Jeremiah 5:29
Should I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Should I not punish them for these things?
This phrase begins with a rhetorical question posed by God, emphasizing His role as a just judge. The Hebrew root for "punish" is "פָּקַד" (paqad), which can mean to attend to, visit, or reckon. In the context of divine justice, it implies a visitation of consequences for actions. Historically, Israel was in a covenant relationship with God, and their repeated disobedience warranted divine intervention. This phrase underscores God's righteousness and the necessity of justice in response to the nation's sins, which included idolatry and social injustice.

declares the LORD
The phrase "declares the LORD" is a common prophetic formula in the Hebrew Bible, signifying the authority and certainty of the message. The Hebrew word for "declares" is "נְאֻם" (ne'um), often used to convey a solemn pronouncement. This emphasizes that the message is not Jeremiah's own, but a direct communication from Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. It serves as a reminder of the divine origin of the prophecy and the seriousness with which it should be received.

Should I not avenge Myself
Here, the concept of avenging is rooted in the Hebrew word "נָקַם" (naqam), which means to take vengeance or to avenge. In the biblical context, vengeance is not about personal vendetta but about restoring justice and order. God's avenging is an expression of His holiness and commitment to uphold His covenant. It reflects the seriousness of the nation's betrayal and the need for divine retribution to maintain moral and spiritual order.

on such a nation as this?
The phrase "such a nation as this" refers specifically to the people of Judah, who had turned away from God despite His continuous warnings and mercies. The historical context is crucial here; Judah had witnessed the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel due to similar sins. The phrase highlights the nation's collective guilt and the inevitability of judgment if they persist in their ways. It serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of national sin and the importance of repentance and faithfulness to God.

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 his deep emotional connection to his people and his unwavering commitment to God's truth.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is just and righteous. In this passage, He is expressing His intention to bring judgment upon the nation for their persistent sin and rebellion.

3. The Nation of Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which had fallen into idolatry and injustice. Despite repeated warnings from prophets like Jeremiah, the people continued in their sinful ways, prompting God's declaration of impending judgment.

4. Divine Judgment
The event or action that God is declaring He will bring upon Judah due to their unrepentant sin. This is a central theme in Jeremiah's prophecies.

5. Injustice and Idolatry
The specific sins that have provoked God's wrath. The people of Judah were guilty of turning away from God and oppressing the vulnerable, which are key reasons for the impending punishment.
Teaching Points
God's Righteous Judgment
God is just and righteous, and His judgments are always fair. We must understand that His punishment is a response to persistent sin and rebellion.

The Consequences of Sin
Sin has real consequences, both individually and collectively. The nation of Judah serves as a warning of what happens when a people turn away from God.

Call to Repentance
God's declarations of judgment are often accompanied by calls to repentance. We should heed these warnings and turn back to God before it's too late.

God's Sovereignty
God is sovereign over nations and history. His plans and purposes will prevail, and He will act to uphold His righteousness.

Personal Reflection and Accountability
We should examine our own lives for areas of sin and injustice, seeking God's forgiveness and striving to live in accordance with His will.
Bible Study Questions
1. What specific sins were the people of Judah guilty of, and how do these sins manifest in today's society?

2. How does understanding God's righteous judgment affect your view of justice and fairness in the world?

3. In what ways can we, as individuals and as a church, respond to God's call for repentance?

4. How does the concept of God's sovereignty provide comfort and assurance in times of national or personal crisis?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced the consequences of sin. How did that experience lead you to seek God's forgiveness and change your ways?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 32:35
This verse speaks of God's vengeance and justice, emphasizing that He will repay wrongdoing in His time. It connects to Jeremiah 5:29 by highlighting God's role as the ultimate judge who will avenge sin.

Isaiah 1:4
This passage describes a sinful nation, laden with iniquity, similar to the description of Judah in Jeremiah. It underscores the theme of a people who have forsaken the LORD.

Romans 12:19
This New Testament verse advises believers to leave vengeance to God, reinforcing the idea that God is the rightful judge who will repay.
The Worst Kind of Wickedness Found Among the People of JehovahD. Young Jeremiah 5:26-29
A Question for the BeginningA. Maclaren, D. D.Jeremiah 5:26-31
God's People Love to have it SoArthur Ritchie.Jeremiah 5:26-31
Think About the EndJ. J. Ellis.Jeremiah 5:26-31
What Will Ye Do in the End ThereofJ Ogle.Jeremiah 5:26-31
What Will Ye Do in the End?T. Binney, D. D.Jeremiah 5:26-31
Wicked Professors the Bane of the ChurchHelps for the PulpitJeremiah 5:26-31
Wickedness Rampant in the CityJeremiah 5:26-31
People
Jacob, Jeremiah
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Affirmation, Avenge, Avenged, Declares, Inspect, Itself, Myself, Nation, Payment, Punish, Punishment, Says, Soul, Visit
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 5:29

     8710   atheism

Jeremiah 5:26-29

     5293   defence, human
     5493   retribution

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 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

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