Jeremiah 9:1-16 Judgment For Forsaking The Law.

Jeremiah couldn’t mourn enough because of the adulterers and treacherous assembly in Judah and Jerusalem (vv. 1-2). Like bows they had bent their tongues for lies, were not valiant for the truth, went from one evil to another, all because they did not know the LORD in any saving way (v. 3). They deceived each other, were slanderers, and would not speak the truth (vv. 4-5). It was through their deceit that they refused to know the LORD (v. 6). The LORD of hosts would refine and test them, because though their words were peaceful to their neighbours, their hearts were set on evil (vv. 7-8). Vengeance and punishment was warranted, but the whole of creation would suffer (vv. 9-10). Jerusalem would be a heep of ruins and Jerusalem would be desolate (v. 11). The nation lacked any wise men who might help them understand, because they had rejected the law of the LORD which he had set before them, nor had they obeyed his voice (vv. 12-13). They showed their disobedience also in their walk, living out the dictates of their own hearts as they followed the Baals, “which their fathers taught them” (v. 14). Therefore, the LORD would feed them with bitterness, and scatter them among the Gentile pagan nations, consumed by the sword (vv. 15-16).