Year 2, Week 11, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 11, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Jeremiah 2-3.

Today’s reading introduces us to the first segment of Jeremiah’s ministry to Judah. Jeremiah 2:1-20:18 is a collection of declarations against Judah, which exposes the lies that Judah has come to embrace, but also explains the destruction that awaits them. Jeremiah 2 introduces this first segment by issuing a serious indictment upon Judah: “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. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, 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” (Jeremiah 2:11-13). Jeremiah 3 shifts from announcing Judah’s indictment to appealing to Judah to repent: “Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:14-17). Judah is promised a better shepherd as they would dwell together before God.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was not merely the LORD exposing Judah’s idolatry, but also how He likened their idolatry to adultery: “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “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. 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” (Jeremiah 2:1-3). One of the ways that the LORD depicts His relationship with His people is like that of a marriage covenant. The LORD enters into a covenant of marriage with His people as He is their husband and they are His bride. Therefore, the prophet Jeremiah confronts Judah’s idolatry—the turning from the LORD to worship a false god—as akin to adultery, that is spiritual adultery: “Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:20). As the LORD’s bride, Judah’s spiritual adultery is graphically spoken of: “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” (Jeremiah 2:20). Harlotry or whoredom will serve as a common description of Judah’s fundamental offense before the LORD: “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom” (Jeremiah 3:2). They have perfected their practice of whoredom: “How well you direct your course to seek love! So that even to wicked women you have taught your ways” (Jeremiah 2:33).

In contrast to Judah’s unfaithfulness to her husband, is the LORD’s faithfulness to His bride: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? 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?’ And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things” (Jeremiah 2:5-7a). The LORD husbanded them out of slavery and while He led them to their new home, He provided and protected them all the way. And yet they turned from the LORD, not only in their false worship, but in their quest for alternative protection and provision, they established unlawful alliances: “Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way? 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? 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” (Jeremiah 2:17-19). Their alliances with other nations are much like unfaithful dalliances, which have just the opposite outcome of protection and provision; Judah would be left reaping chastening consequences. Such is the result of forgetting their Husband: “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32). But the LORD had not forgotten His love for His bride. Through three rhetorical questions, rooted in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, the LORD seeks to stir a true repentance in His people to come back to Him: “If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:1).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe