Jeremiah 5:6, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to the denunciations of sin against Judah before the destruction of Jerusalem, within chapters 2-11, which some hold was written down by Baruch after Jehoiakim burned the first scroll. It joins warning and reproof with sorrow over the people's transgression, using striking symbols and figures of speech. Confidence in the flesh and in mere outward ceremony left the people under the power of sin, made them the prey of their enemies, and caused them to lose their place among the nations and go into bondage. Because their transgressions were many and their backslidings increased, that condition of trusting outward ceremonialism and the flesh brought this judgment upon them.

The verse declares that because their transgressions are many and their backslidings are increased, destructive judgment will fall pictured as a lion out of the forest, a wolf of the evenings, and a leopard watching over their cities, so that everyone going out from them will be torn in pieces. Judah's many transgressions and growing unfaithfulness bring this attack of lion, evening wolf, and leopard upon the people and their cities. The lion is an image of Babylon, corresponding to Babylon's representation as a winged lion in Daniel's prophecy, a figure also often seen on Babylonian monuments. The wolf is a symbol of Medo-Persia and the leopard is a symbol of Grecia, successive powers that followed one another and dominated or persecuted the Jewish nation.

The leopard's craftiness, subtlety, and cruelty fit Grecia, its four wings represent speed of conquest seen especially in Alexander the Great's rapid campaigns, and its four heads represent the four-part division of his dominion after his death. God still held out mercy after repeated warnings, so that if the people would turn to the Lord and regard His law and keep His Sabbath Jerusalem would stand forever. But because they refused the prophet's words and persisted in pride He sent Nebuchadnezzar to destroy their city and take them into captivity to serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

The verse's warnings and appeals are applicable today to a society where justice and truth are lacking and wrongdoing goes unpunished. This is seen in failure to seek truth and administer justice, in prostitution fueling the white slave trade, and in criminals protected by law officers. Its lesson when judgment falls for failure to obey God's instruction and warning is that there must be open acknowledgment of the judgment with repentance and turning to Him.