Jeremiah 6:16 Study Bible: Thus says the LORD, "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, 'Where is the good way?' and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." But they said, "We will not walk in it."

◄ Jeremiah 6:16 ►

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: 'Where is the good way?' Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it!'

Study Bible

This is what the LORD says
This phrase introduces a divine proclamation, emphasizing the authority and sovereignty of God. The Hebrew term for "LORD" is "Yahweh," the covenant name of God, which underscores His eternal and unchanging nature. This introduction sets the stage for a message that is not merely human wisdom but divine instruction, demanding attention and obedience.

Stand at the crossroads and look
The imagery of "crossroads" suggests a moment of decision, a place where one must choose a path. In ancient times, crossroads were significant for trade and travel, symbolizing choices that lead to different destinations. The Hebrew verb for "stand" implies a deliberate pause, urging the listener to stop and consider their direction carefully. This is a call to reflection and discernment, encouraging believers to evaluate their spiritual journey.

ask for the ancient paths
The "ancient paths" refer to the tried and true ways of righteousness and obedience to God's commandments. The Hebrew word for "ancient" can also mean "eternal," suggesting that these paths are timeless and enduring. This phrase invites believers to seek wisdom from the past, to learn from the faithfulness of previous generations who walked closely with God. It is a reminder that God's ways are not new or novel but have been established since the beginning.

where the good way is
The "good way" is synonymous with the path of righteousness and blessing. In Hebrew, "good" often connotes moral goodness, prosperity, and well-being. This phrase assures believers that God's path leads to life and peace. It is an invitation to pursue holiness and align one's life with God's will, promising that such a pursuit will result in true fulfillment and joy.

walk in it
To "walk" in the biblical sense means to live out one's faith actively and consistently. The Hebrew verb suggests a continuous, habitual action, indicating that following God's path requires ongoing commitment and perseverance. This command challenges believers to not only recognize the right path but to actively engage in it, embodying their faith in daily actions and decisions.

and you will find rest for your souls
The promise of "rest" echoes the Sabbath rest and the peace that comes from trusting in God. The Hebrew concept of "rest" involves not just physical cessation from labor but a deep, spiritual tranquility and contentment. This assurance speaks to the ultimate fulfillment and peace that comes from living in harmony with God's will, offering hope and comfort to those weary from life's burdens.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
This response highlights human rebellion and the tragic choice to reject God's guidance. The Hebrew construction indicates a deliberate and defiant refusal, showcasing the stubbornness of the human heart. This serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of disobedience and the importance of heeding God's call. It challenges believers to examine their own hearts and to choose obedience over rebellion, recognizing the blessings that come from walking in God's ways.

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 calls for repentance and return to God.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was facing impending judgment due to its persistent disobedience and idolatry.

3. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is calling His people back to faithfulness and obedience through the prophet Jeremiah.

4. Crossroads
A metaphorical place of decision, representing a point where the people of Judah must choose between continuing in their disobedience or returning to the ways of God.

5. Ancient Paths
Symbolic of the tried and true ways of living according to God's commandments and the covenant established with their forefathers.

Teaching Points

The Importance of Seeking God's Guidance
At life's crossroads, we are called to seek God's wisdom and direction. This involves prayer, studying Scripture, and being attentive to the Holy Spirit's leading.

The Value of Tradition and Scripture
The "ancient paths" represent the enduring truths found in God's Word. We are encouraged to value and adhere to biblical teachings that have stood the test of time.

The Consequences of Disobedience
Judah's refusal to walk in God's ways serves as a warning. Disobedience leads to unrest and separation from God, while obedience brings peace and fulfillment.

Finding Rest in God
True rest for our souls is found in aligning our lives with God's will. This rest is not merely physical but spiritual, offering peace amidst life's challenges.

The Call to Action
God calls us not only to recognize the right path but to actively walk in it. Our faith is demonstrated through our actions and choices.

Bible Study Questions

1. What are some "crossroads" you have faced in your life, and how did you seek God's guidance in those moments?

2. How can the concept of "ancient paths" be applied to modern-day challenges and decisions?

3. In what ways does the promise of rest for your soul motivate you to follow God's ways?

4. How does the refusal of Judah to walk in God's ways serve as a warning for us today?

5. Can you identify a situation where you experienced God's rest by choosing to follow His direction? How did it impact your faith journey?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus invites those who are weary to find rest in Him, echoing the promise of rest for the soul found in Jeremiah 6:16. This connection highlights the fulfillment of God's promise through Christ.

Proverbs 4:26-27
Encourages believers to ponder the path of their feet and not turn to the right or left, aligning with the call to walk in the "good way" mentioned in Jeremiah.

Isaiah 30:21
Speaks of hearing a voice behind you, guiding you in the way you should go, reinforcing the idea of seeking and following God's direction.

Sermons

At the Meeting of the Ways	S. Conway	Jeremiah 6:16
Novelty in Religion Exploded	John Clayton.	Jeremiah 6:16
On the Appeal to Antiquity in Matters of Religion	H. Melvill, B. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
Religion an Ancient Path, and a Good Way	James Ross, D. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
Reverence for the Old Things	J. G. Greenhough, M. A.	Jeremiah 6:16
Soul Rest		Jeremiah 6:16
Standing in the Old Paths	S. Johnson, LL. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
Steadfastness in the Old Paths	J. H. Newman, D. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
Stedfastness in the Old Paths	John Henry Newman	Jeremiah 6:16
The Ancient Paths	H. W. Beecher.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Ancient Paths to be Sought and Walked in	D. Young	Jeremiah 6:16
The Bugle Call to Rest	Homiletic Magazine	Jeremiah 6:16
The Good Old Path	H. B. Ingrain.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Good Old Paths	S. Conway	Jeremiah 6:16
The Good Old Way	W. Antliff, D. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Good Old Way	S. H. Simpson.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Good Way	J. Waite	Jeremiah 6:16
The Jesus Way	Christian Age	Jeremiah 6:16
The Old Paths	E. P. Ingersoll, D. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Old Paths	E. E. Jenkins, LL. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Old Paths	Bishop J. C. Ryle.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Old Paths	Sermon Framework	Jeremiah 6:16
The Old Paths	A.F. Muir	Jeremiah 6:16
The Respect Due to Antiquity	T. Chalmers, D. D.	Jeremiah 6:16
The Preacher's Bitter Cry	S. Conway	Jeremiah 6:9-17

People

Benjamin, Jeremiah

Places

Beth-haccherem, Jerusalem, Sheba, Tekoa, Zion

Topics

Ancient, Crossroads, Paths, Rest, Roads, Saying, Says, Search, Souls, Stand, Therein, Thus, Walk, Yourselves

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Jeremiah 6:16

     2425   gospel, requirements
     4020   life, of faith
     5058   rest, spiritual
     5933   restlessness
     8126   guidance, need for

Library

Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

A Blast of the Trumpet against False Peace
The motive with these false prophets is an abominable one. Jeremiah tells us it was an evil covetousness. They preached smooth things because the people would have it so, because they thus brought grist to their own mill, and glory to their own names. Their design was abominable, and without doubt, their end shall be desperate--cast away with the refuse of mankind. These who professed to be the precious sons of God, comparable to fine gold, shall be esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Whitefield -- the Method of Grace
George Whitefield, evangelist and leader of Calvinistic Methodists, who has been called the Demosthenes of the pulpit, was born at Gloucester, England, in 1714. He was an impassioned pulpit orator of the popular type, and his power over immense congregations was largely due to his histrionic talent and his exquisitely modulated voice, which has been described as "an organ, a flute, a harp, all in one," and which at times became stentorian. He had a most expressive face, and altho he squinted, in …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3

Reprobation.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What the true doctrine of reprobation is not. 1. It is not that the ultimate end of God in the creation of any was their damnation. Neither reason nor revelation confirms, but both contradict the assumption, that God has created or can create any being for the purpose of rendering him miserable as an ultimate end. God is love, or he is benevolent, and cannot therefore will the misery of any being as an ultimate end, or for its own sake. It is …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Prefatory Scripture Passages.
To the Law and to the Testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.-- Isa. viii. 20. Thus saith the Lord; Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.--Jer. vi. 16. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

Jesus Raises the Widow's Son.
(at Nain in Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 11-17. ^c 11 And it came to pass soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day], that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Backsliding.
"I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away."--Hosea xiv. 4. There are two kinds of backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, "slid forward." They may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. They need to be treated differently from real back-sliders--those who have been born of the incorruptible …
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

An Obscured vision
(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

Sin Charged Upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. C omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances, only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord says, Behold, I come as a thief (Revelation 16:15) , --common sense will fix the resemblance to a single point, that He will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. So when wandering sinners …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

An Address to the Regenerate, Founded on the Preceding Discourses.
James I. 18. James I. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context. I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

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

Christian Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 We are now got to the third step leading in the way to blessedness, Christian meekness. Blessed are the meek'. See how the Spirit of God adorns the hidden man of the heart, with multiplicity of graces! The workmanship of the Holy Ghost is not only curious, but various. It makes the heart meek, pure, peaceable etc. The graces therefore are compared to needlework, which is different and various in its flowers and colours (Psalm 45:14). …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

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 6:16 NIV
Jeremiah 6:16 NLT
Jeremiah 6:16 ESV
Jeremiah 6:16 NASB
Jeremiah 6:16 KJV

Jeremiah 6:16 Commentaries

Bible Hub