Jeremiah gives warning to the entire house of Israel (the 12 tribes) that the Babylonians are coming to make war.  Over 100 years earlier the Assyrians had taken the Northern Kingdom (the 10 tribes) into captivity and placed the captives as a buffer between Assyria and Babylon. When Babylon comes to make war on the Southern Kingdom (Judah) they go through the captive nation of Israel (the 10 tribes) Therefore the Bablyons attacked Israel, Judah, and Assyria.  The Assyrian captivity of Israel took place in 722 BC.  The Babylonian captivity of Judah took place around 590 BC.  Jeremiah was called to his prophetic mission in 626 BC.

Both the nations of Israel and Judah are warned that the wrath of the Babylonians will be intense. Jeremiah's message is to repent before this happens.

Jeremiah 7:17
With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.
This verse applies literally in relation to God's people then but is just as applicable spiritually to God's people today.

Jeremiah 5:30-31
"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?

This is a question for us individually today.  What will WE do?  Will we search out the truth or believe in lies and watered-down truth?  Why is it that the people love being told lies? 

Oh, guess the answer is found in the following verse.
Jeremiah 6:10
To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

In case we didn’t get it with Jeremiah, Paul adds a few touches.
II Thessalonians 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

And just what is this wickedness? Is it the false pagan traditions and teachings that have been incorporated into the faith as compared to the truth of God as revealed through the Holy Spirit?

Mark 7:8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.

The spiritual leaders in Jeremiah's day were telling the people things they wanted to hear.  Same thing was going on in Jesus' day and in our day as well.

Jesus said this about spiritual leaders who deceive the people.

Matthew 24:5
For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many. 

Not much has changed today.  Many people speak the name of Jesus but have a twisted and distorted understanding of Scripture.

Jeremiah warns that the spiritual leaders deceive the people.

 Jeremiah 6:13-15
"From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the LORD.

The people were being spiritually wounded unto the second death, yet the spiritual leaders were giving "band-aid" treatments at best. The prophets and priests who lie and rule by their own authority are not ashamed of their conduct. They are so far from God’s Monument of Truth that they don’t even know enough to be ashamed. Their consciences are seared. (1Timothy 4:2)

Jeremiah 6
Their ears are closed so they cannot hear.  The word of the Lord is offensive to them;  

So how do we as people of God become familiar with His Monument of Truth? Jeremiah makes it so very clear.

Jeremiah 6:16
This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

The ancient paths are in God's Word. There we will find the good way so that we can walk in it.  It is there that we find the plan of salvation spelled out so beautifully for us.  We stand at the crossroads daily. We make choices daily. Back to our first verse for today, "But what will YOU do in the end?"

Will we take the “road less traveled” , the good way, and go to the ancient paths, the Monument of Truth?  Or will we follow after the traditions of men?