Jeremiah 5:1-13  The Lord tells Jeremiah to "Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and look now, and take note. And seek in her open squares, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth."   If there was one.. God would pardon the city.  So, Jeremiah went out searching.  But, there were only people who said that they were God's.. but they were "[swearing]  falsely".  They were weak, consumed.. stubborn.. refusing correction.. "they have made their faces harder than rock."

Jeremiah considered these people poor and foolish, not knowing any better.. so he decided to go to the greater ones.. the priests, the leaders "For they know the way of the Lord.. ".  But "they too, with one accord have broken the yoke and burst the bonds."  Every single person.. from the highest to the lowest... had turned away from the One true God.. 

"Because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous"... God would send a vicious enemy against His people.  "Shall I not punish these people, declares the Lord, and on a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself?"  

God again called His people treacherous.. "They have lied about the Lord.. " (v12)   They were so sure that they would be safe against the sword or famine.  They called the prophets windbags.. and they refused to repent. 

AW Tozer wrote this "Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God.... That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us."  He goes on to say, "Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true. Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it." ( From the Knowledge of the Holy)   

This was the treachery of Judah.  They lied about God. They lied about their allegiance to God. They used His name in vain. It is the same thing that Jesus accused the Pharisees of.. their outsides seemed "righteous".. but inside they were vipers.. like graves full of dead men's bones..  This is the danger we see in modern American churches. We have, as Tozer wrote, allowed the "lofty concept of God"  to "decline".  And when that happens.. "the Church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God."

What lies have we allowed in our churches.. in our denominations.. in our nation.. about the One True God?  Do we have the wrong idea about His Word, His Will, His Majesty? May God help us!

Oh Father in heaven,  how we need You to unveil our eyes and make clear Your Truth.. we need the Light of the world to illumine our thoughts and to guide our steps.  Come Lord Jesus and draw us to Your heart that we might humble ourselves before You and receive Your forgiveness and grace.  Wash away every sin.. wipe away every lie.. fill us with Life and Truth by Your Spirit, we pray. Amen.