The Chains of Truth

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible…. 

Jeremiah 9:3  ESV

They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, declares the Lord. 

John Bunyan has a great number of valiant men in his Pilgrim’s Progress.  Most of us who are familiar with Christian and his wife Christiana in their travel to the Celestial City have our favorite.  Mr. Fearful, Mr. Ready-To Halt, and Faithful are all favorites of mine.  But of all these, my very favorite is Mr.Valiant-For-The-Truth. 

It was only as I was taking one of my yearly trips through Jeremiah that I found him in the Scriptures.  He is there in Jeremiah 9:3 not because he is named but because he is the antithesis of what Jeremiah’s contemporaries were not; “They are not valiant for the truth.” 

This appears as a rather incidental phrase until the context is considered.  In chapter 5:1 the charge against Israel for failure to desire truth is stated.  In 5:12 they are charged with lying.  Again in 5:31 deceit is charged against the prophets, “the prophets prophecy falsely.”  Here another window opens on these people’s regard for truth.  They love the lie. 

In chapter 6:10 the real cause is stated, “Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it”.  This is understood when contrasted with the Psalm 1 description of the blessed of the Lord, “his delight is in the Law of the Lord.”  And because they have turned from God’s word in 7:8, Jeremiah accused them of trusting in “lying words.” 

Again in 7:28 we find “Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.”  This continues in 8:5-6; 8; 10; and then we come to 9:3.  Among the accusations of the most grievous sins - idolatry, murder, drunkenness, gross sexual immorality, and of course rebellion is the sin of lying in constant bold relief. 

In chapter 9:3-6 Jeremiah sets out the consequences of social and spiritual dishonesty.  He finishes with the worst indictment he can state, “through deceit they refuse to know me”.  This is to say their failure in truth has led them to separate from God and to have no part in any covenant blessing.

There are two comments that seem necessary.

1.       Those accused and those who suffer this loss are those who wear the name of being God’s people.  They make bold claims upon God’s provision, His protection, and His presence with them.  There is no truth in this claim.  The failure of all their claims and their imminent defeat make it plain that the true God is not their God in the Covenant sense.  The fact that they do not know this is a certain result of the lie they have believed and the deceit they practiced.  It is a certainty that the degree of deception practiced or accepted is a measure of the self- inflicted darkness in which they that practice this dwell.

2.    The accusation in 9:3 should arrest the reader of Scripture.  It is fondly believed in this day as it was in Jeremiah’s day that truth is optional.  But what Jeremiah is saying, truth is precious.  It is worthy of our most valiant effort.  It is by common consent agreed that some truths are more important than others.  But no truth when it is known can without consequences be disregarded.  It is all God’s truth. 

The Hebrew for the word translated “valiant” is “to be strong” or “to prevail”.  That is our call and responsibility to be strong, to prevail in and with the truth. 

The truth I know and hold both Biblically and confessionally is neither voluntary nor optional. 

Let us listen to Jeremiah 20:9. 

If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot. 

Where is found voluntary or optional truth within the constraints Jeremiah describes?