They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy. They have grown fat and sleekThis phrase paints a vivid picture of the moral and spiritual state of the people. The Hebrew word for "fat" (שָׁמֵן, shamen) often symbolizes prosperity and abundance, but here it is used pejoratively to indicate self-indulgence and complacency. The word "sleek" (עָשַׁת, ashat) suggests a polished or smooth appearance, implying that the people have become comfortable and self-satisfied in their sin. Historically, this reflects a time when Judah was materially prosperous but spiritually bankrupt, a common theme in the prophetic literature where external wealth masks internal decay. Their evil deeds have no limit
The phrase underscores the boundless nature of their wickedness. The Hebrew word for "limit" (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) typically refers to justice or judgment, but here it is used to indicate that there is no boundary or restraint to their actions. This suggests a society that has abandoned moral and ethical constraints, echoing the broader biblical narrative of Israel's repeated cycles of sin and repentance. Theologically, it serves as a warning against the dangers of unchecked sin and the importance of divine law as a boundary for human behavior. They do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it
This phrase highlights a specific failure in social justice. The Hebrew word for "plead" (דִּין, din) means to judge or contend, and it implies an active effort to seek justice. The "fatherless" (יָתוֹם, yatom) are often mentioned in the Bible as a symbol of the vulnerable and marginalized. The failure to advocate for them indicates a society that has lost its moral compass, neglecting the very people God commands His followers to protect. This reflects the broader biblical theme of God's concern for justice and care for the oppressed. They do not defend the rights of the poor
This phrase further emphasizes the social injustice prevalent in the society. The Hebrew word for "defend" (שָׁפַט, shaphat) means to judge or govern, suggesting a failure of leadership and governance. The "poor" (עָנִי, ani) are another group frequently mentioned in Scripture as deserving of protection and justice. This neglect is a direct violation of the covenantal laws given to Israel, which repeatedly stress the importance of caring for the less fortunate. It serves as a reminder of the biblical mandate to uphold justice and righteousness in all aspects of life. Persons / Places / Events 1. JeremiahA major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophecies concerning the judgment and restoration of Israel. He is often called the "weeping prophet" due to his deep sorrow over the sins of his people. 2. JudahThe southern kingdom of Israel during the time of Jeremiah. The people of Judah are the primary audience of Jeremiah's prophecies, as they had turned away from God and were facing impending judgment. 3. The Fatherless and NeedyRepresenting the vulnerable and marginalized in society, whom God commands His people to protect and support. Their neglect is a sign of societal corruption and injustice. Teaching Points The Danger of ComplacencyThe phrase "grown fat and sleek" suggests a life of ease and self-indulgence. Believers must guard against becoming complacent in their spiritual lives and neglecting the needs of others. Unlimited EvilThe description of their "evil deeds have no limit" warns of the dangers of unchecked sin. Christians are called to live lives of holiness and accountability. Advocacy for the VulnerableThe failure to "plead the case of the fatherless" and "defend the rights of the needy" highlights the importance of social justice. Believers are called to be advocates for the marginalized and oppressed. Righteousness and JusticeTrue righteousness involves active justice. Christians should seek to embody God's heart for justice in their communities. Repentance and RestorationThe broader context of Jeremiah calls for repentance. Believers should regularly examine their lives, repent of sin, and seek God's restoration. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the description of the people in Jeremiah 5:28 challenge your current lifestyle and priorities? 2. In what ways can you actively advocate for the fatherless and needy in your community, reflecting God's heart for justice? 3. How does the theme of social justice in Jeremiah 5:28 connect with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament? 4. What steps can you take to ensure that your spiritual life does not become complacent or self-indulgent? 5. How can the church collectively address the issues of injustice highlighted in Jeremiah 5:28, and what role can you play in this effort? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 1:23This verse also addresses the leaders' failure to defend the fatherless and the widow, highlighting a recurring theme of social injustice in Israel. James 1:27This New Testament verse emphasizes pure and faultless religion as caring for orphans and widows, connecting the Old Testament call for justice to Christian practice. Psalm 82:3-4These verses call for defending the weak and fatherless, reinforcing God's consistent concern for justice and righteousness throughout Scripture. People Jacob, JeremiahPlaces JerusalemTopics Acts, Adjudge, Bounds, Case, Cause, Child, Deeds, Defend, Evil, Excel, Fat, Fatherless, Gets, Grew, Grown, Judge, Judged, Judgment, Justice, Limit, Needy, Orphan, Overpass, Overpassed, Plead, Poor, Prosper, Rights, Shine, Shone, Sleek, Strong, Support, Surpass, Waxed, Waxen, Wicked, Wickedness, Win, Works, Yea, Yes, YetDictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 5:28 5480 protection
5730 orphans
8786 opposition, to sin and evil Jeremiah 5:26-29 5293 defence, human
5493 retribution Jeremiah 5:27-28 5457 power, human Jeremiah 5:27-29 5310 exploitation Library A Question for the Beginning
'What will ye do in the end?'--JER. v. 31. I find that I preached to the young from this text just thirty years since--nearly a generation ago. How few of my then congregation are here to-night! how changed they and I are! and how much nearer the close we have drifted! How many of the young men and women of that evening have gone to meet the end, and how many of them have wrecked their lives because they would not face and answer this question! Ah, dear young friends, if I could bring some of the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureStorming the Battlements
Jerusalem had sinned against God; she had rebelled against the most High, had set up for herself false gods, and bowed before them; and when God threatened her with chastisement, she built around herself strong battlements and bastions. She said "I am safe and secure. What though Jehovah hath gone away, I will trust in the gods of nations. Though the Temple is cast down, yet we will rely upon these bulwarks and strong fortifications that we have erected." "Ah!" says God, "Jerusalem, I will punish …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855 God's Barriers against Man's Sin
I am slowly rallying. My great struggle now is with weakness. I feel as if my frail bark had weathered a heavy storm which has made every timber creak. Do not attribute this illness to my having laboured too hard for my Master. For his dear sake, I would that I may yet be able to labour more. Such toils as might be hardly noticed in the ramp for the service of one's country, would excite astonishment in the church for the service of our God. And now, I entreat you for love's sake to continue in prayer …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858 Tithing
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). Down deep in the heart of every Christian there is undoubtedly the conviction that he ought to tithe. There is an uneasy feeling that this is a duty which has been neglected, or, if you prefer it, a privilege that has not been …
Arthur W. Pink—Tithing How those who Fear Scourges and those who Contemn them are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 14.) Differently to be admonished are those who fear scourges, and on that account live innocently, and those who have grown so hard in wickedness as not to be corrected even by scourges. For those who fear scourges are to be told by no means to desire temporal goods as being of great account, seeing that bad men also have them, and by no means to shun present evils as intolerable, seeing they are not ignorant how for the most part good men also are touched by them. They are to be admonished …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great The Purpose in the Coming of Jesus.
God Spelling Himself out in Jesus: change in the original language--bother in spelling Jesus out--sticklers for the old forms--Jesus' new spelling of old words. Jesus is God following us up: God heart-broken--man's native air--bad choice affected man's will--the wrong lane--God following us up. The Early Eden Picture, Genesis 1:26-31. 2:7-25: unfallen man--like God--the breath of God in man--a spirit, infinite, eternal--love--holy--wise--sovereign over creation, Psalm 8:5-8--in his own will--summary--God's …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus Purposes of God.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What I understand by the purposes of God. Purposes, in this discussion, I shall use as synonymous with design, intention. The purposes of God must be ultimate and proximate. That is, God has and must have an ultimate end. He must purpose to accomplish something by his works and providence, which he regards as a good in itself, or as valuable to himself, and to being in general. This I call his ultimate end. That God has such an end or purpose, …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology "And Hereby we do Know that we Know Him, if we Keep his Commandments. "
1 John ii. 3.--"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." This age pretends to much knowledge beyond former ages, knowledge, I say, not only in other natural arts and sciences, but especially in religion. Whether there be any great advancement in other knowledge, and improvement of that which was, to a further extent and clearness, I cannot judge, but I believe there is not much of it in this nation, nor do we so much pretend to it. But, we talk of the enlargements of …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN EMPIRES--THE XXVIth EGYPTIAN DYNASTY: CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND NEBUCHADREZZAR. The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of the Medes with the Assyrians: the alleged Iranian migrations of the Avesta--Media-proper, its fauna and flora; Phraortes and the beginning of the Median empire--Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of Persia by the Medes--The last monuments of Assur-bani-pal: the library of Kouyunjik--Phraortes …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 "If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is None of His. "
Rom. viii. 9.--"If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" 2 Chron. vi. 18. It was the wonder of one of the wisest of men, and indeed, considering his infinite highness above the height of heavens, his immense and incomprehensible greatness, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and then the baseness, emptiness, and worthlessness of man, it may be a wonder to the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Of the Nature of Regeneration, and Particularly of the Change it Produces in Men's Apprehensions.
2 COR. v. 17. 2 COR. v. 17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. THE knowledge of our true state in religion, is at once a matter of so great importance, and so great difficulty that, in order to obtain it, it is necessary we should have line upon line and precept upon precept. The plain discourse, which you before heard, was intended to lead you into it; and I question not but I then said enough to convince many, that they were …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Jeremiah 5:28 NIVJeremiah 5:28 NLTJeremiah 5:28 ESVJeremiah 5:28 NASBJeremiah 5:28 KJV
Jeremiah 5:28 Commentaries
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