What is the meaning of Jeremiah 5:24? They have not said in their hearts Jeremiah opens the charge by exposing an inner silence. The people’s mouths may still utter religious words, but their hearts refuse to agree with God. • This mirrors the earlier observation, “This people has a stubborn and rebellious heart” (Jeremiah 5:23). • Jesus later uncovers the same disconnect: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). • When hearts stay mute toward repentance, the mind rationalizes sin (Romans 1:21), and the nation drifts from covenant blessings promised in passages like Deuteronomy 11:13-17. Let us fear the LORD our God The unspoken resolve God longs to hear is a reverent, obedient fear. • Fear here is not terror that drives away but awe that draws near (Proverbs 1:7; Hebrews 12:28). • Such fear would have held Judah back from the idolatry condemned in Jeremiah 5:19 and would have opened the door to the protective promises seen in Psalm 34:7. • Instead, they bypass a posture that brings wisdom, life, and security (Proverbs 14:27). who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season Jeremiah reminds his hearers that the very cycles sustaining their livelihood come from the hand they refuse to honor. • “I will give the rain for your land in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain” (Deuteronomy 11:14) was a core covenant pledge. • Joel 2:23 and Hosea 6:3 echo the same assurance: God sends the early rain to germinate seed and the latter rain to fill the grain. • Acts 14:17 testifies that the Creator “has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons.” Ignoring this Provider is both ingratitude and folly. who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest The phrase points to God’s faithful protection of the entire growing period, climaxing in the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:15-16). • From planting to reaping, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest…shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). • Psalm 65:9-13 paints a poetic picture of the Lord crowning the year with bounty, tracks overflowing with plenty. • Judah’s harvest still arrived on schedule, yet the people failed to connect the abundance with the Giver, breaking the gratitude-obedience loop God designed (Jeremiah 2:7). summary Jeremiah 5:24 exposes a tragic discrepancy: God’s covenant people enjoy dependable rains and secure harvests, but their hearts stay silent, withholding reverent fear and grateful confession. The verse calls every reader to internalize reverence, recognize God as the ongoing Source of life’s cycles, and respond with obedient worship rather than presumptuous ingratitude. |
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