"Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city. Go up and down the streets of JerusalemThis phrase sets the scene for a divine command given to the prophet Jeremiah. The Hebrew word for "go up and down" is "שׁוּט" (shuwt), which implies a thorough and diligent search. The historical context here is significant; Jerusalem, the heart of Judah, was a city that God had chosen for His name to dwell. The streets of Jerusalem were not just physical pathways but represented the spiritual and moral state of the nation. This command underscores the urgency and seriousness of the search for righteousness in a city that was supposed to embody God's covenant. look around and consider
The Hebrew words "ראה" (ra'ah) for "look" and "ידע" (yada) for "consider" suggest a deep, penetrating examination. This is not a casual glance but an invitation to discernment and understanding. In a spiritual sense, it calls for introspection and awareness of one's surroundings and actions. Historically, this reflects the prophetic tradition of calling the people to self-examination and repentance, urging them to recognize their departure from God's ways. search through her squares
The "squares" or "רחבות" (rechovot) were public places where people gathered, symbolizing the communal life of the city. Searching through the squares implies examining the public and social aspects of life in Jerusalem. It highlights the importance of community righteousness and justice, as these public spaces were where justice should have been administered and where the social fabric of the city was most visible. If you can find but one person
This phrase emphasizes the scarcity of righteousness in Jerusalem. The Hebrew word "אִישׁ" (ish) for "person" denotes not just any individual but a man of integrity and righteousness. The challenge to find even one such person underscores the depth of moral and spiritual decay. It reflects the biblical theme of the remnant, where God often works through a faithful few amidst widespread unfaithfulness. who deals honestly
The phrase "deals honestly" translates the Hebrew "עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט" (oseh mishpat), meaning one who practices justice. This is a call to ethical behavior and fairness, central to the covenantal relationship between God and His people. In the biblical context, justice is not merely legal correctness but a reflection of God's character, requiring truthfulness and integrity in all dealings. and seeks the truth
The Hebrew "בִּקֵּשׁ אֱמוּנָה" (bikesh emunah) for "seeks the truth" implies an active pursuit of faithfulness and reliability. Truth here is not just factual accuracy but faithfulness to God's covenant. This pursuit is a hallmark of a righteous life, demonstrating a commitment to God's standards and a rejection of falsehood and deceit. then I will forgive her
The promise of forgiveness, "וְאֶסְלַח לָהּ" (ve'eslach lah), is contingent upon finding righteousness. This reflects God's merciful nature and His desire to forgive and restore. The conditional nature of this promise highlights the seriousness of sin but also the hope of redemption. It echoes the biblical theme of repentance leading to divine forgiveness, emphasizing that God's judgment is always tempered with mercy for those who turn back to Him. Persons / Places / Events 1. JeremiahA prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and hope to the people of Judah. His ministry spanned the reigns of several kings and was marked by his deep emotional connection to his people and his unwavering commitment to God's truth. 2. JerusalemThe capital city of Judah, central to Jewish worship and identity. It was a place of great spiritual significance but also of moral and spiritual decline during Jeremiah's time. 3. God's Search for RighteousnessThe event described in this verse is God's command to search Jerusalem for even one righteous person. This highlights the severity of the city's spiritual condition and God's desire for justice and truth. Teaching Points The Importance of RighteousnessGod values righteousness and truth so highly that He is willing to spare an entire city for the sake of one righteous person. This underscores the profound impact that living a life of integrity can have. God's Reluctance to JudgeDespite the widespread sin, God is eager to forgive and show mercy. His search for a righteous person demonstrates His desire to redeem rather than destroy. Personal ResponsibilityEach believer is called to be that one person who seeks truth and deals honestly. Our individual actions and integrity matter greatly to God. The Power of IntercessionJust as Abraham interceded for Sodom, believers are called to pray for their communities and stand in the gap, seeking God's mercy and intervention. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the search for a righteous person in Jerusalem challenge us in our personal walk with God today? 2. In what ways can we ensure that we are living lives marked by honesty and truth, as called for in Jeremiah 5:1? 3. How does the account of Abraham interceding for Sodom in Genesis 18 relate to God's search in Jerusalem, and what does it teach us about the power of intercession? 4. Reflect on Micah 6:8. How can we practically live out the call to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in our daily lives? 5. Considering Ezekiel 22:30, what steps can we take to be intercessors for our communities, standing in the gap and seeking God's mercy and guidance? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 18:22-33This passage recounts Abraham's intercession for Sodom, where he pleads with God to spare the city if righteous people can be found. It parallels Jeremiah 5:1 in illustrating God's willingness to show mercy if righteousness is present. Micah 6:8This verse emphasizes what God requires of His people: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. It connects to the call for honesty and truth in Jeremiah 5:1. Ezekiel 22:30God searches for someone to stand in the gap for the land, similar to the search for a righteous person in Jerusalem. It underscores the importance of intercessors and righteous individuals in averting judgment. People Jacob, JeremiahPlaces JerusalemTopics Broad, Broadways, Consider, Deals, Executeth, Faith, Fidelity, Forgive, Forgiveness, Forth, Fro, Honestly, Jerusalem, Judgment, Justice, Justly, Keeps, Note, Open, Pardon, Places, Propitious, Quickly, Roam, Run, Search, Seek, Seeketh, Seeking, Seeks, Squares, Stedfastness, Streets, Thereof, Truth, Upright, WideDictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 5:1 1461 truth, nature of
5505 roads
5512 scales and balances Jeremiah 5:1-2 8807 profanity 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 5:1 NIVJeremiah 5:1 NLTJeremiah 5:1 ESVJeremiah 5:1 NASBJeremiah 5:1 KJV
Jeremiah 5:1 Commentaries
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