Jeremiah 2:20-37
Notes
Transcript
We saw last week God talking to Israel about how they have essentially brought judgement upon themselves
God had been so good to them, carried them through many a hard time
yet the turned their back on Him and went after other God’s
they were in a rough spot, perhaps one of the weakest eras of Judah, and they had brought it upon themselves due to sin
Jeremiah is about the choice of whether to repent and heed God’s words or whether to keep going along the path that they were on
20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
Again God reminds them of where they’ve come from, the path they walked with Him at their side, compared to where they are now
God is saying, “Hey, I tore these shackles off of you, I broke the yoke from upon your neck”
The next part speaks of Israel saying they would not transgress, starting at the covenant of sinai
covenants were kind of like a deal, there were always two sides who went with the terms. in the case of Sinai, God would deliver them and do all these amazing things for them, and all their end of the deal was was to obey
people worshipped idols on high hills because the ancient near east, there was concept that upon high hills and high monuments, this is where the sky intersected or made contact with the earth, so people tended to worship idols in places like this.
there was what the Bible sometimes calls “sacred groves” - another popular place for idol worship because “paradise” in the ancient near east was often conceived of as a luscious, beautiful garden, so these “sacred groves” were somewhat of an attempt to make a spot that imitated “paradise”
God is a jealous God, He will have no other worshipped but Him, because He’s the legitimate creator and there is none other
and He has his people, His beloved people that He’s done so much for, who leave Him - the Bible often compares this to adultery, spiritual adultery
Valuing anyone or anything over God, having some kind of idol in your heart or life, that is spiritual adultery
and we know that the Bible takes the matter of adultery very seriously, we can read about it in many places - so if it’s a very serious sin even from man to wife, imagine how much worse it is when we commit spiritual adultery on God
if we see strong language in the Bible, then we can know something is very serious, and we certainly see that at the end of this verse
in the Hebrew, it reads even harsher, roughly “spreading oneself like a harlot/lying down like a harlot”
God is making a point to the Israelites, and He’s also making a point to us, committing spiritual adultery on God is DISGUSTING AND VILE - Are we treating it like it is?
are we treating putting vices or people or hobbies or whatever above God as disgusting and despicable as it really is? are we putting the proper weight on not having God where He should be in our lives?
the point is furthered in verse 21...
21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
This plays into the whole concept of producing fruit as well. Israel began a seed that was noble, righteous, and produced good fruit
but they have taken this good fruit, their one time good placement, and have perverted it
and we know that sinning with knowledge of God is worse than sinning without
so what kind of fruit are we producing? have we perverted our fruit?
are we a plant that has gotten a disease? are we a plant that has poison flowing through it?
We see God call them a strange vine unto Him, meaning that He no longer “knows” them, what a terrible place to be!
often we think about on the judgement day where Christ will tell some He never knew them, and to a believer that sounds so scary, but it should be just as scary right now if He doesn’t know us
knowing God is the ultimate point of this life, it gives us purpose, hope, and deliverance
this life is like a pilgrimage, from one place to the other, where we ideally grow toward knowing God more and more along the way,
in fact, that’s what this whole pilgrimage should be about, this journey through life should be about getting to know God as much as we can
22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.
nitre=lye
God seems to be saying, you cannot deceive me, and no artificial way of cleansing your sin will work because God looks at and knows the heart
they may do all kinds of things, they may give hollow sacrifices, they may give sacrifices to other Gods, they may do all kinds of things, but none will wash away their sins - because they have become strange fruit to God, they no longer know God with their heart
they might put on a good appearance, they might block conviction out in their hearts and mind, they may drink to forget about it, etc.
one may be able to deceive people and look like a holy and righteous person, but that will not fool God, there is only one way to Him and His grace - through all their heart soul mind and strength
23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
“baalim” - plural for baal, as there were many gods in his sphere and various versions of himself
God says, “look, look at what you’ve done and how you’re acting” - He’s giving them a dose of reality
“dromedary” - camel
young female camels are not at all reliable creatures and nervously wander around in a disorderly fashion.
so God is saying that they lack direction
we see that so much in the world today and in people’s lives - they are trying to direct themselves and are failing - the way of man leads to death
we need direction in order to overcome our human nature, and Christ is our good shepherd, He’s here to give us the direction to life
are we a stubborn camel, just going our own way aimlessly? or are we living a life with purpose and life of getting to know God
are we a good sheep for the good shepherd? or is He having to constantly chase us around with His shepherds hook and try to bring us back in
24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
this verse is using a donkey in heat as a metaphor for the way israel was acting
“the female donkey, when in heat, becomes almost violent and chases after the male donkey, just as Israel, like the wild female donkey, chases after the baalim.”
again, we see just how severe and just how vile God views people leaving Him for other idols, for other things in our lives - it’s not just a simple mistake, it’s not just a light bit of falling away, it’s disgusting to Him
but guess what, He’s still there with outstretched arms, trying to reach out to Israel, showing them patience and mercy - the Bible says if we turn to Him He will turn to us. - again, that’s the whole point of jeremiah
25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
God was telling them the way they should go, trying to take care of them, yet they refused to listen to good advice, because they couldn’t control their corrupt human nature
let us not have God calling out to us, reaching out to us, and say no in our hearts - what a tragedy that would be!
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, 27 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
“stock” (in this context) - a tree/strump/wood
this verse talks about Israel worshipping idols and yet coming to God in times of trouble - let us not be the kind of believer who only comes to God in times of trouble
how is that any different than trying to take advantage of Him?
let us not exploit the mercy and longsuffering of God - when it’s worded this way, it sounds awful
and that’s because it very much is
how do we treat God? do we turn our back on Him, commit spiritual adultery on Him, yet crawl back to Him in times of trouble? let us not exploit our wonderful and merciful God who DIED a torturous death on our behalf
28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
if you have made your own idol in the world, they will not be there for you. people cannot save you, money cannot save you, fun cannot save you
but at the end of the day - if we turn to God, He will turn to us - He waits for us with outstretched arms
what a wonderful God we have, and to take advantage of Him, to turn our back on Him, to neglect Him - is an out and out travesty
we’ve seen the strong language in this chapter regarding this - this tells us how God feels about it, He’s a jealous God who feels very strongly
after all, like this verse says, idols cannot save you, things of the world cannot save you, only God can, He will deliver us, he will be there for us, He will provide us love and purpose
and He provides us mercy and waits for us with outstretched arms
will we take advantage of Him? will we lay like a harlot for the things of this world or idols of the heart?
or will we run to Him, cling to Him, and He be our God, and we be His people - it’s such a wondroud blessing to even be able to do this, so will we do it? or will we stab God in the back and leave Him in our heart for the world?