Today's passage continues the judgments that Jeremiah had begun sharing with Judah in yesterday's reading. God is indeed watching Judah, and his sin will bear fruit in God's judgment via the Bablyonians. Yet, despite the darkness of Judah's adultery, we see the hope of God's grace.
I would like to highlight one phrase from yesterday's reading because it so brilliantly encapsulates Judah's (and our) idolatrous attitudes:
"My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water." (Jeremiah 2:13,14)
Indeed, Judah has turned away from the living, true God Who wishes to bring everlasting life and hope to His people. Instead, they have created their own cisterns, believing that the gods of the surrounding peoples would provide a great improvement over the revealed Creator and Law-giver. They have abandoned something that truly satisfies for inferior and useless substitutes.
Jeremiah then mentions how the people have committed adultery against the Lord, both in Israel and Judah. Despite the warnings that Judah had received through Israel's judgment, Judah too continues the plunge into adultery. But God stands ready to forgive:
"'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD,
'I will frown on you no longer,
for I am merciful,' declares the LORD,
'I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt --
you have rebelled against the LORD your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me.'"
Ironically, in their adultery, Judah does not recognize that "your lovers despise you;/ they seek your life." The nation had spent time primping itself for prostitution to life-destroying idols and other nations.
Why is adultery a fitting metaphor for the people's spiritual attitudes? Adultery ruins intimacy between two people because it erodes the commitment of trust and security that the wedding vows sought to give. Furthermore, our sinful hearts often crave the rush of sin in the short term, but these actions bear serious consequences in the long run. As we observe marital upheavals among politicians and celebrities, we often find our hearts welling with compassion for the victims of the adultery, yet the adulterers face tumultuous emotions and do not escape unscathed. Furthermore, Judah's spiritual adultery reveals God's great emotional attachment to His people and Judah's lack of gratitude for God's provision and faithfulness.
In place of their wayward leaders, God, as Judah's "husband," will "give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding." God promises a coming restoration of Israel and Judah, which may speak of the New Heaven and New Earth of Revelation: "At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance."
QUESTIONS
1. What are you doing to preserve your loyalty towards God?
2. How does God's promised restoration for the people illustrate His grace? How could you rejoice in this? How can you show such grace yourself?
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