Jeremiah 2:1-3:5 Case Stated
Jeremiah’s first words to Judah are God’s case stated plain as day. “You turned your back on Me and went after others. And NOW you cry out with your mouth only for help.”
Very quickly before we jump into our passage, I have a little bit of ‘housekeeping’ to do. Some of you may have been desiring to post comments but were getting blocked. After being made aware of this problem, I have addressed it with my hosting provider, GoDaddy. Apparently, the problem is now fixed and my site is once again open for comments. I hope to hear from you soon.
On to our important time together!
This is the first message that God gives Jeremiah to share with the people. His earlier visions and conversations with God were for his benefit alone. Now, it’s time to get down to business. To pick up where the prophets FROM THE LORD left off. Isaiah and Micah were the last prophets in this long list. Jeremiah is also not alone in his task. Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel are also bringing messages from the Lord to the people of Judah. We will see their messages later on. For now, we are focusing on God’s first words to His people through Jeremiah.
Surprise! His first words are about His people turning their backs on Him and going after other gods. Ok. So it’s not really a surprise. He has been saying this to them all along. And His words have been ignored. Interestingly, this first word to them comes at a time when they are being led by the godliest king since King David.
King Josiah took the throne at the age of eight and he had godly influences to help him reign in the kingdom. Jeremiah’s first words came in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign. That puts Josiah at the ripe old age of 21. Josiah heard Jeremiah’s words and took them to heart. By year 18 of Josiah’s reign, he had raised money to restore the Temple and found the Law of Moses. Josiah would see by reading God’s Laws how far afield Judah had gone. Josiah then had the Law of Moses read to the people. Together, he and they recommitted themselves to following the Lord and ALL He had commanded them to do.
I tend to believe that these first words of Jeremiah had a direct impact on Josiah’s further ‘clean up actions’ for Judah. God had a LOT to say about Israel and now Judah’s past behavior. His people had turned away, NOT Him.
There are a couple of things that struck me in Jeremiah’s message to the people. The first is that God gives them the EXACT reason for His anger with them. “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” (verse 13). Ok, so maybe not in completely plain language for us today, but it’s meaning is crystal clear. “They have forsaken me” is MORE than clear and this is count one against them. Count two is seeking after their own gods; “and hewed out cisterns for themselves”. We get the meaning of this second charge without too much trouble. So, not only discarded God but gone after gods of their own making or of the nations around them.
Both these charges are LONG STANDING and have plagued Israel’s history since the time of the Exodus. While Moses was on the mountain getting God’s very commandments, they made their own god! Since the rule of Solomon, other gods were brought into Israel from the palace down. In the history of the split kingdom, Israel NEVER had a godly king and Judah only had five that started AND ended as godly kings. Four other kings of Judah either started or ended as godly kings but not consistently godly throughout their reigns. King Manasseh is the only one that started out evil then turned to the Lord in the end but his works before hand were SO evil that he had no effect on the people for good.
The second thing that I found poignant is how God cries out against His people for their turning away even when He was being active in their midst. “What wrong did your fathers find in Me that they went far from Me…They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt” (verses 4b, 5). “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’” (verse 8a). God gave Israel the very bread off His own table in the wilderness, yet they were not satisfied. What wrong did they find in Him? I say the same thing as Pilot said after judging Jesus, “I find NO fault in Him.”
My third point speaks to Israel’s desire to be like other nations. Israel wanted so much to be like other nations that they cried out for a king. Yet, NO other nation abandoned their gods and chose new ones. They might have added new ones along the way but they kept the old ones as priority. They followed the ‘rules’ of their gods. Israel abandoned their God for ones of their own choosing. They ‘shopped around’ and found what they wanted instead. They wanted gods that didn’t expect much from them or fully supported their sinful behavior.
The final point I want to direct your attention to is their ‘wishy-washy’ behavior. The people were pleased to go after other gods, until they were in trouble. When crunch time came, they came running back to God. “But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!’” (verse 27b).
As God says, “Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when He led you in the way?” (verse 17). God had enough! And it was time their behavior reaped its well deserved consequences. This was NOT God being ‘mean’ to them or ‘forsaking’ them. It was the just consequences for their actions. Jeremiah told them only a small portion of what those consequences would be. He didn’t need to go on and on about them. The prophets before him had already spoken to what was to come.
God is speaking this same message in our time today. There are many who have replaced His standards with those of their own making, EVEN IN THE CHURCH. He calls us to repent and return now just as He pleaded with Israel/Judah to do the same. Step one is recognizing that we HAVE sinned. “How can you say, ‘I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals’?” (verse 23a). We may not call it a ‘god’ in our lives, but anything that stands above Him in importance is a god.
Step two is repent and return. He is waiting with open arms to receive us; like the prodigal father. And, NO, you CANNOT bring your ‘slop’ along with you! Leave it behind. There is NOTHING better than a right relationship with God!!!
Father God, please forgive me for letting ANYTHING come between us. There IS NO FAULT in You. NOTHING You give me to do is too hard when my hand is in Yours. I want to praise You and walk with You in good times AND in bad. For YOU ALONE are my Rock, my Father, the Author of my story. I trust You to make it a good one!
Just in case you would like to see the reference sheet I am using for some of my information, here is a link to it.
