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A characteristic of Jeremiah's messages was the courtroom setting and vocabulary he adopted. The Lord's statement early in the book (2:9) sets the stage: "I will bring my case against you." The Lord uses Jeremiah as his advocate to bring charges and evidence of sin (deception in this passage) against the leaders and people of Judah. Then God pronounces the sentence and carries it out.

Jeremiah 9:3-9

1. What does the comparison of the people's lies with bows tell you about premeditation and intent?
   
   
2. Is failure to defend truth as culpable as outright lying?
   
   
3. Is dishonesty confined to secular society, or does it infect our churches and families as well (v. 4)?
   
   
4. To what forms of deception (v. 5) may we become accustomed in our culture?
   
   
5. Why are deceivers often duped by the deception of others?
   
   
6. What penalty (v. 7) does God impose on his people for their deceit?
   
   
7. How should God's three rhetorical questions (vv. 7 & 9) about the judgment he decreed be answered?
   
   

Ask God for strength to reflect his nature as you retrain yourself to forsake any falsehood, exaggeration, or attempt to mislead.

Jeremiah 9:3-9

3 "My people bend their tongues like bows
to shoot out lies.
They refuse to stand up for the truth.
They only go from bad to worse.
They do not know me,"
says the Lord.

4 "Beware of your neighbor!
Don't even trust your brother!
For brother takes advantage of brother,
and friend slanders friend.
5 They all fool and defraud each other;
no one tells the truth.
With practiced tongues they tell lies;
they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
6 They pile lie upon lie
and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,"
says the Lord.

7 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says:
"See, I will melt them down in a crucible
and test them like metal.
What else can I do with my people?
8 For their tongues shoot lies like poisoned arrows.
They speak friendly words to their neighbors
while scheming in their heart to kill them.
9 Should I not punish them for this?" says the Lord.
"Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?"

Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integritymagazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

May your truth so live in me, Lord, that every form of deceit is wrung out of my life.

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