False Religion and False Oaths

Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 5:1-13.

As the LORD once looked in vain for ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, so He now looks in vain for one who does justice and seeks truth in Jerusalem. The idolatry stretches from the top to the bottom of Judah’s society, and Babylonian destruction awaits as a punishment for their apostasy. The people’s regular use of lying oaths is a litmus test of how far they have fallen from the true worship of the LORD. Their falsehood with each other has led to false teaching from false prophets, who claim that the LORD will do nothing. The LORD will bring His judgment, Jeremiah promises, yet there is hope in the fact that the LORD will leave a remnant for the sake of bringing the Savior into the world.

“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he preached survive because of hope that is found in the righteous Branch from the line of David, Jesus Christ.