Jeremiah

Chapters Four, Five & Six

Introduction

Are you familiar with the work of an assayer?

God told Jeremiah he was an assayer of the nation of Judah. From verse five of chapter four all the way through verse thirty of chapter six, God gave Jeremiah a message of judgment against Judah. Right at the end, in verse twenty-seven of chapter six, He told Jeremiah,

An "assayer" is someone who tests ores for the presence of precious metals. Precious metals often occur as particles dispersed throughout an ore. A large sample of ore, such as silver ore, is assayed by fire. The ore is melted together with lead to produce what is called a button. The button is then melted in a process that eliminates impurities, such as lead, leaving only a bead. The bead is then treated with an acid to dissolve out the pure silver.

Jeremiah was the assayer; Judah was the ore sample being assayed to find precious silver. The results of Jeremiah's assay are reported in verses twenty-eight through thirty of Chapter Six:

Jeremiah 6:29 The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off.

Jeremiah 6:30 People will call them rejected silver, Because the LORD has rejected them."

God found nothing precious in the ore. Jeremiah's assay report would say they were "rejected silver."

Jeremiah's message of judgment against Judah is an assayers report. Like any good report, its conclusion was clearly stated. It's conclusion was that they were being rejected by God.

Also like any good report, there is content to base the conclusion upon. All of the verses leading up to the end contain the complete report on Judah's condition. As you read through chapters four, five, and six, a pattern emerges. Each chapter contains four things. They are:

Announcements of the reality God's judgment...

Assessments of the reasons for God's judgment...

Appeals for repentance from God's judgment...

and,

Reflections on how God's judgment affected Jeremiah personally.

These are the categories of a spiritual assay report of a nation. They are like a form you would use if you were called upon to make an assay of the United States.

+I want to say that you are God's assayer, and that you are called upon to make an assay of your nation. Let's work through the text - all three chapters - following each category one at a time, and apply what we learn about the nation of Judah to our own nation.

#1 Your Assay Report Announces

The Reality Of God's Judgment

God is just and He will judge. His longsuffering is all that stands between sin and its judgment.

God announced through Jeremiah that He would judge Judah. Beginning in verse five of chapter four, there are announcements of His judgment in each chapter.

Jeremiah 4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north, And great destruction."

Jeremiah 4:7 The lion has come up from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, Without inhabitant.

Jeremiah 4:8 For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the LORD Has not turned back from us.

God had determined to send an army against His people. The "lion" from the "north," the "destroyer of nations," was the Babylonian empire. God overrules nations for His eternal purposes.

Announcements of the reality of judgment continue in verses eleven through thirteen:

Jeremiah 4:12 A wind too strong for these will come for Me; Now I will also speak judgment against them."

Jeremiah 4:13 "Behold, he shall come up like clouds, And his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!"

The invading Babylonian army is compared to a scorching desert wind, then to a storm, that will leave Jerusalem desolate.

Drop down to verses twenty-seven through thirty-one:

Jeremiah 4:28 For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back from it.

Jeremiah 4:29 The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, And not a man shall dwell in it.

Jeremiah 4:30 "And when you are plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you will make yourself fair; Your lovers will despise you; They will seek your life.

Jeremiah 4:31 "For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; She spreads her hands, saying, 'Woe is me now, for my soul is weary Because of murderers!'

God had earlier in Jeremiah accused Judah of being a spiritual prostitute. She forsook God and allied herself with other nations and their gods. Judah acted as though these nations were her lovers; yet, in the end, they would violently rape and murder her.

Chapter Five continues the announcements of judgment, beginning in verses fifteen through seventeen:

Jeremiah 5:16 Their quiver is like an open tomb; They are all mighty men.

Jeremiah 5:17 And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, Which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; They shall destroy your fortified cities, In which you trust, with the sword.

Their language, livelihood, and lifestyle would all be affected. They would be enslaved.

The final announcements of judgment are in Chapter Six, beginning in verses one through six:

Jeremiah 6:2 I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman.

Jeremiah 6:3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place."

Jeremiah 6:4 "Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.

Jeremiah 6:5 Arise, and let us go by night, And let us destroy her palaces."

Jeremiah 6:6 For thus has the LORD of hosts said: "Cut down trees, And build a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. She is full of oppression in her midst.

The destruction of Jerusalem would be such that shepherds would afterwards come and pasture their flocks where the city had once stood. The Babylonians would lay siege to her; God even gives them their strategy! They would "cut down trees, and build a [siege ramp]..."

Look at verse nine:

The destruction would be complete. Judah was like a vine ripe with grapes that is completely stripped of its clusters.

The final announcements of judgment are in verses twenty-one through twenty-three:

Jeremiah 6:22 Thus says the LORD: "Behold, a people comes from the north country, And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.

Jeremiah 6:23 They will lay hold on bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion."

The Apostle Peter pointed out in his second letter that, in the last days, men would scoff at the idea that God would come in judgment. Peter answered the scoffers by pointing back to the flood in Noah's day. God's judgment was real; only His longsuffering waited for souls to be saved.

God's judgment is real. He has been judging nations from the beginning of history; He is judging nations today.

Is God judging our nation? In a sense, because He is God, God is always judging. It isn't a question of whether or not He is judging us; it's a question of where we are in terms of His longsuffering waiting for souls to be saved.

I'll tell you where I think we are at as a nation. We are in Romans 1:18-32. Nationally we have excluded the God of the Bible from our public life, and nationally God has given us over to the things listed by the Apostle Paul: "vile passions...women [exchanging] the natural use [of their bodies] for what is against nature...men, leaving the natural use of the woman, [burning] in their lust for one another, men with men, committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error..."

Paul goes on to describe such a nation as,

Romans 1:30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Romans 1:31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

Romans 1:32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

That pretty well sums-up where we are at as a nation. God has given us over to what we desired, which is a prelude to giving us what we deserve. May God help us to repent before we get what we deserve! His longsuffering still waits...

Let's return to Chapter Four and follow the next category of Jeremiah's assay report, the assessment of the reasons for God's judgment.