins: the unholy alliance
of prophets and rulers, (preachers and
politicians) in conunon rebellion
against God. The prophets refused to
preach the word of God; and the
politicians refused to enforce the law of
God. And the people loved it that way!!
2. In America in 1988, preachers
refuse to preach the pure word of God
and politicians refuse to enforce biblical
law; and the citizenry want it that way.
An unrighteous people will not elect
righteous leaders. The biggest problem
today is not in Washington, D.C., it is
in the living rooms of America.
3. To Judah and to America God
asks: WHAT Wll.L YOU DO AT TilE
END OF IT ALL??? When the lies of
the false preachers are exposed? When
the bankruptcy of false politicians is
obvious to everybody? When the day
of reckoning for our nation finally
comes? When God begins to pour out
his wrath on a rebellious people? When
the day of disillusionment comes and
the day of repentance is past? WHAT
WILL YOU DO TiffiN? 0
Daddy,
May I Take
Communion?
Paedocommunion vs. The Bible
by Leonard J. Coppes
Available EBEE for a
$45.00 donation to
The Counsel of Chalcedon
3032 Hacienda Ct
Marietta, GA 30066
The Counsel of Cbalcedon, July, 1988 ----------------------------Page 25