Jeremiah 2:1-3
Jeremiah was to take his message to the street, proclaiming it among the people for all to hear. The Lord brings His case like a civil suit beginning with the previous relationship. In their youth, as a nation, they were devoted to Him. They were as a bride to Yahweh. The word translated 'bride' is used only here. They loved the Lord in those days and followed Him into the wilderness. This brings to mind the Exodus. The nation was set apart for His glory, they were as a gift to Him, like the first fruits.
Jeremiah 2:4-8
Early they loved and chased after the Lord, so what happened? Did they find fault? The Lord is unchanging, so what changed? They were to arrive at the conclusion that they changed. They strayed after their worthless idols and became like the gods they served, worthless. They forgot all the Lord had done to bring them out of Egypt into the Promised Land. They no longer called on Him and they defiled the land of the promise. The Lord made it clear, it is 'His' land. This land was His promise to them but they made it detestable in their idolatry.
The first order of failure was the priests. When there is spiritual failure, everything else begins to crumble. They did not uphold the law because they didn't know the Lord. There was no relationship, it was empty religion. The leaders also rebelled, the term is shepherd but includes kings and princes. The ruling class failed in their leadership. The prophets followed suit with wasted and worthless prophecies. All these leaders failed to lead in a godly fashion. All of them failed the people they were to lead.
Jeremiah 2:9-12
The evidence was brought forth, with that in view the charges are officially levied. These take the form of court proceedings. The charges are for breaking the covenant. We should not the 'again' in verse nine. This has implications, not just for a few, but for ongoing future of the nation. They were asked to look around. Had there ever been anything like this? Has a nation ever changed its gods? The answer is 'no', however it is worse than just that. No other nation had known the Living God, Yahweh. They added gods, renaming, accumulating and overlapping definitions of so-called gods across the ages. Only those who had know the True God were tempted to this idea of trading. Israel had rebelled against Yahweh and chased after that which wasn't even a god. They had left the authentic, life giving creator to chase something fabricated and given some power by men. It barely qualified for a cheap imitation. The valuable was traded for the worthless; the holy and glorious traded for profane.
The heavens were the witnesses. They witnessed the covenant in Deuteronomy 30:12 and were called to give witness in Isaiah 1:2 and Micah 6:1. The witnesses would be affected by the charges; struck with fear and dread at what Judah had done to the covenant.
Jeremiah 2:13-19
The charge is brought regarding two primary sins:
- They had forsaken the Lord. This was to have known Him, understood the relationship and covenant and then turned, knowingly away from Him.
- This is equated to walking away from a spring of flowing water. This was water that brought life; real life, contentment, meaning and purpose are found in Him alone.
- They 'dug their own' cisterns for water. They not only turned from the Lord, but they turned to other things. They created a substitute, one that was empty and void of meaning, and gave the Lord's glory to another. They rejected the Lord's provision and substituted it for another.
- The broken cisterns held no water, no life; there was nothing to be found in them. They could be called cisterns, but in reality, were not because they didn't function as such. The same could be said for their false gods.
Israel appeared as if they were slaves, carried off to servitude as plunder of war. This is a far cry from being a child, sons and daughters of the Most High. They had walked away from this family of God to a life of bondage leading them to captivity. All the nations around them crouched like lions to attack and devour them. This is where their false gods had gotten them. They had forsaken their stronghold, their protection, their loving Father. They had known 'the Way'; which is the Lord's direction and guidance in the covenant relationship. The judgment they were experiencing, the judgment to come was directly related to them forsaking the Lord.
They couldn't escape their judgment by running away from the Living water to drink water elsewhere. Their own wickedness will become their punishment. In this punishment, they were asked to consider their wrongs and the bitterness they felt as being directly associated with forsaking the Lord. The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord; this awe was a sign of their devotion. See Deut 13:23; 17:19; Psalm 15:4; 22:23; 112:1; Isa 50:10; Mal 3:16.
Jeremiah 2:20 -25
The 'long ago' indicates this had been going on for a long time. This parallels 2:5-9 passage; see Deuteronomy 32:15. Israel is seen as being yoked to the Lord, in service to Him and under His care. This might also be seen as a picture of marriage. Israel broke those bonds, breaking the covenant. Every 'high hill' was the place of pagan religious activities as were the spreading trees, which were held as a pagan symbol of fertility.
The Lord planted Israel as a vine. We see Israel portrayed this way throughout the bible. The vine was corrupted, no longer bearing good fruit. Try as they might to cleanse themselves and come before the Lord, their hands would not come clean. They are stained by their sin; a stain that can only be removed by atonement.
On one hand they wash and scrub to remove the stain, on the other they claim they are not defiled. They say they haven't chased after the Baals. Adult camels wouldn't wander any more than three steps in any direction. But the young she-camel would wander a long way seemingly out of control. She was indecisive, back and forth. The wild donkey was used to wandering the desert, irrepressible. Both were portrayed as looking for a mate. They were unreliable, uncommitted wanderers! This is Israel. She was indecisive with the Lord, with covenant commitment; but she was also irrepressible in her pursuit of other gods. The males didn't need to chase after these females, they came to them. It was the same with Israel being unfaithful with other gods, she pursued them.
How much should one chase these animals around the desert? The thought is that it is futile. Israel will make her decision. When she says she will chase other gods, there is nothing that cane be done to change that.
Jeremiah 2:26-28
They were busted; caught red-handed! They could not deny their part. They had called their idols 'father' and praised stone as their creator. These labels belonged to the Lord alone. Yet, they showed the Lord their back. You cannot worship the Lord and another other. To worship another is to turn you back to the Lord. Turn, face Him alone, worship Him alone forsaking all others.
The people pursued their gods but then ran to the Lord when trouble came. They cried out to Him claiming He was their God and they were His people, but only when in trouble. The Lord asked where all those other gods were. Where are those who supposedly created and those who were fathers to them. Let them save them in their trouble. The final line of v. 28 really reveals how fare they had fallen. There were so many gods, so many altars and idols in Israel. It was truly a sad state of affairs.
We know a little about this in our day, do we not?
Jeremiah 2:29-37
The people would accuse, plead or contend with the Lord; they maintained they had not rebelled, they had not sought after others or been unfaithful. All this was in spite of the evidence. Had God lied? (Brings to mind Micah 6:6). The Lord's punishments were a call to obedience, a pleading to turn from their ways and run to Him. They refused to be corrected – even to the point of killing the messengers (see the parable of the landowner Matt 21:33).
The Lord wasn't like a desert; dry, barren, unproductive, lifeless. Nor was he like the dark; hidden and unknown. The Lord was very clear to them what was required from them. They had no excuse to roam or run away. Does a woman quickly forget those things important to her? The things that are personal and identify her? The wedding ornament was a cord with knots in it. The betrothed bride untied a knot each day until her wedding day. It is a beautiful picture of devotion and love.
How skilled were they at this unfaithfulness? They could teach a prostitute a thing or two. Wow! This had to impact them. They clothes were defiled with innocent blood; probably another reference like that of the stained hands. All the evidence pointed to this unfaithfulness, yet they maintained their innocence. They lied to others and lied to themselves, even saying the Lord wasn't angry with them.
The Lord clarified His judgment that was coming. There can be no doubt about it and there would be no one to help them.
©2018 Doug Ford
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