Jeremiah 17:5-10 Principles to Live By
By Kyriacos Fivos Georgiades, Village School Student
(From the November 2009 Issue of the Philogian)

In Jeremiah 17:5-10 we find some basic and fundamental principles which provide the foundation of proper service to God and the fact that man cannot meet God’s requirements, keep God’s law and obtain salvation by his own efforts.  So these verses refute the idea, as some religions and religious denominations teach, that man is inherently good and able to serve God according to God’s standards and be acceptable to Him.  Let us outline some of these principles below together with some other Scriptures which reinforce these truths.

In verse 9 we read that, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”  Genesis 6:5 states that “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  After he committed adultery with Bathsheba David wrote, “Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  (Psalm 51:5)  In Romans 3:10, 12b, Paul declared, “There is none righteous, no not one… there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”  These are but a few verses in the Bible which clearly show that man can’t in any way obtain salvation by doing good.  God categorically stated in His word that it is an impossibility for man to do good and therefore man can’t in any way earn access to heaven by living a life which can satisfy God’s holy standard.  “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?  Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.”  (Jeremiah 13:23)  Echoing this principle, Isaiah writes, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filth rags.”  (Isaiah 64:6a)  So man can’t do enough good, he is incapable, to satisfy God’s standard of admission in heaven.

In Jeremiah 17:10a, we read the “I the Lord search the heart.”  When God sent Samuel to anoint David as king over Israel and Samuel saw Eliab, David’s older brother, based on his appearance concluded that “the Lord’s anointed” was before him.  “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (I Samuel 16:6-7)  When King Asa failed to trust the Lord, Hanani the seer gave him this message from God, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9a)  It is a  well settled principle in the Bible that God is not concerned with man’s outside appearance, but rather his heart, the inner man  At times even man’s actions, which may appear honorable, are of no value to God because they are done with the wrong motives.  Jesus condemned the Pharisees’ alms giving, prayers and fasting because they were done with the wrong motives.  They did these things not for the purpose of honoring God and serving others, but rather for self-glorification and to be seen by men.  (Matthew 6:1-5, 16)

Jeremiah 17:5-8 instructs the believers to put their trust and faith in God at all times.  Two basic groups are identified here: those who put their trust in man and those who put their trust in God.  Those who put their trust in man will have no success and will be cursed.  In contrast, those who put their trust in God will be successful and blessed.  Sennacherib came against King Hezekiah and Judah with a great army, King Hezekiah encouraged his people with these words: “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there are more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” (2 Chronicles 32:7-8)  Because the people and King Hezekiah prayed and trusted the Lord, He “sent an angel who cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria” and gave them a great victory (2 Chronicles 32:20-21).  When King Jeroboam of Israel came to fight against King Abijah of Judah with twice the size of the army of Judah, Abijah told Jeroboam and all Israel, “And ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with your golden calves, which Jeroboam made for you as gods.  But as for us, the Lord is our God… God Himself is with us for our captain… Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.  Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.  (2 Chronicles 13:4, 8, 10a, 12a, 15, 18)

The Bible is full of examples of those who trusted God and were blessed by Him.  In this short essay we will not be able to mention them unfortunately.  One thing I want to do, though, is to mention two men who did not trust God and it cost them dearly.  The first one is King Saul who failed to be obedient to God.  Instead of turning to God and repenting of his evil ways, he turned to men, to the witch of Endor and as a result he lost his kingdom and his life (I Samuel 13, 15, 28, 31).  The second one is Judas who betrayed the Lord.  Like King Saul, Judas put his trust in men, made money and gave up such a great opportunity to be used by God, lost his life and gave up his right to spend eternity with God in His kingdom (Mark 3:19, Matt 26:47-50, 27:3-5, John 17:12).

In closing, I want to restate in a few lines the great principles found in Jeremiah 17:5-10.  man does not have the ability to earn salvation.  Man, therefore, is in need of a Savior.  God points to the sinfulness of man’s heart not for the purpose of condemning him, but rather to give him opportunity to realize his depravity, his need for a savior and turn to the Lord to be saved.  God knows and searches man’s heart.  Outer appearance is not of any consequence to God.  God is looking for loyal, perfect, sincere heart.  Man’s motives should be in line with the word of God to guide his actions and words.  Anything done or said which does not have as a foundation the word of God is contrary to the will of God.  Man not only has a need to come to God to receive salvation, but also must live his life in total dependence and put his trust and faith in God.  God not only gives life and eternal life to man, but also is the one who sustains this life.  Man has to remember where to turn to in time of need.  Man must life his eyes up to the hills, turn his face towards the wall, away from man and towards God.  God will provide what is needed (Psalm 121:1-2, Isaiah 38:1-6).

 

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