Jeremiah 5:7
““How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.”
What does Jeremiah 5:7 mean?
God is expressing deep grief over a people who turned away despite His faithfulness to them. The image of being "fed to the full" and then committing adultery shows the particular sting of rejection by those who've been blessed and cared for, like a parent who provides everything only to watch their children reject them. Jeremiah is speaking during a time when Judah had abandoned their covenant with God, swearing loyalty to other gods and living in ways that contradicted everything God had taught them. The question "How can I pardon you?" isn't really a question without an answer, but rather an expression of God's anguish: how does He respond when people He loves reject both His instruction and His provision?