Jeremiah 6 FSI - HEAR, O EARTH

> [!title|noicon] **Jeremiah 6 Notes** > [[Jeremiah 5 FSI|<Prev]]   [[Jeremiah 7 FSI|Next>]] > [[Jeremiah 6|Verse list view]] > [Jeremiah 6:1](Jeremiah%206.md#^1) note > > God is calling the believers within the local congregations the children of Benjamin here. Benjamin means "Son of my right hand (or side)" representing Christ, Who is the Son of God sitting at the right hand of God ([Acts 7:55](Acts%207.md#^55), [56](Acts%207.md#^56); [Rom 8:34](Romans%208.md#^34); [Eph 1:19](Ephesians%201.md#^19), [20](Ephesians%201.md#^20); [Col 3:1](Colossians%203.md#^1); [Heb 1:3](Hebrews%201.md#^3), [13](Hebrews%201.md#^13), [8:1](Hebrews%208.md#^1), [10:12](Hebrews%2010.md#^12), [12:2](Hebrews%2012.md#^2); [1 Pe 3:22](1%20Peter%203.md#^22)). But here it is the *children* of Benjamin, those who are the believers, also seated with Him ([Eph 2:6](Ephesians%202.md#^6)). See also [Deut 33:12](Deuteronomy%2033.md#^12), speaking about Christ and the believers: We dwell in safety by Christ, He is our Covering all the day long and dwell between His shoulders ([Isa 49:22](Isaiah%2049.md#^22): We are in the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ, He gives us total protection so that we again dwell safely in Him at all times). > > "gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem" - Given all that we've read in Jeremiah 1-5, particularly concerning God's judgment which is falling upon the churches and congregations (represented by Jerusalem here), God is now calling the true believers to flee from the midst of them, to flee Jerusalem (cp [Lk 21:20](Luke%2021.md#^20), [21](Luke%2021.md#^21) -- and we'll see in the next phrase of Jer 6:1 with regard to blowing the trumpet in Tekoa that there are indeed armies coming against them). > > "and blow the trumpet in Tekoa" -- An outstanding, wonderful event happened in Tekoa. We'll look at a few verses to see how God ties together a few things here. First look at [Joel 2:1](Joel%202.md#^1), [2](Joel%202.md#^2). There God says to blow the trumpet in *Zion*, to sound an alarm in His holy mountain. While here in Jeremiah 6 God says to blow the trumpet in *Tekoa*, yet He is saying to flee Jerusalem which is altogether related to Zion and His holy mountain. But then see [Joel 3:12](Joel%203.md#^12) where God says "Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about." And as we develop this a little more, we'll see in [2 Chronicles 20:20](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^20) that Jehoshaphat is associated with Tekoa. > > As we consider this, let's back up a moment to [2 Chronicles 17](2%20Chronicles%2017.md), where we'll see how God blesses those who serve the Lord. Jehoshaphat and his father Asa were God-fearing kings who ruled over Judah, so this was a particularly good period of time when the nation of Judah was serving the Lord ([2 Chr 17:3](2%20Chronicles%2017.md#^3), [4](2%20Chronicles%2017.md#^4), [5](2%20Chronicles%2017.md#^5), [6](2%20Chronicles%2017.md#^6) ... [12](2%20Chronicles%2017.md#^12), [13](2%20Chronicles%2017.md#^13)). Jehoshaphat was truly blessed of the Lord, he was one of the mightiest, if not the mightiest, of kings that ruled over Judah in terms of armor and his army ([vv14-19](2%20Chronicles%2017.md) -- scroll to read). > > But then we read beginning in [2 Chronicles 20:1](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^1), [2](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^2) that a great multitude came against him to battle. And we see his response in [2 Chronicles 20:3](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^3), [4](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^4). With all of his armies and fenced cities, he could have easily trusted in his military might to deal with this multitude coming against him. He could have been overconfident that God was on his side and that Judah could easily vanquish the enemy, given how much God had blessed him. But Jehoshaphat feared and sought the Lord along with all Judah. His prayer before and on behalf of the entire nation is recorded in [2 Chronicles 20](2%20Chronicles%2020.md) vv5-13 (scroll to read). > > The lesson for us here is: Even when God has blessed us with all kinds of things to do His work, just because He has given us these things, does that mean that we don't need *Him* anymore? Or do we maintain a very humble relationship with God, realizing that our strength is not in all of these provisions He has given? We cannot take anything for granted, we cannot place our trust in the things that we have, we must continue to fear the Lord, our trust must always be in Him. We need His wisdom, His guidance, His strength and His blessing upon us. And Jehoshaphat is an outstanding example of this. > > Now, in [2 Chronicles 20:10](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^10), [11](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^11), the children of Ammon, Moab and mount Seir (Esau or Edom) represent the unbelievers who have come into the congregations over the years and over the centuries. These are those, as we see represented in verse 10, who could not be cast out during the church age because there was no way to separate the wheat from the tares without also destroying the wheat (represented by Israel not being allowed to invade or to destroy Ammon and Moab). But once they have overrun the churches and congregations they now seek to silence the true Gospel and to put out those who bring the Truth. > > Then we read of Jehoshaphat's appeal to the Lord in [verse 12](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^12). Here is this rich, powerful king -- one who was loved and blessed of God -- meekly looking to God and saying, "We depend on you. We can't do it. You have to protect us at this time." And this [before all the people](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^13). > > And then God answers in [2 Chronicles 20:15](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^15), [16](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^16), [17](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^17) where God declares that the battle is the Lord's, that they are to fear not the enemy. Then in [verse 20](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^20) we find the connection with Jeremiah 6:1. They went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. And in order to go into the wilderness of Tekoa, all the inhabitants of Judah had to *leave Jerusalem*. And in Jeremiah 6:1, God says to "blow the trumpet in Tekoa," it is a call to arms and it is outside of Jerusalem where the battle is going to be joined as these armies approach. > > The word *Tekoa* itself comes from a word that means "trumpet" or "to blow." So it is a name that itself identifies with the idea of blowing the trumpet. So the wilderness of Tekoa is the wilderness of blowing the trumpet because there is a war that has to be fought. > > Then we read in [2 Chronicles 20:21](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^21), [22](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^22), [23](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^23), [24](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^24), [25](2%20Chronicles%2020.md#^25) how successfully Jehoshaphat fought, it was really remarkable. Instead of the army going forth in front of all the people, Jehoshaphat sent forth singers ahead of the army to praise the beauty of holiness. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the enemy to destroy them, so that they wound up destroying themselves unto total annihilation. And all Israel had been doing is singing and praising God. And the spoil of the enemy was so great that it took 3 days just to strip all the bodies of those who came against them. > > And that brings us back to Jeremiah 6:1 where God says to "blow the trumpet in Tekoa." The spiritual lesson for us today is that the enemy -- the spiritual Ammonites, Moabites and mount Seir (representing the unsaved or the kingdom of Satan) -- seek to destroy the saved within the local congregations, they are coming against the children of Benjamin. But we must remember that the battle is the Lord's and not ours, we simply fold our tents and go out into the wilderness of Tekoa, outside of Jerusalem, to declare the battle and to sing and praise God and to thank Him for His mercy. And there we're going to see the victory of God, we simply wait upon Him and watch. He will bring judgment as the churches and as the nations of the world self-destruct against one another in complete rebellion against God. > > "and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem" -- Beth means *house*, and kerem means *vineyard*. So here God is saying "set up a sign of fire in the house of the vineyard." Remember Isaiah 5 where God typifies the New Testament church, the local congregations, as [a vineyard](Isaiah%205.md#^1) that brought forth a [stench of wild grapes](Isaiah%205.md#^2), where God finally destroys the vineyard ([Is 5:5](Isaiah%205.md#^5), [6](Isaiah%205.md#^6), [7](Isaiah%205.md#^7)). So that is what God is referring to here in Jeremiah 6:1. And the sign of *fire*, again, has to do with judgment, it is the fact that judgment has come upon the house of the vineyard (cp [Rev 20:9](Revelation%2020.md#^9), [15](Revelation%2020.md#^15); [Heb 12:29](Hebrews%2012.md#^29)). > > "for evil appears out of the north, and great destruction." -- God is utilizing the wicked of the world, headed up by Satan who has been loosed ([Rev 20:7](Revelation%2020.md#^7)), to bring this great self-destruction. But it also points to the fact that Christ Himself is coming in Judgment. ^jer6-1 > [Jeremiah 6:2](Jeremiah%206.md#^2) note > > The Hebrew word for *delicate* can be translated *delightful*. It means someone who is beautiful, delightful, precious, highly regarded, etc. And God uses this word to describe those who were part of the local congregation, because when we become part of the kingdom of God, we are especially beautiful as we are identified to some degree with the Word of God and have taken a position as precious stones in the temple ([1 Pe 2:5](1%20Peter%202.md#^5)). It's also found in [Isaiah 47:1](Isaiah%2047.md#^1), but there God says she is now the daughter of the Chaldeans and is *no more* delicate or beautiful. To be Chaldean is synonymous with Babylon, that is, she has become part of the kingdom of Satan. Satan now rules and there is no more throne of Christ in her midst as she *sits in the dust* -- a phrase indicating that she has been vanquished and is under a curse, under the sentence of death and in mourning (see [Gen 3:14](Genesis%203.md#^14), [19](Genesis%203.md#^19); [Ps 22:15](Psalm%2022.md#^15), [25](Psalm%2044.md#^25); [Rev 18:19](Revelation%2018.md#^19) and many others). And this is talking about those who are normally the kingdom of God, as we see in [Isaiah 47:5](Isaiah%2047.md#^5), [6](Isaiah%2047.md#^6) that God is speaking about His people whom He has given over to Satan. And in [verses 7-15](Isaiah%2047.md) (scroll to read) we read about God's judgment upon them. The churches and congregations have become the daughter of Babylon, they are no longer tender and delicate. > > If we go to [Deuteronomy 28](Deuteronomy%2028.md) from verses 15-68 God discusses His judgment upon Israel and upon the churches and congregations (the spiritual Israel of our day). And in these verses God has the most ugly things possible to say about this. One example is in [Deuteronomy 28:53](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^53), [54](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^54), [55](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^55), where the man that is normally tender and delicate will be evil against his brother, against his wife and the remnant of his children, and will cannibalize his own children, keeping it all for himself in his derision and distress. Then in [verses 56](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^56) and [57](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^57) we see the same kind of language about the tender and delicate woman. This is about the worst, ugly language imaginable. So when the churches and congregations are under the judgment of God, it is an *awful* thing. They appear to be tender and delicate, they appear to be beautiful but they are under the horrible wrath of God as we read about here in Jeremiah 6 as well. ^jer6-2 > [Jeremiah 6:3](Jeremiah%206.md#^3) note > > The word "against" here means beside, or "over against." Verse 3 is an insertion in the context of judgment. Let's go to [Ezekiel 34:2](Ezekiel%2034.md#^2), [3](Ezekiel%2034.md#^3), [4](Ezekiel%2034.md#^4), [5](Ezekiel%2034.md#^5), for a moment. There, God is faulting the local congregations, typified by Israel, because their shepherds have been so bad. Their true character is not one with a tremendous desire to care for the flock, but for their own reputation, finances and whatever else. They are false ministers of righteousness, false shepherds, and yet they hold the true legal office as shepherds over God's flock. So God's response in [Ezekiel 34:10](Ezekiel%2034.md#^10), [11](Ezekiel%2034.md#^11), [12](Ezekiel%2034.md#^12), [13](Ezekiel%2034.md#^13), [14](Ezekiel%2034.md#^14), [15](Ezekiel%2034.md#^15) and [16](Ezekiel%2034.md#^16) is that He Himself will deliver His people from those evil shepherds and bring them into salvation, while bringing judgment upon the shepherds. And this means that His people must be brought forth from those shepherds, out from being under their spiritual authority. > > So historically Ezekiel 34 has been applied to national Israel where their shepherds were not feeding the flock. But as we've approached the end, this prophecy now applies to the evil shepherds of the churches and congregations, where God will lead His people out from among them and feed them directly by Christ through His Word. And these who have come out, in turn, now act as the under-shepherds of Christ to the rest of the world as they send forth the Gospel during the latter rain. They are those here in Jeremiah 6:3, "The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch *their* tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place." They have come out from among "her" (that is, from the local congregations typified by Jerusalem and the daughter of Zion, as we've seen in [verses 1](Jeremiah%206.md#^1) and [2](Jeremiah%206.md#^2)) and camp over against her, warning that they must come out. ^jer6-3 > [Jeremiah 6:4](Jeremiah%206.md#^4) note > > "Prepare ye war against her" -- God returns more directly to the attack in this verse. And the attack is against *her*, that is, against Jerusalem ([v1](Jeremiah%206.md#^1), [v6](Jeremiah%206.md#^6)). cp [Rev 13:7](Revelation%2013.md#^7) > > "and let us go up at noon" -- Normally when thinking about the end of the church age, we think of night, of darkness, of a time when there is no sun. And that is true as we will see in a minute. But here God says to go up at *noon*, that's when the attack will occur. In [Jeremiah 15:5](Jeremiah%2015.md#^5), [6](Jeremiah%2015.md#^6), [7](Jeremiah%2015.md#^7), we again see Jerusalem, a picture of the churches and congregations, who have forsaken the LORD and gone backward so that He will destroy them because they return not from their evil ways. This is the same theme again and again as the churches have set up their own kind of gospels through their confessions, systematic theology and faulty hermeneutics. Some of their documents do have a lot of truth, but they have subtle errors that direct people away from the Bible that become pernicious over time. And God is aware of all of this, He isn't deceived by what is going on and He is [weary with repenting](Jeremiah%2015.md#^6). Then we read in [Jeremiah 15:8](Jeremiah%2015.md#^8) that God will bring against them a *spoiler at noonday*. And again in [verse 9](Jeremiah%2015.md#^9), "her sun is gone down while it was yet day." What does this mean? > > From an observable vantage point, as we look in the world today, the churches are apparently flourishing: There are many large congregations, mission reports are compiled for various ministries, Bibles are printed in many languages and translations and found in every pew, all kinds of people claim the Name of Christ and giving record tithes and so on. It looks like the sun is shining. But right in this time, right when things apparently look so well outwardly speaking, is when judgment begins. As the churches have become more successful in a worldly-wise sense they have deeply departed from God in the process. The sun has gone down suddenly at noon and it is spiritual night-time. We find the same thing in [Amos 8:9](Amos%208.md#^9), [10](Amos%208.md#^10). The church age is finished, the sun has gone down at noon. And what follows is darkness, there is mourning of an only son (meaning the Lord Jesus, the only begotton Son, is no longer Present in the midst of them). > > There's an interesting parallel to this when Christ went to the cross. In [Luke 23:44](Luke%2023.md#^44) we read of darkness at the 6th hour over all the earth until the 9th hour. And the 6th hour was right at high noon. And Christ was under the wrath of God on behalf of His people for their sins. And in a real sense that also was judgment day, for Christ and the elect. So in many ways it foretells the judgment that has come upon the churches and the world as the Gospel proclamation reaches finality. > > "Woe unto us! for the day goes away" -- Again, there is no more light of the Gospel there, the sun has set. Christ is also called the Day, the Light of the World, the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings -- and He has departed from them. The Gospel being gone is the same as Christ being gone. He is the Word of God, the Gospel Personified. The Holy Spirit is no longer in the midst to bring salvation, so all that's left is spiritual death and eternal damnation, the darkest kind of darkness imaginable. > > "for the shadows of the evening are stretched out" -- As the sun goes down and gets closer to the horizon, the shadows are stretched out longer and longer. It's headed for night. So this points again to the fact that spiritual night is here, the day is gone. ^jer6-4 > [Jeremiah 6:5](Jeremiah%206.md#^5) note > > Again, as in verse 4, the attack is by night, the sun has gone down and there is intense darkness in the midst as her (Jerusalem's) palaces are destroyed, representing judgment upon the churches and congregations as Christ has departed, leaving them completely open to assault by Satan. ^jer6-5 > [Jeremiah 6:6](Jeremiah%206.md#^6) note > > "Hew ye down trees" -- A good tree is know by its good fruit ([Mt 7:17](Matthew%207.md#^17)), representing the true believers. And they shall be cut down, they shall be removed from Jerusalem, leaving only those who are under judgment. There is similar language in [2 Kings 3:18](2%20Kings%203.md#^18), [19](2%20Kings%203.md#^19) when God brought judgment against the Moabites, to fell every good tree in warfare against them. That is the picture here, the good trees are to be cut down. > > "and cast a mount against Jerusalem" -- Again see [Revelation 13:7](Revelation%2013.md#^7) and [20:7](Revelation%2020.md#^7), [8](Revelation%2020.md#^8), [9](Revelation%2020.md#^9). Satan is given to cast a mount against Jerusalem, against the camp of the saints, against the churches and congregations, as God's judgment upon them. A parallel to this where the phrase "cast a mount against" is found is [Ezekiel 26:7](Ezekiel%2026.md#^7), [8](Ezekiel%2026.md#^8), [9](Ezekiel%2026.md#^9)ff. Same spiritual picture of Satan (King Nebuchadrezzar) coming against the churches (Tyrus) here. The mounts are the towers they built from which they could shoot arrows into the city and in connection with their battering rams to penetrate the city. ^jer6-6 > [Jeremiah 6:7](Jeremiah%206.md#^7) note > > God is declaring that Jerusalem has become a fountain of wickedness, polluted water is spewing out from them. The true Gospel must be Christ alone, Christ ALONE. But they have forsaken Christ while shifting to their own kind of a gospel, and the time has come when God says, "It is enough." > > "violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually *is* grief and wounds" -- It is no longer a place where there is the pristine, pure relationship with God. There is no more healing, there is no peace, it is all sorrow. ^jer6-7 > [Jeremiah 6:8](Jeremiah%206.md#^8) note > > God inserts this verse in the middle of His indictment against them. And the Hebrew word translated "instructed" is frequently translated *chastened*. It's used, for example, in [Psalm 94:12](Psalm%2094.md#^12). And this chastening is normally for our benefit to draw us closer to God, that we might be more faithful to Him. It is a method of instruction, *not* punishment. > > How can this be when God is pronouncing judgments upon Jerusalem, upon the churches and congregations, so far in the first 6 chapters of Jeremiah saying that the time of judgment has come, it's the end, it's too late. And yet here in the middle of this He gives a warning that if they will respond to His chastening there can be hope for them, after saying it's too late. How can this be? > > We can understand this if we remember that the church age and the completed Bible spanned nearly 2,000 years. So God is here declaring that all along He has been chastening them, and if they do not properly respond to His chastening then there would come a time when His Soul would depart from them. > > We can see, for example, when we look at [Revelation 2](Revelation%202.md) and [Revelation 3](Revelation%203.md) at the 7 churches, already God has been chastening the churches from the beginning. Even from that point He warned that there was a dead church and that He would remove their candlestick, which represents the light of the Gospel, from them. He even uses the ugly language that He would spew (vomit) them out. And indeed those 7 representative churches are gone today, God means what He says when He warns us to listen to His Word. And throughout the church age there had been chastening and churches that have come and gone -- until finally the end comes when God is finished with the New Testament church. > > So everything has happened according to God's schedule, nevertheless, until it actually did happen the warning was there. And now that that time has come we can only conclude that what God said would happen -- that His Soul would depart from Jerusalem -- has now indeed come to pass. They had not responded to the chastening as they should have, they became complacent, they became too self-assured that all was well in their congregation, the relied too heavily on their own wisdom rather than on the wisdom of God and do not even notice that He's not there anymore. > > "lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited." - In [Isaiah 53:10](Isaiah%2053.md#^10), [11](Isaiah%2053.md#^11), we read that Christ's *Soul* was made an offering for sin. When Christ was offered for sin, not only was He offered as the Son of Man, but as a whole Personality, as the God-man, the Son of God as well as the Son of Man. And this is very ominous for this verse here in Jeremiah 6 where God says His Soul will depart from them. The very strength and power of the churches and congregations was in the fact that God was Present there. But now God is declaring that the time has come, He has abandoned His church, His Soul has departed from them leaving them desolate and not inhabited (as per [2 Thess 2:7b](2%20Thessalonians%202.md#^7), the Holy Spirit is removed from the churches when Satan takes his seat there, showing himself to be as God). > > So again, this verse is a warning to the churches and congregations that all of this is going to come, it's a warning in the midst of the description of the judgment which has now arrived. ^jer6-8 > [Jeremiah 6:9](Jeremiah%206.md#^9) note > > The phrase "into the baskets" could be translated "from the branch(es)." > > In [Matthew 24:1](Matthew%2024.md#^1), [2](Matthew%2024.md#^2), Christ speaks of an event that the disciples understood pertains to the end of the world ([v3](Matthew%2024.md#^3)), that there would not be one stone left upon another in the temple. But this is a physical, historical description of a spiritual event. In the new testament period, the churches and the congregations outwardly represent the temple of God. So when there is not one stone left upon another, it means God is finished with them. And this parallels what we're reading here in Jeremiah 6:9. > > The picture here in Jeremiah 6:9 is that someone is in the vineyard searching for the last grapes. And they reach out to find one final grape, but they put their hand back because there are no more left. It has been thoroughly, completely gleaned. There is not one stone left upon another, there will not be one true believer left in the churches by the time of the end. That's why this is such a time of tribulation as our friends and loved ones there cannot perceive what is happening, as we'll see in verse 10. ^jer6-9 > [Jeremiah 6:10](Jeremiah%206.md#^10) note > > This is so relevant to what we see today. How many are trembling before the Word of God? And if someone isn't trembling before the Word of God, the Judge of all the earth, they're very likely not a true believer. That's what we read here that they cannot hear, they have no delight in it, they suppress and banish the Truth from their lives. And except for the mercy and grace of God, none of us would ever hear. > > "their ear *is* uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken:" -- To be uncircumcised is a spiritual figure indicating they are unsaved, they are not part of the eternal covenant of God. And thus they cannot hear Christ's voice ([Jn 10:27](John%2010.md#^27)). They are not listening and they cannot hear spiritually because they have not become saved. They cannot hear this warning, "To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear?" because they believe all is well based on what they have been taught by their leaders and their shepherds. > > "behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." -- The Word of God is disgraceful to them. This is the indictment *God* is making. And the evidence of this is that they will not hearken to the Word of God, they will not listen. When you really love the Bible, your reaction should be that you want to know it and to be faithful to it, not just to what others say it is teaching if it is not in line with the Scriptures. Once they have made themselves the authority or trust in their actions -- their confessions, their systematic theology, their man-made interpretative methods, their membership, their confession of faith, their observance of sacraments (etc) -- over the Bible (even if they don't understand that's what they're doing), then the Word of God has become a disgrace or a reproach. [Ps 1:2](Psalm%201.md#^2); [119:16](Psalm%20119.md#^16), [24](Psalm%20119.md#^24), [47](Psalm%20119.md#^47), [77](Psalm%20119.md#^77); [Ro 10:17](Romans%2010.md#^17); [Eph 6:17](Ephesians%206.md#^17) > > The *Bible* is the Word of Almighty God! It is supremely important! It has no peer. It stands in the shadow of no other book or writing, and no other book can stand in its shadow. It is the King of all books. It is the ultimately Authority. And if we claim to have a delight in it, it means we'll be intensely interested in what it has to say and we'll be reading it and reading it, puzzling in this and that, following the biblical injunction to compare scripture with scripture for ourselves. We can't just complacently say, "We're secure. We've figured it all out. We're doing fine." We are to feed on the Word of God and to be energized by the Holy Spirit as He opens our eyes to the Truths of the Word of God and as we delight in it. ^jer6-10 > [Jeremiah 6:11](Jeremiah%206.md#^11) note > > Remember that this is the Word of God. And the LORD (or, Jehovah), is speaking as the Judge of all the earth here and not as the Savior. And judgment begins with the house of God before transitioning to the final judgment upon the rest of the world. God Himself is full of fury, even to the point of being weary with holding in. God has been patient for a very long time, for nearly 2,000 years, but now it is finally time for judgment, He has had enough. He had been warning the churches in Galatia and in Corinth and the 7 churches in Revelation 2 and 3 from early on, patiently enduring. The church prior to the Reformation was intolerably bad. Then not long after the Reformation Arminianism took hold along with other fanciful false gospels. All through the New Testament period churches have been falling away and disappeared until the time finally comes for the end of the church age. > > "I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together:" -- The word translated *assembly* is a word that means *council* or *secret counsel* and relates to the inner circle who believe they have the Truth. And the young men are the cream of the nation, they are the best fighters, they are in full strength, they believe they know. > > But God doesn't stop with them: "for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with *him that is* full of days." And then verse 12 continues: "And their houses shall be turned unto others, *with their* fields and wives together. . . ." ^jer6-11 > [Jeremiah 6:12](Jeremiah%206.md#^12) note > > God expresses the same thing in a different setting in [Deuteronomy 28:15](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^15) where He goes on for scores of verses indicating His judgments if they (we) do not listen to the Word of God. Then in verses [30](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^30), [31](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^31), [32](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^32), [33](Deuteronomy%2028.md#^33) we see similar language to Jeremiah 6:12 where He says, "their houses will be turned unto others, *with their* fields and wives together." See also [Jeremiah 8:10](Jeremiah%208.md#^10), which is parallel to verses 12 and 13 of this chapter. ^jer6-12 > [Jeremiah 6:13](Jeremiah%206.md#^13) note > > This reiterates what God had said from the young men, to the husband with a wife to the aged that is full of days in verse 11: "from the least of them even unto the greatest of them...". > > "every one *is* given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely." -- Here again God comes with the indictment. The whole situation is under the curse of God, from least to greatest they are given to covetousness, from prophet to priest they all deal falsely. There's nothing to escape that curse if they remain there. That's why God says in [Revelation 18:4](Revelation%2018.md#^4) God says to come out of her, because of the plagues that have come upon the churches and congregations, they have become the most dangerous place to be in the world. And it includes everyone, from young to old, from least to greatest. There is no defense because it is the LORD Who is bringing judgment. When God says that judgment day is here we had better listen because it is absolutely happening according to His Word. > > The prophet and the priest relate to those who are the spiritual rulers in the congregation, those who claim they are under the unction of the Holy Spirit. They are normally the ones ordained by God to bring the Gospel but now they all deal falsely. And when God speaks about the least unto the greatest, He is speaking about those who may just attend the church, hardly noticed in the pews, all the way to the most dedicated, long-standing mature members and teachers. They are all given to *covetousness*, in the sense of being greedy for what the flesh desires ([Ro 7:5](Romans%207.md#^5)). They claim to want a relationship with Christ but at the same time they want much of what this world can offer, effectively designing their own kind of gospel (cp [Isa 4:1](Isaiah%204.md#^1)). And the next verse, verse 14, describes the kind of gospel they bring. ^jer6-13 > [Jeremiah 6:14](Jeremiah%206.md#^14) note > > Here God says, "They have healed the hurt of *my people* slightly..." We must be very careful here to distinguish between the outward representation of the kingdom of God, the churches and congregations, as God's people, over against the eternal, invisible church made up of true believers who are all saved and are God's eternal people. The context here is judgment against *His* people, but we know that those who are truly saved will never come under judgment because Christ has fully paid for their sins on their behalf. But those who are in the outward representation of the kingdom of God, the churches and congregations, just as with ancient national Israel, indeed can and many do come under judgment. Thus there are warnings to the churches such as the one in Galatia, the one in Corinth and the 7 churches of Revelation 2 and 3 to remain steadfast and to reject false teachings. > > "They have healed also the hurt *of the daughter* of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when *there is* no peace." What is the hurt that has been healed slightly? The hurt is the fact that we are sinners under the wrath of God. We are in need of Christ to heal us from eternal damnation because of our sins ([Mal 4:2](Malachi%204.md#^2); [1 Pe 2:24](1%20Peter%202.md#^24)). But the false teachers have falsely healed them by promising them peace with God, by assuring them of their salvation, when they are not actually saved, when there is no peace with God, when they are still under the wrath of God. > > Now remember verse 13, which reads, "For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one *is* given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely." Then this verse speaks about claiming peace when there is no peace. So these two verses tie together the idea of covetousness and a false peace. Here's how that happens: > > Many people will not tolerate hearing the whole counsel of God, which includes judgment as well as salvation and the fact that *only* God can save us from our wicked sins. They will not listen to everything the Bible has to say. So if anyone brings the whole counsel of God, they can expect that hardly any -- not many at all -- will remain to listen. But the churches that only focus on salvation and all of the good things people want to hear will grow into very large congregations. So those churches effectively say, "Come here with us, we'll get you saved." And frequently people are baptized there and everyone is faithfully attending, and they're assured that they are a child of God. So they are at peace with God (they think), they are no longer at enmity with God, and it was all just so easy and so nice and so quick, and everyone that comes in can have that same sense of peace. But it is a false peace, they are saying "Peace, peace" when there is no peace because that is not salvation. It is a do-it-yourself salvation that doesn't provide eternal life. > > And these large congregations are able to build large, beautiful buildings and to provide much larger salaries for their ministers, so the expectation goes up and covetousness takes root. If you have a gospel that caters to the flesh, to the natural, worldly desires, then you can have many things of this world. You can have an outward appearance of something very wonderful and great, but there's nothing truly spiritual about it, you are still under the wrath of God. ^jer6-14 > [Jeremiah 6:15](Jeremiah%206.md#^15) note > > "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? no, they were not at all ashamed" -- Normally when someone is caught in some sin they are ashamed. "Ah, they caught me, I was stealing." But here God is pointing out grievous abomination in the congregations and they are not all ashamed. They have been utilizing the Scriptures to feather their own nests, to build a beautiful monument to themselves or to become popular -- all things that are not what God would have desired like the Pharisees who made a big show of praying out loud and enjoyed the adulation of the people. Or as they dropped their gold and silver into the treasury so people could say, "Wow, did you see that Rabbi? He put in a big sum of money." It's like when people want others to know that they gave money for a wing of some educational college or they did this or that, so they attach their name to it. They use the things of God to further their own, fleshly, lustful interests. And they have become so inured, so deadened to this activity in their sin that they are not ashamed. > > "neither could they blush" -- Once again, here is the indictment. Remember what [verse 10](Jeremiah%206.md#^10) says, "and they cannot hearken." And we saw that the Word of God is a disgrace to them, and so of course there is no shame. Their soul is dead, they have no spiritual light, so they cannot hear, they cannot blush, they cannot feel shame. They cannot see that there is a problem. They are all smiling faces, happy in their peaceful congregations, their kids in Sunday School and families gathered in the pews. If you were to say there is a problem, they would turn that on you and say, "You're saying there's a problem, I don't see a problem. The problem must be with you. You can't ask for a better community than what we have here with all of our programs for young people and for couples and those who are divorced. We have retreats and places of exercise -- we are interested in the whole family." But if you're not truly looking in the Bible and honestly facing the whole counsel of God you will not see that there's a problem, you will not be able to blush for the sin of following a do-it-yourself gospel. The Bible is interested in the soul of man, it is not interested in the physical activity that we do other than that we are to glorify God in all we do. But the focus of the Gospel is not on these other things. > > "therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time *that* I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD." -- This is the most bleak situation imaginable. God has described the situation. They're saying, "Peace, peace," but it's a false peace. They're doing it for the wrong purposes, not to glorify God but to feather their own nests and to make themselves more happy in this world, satisfying the lusts of their flesh. And their falling down has to do with when God comes to visit. And the enormous fact that we are learning is that Christ has already come to visit, judgment begins with the house of God upon the local congregations as we are reading about here. And any time God makes a pronouncement like this, whether it's for eternal life or for judgment, God *will* perform it, we had *better* listen because these verses are for us today even more than ever before. ^jer6-15 > [Jeremiah 6:16](Jeremiah%206.md#^16) note > > What is the trustworthy old way and path? Or more accurately, WHO is the Way and the Path? It is the Lord Jesus Christ ([Jn 14:6](John%2014.md#^6)), the Word of God ([Ps 1:6a](Psalm%201.md#^6); [Ps 119:1](Psalm%20119.md#^1), [35](Psalm%20119.md#^35), [105](Psalm%20119.md#^105)). He is the Path of Life, He is the Way of Truth from everlasting, from days of old. And the *rest for your souls* has to do with salvation ([Mt 11:29](Matthew%2011.md#^29); [Heb 4:3](Hebrews%204.md#^3), [10](Hebrews%204.md#^10)), it is the rest that only Christ can give us wherein He has done all of the work so that we are truly at peace with God, we are no longer at enmity with Him ever again. We rest altogether in His Work and are secure in Him forevermore. > > "But they said, We will not walk *therein*." -- But those who are in the local congregations don't want God's Way. Yes, they talk about Christ and about salvation, they want the Name of Christ, but they want their own salvation plan and their own set of doctrines. We must be sensitive that our spiritual walk is tested again and again by the Bible and be ready to be open to it, particularly to these verses that we are reading here in Jeremiah 6. So those whom God is addressing here are not walking according to the paths of Truth, they have found other paths -- paths of convenience, paths of excitement or entertainment or of whatever pleases them. And they will not heed God's warning, as we see in the next verse, verse 17. ^jer6-16 > [Jeremiah 6:17](Jeremiah%206.md#^17) note > > Just as they will not walk in God's paths ([v16](Jeremiah%206.md#^16)), so they will not listen to the warning, to the sound of the trumpet, that God is giving here. > > In Ezekiel 33:1-11 God speaks about a watchman Who is ultimately Christ. And the Watchman warns about God's judgment that is coming, and which is already here. Believers, too, are sent forth as watchmen into the world ([Jn 20:21](John%2020.md#^21); [2 Cor 5:20](2%20Corinthians%205.md#^20)). And in Ezekiel 33:4, God says that if they hear the sound of the trumpet, if they hear the warning of the watchman but fail to take heed, [then their blood will be upon their own heads](Ezekiel%2033.md#^4). And here in Jeremiah 6 the warning is to the corporate people of God, those within the churches and congregations. > > People get very nervous and make preparation in case there is an earthquake or a tornado or hurricane. But what preparation is being made for the greatest disaster the world will ever face on judgment day? The answer is none, zero, unless someone is saved and truly becomes a child of God. ^jer6-17 > [Jeremiah 6:18](Jeremiah%206.md#^18) note > > While the warnings of Jeremiah are directed specifically toward the churches and congregations who will not listen (per [v 17](Jeremiah%206.md#^17)), it is thus declared also to the entire world, to the nations. In [Jeremiah 25:26](Jeremiah%2025.md#^26), [27](Jeremiah%2025.md#^27), [28](Jeremiah%2025.md#^28), [29](Jeremiah%2025.md#^29) as God is about to bring judgment upon the whole world, He declares to them that since He made His own people drink of the cup of His wrath then they, too, must certainly drink of it. > > "what *is* among them." -- What is among them is the judgment of God, judgment begins with the house of God and then transitions to the final judgment upon the whole world. So this is declared to all here in the Scriptures that judgment is coming, and is reiterated in the next verse, verse 19. ^jer6-18 > [Jeremiah 6:19](Jeremiah%206.md#^19) note > > "Hear, O earth" -- This reiterates that God is declaring this to the whole world that God is bringing judgment upon the local congregations, but then immediately thereafter upon the rest of the world. "This people" are His people, those who corporately identify with the kingdom of God but have followed their own paths to destruction. > > "*even* the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it." -- Sin begins in the mind, it is the fruit of our thoughts. And the more they do not listen to the Word of God the more their thoughts go astray. And once God's Word is rejected finally the thoughts become degenerate. And God is declaring here that they have indeed rejected His Word, the Bible, in favor of their own thinking and desires, in favor of their own kind of gospels. So they are in deep trouble, God's wrath is upon them. > > We live in a world today where so few take the Word of God seriously. Most of the world could not care less about the Bible altogether, they are going their own way. They're going down that shoot, down that broad way that leads to destruction. And to think it's almost the entire world: friends, family members, coworkers -- all the nations are heading to damnation for rejecting His Word. But it's even worse and far sadder that this applies to His people, to those who should know Christ because they have the Bible. But it is not their Authority, it is their church and church fathers and their own minds that are their authority. They have thus rejected the Word of God. ^jer6-19 > [Jeremiah 6:20](Jeremiah%206.md#^20) note > > Now God uses very interesting language to describe how He looks at the local congregations. In [Isaiah 43:22](Isaiah%2043.md#^22), [23](Isaiah%2043.md#^23), [24](Isaiah%2043.md#^24) we find very similar language, except there He speaks of them *not* bringing Him these things, whereas here in Jeremiah 6:20 God says that they *have* brought him this expensive frankincense from Sheba and sweet cane (a reference to other fragrant herbs, also translated calamus) from a far country. > > Now in Isaiah 43, God is explaining why He must be the Messiah. For example, in [Isaiah 43:19](Isaiah%2043.md#^19), [20](Isaiah%2043.md#^20), [21](Isaiah%2043.md#^21) God is saying that He will bring salvation. Then in verses [Isaiah 43:22](Isaiah%2043.md#^22), [23](Isaiah%2043.md#^23), [24](Isaiah%2043.md#^24), mentioned above, He indicates why He must be the Savior. These 3 verses declare spiritually that they have not brought any means by which their sins can be covered, they have done nothing to get right with God. And that's because we cannot actually do anything to get right with God, we're spiritually dead before salvation. He has created His people to glorify and to honor Him but we cannot lift a finger to accomplish this in our unsaved condition. And this is precisely why God says in [Isaiah 43:25](Isaiah%2043.md#^25) that therefore HE has done all of the work in saving us. We are completely reliant on Him to have mercy, we're sinners and there's nothing we can do to get ourselves saved. > > But here in Jeremiah 6:20, God says that they *are* bringing incense and sweet cane (calamus) to Him but that it is not acceptable. That's because in a sense they are trying to get right with God but it's not something we can do of our own works or by our own free-will choice and so on. Our works are as dung, they only make our situation worse because they are tainted by more sin. > > We see the same idea in [Isaiah 1:11](Isaiah%201.md#^11). And actually in [verse 10](Isaiah%201.md#^10) we find that God is calling them Sodom and Gomorrah, even though He is speaking about His people ([Isaiah 1:2](Isaiah%201.md#^2), [3](Isaiah%201.md#^3), [4](Isaiah%201.md#^4)). What ugly language. And then verses 12-15 of Isaiah continue with the same terrible language: ([v12](Isaiah%201.md#^12), [13](Isaiah%201.md#^13), [14](Isaiah%201.md#^14), [15](Isaiah%201.md#^15)). It is all language of worshiping God in vain and full of wickedness. It has all become a degenerate works-based, worldly gospel. > > So that is the idea of Jeremiah 6:20. It is not true, spiritual worship that pleases God whereby Christ has done all of the work to save and receives all of the glory, it is a corrupted gospel that they are following that pleases themselves coupled with lip-service to the Lord. And it's typified by this costly incense and sweet cane in verse 20 -- they put all of their money and their riches and effort into it to look so holy and so successful. But their trust is in these things rather than in the Lord Jesus Christ, so God will have nothing to do with it. To Him, it is worth nothing, it will not bring salvation but only judgment. And so the next verse, verse 21, tells us what happens next because of this. ^jer6-20 > [Jeremiah 6:21](Jeremiah%206.md#^21) note > > This is the result of verse 20 (and the verses preceding it). Since they like their false gospels and put their trust altogether in themselves, therefore God will lay stumbling blocks before them. And when God speaks about them falling on a stumbling block we think of [Luke 20:17](Luke%2020.md#^17), [18](Luke%2020.md#^18), where Christ Himself is the stumbling block or stone on whom the builders have fallen. He was despised and rejected by His own, He was the very solution to their spiritual problem but they wanted nothing at all to do with Him as a nation. They looked up Him as a disobedient rebel who should be stoned to death, as a drunkard and a glutton. But God warns in [Luke 20:18](Luke%2020.md#^18) that they will be ground to powder. > > Then we can look at [Romans 9:31](Romans%209.md#^31), [32](Romans%209.md#^32), [33](Romans%209.md#^33), where they tried to get right by God by their own righteousness, by their own works, and not by the faith of Christ. We must be made to trust implicitly and completely in what Christ has done on our behalf. All of our works and our righteousness is as filthy rags, we are miserable, rotten sinners who deserve the wrath of God. So we need mercy and grace, we cannot find salvation through anything that we can do nor claim any basis for having received it. > > "and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish." -- There are four classes of people here: fathers, sons, the neighbor and his friend. And the number four points to universality. But this also points to the fact that the wrath of God will fall upon everyone who is unsaved, no exceptions. There are fathers and sons, we have neighbors and friends, and they all stand on the same ground before God. There will not be any who escape outside of Christ. ^jer6-21 > [Jeremiah 6:22](Jeremiah%206.md#^22), [23](Jeremiah%206.md#^23), [24](Jeremiah%206.md#^24) note > > For verses 22-24 of Jeremiah 6, compare [Jeremiah 50:41](Jeremiah%2050.md#^41), [42](Jeremiah%2050.md#^42), [43](Jeremiah%2050.md#^43). They are nearly identical except for the phrase "O daughter of *Babylon*" in Jeremiah 50:42, whereas God says "O daughter of *Zion*" here in Jeremiah 6. And Jeremiah 50:43 speaks about the king of Babylon. So when we put these together, spiritually it indicates that Zion here in Jeremiah 6 is equivalent to Babylon in Jeremiah 50. Zion has effectively become as Babylon. And Satan is the spiritual ruler of the spiritual Babylon. Likewise, at the end of time Satan becomes the spiritual authority in the churches, in what is normally called Zion, the place of God's people. It is where he is seated ([2 Thess 2:4](2%20Thessalonians%202.md#^4) w/[Rev 2:13](Revelation%202.md#^13)) once the churches are no longer following the true Gospel so that anyone who is left remains unsaved, they are still slaves of Satan. > > "our hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of us, *and* pain, as of a woman in travail." -- See [1 Thess 5:2](1%20Thessalonians%205.md#^2), [3](1%20Thessalonians%205.md#^3), [4](1%20Thessalonians%205.md#^4). This is speaking of the final judgment, the very end of the world. We are already there as that day is fast approaching, we are in the preliminary days of judgment, also called the final tribulation or the little season in which Satan has been loosed. Then will come the final end. Like a woman in travail, she knows that birth is coming, the labor pains increase with frequency and intensity and the time finally comes and the pains really begin. And many times in years past, sadly, birth could be a death sentence for either the baby or the mother, it was a time of great tension how it would all turn out. ^jer6-22 > [Jeremiah 6:25](Jeremiah%206.md#^25) note > > This is language that it is too late, everything is ready for the final trial. Before, we were to go forth into the world with the Gospel. But now it's too late, judgment day has come for the churches and congregations which transitions to the world at the very end. This is parallel to [Jeremiah 14:17](Jeremiah%2014.md#^17), [18](Jeremiah%2014.md#^18). ^jer6-25 > [Jeremiah 6:26](Jeremiah%206.md#^26) note > > Again this is language of judgment upon God's people, upon the local congregations, the daughter of my people -- it is against Zion, it is against Jerusalem as we've read through Jeremiah 6. Now they are mourning as for an only son, it's a bitter lamentation, like a funeral dirge because Christ is not there to save them and the spoiler is there to bring them into judgment. ^jer6-26 > [Jeremiah 6:27](Jeremiah%206.md#^27) note > > The word translated "tower" here means to try, to test or to prove -- to examine. In fact, it's the same word translated "try" in this same verse where "tower" is the noun form and "try" is the verb. This is seen in [Genesis 42:14](Genesis%2042.md#^14), [15](Genesis%2042.md#^15), [16](Genesis%2042.md#^16) where Joseph proves or tests his brothers. So here in Jeremiah 6:27, God is saying that Jeremiah is the tester (tower) among His people, Jeremiah is putting them on trial as the mouthpiece of God ([Jer 1:7](Jeremiah%201.md#^7), [8](Jeremiah%201.md#^8)). And today, every true believer who faithfully declares the whole counsel of God is warning and setting up the trial as we witness to the world that we are at the time of the end when judgment has commenced upon the local congregations and the world. Remember, for example, the 2 witnesses in [Revelation 11:6](Revelation%2011.md#^6) who represent the true believers. The true believers cannot literally shut up the heaven and turn the waters into blood, of course. But as we witness we serve as the mouthpiece of God, the vehicle through which God is speaking to the world as we quote from the Bible and warn what it is saying. The actual power is in the Word of God, not in the believers themselves who are simply bringing the message, as we are vested with the power to proclaim it ([Acts 1:8](Acts%201.md#^8)), as they share the Gospel. But it is the Word of God that has the power of God to do what He intends to do, and when He opens no man can shut, and when He shuts no man can open. > > So the trial comes as the believers bring the warning that God's judgment is come. And ultimately, are you trusting in Christ, or are you trusting in your church or in some action that you have taken, or in what someone else says or teaches? You're being tested! Do you have an intense desire to do the will of God? Are you sensitive to what the Bible declares? And the sad conclusion of this is seen in the next verse, verse 28. ^jer6-27 > [Jeremiah 6:28a](Jeremiah%206.md#^28) note > > The word translated *slanders* here means *talebearers*, those who are gossips ([Pr 20:19](Proverbs%2020.md#^19)), those who come with deception and flattering lips, disclosing things that are not true, serving to destroy. > > "*they are* brass and iron" -- what's so bad about that? The next 2 verses help tie this together, then see the note under verse 30. ^jer6-28 > [Jeremiah 6:28b](Jeremiah%206.md#^28), [29](Jeremiah%206.md#^29), [30](Jeremiah%206.md#^30) note > > For verses 28b-30, see [Ezekiel 22:18](Ezekiel%2022.md#^18), [19](Ezekiel%2022.md#^19), [20](Ezekiel%2022.md#^20), [21](Ezekiel%2022.md#^21), [22](Ezekiel%2022.md#^22). The dross is the refuse, the part of the metal ore that has no value. It is worth nothing and is to be cast away. And in Ezekiel 22 God is gathering them into the midst of Jerusalem -- in the local churches and congregations -- which God likens to a furnace (a place of His wrath and judgment) in Ezekiel 22:19-20, a place to melt the metals. > > Now in [Zechariah 13:9](Zechariah%2013.md#^9), God speaks of having the believers go through the fires as metals and we come out of the other end as purified silver and gold. There is no longer any sin and dross attached to us because Christ has paid for it all on our behalf. But in Ezekiel 22 God gathers them together to melt them in the midst of Jerusalem in His anger and fury. And that's similar to the idea here in Jeremiah 6:28b-30: > > "*they are* brass and iron; they *are* all corrupters. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melts in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall *men* call them. . . ." The brass and iron are what need to be burned off in order to leave the silver. The bellows are what drives the oxygen into the fire to make it white hot, and in this case the bellows are burned as much as possible, yet it's all in vain because the wicked are not plucked away, they are reprobate silver. Whatever even appears to be silver cannot be refined out because it is so corrupted, no matter how hot the fire it cannot be separated. And that is because it's referring to those who are still not saved, the dross cannot be separated from them, they are not pure silver. > > And then comes the final indictment: "because the LORD has rejected them." > > So from verse 27 we know that God is placing those who claims to be believers on trial. Everyone that claims to be a believer has to examine him or herself as to whether they are truly a child of God or not. And what is the evidence? NOT my confession of faith, NOT my water baptism, NOT my church membership, NOT my acceptance into a denomination, NOT the credentials after my name and my wonderful seminary training -- none of that can give us any assurance of salvation. We must have an intense desire to do the will of God and to be sensitive to and tremble before the Word of God. And what has been left there in the local congregation, God has rejected (which is further supported by Ezekiel 22:18-22 above). ^jer6-29 Tags: #Old_Testament #Jeremiah #Gods_judgment_on_His_people #FSI