In Jeremiah 6, God proclaimed the destruction of Jerusalem (1-15). The people of Jeremiah’s day had fallen away from God, becoming idolatrous (1:16; 2:9-13; 3:8-10). Despite their wickedness, some hope still remained that they could repent and return to God (3:22; 4:1-4, 14). God implored them to examine their direction, saying, “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).
In this verse, God used five commands to show the people their errant path and encourage them to repent and follow His path. God first exhorted the people to stand in the path, to position themselves where they could compare His path with other paths. Six times in chapters 1-6 God depicted their paths: in 2:23, He cited their “way in the valley (i.e., Baal worship); in 2:31-33, the people had taught their evil ways to the wicked; in 2:36 and 3:2, God accused them of vacillating between His path and others; in 3:13, they had “scattered their ways” to serve everyone but God; in 4:18, their paths were bringing punishment.
God next urged them to see or evaluate the path before them. God had warned them not to serve other gods, but the people disregarded His message. They were spiritually blind (5:1) and deaf, closing their ears to His warnings (6:10). Thus, they were also blind to the results of their choices (5:31). However, if they would compare the paths, they could determine the correct one.
They also needed to ask for God’s way, which indicates desire and direction. The picture is that of a traveler at a fork in the road who wants to take the best route, so he seeks advice (Clarke 271). The old paths are God’s paths, which lead to goodness and God’s blessings. For the Israelites, this involved deliverance from their enemies. God had been good to the people in the past (cf. 2:7, 31-32; 5:24), but now they placed their trust in human alliances (i.e., Egypt) rather than in God. Relying on others was a deadly road, not a good path (cf. 2:18, 36-37).
After determining the godly paths, God demanded they walk in them. Walking indicates a lifestyle of following God, but during Jeremiah’s day, the people were walking after other gods (cf. 2:23-25). In contrast, by walking in God’s path, they would find rest. This final command is the emphasis of God’s instruction in this verse; only God’s way was blessing and rest. The imperative stresses their personal responsibility to find rest. Their rest depended on their choices and emphasizes the certainty of finding it if they followed God’s path.
Like the ancient Israelites, we should compare possible paths, open our eyes and ears to the direction of God’s message, consider the end of our course, seek and desire God’s way more than any other, abandon all other paths, live as God directs and trust only in God for rest. Are we following our own ways or God’s way? May it never be with us like it was for Jeremiah’s contemporaries: “We will not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).
Works Cited
Clarke, Adam, Clarke’s Commentary: Job-Malachi. Vol. 2. Nashville: Abingdon Press, n.d.
