Jeremiah 9:4-9 - Should I not punish them for this?

9:4-6

Verse 4 expresses the nature of the times, when no one can be trusted. This reminds us of Jesus’ words that even our own family could be against us. When it says “everyone is a deceiver” we should not take this absolutely literally. Rather, it means that almost anyone can be a deceiver. Deception, betrayal is widespread. God is telling Jeremiah just how bad things are. Rather than “comforting” Jeremiah as we think of comforting, God is telling Jeremiah he needs to face up to the reality of the situation. Sadly we do not hear of that from many of our religious leaders today.

9:7-9

God now explains to Jeremiah what He is doing, and why He is doing it. Now just think about this for a moment or two. God, the creator of all things, is revealing His thoughts to a mere man! God goes beyond all that we imagine or think. God is refining the people, and He has to do this because of their sinfulness. The people are full of lies, and take advantage of each other. These sorts of things happened in Communist East Germany, or Nazi Germany, and in all authoritarian oppessive regimes. At least some of the people come to reflect the nature of their tyrannical rulers. So it is that in the world men come to reflect something of the nature of Satan. The people were deserving of punishment.