Jeremiah 2 (A)
Notes
Transcript
This starts the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry
1 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
God remembers the good old days when Israel was faithful to Him
as we see in the OT, Israel over time strays from God many times
this verse shows that God truly wants a relationsip with us, He wants our hearts, not just hollow actions or appearance
3 Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord.
Israel was VALUED by the Lord when they were faithful to Him, again showing His great care for them
It shows that He protected them as well, as someone who loved another would do
so it isn’t just hollow love, it isn’t just words in the Bible, it’s answered prayers, it’s real protection and real things God does for us in this world, because he loves us
4 Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: 5 Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
“I cared about you so much and did so much for you, and you walked away from me for others who are worthless”
God is exasperated by this, it’s beyond Him why they would do that
yet as fallen natured humans it’s so easy for us to get ensnared by the world
we must cling to God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength
Look what they had vs what they left God for - it makes no sense
Paul has the following to say about these kind of situations:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
as we stray from God, it’s 1. vain = concerned wih ourselves too much
2. = foolish, for obvious reasons
3 = darkens our heart = as we stray from the light, of course our hearts will darken
6 Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
they forsook God and did not think about the fact that God delivered them from such darkness, such struggle
land of deserts and pits, of drought, shadow of death = this is like the world, sinfulness and it’s consequences - God delivers us from these things, like God delivered Israel from those things
we don’t want to be in a place where God has deliverd us from those things, for us to overcome these things, only to give it up and walk right back to us
the Bible compares this to dogs going back to t heir own vomit - it’s strong language because it’s a profound thing that people do - they give up such a great deliverance for what?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
again, God describes what Israel hhad given up, what they had vs what they made of it
they were not a good steward of what they were given
Jesus talks about this during His ministry, He gives parables about Israel not being a good steward of what they were given
and again, this parallels to believers = we have been given something very great, very valuable - we must be a good steward of it
8 The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
God talks about the fact that even those who were in high positions of Israel - their priests - were far from Him and did not really know Him
we see this in the church today as well, many so called pastors of many churches today say things and do things which show that they do not really know God
we need to ask ourselves - are we a believer that really knows God? are we believers who are after His own heart?
are we walking after things that spiritually profit us? or are we walking after things that ultimately do not matter in this life? or walking after things that are just our and out sinful?
this is restated in the following couple of verses
9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and with your children’s children will I plead. 10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
it’s amazing that the flesh has such power over people, that they will do nearly anything except cling to the God who loves them and has done so much for them
it’s a constant battle that can only be overcome
Think about when the disciples ran from Jesus on the night He was taken in, they ran to save their own skin, but left something much greater
unfortunately people run away from Jesus for much pettier things, or even not much at all really. they give up God for just living a mundane life without Him
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
speaking of the fact that they not only left God, but made their own
God warns them of the severity of their actions and the severity of their consequences
we see what happened to Israel, they ended up being taken into bondage in Babylonia
if the believer strays from God, they may go back to being caught up in various vices, living in sin, and destroying their life
they totally throw away the progress that they had made as a believer
they also show where their true priorities were, were their priorities on God or on themselves, were they out to please God or to satiate their own desires?
14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? 15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
at this time, Israel was being oppressed by neighboring countries Egypt from the south and Assyria from the north
we see already the effects that their abandoning of God is having upon them even before they are carried off to babylon
sin is like a disease that ends up killing you - first you have the symptoms of the disease which degrade you and make you unhealthy, and then you finally die
as we see here, Israel was riding this sin into the ground, and in fact rode it completely into the ground, just by refusing to cling to the God who had made them and brought them through so much
16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. 17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way?
Noph is another way of saying Memphis which was the capital of Egypt at the time and Tahpanhes was an Egyptian outpost in the sinai region
this verse is talking about the great splendor position in God’s eyes that Israel once had being brought down to ruin
18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
this is saying, “what good will it do you to go for them for help or a political alliance to stop this oppression? they are the ones hurting you in the first place”
it will do no good to harm yourself by indulgence in the world and then try to find help in the world
help is found in God and God alone, healing is found in God and God alone, fulfillment is found in God and God alone , and life is found in God and only God
the things of this world will fail you and will fade away and pass, but the things of God are eternal and life-giving
19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.
God ends this section by again saying that their own wickedness will be their downfall, and they will see that it is bitter for them
They will see clearly that they had forsaken God, because people do not always see when they are backsliding or straying from God, they convince themselves otherwise
Israel would finally be brought to a point to where they did realize it and they would see just how grave of a mistake they had made
in this same vein, we have to watch ourselves and make sure that we don’t do this very same thing and get caught up in the evils of this world and stray from the goodness and glory of God
all the while bringing ourselves down from a lofty place where we used to be, when we were close to God
WE MUST CLING TO GOD WITH ALL WE HAVE, WITH ALL OUR HEART AND SOUL, AND WATCH THAT THE WORLD DOES NOT GET IT’S HOOKS INTO US AND DRAG US DOWN