The Hurt of a Lost Love

Last time, we were in Jeremiah, we were reminded that God has given all of us a mission to serve. We cannot merely sit back on the beaches of Christianity, soaking in the warmth of God’s Word and Christian fellowship. Just as Jeremiah, we must also be willing to proclaim the message which God has given to us.

This week, as we look at chapter 2 and the first 5 verses of chapter 3, we are given a sobering look at how a people left their first love. We are also reminded of our own fickle nature and how simple it can be for us to forsake our Lord, as well.

As I have thought about this church family, I am grateful for the many examples of many of you making godly choices. Some of you have made a decision to love, not only the Lord during difficult times, but also your spouses, your children, your friends; even when you may have not felt like loving them at the time. As a result, you have made an impact on the community, as well as the lives of others in this church.

You see, we know how easy it can be to love someone, especially in the early stages of a relationship. However, if that love is not continually cared for, it can become more difficult to maintain that love relationship. This is true, not only in earthly relationships, but in our relationship with our Savior, as well.

So, we need to be challenged by a simple fact.

Our love for God needs to be steadfast.

God Experiences Early Love. - 2.1-3

Those of us who are married, reflect back to our early years of dating, courtship, and marriage, remembering how we would have gone anywhere and done anything for our partner. Sadly, that strong commitment of love was short-lived for many individuals. What should have been, was to have a strong love commitment that would have lasted the entire relationship. Interestingly, this is very similar to our relationship with the Lord. Our love should continue to be steadfast and not dying off as the years go by.

The first three verses of this chapter are reflective. It seems as if God is reminiscing about the early years of deep love between the nation of Israel and himself.

Jeremiah 2:1–3 (NASB95)

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown. “Israel was holy to the Lord, The first of His harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; Evil came upon them,” declares the Lord.’ ”

We see a willingness on Israel's part in the beginning, to go wherever God would lead them, because they knew of His intense love for them. The nation of Israel was God's choice nation. They were set apart for God as his chosen people. There was no nation or individual that dared to attack God’s chosen people, without the promise of retribution.

When I consider our lives today, I find it quite encouraging that God still wants to be that way with you and me. God does not want the honeymoon to be over. He desires to lead us where He can best use us. He wants with all His being to bless us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. He has promised us His constant presence and blessing in our lives. He has promised us strength for the tasks that are set before us. God desires, that we would be steadfast, experiencing the depth and joy of that early love.

Sadly, for Israel, it did not stay that way. Let's look at this in the following verses.

God Experiences Forsaken Love. - 2.4-8

Jeremiah 2:4–8 (NASB95)

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, That they went far from Me And walked after emptiness and became empty? “They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed And where no man dwelt?’ “I brought you into the fruitful land To eat its fruit and its good things. But you came and defiled My land, And My inheritance you made an abomination. “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that did not profit.

Many individuals who are listening to this message today, have actually experienced having their love forsaken. Maybe that young man or young woman chose to go off looking for love from somebody else, even though you treated them like a king or queen. In your heart, you knew that this other person would not take care of them like you would. However, they chose to blindly move away from you and block you from their lives.

Some of you may have a child who thinks that you are the worst parent on the planet, and that there are others who are way better than you. They don't think that you have what it takes to make it in the world today. In fact, your child may have even suggested that your purpose in life was to destroy their life, or at least make it miserable. As a result, they chose to forsake your love for them.

Or maybe, you have a friend at school or at work that you truly love. You have had a marvelous relationship. Suddenly, something or somebody else comes along and offers them some pretty exciting reasons to ditch you and join them. You know that your friend is simply being used. However, they simply are not willing to see this.

In each of those scenarios, there is the incredible pain and hurt of a lost or forsaken love. You could almost feel the pain that would strike at your very being. My friends, that is the smallest indication of what God must have experienced with Israel. What we may have experienced is simply a drop in the bucket, compared to what God must experience today when those who claim to be his children, forsake his love.

For some reason, the children of Israel had forsaken that trusting, loving relationship. It was almost as if they thought there was something better for them. So, instead of following the living, creator God, they chose to follow worthless idols. Sadly, when a person pursues garbage, that is what they become. They kept running into brick walls and could not even see the bricks and mortar.

What and why did they not see? After all, God had been the One who provided salvation from the land of Egypt. God was the one Who brought them to a place which produced abundantly. They did not earn this, but we're given all of this by God. Yet, instead of being eternally grateful, they acted as if the false gods, which they had created, were the ones who had blessed them.

The Lord speaks, through Jeremiah, by reminding the religious leaders, that they should have been the ones to point the people back to God. The religious leaders should have been the ones who would correct the error. If nothing else, they should have at least sought the Lord for help. Instead, Jeremiah writes: “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that did not profit.

How discouraging that would have been! Not only did the leaders sin by not correcting the problem; not only did they send by not seeking the Lord; they were ignorant of God, and blatantly followed the ways of the world system, and encouraged their followers to do the same.

Judah Experiences Pursuit of Other Loves. - 2.9-30

In these verses, God gets into the specifics of the charges against Israel. My friends, God never arbitrarily brings judgment on a people without them being made aware of why the judgment is taking place.

Look at verses 10-11, as God points out that even the pagan nations stay true to their false gods. “For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and observe closely And see if there has been such a thing as this! “Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit.”

How fascinating to consider that the pagan nations stayed true to that which is false. I find it mind-boggling to think that a people who knew the true, living God; who experienced so many miraculous events throughout their history; who had seen the day-to-day power of God; would dare to reject the Sovereign Lord for worthless idols

It is also interesting, amongst those who claim to be evangelical today, that there is such a strong tendency to want to rewrite or reshape the Scripture, and/or the interpretation of the Bible to fit our society. The fascinating part of this is that many individuals who have a minimal knowledge of Scripture are quickly able to point out what is right and wrong; whereas, those who supposedly know the Bible have twisted and perverted the Bible in an attempt to be tolerant and accepting of all viewpoints.

God points out in this section that there are basically two sins which the nation and His people have committed: 1 – forsaken God, and 2 – followed after false gods. We see this in verse 13. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

The reality, is that God has provided and will provide all that is needed. Humanity, in its ignorance, has the notion that we can come up with an alternative that is socially more acceptable or maybe just more palatable. Yet, just like a broken cistern that will disappoint you when you need water, so it is with the individual who seeks help and hope from a false god. Nobody is forcing them to reject God. Nobody required them to worship false gods. Listen to verse 17. “Have you not done this to yourself By your forsaking the Lord your God When He led you in the way?”

My friends, when people choose to reject God and pursue their own ways, there will always be negative consequences. When people strive to point out that we must be tolerant and accepting, suggesting that all people will be able to get to heaven on their own merit or their own understanding, they will experience a terrible disappointment. Look at versus 19 and 22.“Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to forsake the Lord your God, And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord God of hosts.” ““Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord God.”

As we read through this section of scripture, it is almost as if Jeremiah was having a bad dream. The horrible reality was that the nation, and many of the people, were worshiping that which was not real. They were giving everything they had to that which was false.

Again, I remind us that we need to be steadfast in our love for God and the absolutes of his Word.

Judah Experiences Presumptuous Love. - 2.31 - 3.5

Nobody enjoys being taken for granted. No man or no woman wants their partner to assume that because love once was strong, a commitment was made, that they now have the freedom to chase after whomever they wish, with no consequence or sorrow.

God reminds the people that in their arrogance they still will be found guilty and will have to pay the consequences, as we see in verse 35 “Yet you said, ‘I am innocent; Surely His anger is turned away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’”

It is incredible how mankind can actually convince themselves that if we say something long enough or loud enough, it will be accepted as truth. Even in George Orwell’s book, 1984, this was written. " Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." God lets it be known that there will be judgment. And it seems that judgment is much more certain because they deny that they have sinned.

There is an incredible arrogance that the nation has shown by assuming that because there used to be a close relationship, that God will continue it, even though the people are blatantly practicing evil. It might be comparable to our time today with a husband wife relationship. One partner is totally committed to the other, yet the latter chooses to have an adulterous lifestyle. Things begin to go bad. As a result, the adulterer wants the faithful one to accept them, to love them, to provide for them. However, they want to continue their adulterous lifestyle. They might even beg their spouse, hoping to appease them. Yet there is no attempt to reject evil and follow the ways of righteousness.

Brothers and sisters, we must avoid the sin of presumption. We cannot take advantage of God's love and practice evil. Paul illustrated this so precisely in Romans 6.1-4. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

Conclusion

I am amazed at the love that my wife shows me. I am amazed at my family members’ unconditional love. I recognize that I have failed and will continue to fail all of them on many occasions. It is not because I want to do so. It is simply because of my sinful, human condition. I find myself taken aback because of the love that you, as a church family, continue to shower upon me, even when I am less than perfect.

Yet, in all of this, there is no love like that of the love of God. We don't see it yet in this passage. However, we know that our Lord is waiting with open arms to restore us to himself. It is very clearly illustrated in the Old Testament book of Hosea. In the New Testament, we see it in Christ laying his life down for our sins.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to turn away from that which would entice us away from God. And we must remain steadfast in our love for God.