Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares and see
if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
that I may pardon her. (Jeremiah 5:1)
This verse is interesting for several reasons. In Genesis 18, Abraham has a conversation with the Lord about the impending destruction of the wicked city of Sodom. There God agrees to spare the city if 10 righteous men are found in it. Here in Jeremiah, God promises to spare Jerusalem if one righteous man can be found.
The verse paints a picture of a frantic and fruitless search, with the searchers running “to and fro” throughout the city looking for a man who isn’t there. And what must this righteous man look like? He need to fill only two criteria.
First, he must be a man of action, “one who does justice and seeks truth“. This isn’t some passive righteousness that has merely avoided wrong doing, he must do and seek! And what must he do and seek? Justice and truth.
This righteous man must be “one who does justice“. As you read through the rest of the chapter, and the chapters that follow, you get a picture of what is meant by “justice”. It means looking to the welfare of orphans (5:28, 7:6), widows (7:6), outsiders (7:6), those in need (5:28), and being good neighbors (7:5).
It means actually doing something about these things, not just talking about them. God is not looking for someone who talks of justice, but “one who does justice“. Talk is cheap. Actions reveal the heart.
Finally, the righteous man God is looking for is one who “seeks truth“. Again, the context defines this for us. The city is rife with those who claim to worship the Lord, but don’t (5:2), who don’t know the character of God but speak as though they do (5:12), who teach falsely (5:31), and who are religious hypocrites (7:9-10). One who “seeks truth” is a person who worships God genuinely, honestly, and without deception.
Truth and justice are universally recognized as good things. This is why they are part of superman’s motto. But before they were taken up by superman, they were part of God’s plan for how his people would live. God isn’t looking for superman. He desires that ordinary people seek him with integrity, and take compassionate action toward each other.
Sadly, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we might have as difficult a time finding a righteous man in our American churches today, as the people did finding a righteous man in Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day.
Don’t even look to your church, just examine your own life. Are you “one who does justice and seeks truth“? Do you talk a good line about worshiping God, but then do your own thing Monday through Saturday? Are you actively doing anything to care for widows, orphans, outsiders, and those in need around you? Or are you only looking out for your own good?
I know this verse convicted me. I hope is does you also. I pray that Christians would be known as people of action and integrity, who love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and who love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. (Mark 12:28-31)
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