By: Gen. Jim – 9/25/25
“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, & with the point of a diamond: it is grown upon the table of their heart, & upon the horns of your altars…” – Jer. 17:1
Just what did that mean?
a) a statement of the prophet Jeremiah that because Judah’s sin is engraved on the hearts of her people & in the CULTus, she must GO INTO EXILE & lose her treasure, as vss.1-4 explain. Vs.4 tells us that because of her SIN she, Judah, will be made to serve her enemies, for she had kindled a fire in God’s anger, “which shall burn forever.”
Are we to believe “for ever” means “eternally”, “never ending”? The Hebrew word in vs.4 is ‘ôwlâm or ‘ôlâm, means, the vanishing point, time out of mind, eternally (eternal has several meanings: never-ending & limited time), any more continuance, lasting a long time. This last def. is meant in Jer. 17:4;
b) a psalm contrasting trust in flesh & trust in God, vss.5-8;
c) a proverb on the deceitfulness of the heart & God’s knowledge of it, vss.9,10, possibly the intro. to vss.14-18;
d) a proverb on the transitoriness of ill-gotton wealth, vs.11;
e) a fragment on the sanctuary, vs.12;
f) a brief prayer on the fate of those who forsake the Lord, vs.13;
g) one of the “confessions” of Jeremiah, vss.14-18;
h) a Deuteronomic passage on sabbath observance, vss.19-27. [according to profs. J.P. Hyatt & S.R. Hopper / exegesis & exposition].
At the end of this article, I have a Word of the Spirit from the LORD GOD in which He mentions a “calloused & diamond hardness of hearts”, speaking of these BIG TIME HYPOCRITES we’ve seen over the past decades… with their scheming & conniving tricks to get $$ & fame.
Hardened Sin
Jeremiah says that ancient Judah became so hardened in her sin that she must be punished by exile and the loss of her treasures. Jeremiah is saying that her sin is written in 2 places: 1) in their hearts, which have strayed away from the LORD, 2) in the CULTus, which is symbolized by the horns of the altar.
The Prophet rebukes them, seeing the sacrificial system itself as part of her sin (see 6:20; 7:21-23; 11:15).
Q. Does God curse His own people?
A. “Thus saith the LORD; CURSED be the man that trusteth in man, & maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD,” vs.5.
Either, Or
Jeremiah spoke for the LORD in matter-of-fact style: the either/or of the soul’s decisive orientation under the LORD GOD. Either a man or woman trusts in his/her “flesh”, or he/she stands within the Spirit-filled dynamism of his/her relationship with God. This stuff of “once saved always saved… no matter how in the HELL one lives” is FALSE. Either we are 100% in or we’re out! Don’t ever believe the BIG LIE that our hearts can’t be turned from Him. Either we are in the vine, bearing fruit, or we’re out of the vine…, waiting to be cast into the fire! [Read John 15. Note the words “abide & abides”/ “remain”: also note how many times the word “if” appears: vs.6 = 1; vs.7 = 1; vs.10 = 1; vs.14 = 1; vs.18 = 1; vs.19 = 1; vs.20 = 2; vs.22 = 1; vs.24 = 1.
“I Try the Reins”
Jer. 17:10 says that the LORD searched the heart & tries the reins, even to give every person according to his/her ways, & according to the fruit of his/her doings.
Reins: Heb., kilyâh (fig.), the mind (as the interior self).
This trying/testing/searching goes on constantly: The reason for such is to give to each person his/her reward for their work.
The SIN of Judah was idolatry mostly, as vs.2 tells us “… their altars & their grave”, idol images were placed there; their rites & ceremonies were observed there, all was abominable worship… their “high places for sin” was everywhere.
Q. What is the sin in your life, in my life? Even the reliance upon other human beings rather than God was/is a sin according to vs.5. This reprehends their vain confidence in trusting in Egypt (“Egypt” to us today represents the “world”). Idolatry comes in many shapes & sizes.
The Takeaway
The following Words of the Spirit tells us what we need to know and do. How many ministers today rely upon the arm of flesh, e.g., money, for them to do the work of the “ministry”? What do we rely upon, worship, give time & energy to? Do we too have “secret sins”, “idols” that replace the love of God in our lives? Think!
WOS – DEPART FROM ME!
I speak unto you this day and I say there are many who will find themselves in the place of those whom I reject because they have refused to know Me. Which means they have used My Son’s Name and because there is Power in the Name they have been able to demonstrate the casting out of demons. Yet their hearts were far from Me and they were using His Name to make their own fame and fortunes.
Such ones as these will not be accepted by Me in the final hour because they were deceitful of heart and motive and by their choices they were in opposition to My intentions for them. They did not walk in integrity of relationship and they were only in the “game to make gain”.
Those who do not let their own hearts and motives be searched by My Spirit, what do they come to in the end, sorrow and heart break because while they could have made good decisions they did not. All because they wanted to keep the closets in their own lives locked against the searching of the Holy Spirit. This they did because they loved their idols and their “secret sins” far more than they ever loved Me and the consequence is they continued in idolatry, abomination, and violation of My standards.
What fools such ones are when they are exposed and their deep-dark secrets are made public and their followers are left in confusion as the delusions they lived under are exposed as lies. Quite bluntly those they trusted as men and women of God were actually doing sins more reproachable and shameful than the sinners they pretended to care about.
Over and over, the scandals show them up to be just what they are inside and they are not able to change the same because they have done the very sins which are vile in My sight. Why is it so? It is because they have chosen to go after the vanity, the vexation, and the never ending darkness of the demons who motivated them.
I am not at all pleased with such behaviors because those who are doing such things are proven to be vessels of dishonor and will not be counted as worthy to enter into My Kingdom. Some may break down and sob openly declaring they are sorry, yet they will, as the hog and the dog return to the very filth they were involved in. Even their shows of repentance are a shame because they do not change.
When people such as these are openly exposed and revealed in their wickedness, they grow bitter and accusatory because the snake who rules them is revealed. They will even physically hiss and writhe like snakes because when they are openly exposed, they are bitterly angry.
It is indeed a sad state of affairs when multitudes of those who are involved in “big time religion” are frauds and hypocrites no better than the religious Jews who were in rule over the multitudes when Jesus walked. Those leaders did not care about the people nor did they ever attempt to meet them in their sufferings they just used them for gain and fame. So it is in these times, many who are involved in “big time” religion are doing the same thing, they are putting on a big show yet their hearts are hard.
These have no regard for the people and they have no regard for Me. It gives them pleasure to cause My people many sufferings to meet up to their greedy expectations of them. As they are demanding and commanding them to give more and more, so they can indulge themselves in useless and costly luxuries. It does not bother them to “rob widow’s houses” causing such women to suffer acutely as they sacrifice all.
When you consider the calloused and diamond hardness of their hearts know that such ones as these are deserving of My total rejection of them because of their obvious hatred for Me and My Divine Love Family. While they think they get by with all of their scheming and conniving, they do not for I know who they are and what they are doing at all times. I absolutely do not put approval on such ones nor their professional religiosity. When I declare that I will not accept them that is exactly what I mean because they have abandoned Me the fountain of Living Waters for filthy waters. So while they are intoxicated on those waters full of pride and abominations, they imagine their own cleverness is what makes them so “successful.”
These like all fools will be warned again and again yet they will not pay heed because they imagine in their own hearts they are perfect and irreplaceable. They are easily replaceable because in the game they are in, there are new up and coming “stars” who will make them look sick by comparison.
Thank Me this day that you do not need to be involved in their folly but you can be involved with Me and following My Holy Spirit each and everyday as you are being led forth by a plain path and given the Truth to walk in. If you stop and consider when I face up those who are in professional religion as the world speaks well of them, I will demand them to depart. For when they stand before Me, I will see them in all of their sins and I can easily say to them, “Depart you who work iniquity” rejecting them. This I do because of what they have done against My Kingdom cause for they have labored in vain, building up their own kingdoms while they have nothing at all with Me. They are imitators of the world and putting forth themselves rather than leading people to the True Way of JESUS, be glad for JESUS!