Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
God speaks to a nation close to ruin. His remedy is not a new plan. He tells them to stop at the crossroads: look, ask, and take the road that was always good. The sting is in the last line. They refused, and they refused on purpose.
The Crossroads and the Siege
The invitation comes to a city already told what is coming. Its teachers had covered the wound with the word "peace." The same hardness that ignored the warning also refused the road back.
William KellyJerusalem would not be instructed. The word of the Lord is a reproach to them. Wounds were slightly healed with a "Peace, peace," where there was none. They would neither go the good old way, nor pay attention to the warning of new troubles.
What the Ancient Paths Are
Older translations call these the "old paths." Many read the phrase as outward arrangements. One writer traces it back to the start of the book, where God recalls the love of Israel's early days with Him.
James McBroomWhat then are the ancient paths? Holiness to the Lord (Jer. 2:3). "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest." Do we not hear an echo of this for believers today? Revelation 2:4 says, "I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."
So the words can become a slogan. The same writer draws the line between claiming the truth and living it.
James McBroomThe old paths and the good way mean much more than talking about divine principles or claiming to stand for the truth. The men standing for the truth in the book of Jeremiah were living it.
God's Own Plea
The call is not cold. One writer describes the feeling behind it.
James McBroomGod lays His heart bare in these pleadings as nowhere else in Scripture. Like a husband deserted by an unfaithful wife, He pleads with them to return. Like a father heartbroken at the lawlessness of his children, He calls on them to obey.
Why "Old" Means "Right"
The call assumes there is something worth going back to. One commentator turns that into a rule for every age of God's dealings.
F. B. HoleAt the start of each age God makes known the 'paths' that fit what He has set up. They do not change while that age lasts. Returning to them after a time of drifting away is always right. Let us see that we do so today.
The same writer sets out what doing right looks like once things have gone wrong.
F. B. HoleFirst, confess the failure humbly and with a broken heart. Do not pretend that things are all right when all is wrong. Second, recognise that God always starts with what is right. Unlike man, He never experiments with something imperfect at the start and then works up to a better product.
Rest for Your Souls
The good way came with a promise of rest. Jesus later used the same words. One writer traces what happened to that promise.
F. B. Hole"Rest for your souls" was proposed as the result of a faithful walk in the "old paths" of the law (see Jer. 6:16), but that rest was never attained by men. The only way to reach it was that made known by the Son, who had come to reveal the Father.
Refusing has a cost, and the cost is restlessness. Here is what people lose when they choose their own road.
H. J. VineWhen the blessed Lord was here on earth, He graciously invited them to come to Him and find rest for their souls. But man will not take that way. He chooses other ways, so he finds no real rest. He is like the troubled sea, stirred up and tossing. He knows no settled quietness of heart, no peace of mind, no divine calm.
"We Will Not Walk in It"
The verse ends with the people passing sentence on themselves. History records what followed.
F. B. HoleMany prophets were sent to call them back to the things that God had established at the beginning... But Israel refused, and so they went into captivity in Babylon.
Standing and Asking Today
The verse gives a personal task before a public one. One commentator states what that means now.
W. W. FeredayOur present duty has two parts. First, get our own souls right by testing all our ways and associations by the written Word. Second, use our influence to help others return to the "old paths" (Jeremiah 6:16).
Summary
- Stand — the call comes to people soothed with "peace, peace" while judgment nears. The first step is to stop and listen.
- Ask — the ancient paths are not old customs. They are God's beginning: holiness to the Lord and the love of early days, echoed in the warning about abandoning the love you had at first.
- Walk — returning starts with a broken confession of failure, not a better system. What God set up at the start stays right, so going back is going forward.
- Rest — no one reached that rest under the law. The Son who reveals the Father is the only way into it. Every other road leaves the heart tossing like the sea.
- Refuse — "We will not walk in it" was their answer, and captivity followed. The same verse now asks each person to test their ways by Scripture and to help others back.