Jeremiah 9:2-6 – Living life truthfully

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet began in these verses (Jeremiah 9:2-9) with wishful thinking. He wished he could find a place where he could live like a hermit. A place where he could get away from the treacherous people of Judah. The words of verse 2 were exactly exclamation:  

“Oh that I had in the desert
A wayfarers’ lodging place;
That I might leave my people
And go from them!  

That I might leave my people and go from them.”

 

Jeremiah had reasons why he wished he could be as far away from these people as possible. So he stated his reasons in from the last two lines of verses 2 right through verse 6. Hear how he artfully described them. They were adulterers and a group of treacherous men.  People who were deceitful. Not a single truth would come out of the mouths. They would seek every opportunity to spread falsehood filling and polluting the land with their lies. Deplorably evil, these people would go one from one evil act to another. Jeremiah concluded that this was an obvious sign that they did not know God. They were a whole company of deceitful people. So in verse 4, he warned everyone to be on guard against his neighbors and even against his brothers. No one could be trusted to be truthful. They just wore themselves out slandering and lying. See how God concurred with Jeremiah in verse 6. God saw the land as a place full of deceit. Being deceived, they refused to know God, i.e. they refused to walk with Him. How true is the saying that none can be so blind as one who refuses to see!  

 

What is the remedy to a deceitful life? This is what the Apostle Peter tells us to do with deceit in 1 Peter 2:1-3. He said, “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” Growing in the Word deepens our relationship with God. We need to develop a passion for God's Word. Do find time to dig and mine the rich nutritious resources of God’s Word. As our lives are consumed by the Word of God, we will definitely grow in Him and hate a deceitful life.