Thursday, March 7, 2024

Jeremiah 5: sin from rich and poor, from who reads the Torah and who doesn't read the Torah.

 in Jeremiah 5, we read:

1 “Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look and take notice.
And seek in her public squares,
If you can find a person,
If there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty,
Then I will forgive her.

The prophet searches for one who does justice but he can´t find any.

4 Then I said, “They are only the poor,
They are foolish;
For they do not know the way of the Lord
Or the judgment of their God.

5 I will go to the great
And speak to them,
For they know the way of the Lord
And the judgment of their God.”
But together they too have broken the yoke
And burst the restraints.

Although the rich people have access to the Torah, they were sinners; some rich people explore the poor:

26 For wicked people are found among My people,
They watch like fowlers [f]lying in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch people.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 They are fat, they are sleek,
They also [g]excel in deeds of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the [h]orphan, so that they may be successful;
And they do not [i]defend the rights of the poor.

The Lord will not forgive Jerusalem:

7 “Why should I forgive you?
Your sons have forsaken Me
And sworn by those who are not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
They committed adultery
And stayed at the prostitute’s house.
8 They were well-fed lusty horses,
Each one neighing at his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord,
“And shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?
...
14 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of armies says:
“Because you have spoken this word,
Behold, I am making My words fire in your mouth,
And this people wood, and it will consume them.
15 Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, you house of Israel,” declares the Lord.
“It is an enduring nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave,
All of them are warriors.
17 They will devour your harvest and your food;
They will devour your sons and your daughters;
They will devour your flocks and your herds;
They will devour your vines and your fig trees;
They will demolish your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

However, the Lord will not destroy Jerusalem completely:

18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not make a complete destruction of you. 19 And it shall come about when [d]they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

There are false prophets spreading a false message:

12 They have lied about the Lord
And said, “[c]Not He;
Misfortune will not come upon us,
Nor will we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets are as wind,
And the word is not in them.
So it will be done to them!”

Although rich and poor people have abandoned the Lord, the Lord still wants to make them his holy people; even thorough punishment.

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