Bird's-eye view
In this section of Jeremiah, the prophet is acting as God's prosecuting attorney, delivering a formal indictment against the covenant people of Judah. The charge is not a simple mistake or a minor infraction; it is a profound and willful spiritual stupor. God, through His prophet, calls out their deliberate blindness and deafness to the plainest revelations of His power and goodness. He contrasts their rebellious hearts with the mindless obedience of the sea, which respects the sandy boundary He set for it. The argument is a powerful one from creation: if the inanimate world submits to its Creator's decree, how much more culpable are the people of God who possess hearts and minds, yet refuse to fear Him? The passage culminates by connecting their sin directly to its consequences. The good gifts of a predictable creation, the seasonal rains and the appointed harvest, are being withheld. Their iniquities have become a barrier, turning away the very blessings God desires to give them. It is a stark lesson in the cause-and-effect relationship between covenant rebellion and the disruption of creational goodness.
The core issue is a failure to fear Yahweh. This is not about being scared of God in a servile way, but about a profound, heart-level refusal to acknowledge Him for who He is: the sovereign Lord of creation and the gracious giver of all good things. Their foolishness is not intellectual, but moral. They have eyes, but they have determined not to see. They have ears, but they have resolved not to hear. This is the essence of a hardened heart, and it is this stubborn posture that invites the judgment of God, which in this context is the withdrawal of His common grace blessings as a prelude to the greater judgment of exile.
Outline
- 1. The Covenant Lawsuit Declared (Jer 5:20-25)
- a. The Summons to a Willfully Blind People (Jer 5:20-21)
- b. The Argument from Creation's Obedience (Jer 5:22)
- c. The Contrast with Judah's Rebellious Heart (Jer 5:23)
- d. The Failure to Acknowledge the Giver (Jer 5:24)
- e. The Inevitable Consequence: Blessings Withheld (Jer 5:25)
Context In Jeremiah
This passage sits within a larger section (Jeremiah chapters 2-6) where the prophet is laying out God's case against Judah before the impending Babylonian invasion. The theme of spiritual adultery, of forsaking Yahweh for worthless idols, is prominent. In chapter 5 specifically, God has challenged the prophet to find even one just man in Jerusalem, for whose sake He might pardon the city (Jer 5:1). The search is fruitless. The chapter details the universal corruption, from the poor to the great (Jer 5:4-5), their false swearing (Jer 5:2), and their refusal to receive correction (Jer 5:3). Our text, verses 20-25, serves as a powerful summary of their core problem: a profound and inexcusable lack of the fear of God, demonstrated by their inability to see what all of creation makes plain. This section provides the theological justification for the severe judgment that Jeremiah is prophesying. The coming destruction is not arbitrary; it is the just and fitting consequence of a people who have resolutely turned their backs on their Creator and covenant Lord.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Spiritual Blindness
- The Fear of Yahweh
- General Revelation and Human Culpability
- The Sovereignty of God Over Creation
- The Stubborn and Rebellious Heart
- Covenant Blessings and Curses
- The Direct Link Between Sin and Judgment
The Stupidity of Sin
One of the central arguments of Scripture is that sin is not just immoral, it is profoundly stupid. It is a form of insanity. Here, God calls His people "simpleminded fools" who are "without a heart of wisdom." The Hebrew for heart, lev, refers to the center of their being, their mind, will, and emotions. To be "without heart" is to be without sense, to be utterly irrational. And why are they irrational? Because they ignore the most obvious data in the universe.
God presents Exhibit A: the ocean. The waves roar and toss, full of immense power, yet they stop at a line of sand. Why? Because God told them to. This is a perpetual, unbreakable statute. The sea, a mindless force of nature, obeys its Creator. But Judah, the people God redeemed and instructed, who have minds and hearts, refuse to obey. They see this daily miracle of divine power and restraint, and it means nothing to them. They have eyes, but they do not perceive the meaning. They have ears, but they do not hear the testimony of the crashing waves. This is the essence of foolishness. It is to live in God's world, surrounded by constant, thunderous evidence of His majesty and authority, and to live as though He were not there. This is not a lack of evidence; it is a willful suppression of the truth in unrighteousness.
Verse by Verse Commentary
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob And cause it to be heard in Judah, saying,
This is a formal proclamation. The prophet is commanded to act as a town crier, to make sure this message is delivered publicly and authoritatively. "The house of Jacob" and "Judah" refer to the entire covenant community, the southern kingdom. This is not a private word for the religious elite; it is a public indictment for the entire nation. The lawsuit is being served, and no one is to be left in ignorance of the charges.
21 ‘Now hear this, O people who are simpleminded fools and without a heart of wisdom, Who have eyes but do not see, Who have ears but do not hear.
The address is intentionally insulting, but it is a righteous insult. God calls them what they are. The word for "fools" here is sakal, which points to a dense, senseless state. They are "without a heart," which in Hebrew idiom means they lack understanding or sense. Their problem is not a physical defect. They possess the organs of sight and hearing. The issue is one of perception. The light enters their eyes, but their brain, corrupted by sin, does not process it into truth. The sound waves enter their ears, but their rebellious heart does not translate it into obedience. This language is echoed by Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) and quoted by Jesus (Matt 13:14-15) to describe those who are judicially hardened in their unbelief. They have chosen blindness for so long that God has, in a sense, confirmed their choice.
22 Do you not fear Me?’ declares Yahweh. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, A perpetual statute, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
Here is the central question, the heart of the indictment. "Do you not fear Me?" This is the beginning of wisdom, and they are utterly lacking it. God then provides the basis for this fear, pointing to His sovereign power over the most chaotic and powerful force in their world: the sea. He established its boundary with something as seemingly weak as sand. This boundary is a "perpetual statute," an everlasting decree. The sea, in all its might, rages against this boundary but "cannot prevail." The roaring waves are a constant, audible, and visible sermon on the omnipotence of God and the futility of rebelling against His decrees. For Judah to witness this display of cosmic power and not tremble in God's presence is a sign of profound spiritual disease.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and gone away.
The contrast is stark. The sea obeys. "But this people..." They are the grand exception to the rule of creation. Their heart is described as "stubborn and rebellious." These are active, willful terms. A stubborn heart is one that refuses to be persuaded by evidence. A rebellious heart is one that is determined to go its own way. The result is that "they have turned aside and gone away." This is the language of apostasy. They have left the path of the covenant. While the sea stays within its God-given bounds, the people of God have broken through every boundary He established for their good.
24 They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear Yahweh our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the early rain and the late rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.”
Their willful blindness extends from God's raw power to His benevolent provision. They refuse to connect the dots between the blessings they enjoy and the God who provides them. The internal monologue of a righteous heart is one of gratitude and fear: "Let us fear Yahweh our God." But this thought never enters their minds. They take for granted the orderly cycle of the seasons, the crucial "early rain" after planting and the "late rain" before harvest. They rely on the "appointed weeks of the harvest" without giving a thought to the One who appointed them. They have reduced God's faithful, covenantal kindness to an impersonal, naturalistic process. They enjoy the gifts while despising the Giver, which is the very definition of idolatry.
25 Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.
This is the devastating conclusion. Sin has consequences. Their rebellion is not an abstract, spiritual problem; it has tangible, economic results. The orderly world of rain and harvest, which they took for granted, is now being disrupted. Their "iniquities" and "sins" have become a barrier. The word "turned these away" suggests that the blessings were on their way, flowing from God's hand, but their sin deflected them. Their sins have "withheld good from you." God is the source of all good, but sin interrupts the flow. This is a foundational principle of covenant theology. Obedience brings blessing in the land; disobedience brings curses, including drought and famine (Deut 28). Jeremiah is simply telling them that the covenant is working exactly as God said it would.
Application
We moderns are just as susceptible to this foolishness as ancient Judah was. We are surrounded by even more staggering displays of God's creative genius and power, from the intricacies of the cell to the vastness of the cosmos. And like Judah, we are masters at enjoying the gifts while ignoring the Giver. We can easily attribute the regularities of the world to impersonal natural laws, forgetting the Lawgiver who sustains them all by the word of His power.
This passage calls us to cultivate the fear of the Lord. We do this by paying attention. We are to look at the world around us, not with the dead eyes of a naturalist, but with the living eyes of a child of God. We see the storm clouds and think of His power. We see the harvest and think of His faithfulness. We see the boundaries of the sea and are reminded of His sovereign decrees that govern all things. This attentiveness leads to worship, and worship is the antidote to the stubborn and rebellious heart.
Furthermore, we must never forget the link between sin and the withholding of good. While we are not under the specific covenantal structure of ancient Israel, the principle remains that sin has consequences. It disrupts our fellowship with God, who is the source of all good. It brings disorder into our lives, our families, and our communities. When we find "good" being withheld from us, our first instinct should not be to complain about our circumstances, but to examine our hearts. Is there a stubbornness, a rebellion, that is turning away the blessings God would otherwise delight to give? The answer is always found in the gospel. Christ came to deal with the iniquities that turn good things away. He took the ultimate curse of the covenant upon Himself, so that we, in repentance and faith, might receive the ultimate blessing: fellowship with God Himself.