Jeremiah;- Bad priests and prophets (ch6)

“An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so” (ch5 vv30-31)

Three classes of people are at fault.
The prophets here are the ones who insist that the Lord will keep Judah safe unconditionally, whatever happens. They ignore the previous warnings and instances showing that protection is withdrawn when the land is sinful. The concept of God's “unconditional love” is not found in the Bible, but giving comfort and reassurance helps to guarantee a good income.

The priests are ruling in accordance with this line of prophecy by giving up on their previous attempts (in the time of Josiah) to promote repentance. I think they lost their nerve and their political clout after Josiah was killed at Megiddo, possibly because they sent him there. I would have thought that the prophets were prophesying optimism at the direction of the priests. The effect is the same.

The people like this teaching because it makes them feel good. They don’t want to feel uncomfortable.

This theme is continued in ch6 v13;
“For from the last to the greatest of them, every one is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, every one deals falsely.”
The opening words, down to “unjust gain”, still seem to belong to the description of the priests and prophets.

V14 “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying -Peace, peace- when there is no peace.”
That is, they are claiming that the people are “in peace with God”, when it is not true. The “wound” is the lapse of the nation into general sin. The only effective “healing” process would be repentance. The prophets and priests are saying that the wound is “but a scratch”, which can be healed with a little ritual.
This is not talking about peace from enemies, which would happen only as a side-effect of peace with God.

V15 “Were they ashamed when they committed abominations?”
No, they were not. It must be remembered that “abomination” means idolatry, the worship of other gods, which God hates. The priests would normally hate it too, because the other cults are also rivals to themselves. I think the point is that “You do not need to have your sin healed” is a deviation from the worship and teaching of the Lord which amounts to a new religion. He is rubbing their noses in the fact.

Therefore the religious class of priests and professional prophets will fall at the same time that the whole land falls.

Ch6 vv1-12
With the aid of the connecting link “… but what will you do when the time comes?” (v31), another prophecy (or a combination of prophetic words) of judgement against the land has been sandwiched between the two halves of the complaint against the prophets and the priests. They become one prophecy, in which the religious classes are being blamed for the judgement.

V1 “Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa…”
Reading carefully through this verse, I’m inclined to think that “from the midst of Jerusalem” means “from the vicinity of Jerusalem”, not just from the city itself. The great army is coming down from the north heading straight for Jerusalem, and there is an urgent need for the tribe of Benjamin to get out of their way. Possibly this belongs to the time when Jeremiah himself was still based in Anathoth.

They will destroy the “comely and delicately bred” daughter of Zion. The city is portrayed, once more, as a young woman of the privileged class.
Shepherds with their flocks- that is, generals with their battalions – will come against her, pitching their tents outside, debating whether to attack at noon or at midnight.
The Lord wants them to build up a siege mound (raising up a giant catapult which can be used to attack the walls). The city has deserved it because she is full of oppression. She holds wickedness, violence and destruction within her, protecting them, in the same way that wells hold water.

V8 A warning to Jerusalem that if the Lord becomes alienated from her, she will become “a desolation, an uninhabited land”. These are synonyms. “Desolation” means “absence of people”. Not to be confused with “devastation”, though it frequently seems to be.

V9 “Glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel”.
Gleaning is the act of going through the harvested crop to pick up what was left behind in the first gathering. In the context, this is probably a metaphor about making a more thorough job of the destruction, though there is the ambiguous possibility that this is about “saving the remnant”.

V10 There is a complaint from the prophet that he cannot give his warning message to anyone because nobody is listening. “The word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn.”

V11 “Pour it out”. That is the Lord’s response. The meaning of “it” seems to shift from “the Lord’s word” to “the Lord’s wrath”, but perhaps they come to the same thing in the circumstances.
He is to pour it out on the children in the street, the gatherings of young men.
“Both husband and wife will be taken, the old folk and the very aged. Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together. For I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land.”

Finally, as explanation, we get the second half of the complaint against the priests and prophets (vv13-15, already covered).

Worship the Father through Christ and stick to the commandments, we are like Christ and capable like Him but we have to be untouched by this world to reach the Father and be like Christ. What this world imprints on our souls prevents us from reaching The Father and this is why Christ emphasized that we must never lose the child in us, children are untouched by this world, many times Christ appeared to His disciples as a child.

We are spiritual beings trapped in a never ending material existence, what we need to become as individuals to reach The Father has never been possible, no man has ever entered Heaven and it will stay this way until Christs return and with Christs return all that was will be gone as it must be.

The ramifications of all that was encouraged by the god of the Old Testament meant like a ripple in water an existence that prevents us from returning to The Father our source. We're here not to learn how attain heaven more we must learn how to return to it. Christ is our saviour in this regard.

Imagine me throwing you into a prison environment for the crime of spiritual self awareness and the only way out is to admit that you're a criminal and you must worship me.

a reply to: Smigg

I think it is time you increased your meds.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

I think it is time you increased your meds.

Hello again, is the love you have for Christ helping with the impulses to insult people. It's quite humbling to be insulted by someone who obviously has a better understanding of Christs message than I do.

I hope your day, life improves for you.

a reply to: Smigg

I love it! You can only come back with the old "love of Christ" nonsense. The ones who use it are the ones who are not loving.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

I love it! You can only come back with the old "love of Christ" nonsense. The ones who use it are the ones who are not loving.

Dude you need to look inside yourself and figure out why you're so angry and unhappy, I can't help you sorry.

a reply to: Smigg

Dude, you are a LOST, lying, drug addicted,thieving, sex pervert and you think you have the moral high ground to claim anything about me.

Kiss off!

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

Dude, you are a LOST, lying, drug addicted,thieving, sex pervert and you think you have the moral high ground to claim anything about me.

Kiss off!

I shouldn't laugh but lol dude get help, wowzah.

a reply to: Smigg

See you know nothing.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

See you know nothing.

I know more than you will ever know and I know you have wickedness in you.
Know yourself and you will be known

a reply to: Smigg

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Your so easy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Your so easy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Oh dear you're displaying like a clown again. You need help dude, maybe it's the church you belong to?

a reply to: Smigg

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

YOU ARE JUST TOO DANG EASY!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

YOU ARE JUST TOO DANG EASY!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

You didn't use reply hoping I wouldn't see so you could have the last word lol.
I know the perfect church for you, you would fit in like a glove, Mormon dude you need to become a Mormon it would be perfect for you.

They lie on a whim and their sneaky and wicked like you, a marriage made in heaven but spent in hell lol.

a reply to: Smigg

You are hilarious!

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

You are hilarious!

I know

a reply to: ChesterJohn

So my Mormon friend why is what I believe so shocking when you believe God is an alien from another planet?

a reply to: Smigg

Mormon. I ain't no Mormon.

At least I am not like you, a moron.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Smigg

Mormon. I ain't no Mormon.

At least I am not like you, a moron.

You little liar lol.

a reply to: Smigg

Look who is speaking.

Born again on March 12th 1993, hold a degree in theology, i hold to dispensational teaching and believe every word in the Bible as true. Basis for Christian is found in 2Tim2:15 and salvation is by grace through faith alone on Christ substitutionary death on the cross, substitutionary punishment in hell and Resurrection on the 3rd day to give me ever lasting life.

No Mormon or Moron speaks like that.