Jeremiah 4–6

“We Have No Need to Repent”

One of the challenges Jeremiah faced in preaching to the people of Judah was that they thought they were already righteous and did not need to repent. They participated in different forms of idolatry, but they also offered sacrifices and practiced other “outward” parts of their true religion. Because they observed parts of their religion, they considered themselves righteous and claimed that the Lord would not allow anything to happen to a righteous people.

Through Jeremiah, the Lord told Judah that He was not pleased with them and proclaimed destruction upon them because of the way they pretended to be righteous. You will find examples of what Jeremiah said about the Jews’ hypocritical religious practices at that time in Jeremiah 4:2, 14; 5:3, 12; 6:14–15, 20. Most of the rest of chapters 4–6 speak of God’s judgments that will come upon Judah because of her sins.