Jeremiah 2--Israel Forsakes the LORD

Jeremiah 2
English Standard Version

Israel Forsakes the LORD
2 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,

“I remember the devotion of your youth,
    your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
    in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the LORD,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it incurred guilt;
    disaster came upon them,
declares the LORD.”

4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD:

“What wrong did your fathers find in me
    that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
    in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
    in a land that none passes through,
    where no man dwells?’
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
    to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
    and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
    Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds transgressed against me;
    the prophets prophesied by Baal
    and went after things that do not profit.

9 “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the LORD,
    and with your children's children I will contend.
10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
    or send to Kedar and examine with care;
    see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the LORD,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water.

14 “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
    Why then has he become a prey?
15 The lions have roared against him;
    they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
    his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
16 Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
    have shaved the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the LORD your God,
    when he led you in the way?
18 And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
    to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
19 Your evil will chastise you,
    and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
    for you to forsake the LORD your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
declares the LORD God of hosts.

20 “For long ago I broke your yoke
    and burst your bonds;
    but you said, ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, on every high hill
    and under every green tree
    you bowed down like a whore.
21 Yet I planted you a choice vine,
    wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
    and become a wild vine?
22 Though you wash yourself with lye
    and use much soap,
    the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the LORD God.
23 How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
    I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
    know what you have done--
a restless young camel running here and there,
24     a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
    Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
    in her month they will find her.
25 Keep your feet from going unshod
    and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
    for I have loved foreigners,
    and after them I will go.’

26 “As a thief is shamed when caught,
    so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
    their priests, and their prophets,
27 who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
    and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
    and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
    ‘Arise and save us!’
28 But where are your gods
    that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you,
    in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities
    are your gods, O Judah.

29 “Why do you contend with me?
    You have all transgressed against me,
declares the LORD.
30 In vain have I struck your children;
    they took no correction;
your own sword devoured your prophets
    like a ravening lion.
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
    or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
    we will come no more to you’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
    or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
    days without number.

33 “How well you direct your course
    to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
    you have taught your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
    the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them breaking in.
    Yet in spite of all these things
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
    surely his anger has turned from me.’
Behold, I will bring you to judgment
    for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 How much you go about,
    changing your way!
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
    as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 From it too you will come away
    with your hands on your head,
for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
    and you will not prosper by them.

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The LORD, though He is pronouncing judgment for the idolatry of the people says that He remembers it has not always been this way.  The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have left their first love.  The LORD has not changed His love for them, but their love for Him has grown cold--maybe even been extinguished altogether.

He reminds them that His love is something they can measure by His great acts of salvation and redemption for them ever since the time of the Passover and the Exodus.  He led them and provided for them as they wandered through the wilderness (though they constantly grumbled against Him and were a rebellious, stubborn, stiff-necked people according to His description of them).  He led them into the Promised Land and made their enemies fall dead and flee before them.  He caused them to harvest where they had never planted and to live in houses and cities that they did not work to build.  Yet, for some inexplicable reason, they did not obey the command of the LORD to destroy the inhabitants of this land that were given to idol worship.  The LORD told them if they were allowed to live and especially if they were allowed to intermarry with them, that these idolatrous people would become a snare and a stumbling block to them and would eventually lead to the children of Israel receiving similar judgment.  For their own protection, they were to completely and fully execute the LORD's judgment and kill all with the sword that the LORD allowed them to kill and all that survived were to be driven out of the Land, never to return.  If only the Israelites had been fully obedient.

Now "The LORD's people" have made themselves His enemies because they are no longer listening to His commands, His Word (spoken by His prophets) or keeping His Covenant.  They have whored themselves after other gods and given themselves into all kinds of wickedness so that they are as bad or worse than the Canaanites at the time of the Conquest of the Promised Land.  God will not allow them to experience the blessings of the Covenant and instead, they will experience the curses of the Covenant, in hopes that at least some of them might repent and realize the error of their ways.  Unfortunately, we know that most will not repent and will not even listen to the many prophets that the LORD is sending to warn them.   No one will listen to Jeremiah's message.  They will not change their behavior.  Therefore, the LORD will have to cause the Land to vomit them out and they will be sent into Exile for 70 years.

God asks them what they gain by trying to be like Egypt or Assyria (two very wicked nations, but they were seen as superpowers in their times).  Don't they understand that the LORD is their Shield and Defender?  They need only call on Him for salvation (assuming they are keeping His covenant and not putting themselves in this position where He is forced to punish them) and He will save them?  Why do they turn to the very things that the LORD told them not to turn to in the book of Deuteronomy--He told them they would be tempted by these very things, and they swore they would never turn to Egypt or to its chariots and horsemen for defense or deliverance, yet, that is exactly what they have done.

Will the rocks and trees that they worship defend them in their day of judgment?  Will the LORD deliver them from the judgment that comes by His hand when they finally cry out to Him after their years of infidelity?  For the sake of His Name and purposes (the gospel), He will save some of them and will not let any of the tribes be annihilated completely.  However, it will be obvious to the Israelites and to the world that the LORD has withdrawn His hand of protection and His blessing and favor for a time.  However, that does not mean that He has completely abandoned them.  He will go with them into Exile.  Unlike the pagan deities that the pagans believed lived in temples made by the hands of men, the LORD is above the heavens and fills them--all of creation cannot contain Him.  He will always be with His people wherever they go--especially when He is the one that sends them there.  They will never escape His presence.

The LORD calls on His people to stop being unfaithful to Him though.  At this point, He would be just in asking for a "divorce" from them because they have broken their vows to Him (the Mosaic Covenant).  Though it was a covenant they could never fully keep on their own, it was supposed to establish their identity among all the peoples of the world as being separate and holy unto the LORD--they can no longer be recognized as those people that were set apart by God for His plans and purposes and to have a special relationship with Him.  The Church would be wise to take heed of these lessons.  When you look at people that say they are the people of God, and you cannot tell the difference between them and the people of the world because there is a lack of discipline and no emphasis on orthodoxy or orthopraxy (right belief and right living), or maybe they even look worse than the world because they believe they have license to sin and get away with it (at least the world usually fears some kind of punishment for their wickedness), then we have a major issue that may only be able to be fixed by God's correction and judgment.  He wants to call His people back into a right relationship with Him, but they will have to give up their idolatry and all other things they worship and the sin that accompanies these false beliefs that they are so comfortable with.  This is not to say we are accepted by God because of our works, but our actions bear witness to what is truly in our hearts--Jesus said that a bad tree cannot bear good fruit, and a good tree cannot bear bad fruit.  By their fruits (by their words and actions), you will know them.  Don't just believe what a person claims to be when their lifestyle is in contradiction to that--believe their lifestyle.  The epistle of James speaks of this when he talks about how faith without works is dead, and how we are justified (before men) by our works and how our works prove that our faith is genuine.  While we are not saved by our works, we are saved unto good works (Ephesians 2:10) and we cannot say that we are in the light and continue to live in darkness.   Our lives should make it clear that we are part of a new and different kingdom and should cause people to give glory to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  The children of Israel were supposed to do that and were failing.  They are still supposed to be doing that today and are in need of revival.  The Church is also grafted into this Vine and though many of us are "wild branches" (Gentiles), the LORD makes us into one organism that bears fruit for His glory.  No one looks at the tree or the fruit and gives praise to the tree or the fruit--they give praise to the vinedresser or farmer.  Jesus said that people should see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.  Let us live as these kinds of ambassadors for the King and His Kingdom.