Jeremiah 5:31 Meaning: When People Love a Lie

Three Hebrew words carry the weight of this verse.

The word for “falsely” is sheqer. It means more than a mistake, it is an active deception, a lie told to mislead. The prophets were not just wrong; they were knowingly giving the people what they wanted to hear instead of what God had said.

The phrase “rule by their own authority” is built around the word yad, meaning “hand.” The priests were ruling “at the hand of” the prophets, under their influence, following their lead. The image is of a corrupt partnership: prophets told lies, and priests used those lies to keep control.

But the hardest word is ahav, meaning “to love.” This is the same word used for God’s love for His people and the love a husband has for his wife. The people did not merely tolerate the false teaching; they were devoted to it. They had an appetite for the comfortable lie. And finally, the word for “end” is acharit, which can mean not just the final moment but the outcome, the consequence of a path you have chosen. The question is not if judgment will come, but what you will do when it does.

Christians across traditions have read this verse with similar alarm, though with different emphases. Matthew Henry, the Presbyterian commentator, noted that the people “love to have it so” because false prophets let them continue in sin without disturbance. Adam Clarke, the Methodist scholar, saw the collusion of prophets and priests as “the bane of religion” and warned that profligate people will always support profligate leaders. John Calvin, the Reformed theologian, stressed the horror of false prophecy occurring in the very sanctuary where God had placed His name, a corruption far worse than what happens among pagans. The Baptist commentator John Gill observed that the leaders and false prophets agreed together to keep the people in bondage, and the people willingly gave themselves over. Across all these voices, one truth stands: when a nation prefers comfort over truth, everyone shares the guilt.

Many readers look at this verse and assume the people were innocent victims of bad leaders. They focus on the false prophets and corrupt priests and blame the system. But the verse says plainly: “my people love to have it so.” The people were not passive dupes. They actively wanted the false message because it allowed them to keep living as they pleased. The warning at the end, the coming judgment, is for everyone, not just the leaders. The mistake is to assign all blame upward and overlook our own willingness to embrace what is comfortable instead of what is true.

This verse asks you to look at what you want to hear. Not just on Sunday mornings, but in the quiet places where you decide what to believe about your life, your relationships, your future.

Are there truths you keep avoiding because facing them would be painful? Is there a part of you that prefers a preacher or a teacher who tells you everything is fine, rather than one who calls you to change? Jeremiah’s question is not only for ancient Judah. It is for anyone who has ever chosen the soothing lie over the hard truth.

Here is what you can do this week. Before you listen to a sermon, watch a Christian video, or read a devotional, stop and ask: Am I ready to hear what God really says, even if I don’t like it? You can invite God to search you. He is not afraid of your questions. And He is patient enough to show you the truth one step at a time.