Jeremiah 5:11 says, For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. God said that even though His people were divided into two nations, Israel and Judah, they were united in dealing treacherously with Him. As God's people today as Christians, we must be united in working for God and not in working against Him. Verse twelve adds, They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: God's people said that it was not His word that said that they were going to be destroyed. They refused to believe anything bad was going to happen to them. Some today claim that God only wants what is good for us materially and refuse to believe that they are called to put their material desires behind standing firm for God even in adversity. Verse thirteen states, And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. God said even those who were supposed to be His prophets were basically full of hot air, claiming that what God had said was not true. Matthew Henry says that this means that the people would not listen to the prophets, but I understand it to mean that the prophets themselves were not proclaiming the truth of God. Verse fourteen declares, 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. God said that the word of Jeremiah, who was speaking the truth of God, would be as a fire consuming those who did not believe him and were possibly even making fun of him. We cannot follow Christ and follow the teachings of those who teach things that are contrary to His word, even if they are religious leaders, but at the same time, we must recognize the truth of God when it is spoken. Verse fifteen adds, 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 thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. God said that the people of Israel were about to be destroyed by a nation that was a mighty nation and whose language they did not even understand. Verse sixteen says, Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. Then verse seventeen adds, And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. Through Jeremiah, God warned the people of Israel and Judah that they were going to lose everything they had and that they would recognize the inability of their fenced cities to protect them. When we begin to trust in the things of this world and ignore the word of God, we will ultimately lose everything that we have valued more than God. Verse eighteen declares, Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. God said that He would not allow all of His people to be destroyed. Even in their lowest point spiritually as God's people, there was still a remnant that were true to Him. We must individually make sure that no matter what the rest of the world is doing that we remain true to God. Verse nineteen adds, And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. God said that when those who were supposed to be His people asked how God could allow these things to happen, that He would respond by reminding them that they had not been faithful to Him. They had chased after other gods. If we find ourselves to be suffering in the world today as followers of Christ, we need to make sure that it is because of our faith in God and not because we have been chasing after false gods.
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