Jeremiah 1-5

The Sins of the People

 

I. Intro

    A. First part of a series. Jeremiah 1-5 interchangeably talks about three phases: The Sins of the People, God’s Reaction to that Sin, and The Impending Judgment.

    B. This first lesson will talk about the Sins of the People.

    C. On a practical level, we can compare our lives with those of the people of Judah. Do we commit the same sins? If so, we can expect similar reactions and judgment.

 

II. Body:

A.      2:5 – The people left God and walked after emptiness.  Even after everything God had done for them, they walked away from God.

B.      2:8 – They did not know the Lord. Even the priests were negligent in trying to find Him. The first step in leaving God is to no longer seek Him. Once they stopped seeking Him and His law, they were left to their own judgment. It is no surprise that their judgment was flawed and led them to sin. Only by continually seeking God and His laws do we stay on the correct path. It is amazing to me that it doesn’t have to be an act of rebelliousness that leads us astray, but just an act of indifference.

C.      2:13 – The people of God left the true waters, and the cistern that could hold them for false and broken cisterns. In verse 18 we see that these broken cisterns were the other nations that they would rely on. They would rely on the strength and power of others to protect them, rather than the strength of God. We can have any number of broken cisterns. We may rely on money, nations, relationships, talents, etc. to save us and give our lives meaning. In the end though, they are broken and fail to do the job.

D.      2:26-27 – They went after other gods. Much like the cisterns above, they went to other gods hoping that those gods could watch over and protect them. The irony of course is that those gods were made out of stone and wood and had no power to protect. If we set anything up before God today, we commit this same sin.

E.       2:35 – They proclaim innocence in spite of obvious guilt. God has tried repeatedly to show these people their sins. They insist on maintaining their innocence. If only they would confess and repent of their sins God would forgive them. But since they maintain that their unrighteousness is righteousness, God must bring them into judgment. We need to be wary of proclaiming false innocence before the Lord. We never fool him, but we must guard against fooling ourselves.

F.       3:10 – They refused to learn their lesson from others. They saw the consequence of sin but did not change their own behavior. We can do the same today. The Lord also condemns them for using their relationship with Him as only a way to benefit. They returned, but with deception hoping to avoid punishment. They never truly cared about the Lord, only what He could give them. He was not fooled.

G.     5:1 – There was no one there who was able willing to seek truth and do justice. Above all we must continually search for the truth (cf. 2:8) lest we lose sight of it. Also we must do justice, righteousness. We need to act according to the truth that we find.

H.      5:7-8 – They have committed sexual sin. God will not tolerate this.

I.        5:24 – They refuse to acknowledge and fear God. Of all the people that should understand the power of God (Gen. 1-2) the Jews were held most accountable. Of course love should be our main motivation for serving the Lord. But even if our love goes week, we should be wary of offending the Creator of the universe!

J.        5:28 – They excel in the deeds of wickedness. On top of that they take advantage of the poor and the orphans. They use the discomfort of other people for their gain.

K.      5:31 – They desire false teaching. It helps their conscience. They want to be taught that the Lord will not bring judgment and that their adulterous ways are approved by the Lord. False teaching is not something they stand up against, but instead fully support, thus furthering themselves from the true knowledge of God.

III. Conclusion:

A.      The people of Judah committed many sins. Those sins were not just prevalent in their own time. They abound today, even among those in the church. We must carefully examine and guard ourselves to make sure that no such sin enters into our own life.