“Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.” (Jeremiah 5:1)
This verse speaks about the supremacy of righteousness and about the safety in righteousness.
Supremacy of righteousness. Our verse indicates that God is very interested in righteousness. He does not inquire here about riches but about righteousness. The fundamental attribute of God is holiness and so it is not surprising that righteousness has a supreme place in God’s interests. But men are seldom interested in righteousness. In fact if you want to impress people and move up in society and politics, you must be unrighteous. You must learn to drink and gamble and dance and do drugs and live immorally. That makes points with the world, but being righteous does not. But with God it is a very different story. With God it is righteousness that is important.
Safety in righteousness: “And I will pardon it.” Our verse indicates that if one righteous man was found in Jerusalem, God would spare the city of destruction. Sounds like the situation with Sodom back in Abraham’s day. God told Abraham that Sodom would be destroyed by God. Abraham pleaded with God to spare the city for the sake of the righteous in it. Abraham requested that if fifty righteous were in the city, would God please spare the city. God agreed that He would spare the city for fifty righteous in it. Abraham kept praying and finally ended at ten righteous. God said He would spare the city for ten righteous. Unfortunately for Sodom, there were not ten righteous in the city and so Sodom was destroyed. All of this points to the fact that the most valuable citizens of a nation are the righteous citizens. The greatest safety a nation can have will be found in righteous citizens. You may be an obscure nobody as far as man is concerned. But if you are righteous, you are more valuable to the well-being of your country than all the unholy politicians put together though famous and powerful they may be.
K. E. Harris