◄ Jeremiah 5:19 ►
And when the people ask, 'For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' You are to tell them, 'Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.'"
Study Bible
And when the people ask
This phrase sets the stage for a dialogue between God and His people. The Hebrew root for "ask" is "שָׁאַל" (sha'al), which implies a seeking or inquiring. It reflects a moment of realization and questioning, indicating that the people are beginning to understand the gravity of their situation. Historically, this reflects a time when the Israelites were facing the consequences of their actions, prompting them to seek answers from God.

‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’
The use of "LORD" here is significant, as it translates from the Hebrew "יהוה" (YHWH), the covenant name of God. This question reveals a disconnect between the people's understanding of their covenant relationship with God and the reality of their circumstances. It highlights a moment of introspection and confusion, as they grapple with the divine justice being meted out upon them.

you are to tell them
This directive to Jeremiah underscores his role as a prophet and messenger of God. The Hebrew root "אָמַר" (amar) for "tell" conveys a command to speak with authority. Jeremiah is tasked with delivering a message that is both a response to the people's inquiry and a divine pronouncement of judgment.

‘Just as you have forsaken Me
The word "forsaken" comes from the Hebrew "עָזַב" (azab), meaning to leave or abandon. This phrase captures the essence of Israel's sin: a deliberate turning away from God. It is a poignant reminder of the broken relationship between God and His people, emphasizing the gravity of their spiritual adultery.

and served foreign gods in your own land
The act of serving "foreign gods" is a direct violation of the first commandment. The Hebrew word for "served" is "עָבַד" (avad), which implies worship and allegiance. This phrase highlights the irony and tragedy of Israel's idolatry, as they chose to worship false deities within the very land that God had given them as an inheritance.

so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own
This is a prophetic declaration of the consequences of Israel's actions. The repetition of the word "serve" (עָבַד) underscores the theme of servitude, but now it is a servitude to foreign powers as a result of their disobedience. The phrase "a land that is not your own" speaks to the impending exile, a historical reality that would see the Israelites removed from their homeland and subjected to foreign rule. This serves as a sobering reminder of the cost of forsaking God and the inevitable justice that follows.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A 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 themes of repentance and judgment.

2. The People of Judah
The audience of Jeremiah's prophecies, who were often rebellious and idolatrous, leading to their eventual exile.

3. Foreign Gods
Idols and deities worshiped by the nations surrounding Israel, which the people of Judah adopted, forsaking their covenant with Yahweh.

4. Exile
The event of being taken captive and removed from one's homeland, specifically referring to the Babylonian exile of Judah as a consequence of their disobedience.

5. Foreigners
The Babylonians, who would conquer Judah and take its people into exile as a result of their unfaithfulness to God.
Teaching Points
The Consequences of Idolatry
Idolatry leads to spiritual and physical exile. Just as Judah served foreign gods, they would serve foreign masters. This serves as a warning against placing anything above God in our lives.

The Importance of Covenant Faithfulness
God’s relationship with His people is covenantal. Breaking this covenant through disobedience leads to discipline. We are called to remain faithful to God’s commands.

Understanding God’s Justice
God’s actions are just and righteous. When we face consequences for our actions, it is an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with God and seek repentance.

The Call to Repentance
Even in judgment, God’s desire is for His people to return to Him. Repentance restores our relationship with God and averts further consequences.

Learning from History
The history of Israel and Judah serves as a lesson for us today. We must learn from their mistakes and remain steadfast in our faith.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the concept of serving foreign gods in Jeremiah 5:19 relate to modern-day idolatry, and what are some examples in today's context?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we remain faithful to God’s covenant in our daily lives?

3. How does understanding the justice of God help us respond to difficult situations or consequences we face?

4. What steps can we take to cultivate a heart of repentance and avoid spiritual complacency?

5. How can the history of Israel and Judah’s disobedience inform our personal and communal walk with God today?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 28
This chapter outlines the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, including exile, which directly connects to the consequences described in Jeremiah 5:19.

2 Kings 17
Describes the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel due to idolatry, serving as a historical precedent and warning for Judah.

Hosea 8:7
The principle of reaping what one sows is echoed here, emphasizing the consequences of turning away from God.

Romans 1:21-25
Paul discusses the consequences of idolatry and exchanging the truth of God for lies, paralleling the spiritual decline seen in Jeremiah's time.
Sermons
In the Time of TribulationJ. Harding.Jeremiah 5:19
People
Jacob, Jeremiah
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Foreign, Foreigner, Foreigners, Forsaken, Gods, Hast, Making, Pass, Servants, Serve, Served, Strange, Strangers, Wherefore, Yours, Your's, Yourselves
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 5:19

     8468   renunciation
     8840   unfaithfulness, to God

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 Scripture

Storming 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 5:19 NIV
Jeremiah 5:19 NLT
Jeremiah 5:19 ESV
Jeremiah 5:19 NASB
Jeremiah 5:19 KJV

Jeremiah 5:19 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Jeremiah 5:18
Top of Page
Top of Page