Lesson 2 - Jer. 2:1-13 - JUDAH'S APOSTASY
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Jer. 1:1-10, 17-19, we covered God's initial call to Jeremiah when he was just a young man barely out of adolescence. When the shocked Jeremiah protested that he was way too young and lacked the ability to speak, God basically told him to stop feeling sorry for himself because He planned to guide him, protect him, and give the ability to proclaim the words He gave him. The lesson revealed that a prophet's main purpose is to act as God's spokesperson, not to teach or preach creatively but to proclaim God's word faithfully. God also warned the young prophet that his job would often cause him hardship, that he would face a lot of opposition. We also learned that the core of Jeremiah's message-God's impending judgment for the peoples' sin-is the same unpopular message that churches need to be preaching today. We now live in a post-Christian world when a negative message-judgment for the consequences of sin-is needed before any positive change-redemption-can begin.
This week, in Jer. 2:1-13, we'll follow young Jeremiah as he commences his prophetic ministry. At this time in history, his prophetic message will be directed to the people of Judah, the southern kingdom. Although Jeremiah frequently refers to the nation of Israel, it's been over 90 years since the Northern Kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians, who essentially dispersed the native Israelites from the land, so that for all practical purposes, Israel ceased to exist as national entity. Judah was all that remained of the once powerful Davidic kingdom.
Read Jer. 2:1-3 - THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME
1 Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "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. 3 "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.'"
v. 1: "Now the word of the LORD came to me saying," - Here, the LORD speaks to Jeremiah and instructs him to proclaim the message He's going to give him.
v. 2: "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." - In this verse, God recounts His history with these people and their loyal love (Heb. hesed) as they followed him from Egypt into the Promised land. Those were the days of Israel's "betrothals" as a youth before they settled down with the LORD. The point is that their commitment to Him was much stronger then than is was in Jeremiah's day. Even though they were unfaithful at times, their error then was mainly lack of faith, whereas now, they have departed from Him and allowed themselves to fall into apostasy.
v. 3: "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.'" - In those days Israel was set apart to the Lord in a way that was not true in Jeremiah's time, when they had begun to worship false gods (or Baals). Israel had been God's first fruits among the nations He would bless-intended to be a light to the other nations.
Read Jer. 2:4-6 - WHAT INJUSTICE DID YOUR FATHERS FIND IN ME?
4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 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? 6 "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?'
v. 4: "Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel." - The command "hear," is a prophetic message that scholars term as a 'divine imperative,' a summons which is the equivalent of a subpoena to appear before a court or suffer the consequences. In this instance, it's addressed to "all the families of the house of Israel," which includes the Judahites primarily but also extends to other Israelites dispersed among the other nations.
v. 5a: "Thus says the LORD, "What injustice did your fathers find in Me, That they went far from Me" - In v. 2, Israel was betrothed to God as a wife is to her husband. So, the Lord is essentially asking if Israel 'divorced' Him because of something objectionable or intolerable they found in Him. This is actually a rhetorical question the answer to which is 'none.' God is none of those things.
v. 5b: "And walked after emptiness and became empty?" - The word for "empty" (Heb. he·bel) literally means vapor, or something having no substance. The term "walked after" means to chase after or pursue something, in this case vaporous and useless things like pagan idols (false gods).
v. 6: "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?' -Again, God reminds them of the history of their relationship with YHWH-the One True God: He rescued them from slavery in Egypt; He protected and provided for them in their wilderness wanderings. If they were worried about external threat to their national security, It would make sense for them to be saying "Where is YHWH?," and seek the One True God who had protected and cared for them in the past rather than chasing after false gods (idols) who were no more than figments of their imagination.
Read Jer. 2:7-8 - YOU CAME AND DEFILED MY LAND
7 "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. 8 "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.
v. 7a: "I brought you into the fruitful land To eat its fruit and its good things." -The Lord God had not only led, fed and watered them through the wilderness but also brought them to the Promised Land, a good and fertile place to live. Then after crossing the Jordan River, He gave them victory after victory against fierce opposition to take the land as their own possession.
v. 7b: "But you came and defiled My land, And My inheritance you made an abomination." - Israel had "defiled" the land by not only by failing to drive out its pagan inhabitants, but also taking up their worship of Baal and other local gods-truly an insult and "abomination" to YHWH, the One True God.
v. 8a: "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." - Here, the Lord issues an indictment in which He levels accusations against four specific groups who constitute the leadership of Judah: (1) "priests" - who instead of seeking YHWH, their Lord God, have turned to idols and false gods; (2) "those who handle the law" - to the Levites and scribes who have adulterated the Law of Moses by allowing worthless worship practices; (3) "rulers" - kings and local leaders who themselves have turned away from YHWH and have failed to set the example; and (4) "prophets" - pretenders whose prophesy consists of false teachings that have led people to worship worthless things. And while the fact of bad leadership does not excuse the common Judahites, it's no wonder that they have gone in the wrong direction.
Read Jer. 2:9-11 - I WILL YET CONTEND WITH YOU
9 "Therefore I will yet contend with you," declares the LORD, "And with your sons' sons I will contend." 10 "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! 11 "Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit.
v. 9: "Therefore I will yet contend with you," declares the LORD, "And with your sons' sons I will contend." - This sets up another legal metaphor-a specification of damages in which the Lord is, in effect, the injured party due to the failure of all the parties listed in v. 8 to keep their covenant with Him. The penalty for their unparalleled idolatry would be the Lord's discipline, and even their "sons' sons" (i.e., their grandchildren) would experience the consequences of their forefathers' sins.
v. 10: "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!" - Now the Lord challenges all the parties (v. 8) to look at the other nations to see if any of them had done what they had done. "Kittem" is an old name for the island of Cyprus to the northwest and "Kedar" was in the Arabian Desert to the southeast.
v. 11a: "Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods?" - If the parties took the time to look into these nations, they would discover that none of them had abandoned their lifeless and powerless deities. I mean, it's easy to worship things that don't hold you accountable, isn't it?
v. 11b: "But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. -The irony in statement is that the Israelites had abandoned their "glory"-YHWH-the one True God who over many centuries had shown them that He had the power to bless them and make a real difference in their lives, and had exchanged Him for worthless idols that were in truth powerless to either help or protect them in any way.
Read Jer. 2:12-13 - MY PEOPLE HAVE COMMITTED TWO EVILS
12 "Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate," declares the LORD. 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.
v. 12: "Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate," declares the LORD." -Using God's legal metaphor in His case against the people of Judah, the "heavens" are introduced as the chief witnesses for the prosecution (God). The heavens have seen and can testify about all that the Lord had done to bless and protect His chosen people; and they have also witnessed the disobedience and disloyalty of the people towards YHWH. What they have seen leaves them shocked and utterly "desolate," (i.e., depressed). In this legal scenario, they sit in the capacity of both witnesses and a jury that considers the evidence. And at the conclusion, the Lord anticipates that they will render a very harsh verdict.
v. 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." -Note first that in spite of their disloyalty, God still refers to the Judahites as "My people"-He still loves them in spite of their backslidden ways. This verse sets up the two counts of the Lord's indictment against them: (1)They had "forsaken" YHWH, a sin of omission in which the people had essentially stopped worshiping, obeying and serving Him. God refers to himself as "the fountain of living waters," an analogy to a pure and unfailing water source, which was very important in the arid climate of Palestine. When Jesus encountered the Samaritan women at the well, He told her "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water" (John 4:10). And (2) they abandoned God to worship and serve powerless idols and false gods, a sin of commission. God analogizes these false gods to "Broken cisterns," a very defective water source that was doomed to run dry.
APPLICATION-Getting Rid of Idols
1. First and foremost, we must understand that there is absolutely no substitute for One True God. The people in today's lesson, the Judahites-all that was left of Israel by this time-had forsaken the Lord, the One True God of the universe, for carved wooden or stone idols that had no power to help them. It had become a national disease, from the rulers and priests all the way down the social ladder to the common people.
2. The One True God is the God of the Bible. The people in today's lesson had the Torah-the Law and the Prophets, which constituted their Bible at that point in history. However, they had allowed themselves be deceived by false teaching and poor spiritual leadership-kings, priest, prophets, teachers, etc. The same thing can happen to modern Christians. Syncretism, for example teaches that there are many different paths to God. This is absolutely false. The truth is that anything that is contrary to the Word of God-the Bible-is as false and powerless as the idols in today's story.
3. All Christians run the risk of allowing other things in our lives to become idols. The truth of this is that we cannot allow anything in our life to share first place with God. Things like our jobs, our hobbies, our personal goals, our organizations, our material possessions, our leisure time, our recreation, and even our own families when it interferes with worshiping together. If we allow any of these things to be first or even share first place with God, we have slipped into idolatry.
