Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 5:7

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 5:7. In the harlots' houses. — In places consecrated to idolatry. In the language of the prophets, adultery generally signifies idolatry. This we have often seen.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Sins of Jerusalem and Judah (5:1-19)

A search of Jerusalem reveals that the city is wholly corrupt. Injustice and selfishness abound. People claim they belong to God and they swear oaths by his name, but they remain untouched by the lessons he is trying to teach them (5:1-3). There may be some excuse for the poor and uneducated if they know nothing of God’s law, but the upper classes are just as ignorant. This indicates that the problem lies not with people’s social background or material well-being, but with their hardened hearts. All alike reject the authority of God’s law and refuse to be bound by his standards (4-5).
Jerusalem is ripe for judgment. The invading armies are likened to wild beasts ready to pounce and kill (6). In addition to being idolatrous, the people are so morally degraded they are little better than animals. There can be no forgiveness, only punishment, for a nation such as this (7-9).
As a vineyard is stripped, so Judah will be destroyed, though the destruction will not be total (10-11). The people have deceived themselves. They have refused to believe the words of God’s prophets, and keep telling themselves that God will not destroy his own people. God will therefore act against them decisively, according to the judgments he announces by his prophet Jeremiah (12-14).
Through Jeremiah, God tells the people of Judah that a foreign nation will invade their country, and neither Judah’s armed forces nor its defence fortifications will prevent widespread slaughter and ruin (15-17). But the nation will not be completely wiped out. Those who survive the attack will be taken captive to a foreign land, which will be a fitting punishment for their disloyalty in serving foreign gods in their own land (18-19).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlot's houses; they were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

The sentiment voiced in Jeremiah 5:9 here surfaces again in Jeremiah 5:29, forming a kind of recurring refrain in the prophecy.

"Committed adultery and assembled… in harlot's houses" "The reference here is both to the worship of the `no-gods,' and to the literal immorality which resulted."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), p. 39.

"Immorality always accompanied idolatry. Apostasy and adultery are a horrendous pair. Publicly and unashamedly the people thronged to the prostitute's house, that is, the idol temple (the noun here in the Hebrew is singular!). Jeremiah 5:8 proves that their sins included physical immorality."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 413.

"Only stern retribution and burning judgment were in store for such a generation, notwithstanding the word of the false prophets whose words would prove to be nothing but wind."JKP, p. 33.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Rather, Why, “for what reason” should “I pardon thee?”

When ... - Or, “though I bound them to me by oath, yet they committed adultery.”

The harlots’ houses - The harlot’s house, i. e., the temple of an idol; the prophet had also in view (see Jeremiah 5:8) the unchastity which accompanied most forms of nature-worship.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

There is here what rhetoricians call a conference: for God seems here to seek the judgment of the adverse party, with whom he contends, on the cause between them, though it was sufficiently clear; and this is a proof of confidence. When advocates wish to shew that there is nothing doubtful or obscure, they thus deliberate with the opposite party, — “Why, I will propose the matter privately to yourself; have you anything to say? Even if you were at liberty to determine the question, would not reason compel you to pronounce such a judgment as this?” So now God shews that he was constrained, as it were, by necessity to inflict on the Jews a most severe punishment, and intimates that he was not, as it were, at liberty to do otherwise. “If I am, “he says, “the judge of the world, is it possible that they can escape unpunished, who thus openly provoke me? Should I not expose to ridicule my glory? and should I not also divest myself of my own power? I should cease to be what I am, and in a manner deny myself, were I not to punish a people so wicked and irreclaimable.” We now perceive the Prophet’s meaning.

Some consider ו, vau, to be understood, and take אי, ai, for אין , ain, and read thus, “I will not spare thee for this.” But as there is no reason to make any change, and many agree in the view that has been given, I prefer to follow what has been most commonly received. The meaning of אי , ai, in Hebrew is “where;” but it also means “how: “and here it is to be understood, not of place, but of manner, “How could I for this be propitious to you?”

We see how God, as it were, deliberates with the opposite party, and even appeals to them for judgment, “Say now, were I to allow you so much liberty and power as to decide the question, could I, who am the judge of the world, spare you who are guilty of such vices?”

Thy sons have forsaken me This was the first sin: and when God complained that he was forsaken, he intimated that the people had willfully, and from deliberate wickedness, cast off the yoke; for the same thing could not have been said of heathens. It is indeed true, if we have regard to the beginning, that all may be charged with defection, for God had revealed himself to the sons of Adam and of Noah; and when they fell away into superstitions, they became apostates. But the defection of the Jewish people was much more recent, and less to be borne: nay, when they boasted that they were God’s people, who could have alleged the pretense of ignorance? We now then see what the Prophet means when he says, that God had been forsaken by the people.

He then adds, They have sworn by a no- god He means, by stating a part for the whole, that the worship of God was become corrupt and vitiated: for swearing, as it was stated yesterday, is a part of God’s worship. Whenever we swear by God’s name, we profess that we are under his power, and that we cannot escape if we swear falsely: we also ascribe to him his glory as the God of truth; and we further testify that nothing escapes him, or is hid from his view. Hence, by saying here that the Israelites swore by a no- god, he means that God was deprived of his own right. They were indeed guilty of other sins; but, as it has been stated, the Prophet includes under one kind all the superstitions which then prevailed among the people. It was then the same as though he had said, that they worshipped idols and gods, whom they had devised for themselves.

He adds a circumstance which enhanced their guilt, I have filled them, he says, and they have committed adultery There is here a striking alliteration, which must not be omitted, he had said, ישבען, ishbon, “ they have sworn;” and now he says, אשבע, ashbo, “ I have filled them.” The only difference is in a point; when placed on the left side of ש, shin, the word means to fill, and when on the right, to swear. ⁽¹³⁶⁾ The Prophet then says, that they had sworn to another God, and yet had been filled God shews here how base and disgraceful had been the ingratitude of the people; for they had been filled to the full with all blessings, and yet they did not acknowledge their own God, who had been to them a Father, so kind and bountiful: I have filled them, he says, and they have committed adultery

Now this passage teaches us, that they who go astray, when allured by God’s paternal kindness and bounty, are on that account the more unworthy of pardon. When men grow wanton against God, while he is kindly indulging them, they no doubt treasure up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath, as Paul tells us in Romans 2:5. Let us then take heed, lest we indulge ourselves, while God is, as it were, indulging us; and lest prosperity should lead us to wantonness: but let us learn to submit ourselves willingly to him, even because he thus kindly and sweetly invites us to himself; and when he shews himself so loving, let us learn to love him.

He says, that they committed adultery This may be taken metaphorically: but as in the next verse he inveighs against their vagrant lusts and adulteries, this phrase may be taken in its literal sense. I yet think that adultery here is to be understood figuratively, as meaning that they had no spiritual chastity, inasmuch as they did not give God his own glory. He further says, And at the house of the harlot have they assembled together The word “house” may be taken in the nominative case, as the Jews might have been called the house of the harlot; as though the Prophet had said, that all Jerusalem and Judea were like brothels. But some consider ב, beth, to be understood, so that they assembled themselves, as it were, at the house of a harlot; and that he thus alludes to the temple. And it is a mark of great shamelessness, when many adulterers or wanton men assemble in one house; for most are ashamed of their adulteries, so that they endeavor to hide their baseness: but when they come together in troops, as though under an uplifted banner, it is a proof that there is no shame, but that they thus disregard all decency, like brute beasts. The most suitable meaning then is, that they are said to have assembled together in brothels, because they gloried in their own superstitions and sacrileges. ⁽¹³⁷⁾ It follows —

(136) This has been done by the Punctuists, and is no part of the language. — Ed.

(137) The last line may be rendered thus, —

And the house of the harlot they crowd.

The verb for “crowd” seems here to be transitive, though it be intransitive in Micah 5:1. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 5

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places, if you can find a man, if there be any that is executing judgment, and that is seeking truth; and I will pardon it ( Jeremiah 5:1 ).

If you can find one man. You remember when the angels were going down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham said, "Hey, Lord, shall not the God of the earth be fair? Would you destroy the righteous with the people? What if there are fifty righteous people in that city?" The Lord said, "I'll spare for fifty righteous." "Well, Lord, what if there's forty? What if there's thirty? What if there's twenty? What if there's ten?" Lord said, "I'll spare for ten." Now God is saying of Jerusalem, "Just search. Search through the whole city. Find one man, one man that is seeking to execute judgment, that is seeking the truth."

And though they say, The LORD liveth; they swear falsely ( Jeremiah 5:2 ).

People were still mouthing the right words, but it wasn't coming from their hearts. "The Lord liveth," a popular phrase in those days. "Oh, the Lord liveth."

You remember when Elisha healed Naaman of his leprosy, the Syrian general, and he tried to give Naaman a lot of reward. A lot of silver and changes of clothes and so forth because he was healed. And Elisha said, "Aw, keep your stuff. I don't want any of it. I don't need it. You keep it." Well, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, saw all the loot. He thought, "Oh man, if I could have just a little bit of that, I could buy a field and I could plant a vineyard and I could have servants and I could plant some olive trees. Man, I could retire. That would be nice." So as Naaman was going back, he got on his little donkey and he headed out after him. And they said to Naaman, "Hey, looks like someone's chasing us." They said, "Let's stop and see who it is. It looks like the servant of the prophet." And so as old Gehazi came up on his little donkey, he said, "Everything okay?" "Oh yeah, everything's okay, except that my master Elisha had some sudden company come in, some young men and they needed some help. So he said he'll take just a little bit of your silver and a few changes of garments and so forth." So Naaman gladly gave him the stuff and he got back and his donkey went back and he hid all this stuff. Came whistling in, you know, and the prophet said, "As the Lord liveth." You see it was a common term, spiritual term-it signified that you had it going spiritually. "As the Lord liveth, where have you been?" "As the Lord liveth, I haven't been anywhere." You see, all of the deceit and lying, but he was couching it in spiritual terms in order to sort of deceive.

And I'm afraid that many times people do couch themselves in spiritual terms for the purpose of deceiving. "Right on, brother! Praise the Lord! Bless God, man," you know. And we use this spiritual jargon to deceive, and so Gehazi, "As the Lord liveth, I didn't go anywhere." "Wait a minute," and then the prophet began to read his mind. "Is this the time to buy fields and to plant vineyards and olive trees and to hire servants?" That's just what he was thinking, you see. He said, "Did not my heart go with you when you chased after that man and took those things? And now because of that, the leprosy that was upon him is going to come upon you." And the guy turned white with leprosy and went out from the sight of the prophet. But yet he was using the spiritual. And God says, "Hey, they used the term, 'As the Lord liveth', but in that day, though they say, 'The Lord liveth,' surely they swear falsely."

Jeremiah responds,

O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? you have stricken them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 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. 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 there shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased. How shall I pardon thee for this? [God cries] 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 was neighing after his neighbor'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? 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 of Israel and the house of 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 the sword nor famine ( Jeremiah 5:3-12 ):

And it won't happen here.

And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. 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. 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 you do not know, neither understand what they say. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. And they shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and daughters should be eating: they shall eat up your flocks and your herds: they shall eat up your vines and your figs: and they shall impoverish your cities, wherein you have trusted, with the sword. Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you ( Jeremiah 5:13-18 ).

God promises He's not going to cut the people off completely.

For it shall come to pass, when you will say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things against us? then shall you answer them, Like as you have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish people, you that are without understanding; which have eyes, but you see not; which have ears, but you hear not: Do you not fear me? saith the LORD: will you not tremble at my presence, for I have placed the sand for the boundaries of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass over it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves against it, and they roar, they can not prevail. But this people has revolted and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone away. Neither say any of them in their heart, Let us now reverence the LORD our God, who gives us the rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you ( Jeremiah 5:19-25 ).

Oh, the good things that God wants to do for you but He is hindered because of your sins. Jude says, "Keep yourself in the love of God" ( Jude 1:21 ). What does he mean? He means to keep yourself in the place where God can do all of the good things He wants to do for you because He loves you. It doesn't mean keep yourself so sweet and beautiful that God can't help but love you. Because God's love for you is uncaused. It's in His nature. God loves you good or bad. That's just God's nature. But because God loves you He wants to bless you. He wants to do good things for you. But as with Judah, your sins have withheld the good things from you. Those good things God wants to do for you.

For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that sets a trap; and they set a trap for men to catch then. As a cage is full of birds, so are the houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and they have become very rich. They have become fat, they shine: they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and yet they prosper; and the right of the needy they do not take care of. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on a nation like this? A [awesome] wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land ( Jeremiah 5:26-30 );

Wonderful in the sense that it causes wonder and amazement. "An amazing and horrible thing is committed in the land."

For the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests are bearing rule by their wealth; and my people love to have it that way: and what will you do in the end of such things? ( Jeremiah 5:31 )

You see, there's corruption. Those that are ruling are ruling corruptly. But the people love it that way. They'll vote for them at the next election. Every election amazes me. When I see the people that are elected into office, those kind of things absolutely. Well, as God said, you can't believe it. It's awesome; it's horrible. The priests are bearing rule by their own wealth, but the people love to have it that way. Rather than being shocked and arising in righteous indignation, people just seem to go along with it and love to have it that way. I can't understand it. And God Himself couldn't understand it. God speaks of it. It's just, how can you believe it? How can you understand it? It's just horrible.

But as we read Jeremiah, the real value of Jeremiah comes as you see a nation that is about to die and you observe the symptoms of that nation and the disease that has brought its death. And it will help you to understand very much as you look at the nation in which we live today and what's happening.

Shall we pray.

Lord, help us that we shall not go the way of the world. God, that we would stand for righteousness, for truth, for justice. Oh God, help us that we would not turn away from Thee or that we would draw away from Thee in any wise to worship our own idols and the things of our flesh. But O God, may Thy love fill our hearts that our songs might be unto Thee day by day. That we will be praising Thee and worshipping You and thinking about You, Lord, through the day as our love for Thee increases and grows. Help us, Lord, not to wane in our devotion. Help us, Lord, that our love will not grow cold. Keep us from that lukewarm state lest You spew us out of Your mouth. In Jesus' name, Lord. Amen.

May the Lord bless and give you a beautiful week. May His hand be upon your life and may the flame of love really begin to burn in your hearts towards God, that this will be a week in which you're really in tune, in harmony with Him. And that love and commitment is restored and it's just a glorious week of thinking of Him, worshipping Him, serving Him, loving Him. May God be pleased with you by your commitment and devotion to Him. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The depth of Judah’s sin 5:1-9

God gave His people reasons for the coming judgment. He stressed social and personal sins particularly.

"Jeremiah now appreciates the moral necessity for God’s judgment of His people, as he sees clearly with his own eyes the iniquity, selfishness and depravity of life in Jerusalem." [Note: Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 74.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Yahweh asked the people why He should pardon them. Their sons, for whom the older generation was responsible, had forsaken Him and trusted in idols. As payment for the blessings He had sent them, they continued to commit adultery with the Canaanite gods and their human representatives.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

How shall I pardon thee for this?.... Because of their manifold transgressions, and multiplied backslidings; or "wherefore, or for what, shall I pardon thee?" r as the Targum; can any reason be given why I should? what goodness is there in thee, or done by thee, that I should do this unto thee? The particle אי, according to Kimchi, is a word of exclamation; and, according to Jarchi, of admiration; and may be rendered, "oh! for this shall I pardon?" how can it be? R. Menachem; in Jarchi, takes it to be the same with אין, "not"; and to be rendered, not for this will I pardon; and so is an affirmation, and fixed resolution not to pardon, and that for the following reasons:

thy children have forsaken me; my worship, as the Targum interprets it; that is, the children of Jerusalem, the inhabitants of it, the common people, as distinguished from their fathers, the civil and ecclesiastical rulers; see Matthew 23:37, though not to the exclusion of them; for they were guilty of the same sin in forsaking the word, worship, and ordinances of God:

and sworn by them that are no gods; by the name of idols, as the Targum; or, "by those things which are not god", as Noldius s renders the words; who rightly observes, that there were other things besides idols that they swore by, as the heaven and earth, temple, altar, c. with which the Arabic version agrees when an oath ought only to be taken in the name of the living God; or, "swore without God"; without making mention of the name of the true God:

when I had fed them to the full; with the good things of life; gave them all things richly to enjoy; the best provisions, and fulness of them; so that they had all that heart could wish for. There is in the Hebrew text a beautiful play on words t, between the word used for swearing in the former clause, and this for feeding here:

they then committed adultery; either idolatry, which is spiritual adultery; or adultery literally taken; as it seems from the following verse. This is the consequence of their being fullly fed; and that is an aggravation of this their sin against God and their neighbour; see

Deuteronomy 32:13:

and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses; either in the temples of idols, or in the stews or brothel houses, where harlots prostituted themselves; their going thither in troops, or in great numbers, shows both how universal and how public this sin was, and how impudent and barefaced they were in the commission of it.

r אי לזאת אסלח לך "ad quid, [vel] ob quid, [vel] quare parcam tibi?" De Dieu. s Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 199. No. 911. t וישבעו "et juraverunt", ואשבע "cum saturarem".

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.   2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.   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.   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.   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.   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.   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.   8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.   9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

      Here is, I. A challenge to produce any one right honest man, or at least any considerable number of such, in Jerusalem, Jeremiah 5:1; Jeremiah 5:1. Jerusalem had become like the old world, in which all flesh had corrupted their way. There were some perhaps who flattered themselves with hopes that there were yet many good men in Jerusalem, who would stand in the gap to turn away the wrath of God; and there might be others who boasted of its being the holy city and thought that this would save it. But God bids them search the town, and intimates that they should scarcely find a man in it who executed judgment and made conscience of what he said and did: "Look in the streets, where they make their appearance and converse together, and in the broad places, where they keep their markets; see if you can find a man, a magistrate (so some), that executes judgment, and administers justice impartially, that will put the laws in execution against vice and profaneness." When the faithful thus cease and fail it is time to cry Woe is me! (Micah 7:1; Micah 7:2), high time to cry, Help Lord,Psalms 12:1. "If there be here and there a man that is truly conscientious, and does at least speak the truth, yet you shall not find him in the streets and broad places; he dares not appear publicly, lest he should be abused and run down. Truth has fallen in the street (Isaiah 59:14), and is forced to seek for corners." So pleasing would it be to God to find any such that for their sake he would pardon the city; if there were but ten righteous men in Sodom, if but one of a thousand, of ten thousand, in Jerusalem, it should be spared. See how ready God is to forgive, how swift to show mercy. But it might be said, "What do you make of those in Jerusalem that continue to make profession of religion and relation to God? Are not they men for whose sakes Jerusalem may be spared?" No, for they are not sincere in their profession (Jeremiah 5:2; Jeremiah 5:2): They say, The Lord liveth, and will swear by his name only, but they swear falsely, that is, 1. They are not sincere in the profession they make of respect to God, but are false to him; they honour him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. 2. Though they appeal to God only, they make no conscience of calling him to witness to a lie. Though they do not swear by idols, they forswear themselves, which is no less an affront to God, as the God of truth, than the other is as the only true God.

      II. A complaint which the prophet makes to God of the obstinacy and wilfulness of these people. God had appealed to their eyes (Jeremiah 5:1; Jeremiah 5:1); but here the prophet appeals to his eyes (Jeremiah 5:3; Jeremiah 5:3): "Are not thy eyes upon the truth? Dost thou not see every man's true character? And is not this the truth of their character, that they have made their faces harder than a rock?" Or, "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward part; but where is it to be found among the men of this generation? For though they say, The Lord liveth, yet they never regard him; thou hast stricken them with one affliction after another, but they have not grieved for the affliction, they have been as stocks and stones under it, much less have they grieved for the sin by which they have brought it upon themselves. Thou hast gone further yet, hast consumed them, hast corrected them yet more severely; but they have refused to receive correction, to accommodate themselves to thy design in correcting them and to answer to it. They would not receive instruction by the correction. The have set themselves to outface the divine sentence and to outbrave the execution of it, for they have made their faces harder than a rock; they cannot change countenance, neither blush for shame nor look pale for fear, cannot be beaten back from the pursuit of their lusts, whatever check is given them; for, though often called to it, they have refused to return, and would go forward, right or wrong, as the horse into the battle."

      III. The trial made both of rich and poor, and the bad character given of both.

      1. The poor were ignorant, and therefore they were wicked. He found many that refused to return, for whom he was willing to make the best excuse their case would bear, and it was this (Jeremiah 5:4; Jeremiah 5:4): "Surely, these are poor, they are foolish. They never had the advantage of a good education, nor have they wherewithal to help themselves now with the means of instruction. They are forced to work hard for their living, and have no time nor capacity for reading or hearing, so that they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgments of their God; they understand neither the way in which God by his precepts will have them to walk towards him nor the way in which he by his providence is walking towards them." Note, (1.) Prevailing ignorance is the lamentable cause of abounding impiety and iniquity. What can one expect but works of darkness from brutish sottish people that know nothing of God and religion, but choose to sit in darkness? (2.) This is commonly a reigning sin among poor people. There are the devil's poor as well as God's, who, notwithstanding their poverty, might know the way of the Lord, so as to walk in it and do their duty, without being book-learned; but they are willingly ignorant, and therefore their ignorance will not be their excuse.

      2. The rich were insolent and haughty, and therefore they were wicked (Jeremiah 5:5; Jeremiah 5:5): "I will get me to the great men, and see if I can find them more pliable to the word and providence of God. I will speak to them, preach at court, in hopes to make some impression upon men of polite literature. But all in vain; for, though they know the way of the Lord and the judgment of their God, yet they are too stiff to stoop to his government: These have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds. They know their Master's will, but are resolved to have their own will, to walk in the way of their heart and in the sight of their eyes. They think themselves too goodly to be controlled, too big to be corrected, even by the sovereign Lord of all himself. They are for breaking even his bands asunder,Psalms 2:3. The poor are weak, the rich are wilful, and so neither do their duty."

      IV. Some particular sins specified, which they were notoriously guilty of, and which cried most loudly to heaven for vengeance. Their transgressions indeed were many, of many kinds and often repeated, and their backslidings were increased; they added to the number of them and grew more and more impudent in them, Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 5:6. But two sins especially were justly to be looked upon as unpardonable crimes:-- 1. Their spiritual whoredom, giving that honour to idols which is due to God only. "Thy children have forsaken me, to whom they were born and dedicated and under whom they have been brought up, and they have sworn by those that are no gods, have made their appeal to them as if they had been omniscient and their proper judges." This is here put for all acts of religious worship due to God only, but with which they had honoured their idols. They have sworn to them (so it may be read), have joined themselves to them and covenanted with them. Those that forsake God make a bad change for those that are no gods. 2. Their corporal whoredom. Because they had forsaken God and served idols, he gave them up to vile affections; and those that dishonoured him were left to dishonour themselves and their own families. They committed adultery most scandalously, without sense of shame or fear of punishment, for they assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses and did not blush to be seen by one another in the most scandalous places. So impudent and violent was their lust, so impatient of check, and so eager to be gratified, that they became perfect beasts (Jeremiah 5:8; Jeremiah 5:8); like high-fed horses, they neighed every one after his neighbour's wife,Jeremiah 5:8; Jeremiah 5:8. Unbridled lusts make men like natural brute beasts, such monstrous odious things are they. And that which aggravated their sin was that it was the abuse of God's favours to them: When they were fed to the full, then their lusts grew thus furious. Fulness of bread was fuel to the fire of Sodom's lusts. Sine Cerere et Bacchio friget Venu--Luxurious living feeds the flames of lust. Fasting would help to tame the unruly evil that is so full of deadly poison, and bring the body into subjection.

      V. A threatening of God's wrath against them for their wickedness and the universal debauchery of their land.

      1. The particular judgment that is threatened, Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 5:6. A foreign enemy shall break in upon them, get dominion over them, and shall lay waste: their country shall be as if it were overrun and perfectly mastered by wild beasts. This enemy shall be, (1.) Like a lion of the forest; so strong, so furious, so irresistible; and he shall slay them. (2.) Like a wolf of the evening, which comes out at night, when he is hungry, to seek his prey, and is very fierce and ravenous; and the noise both of the lions' roaring and of the wolves' howling is very hideous. (3.) Like a leopard, which is very swift and very cruel, and withal careful not to miss his prey. The army of the enemy shall watch over their cities so strictly as to put the inhabitants to this sad dilemma--if they stay in, they are starved; if they stir out, they are stabbed; Every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces, which intimates that in many places the enemy gave no quarter. And all this bloody work is owing to the multitude of their transgressions. It is sin that makes the great slaughter.

      2. An appeal to themselves concerning the equity of it (Jeremiah 5:9; Jeremiah 5:9); "Shall I not visit for these things? Can you yourselves think that the God whose name is Jealous will let such idolatries go unpunished, or that a God of infinite purity will connive at such abominable uncleanness?" These are things that must be reckoned for, else the honour of God's government cannot be maintained, nor his laws saved from contempt; but sinners will be tempted to think him altogether such a one as themselves, contrary to that conviction of their own consciences concerning the judgment of God which is necessary to be supported, That those who do such things are worthy of death,Romans 1:32. Observe, when God punishes sin, he is said to visit for it, or enquire into it; for he weighs the cause before he passes sentence. Sinners have reason to expect punishment upon the account of God's holiness, to which sin is highly offensive, as well as upon the account of his justice, to which it renders us obnoxious; this is intimated in that, Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? It is not only the word of God, but his soul, that takes vengeance. And he has national judgments wherewith to take vengeance for national sins. Such nations as this was cannot long go unpunished. How shall I pardon thee for this?Jeremiah 5:7; Jeremiah 5:7. Not but that those who have been guilty of these sins have found mercy with God, as to their eternal state (Manasseh himself did, though so much accessory to the iniquity of these times); but nations, as such, being rewardable and punishable only in this life, it would not be for the glory of God to let a nation so very wicked as this pass without some manifest tokens of his displeasure.