Jeremiah 5:1

 Jeremiah 5:1 says. 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.  God challenged the people of Israel to look everywhere in Jerusalem and see if they could find anyone who executed judgment fairly.  The implication was that there wasn't even one who did, and God said if they found one, then He would pardon Jerusalem.  These were God's chosen people, but they had abandoned Him.  Verse two states, And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.  God said that although they professed to follow God with their words, that they did so falsely.  It is not enough to pay lip service to God.  Verse three says, 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.  Then, Jeremiah asked if God had not already been bringing His judgment on them and they were not listening.  When we as followers of Christ stray away from God we should not be surprised if we lose His protection today.  Verse four declares, 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.  Jeremiah said the people of Israel were poor and foolish and asked God if they had not suffered enough.  Yet, if they were this way, it was because of their refusal to follow God, and therefore it did not excuse them.  Even if we are poor and foolish, we are not excused from being obedient to God as Christians.  Verse five says, 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.  Then Jeremiah said that the rich were insolent and haughty according to Matthew Henry.  Our material success does not excuse us from following God.  Verse six declares, 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.  God said because of their turning away from Him that He was going to allow an enemy to come upon them like a lion out of the forest, and that they would be slain and they would be torn to pieces because their transgressions were many and their backslidings were only increasing.  Verse seven asks, 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.  God asked how He could forgive them when they had abandoned Him, even though He had blessed them, and had gone chasing after other gods.  Verse eight adds, They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.  I believe this means that even though God had blessed the people, they were not content with what they had but wanted what their neighbor had as well.  Verse nine continues, Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?  God asked Jeremiah if He was not justified in His actions toward the people of Israel because of their actions toward Him.  God never acts capriciously toward us, but He has offered everyone a way to salvation.  It is up to each individual to accept this salvation, and if we do, then God expects us to be faithful to Him, whether we are rich or poor.  Verse ten concludes, 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.   God said that He would allow the people of Israel to be defeated because they were no longer relying on His protection.  If we fail to be obedient to God as Christians, we should not be surprised if He allows us to be defeated by the world today.