Jeremiah 2 unfaithful to God...

Here is a chapter that records the infidelity of God’s people. It is like a judicial slide show.

As part of his prosecution, God introduces into evidence image after image of spiritual adultery.

He lays out his case with the logic of a lawyer and the longing of a lover,

proving beyond a shadow of a doubt

that His people have forsaken their first love.

What is it like when God’s people leave their husband? It is unheard of!

Exhibit A: It is like a nation changing its gods. – For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, Send to Kedar and consider diligently, And see if there has been such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed its gods…. [stop right there]

For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, Send to Kedar and consider diligently, And see if there has been such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed its gods…. [stop right there]

Of course not! Travel the world from east to west, no nation has ever changed its gods.

Shoes, maybe, or hairstyles, but not gods.

Even the pagans are loyal to their gods.

They cart them around wherever they go.

Did the Canaanites ever abandon Baal or Asherah? Never!

Did the Babylonians ever forsake Bel or Merodach? Ridiculous!

It is hard to believe, but God’s people exchanged the glorious radiance of the divine presence for idols made of wood or stone.

— 28 But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble; For according to the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah.

By partner-swapping, Israel bartered away the living God.

This was a religious crime without precedent in the ancient world.

The pagans never abandoned their dead gods, but God’s people abandoned the living God.

The members of the jury, namely, the “heavens,” ought to be so appalled at what they hear that they “shudder with great horror” (v. 12).

What is it like when God’s people leave their husband? Exhibit B: It is like leaving a spring of living water:

— 13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Imagine living in the desert. It is always dry.

The thing you always need and can never find is water.

Then imagine finding a desert spring that continuously bubbles up fresh from the ground.

Would you leave a never-ending supply of water behind? Never!

Only a lunatic would abandon a desert spring.

Now imagine leaving the spring behind and digging a cistern to catch rainwater.

If you went to such trouble, would you then leave cracks in the limestone seal?

Yet God testifies, “My people … have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (2:13).

If leaving a spring is dumb, building a cracked cistern is dumber.

It would be like shutting off your water supply and then digging a trench to get water from the nearest industrial canal.

What Jerusalem did made even less sense.

God’s people were worried about getting squashed by world superpowers.

They were afraid of being plundered.

So just to be safe, they propositioned their neighbors.

They substituted political alliances for their love-covenant with God:

— 18 And now why take the road to Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, To drink the waters of the River?

But these nations are not friends, they are enemies. In the end the alliances will fail, and Israel will be disappointed by her former partners.

These prophecies came true, as Israel was later to lament: “I called to my allies but they betrayed me” ().

Defense treaties with Egypt and Assyria are like broken cisterns.

They cannot hold water the way God can.

Worse still, their water turns out to have a bitter aftertaste compared to the sweet living water from God’s eternal wellspring.

God never designed for us to die, or to even experience danger, injury, suffering, difficulty, trial or loss.

Life giving way to life was the original plan.

So it should confuse us when the Creator of Life speaks positively about death:

– Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. (cf.

These verses is one that many Christians memorize,

but if we were standing in the crowd when Jesus said these words,

we would have been shocked and perplexed.

It's only when we step back and examine the entire biblical narrative that we see a theme coursing through Scripture:

death does lead to life (in order for to find life, we had to die), and life does lead to death (the evidence is all around-cemetery).Here are four examples that most of you will be familiar with

so be sure to apply these to your everyday life by digging into the reflection questions at the end.

1. In the Garden, life led to death. Adam and Eve were tricked by the promise that they could be "like God."

What could be more life-giving than being God himself?

But it was all a sham, with deadly consequences.

2. On the Cross, death led to life. To repair what was broken in the Garden,

Jesus freely sacrificed his own life to put sin to death.

Through His death and resurrection, life was freely given to those who believe.

3. The world promises life, but in the end it leads to death. Areas like individualism, lust, materialism and gluttony feel life-giving in the moment,

but they ruin the body and soul.

4. Jesus promises life, if we die to self. The One who sacrificed His life so that we might have life

now calls us, as His disciples, to sacrifice our lives for him in carrying out His will.

When we do, we'll experience the transcendent joys of God's eternal kingdom.

The call to deny yourself will be a challenge, but remember - it's a rescuing grace.

You will never find life

in your spouse,

in your children,

in accumulating possessions,

in the esteem of friends,

in the most beautiful location, or

even in theological knowledge.

Taking up your Cross daily means putting to death your sinful and selfish desires and

accepting a life-giving invitation that the Enemy and created world can never offer:

the all-surpassing glory of knowing Christ.

This is the world's best prize.

This is the universe's best banquet.

This is the only thing that will give your life meaning and fill you with lasting joy.

This is what we started to speak of last week in — 5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.