Jeremiah, along with many of the prophets, confronted both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel with their sins. Yet Israel could not see their wrong and certainly would not admit it. Even when the blood on their hands exposed their guilt, they refused to acknowledge their faults. Huey observes, “Since Adam’s sin and denial of blame (Gen 3:12), the human race has become skilled at sidestepping guilt. The most difficult words to form on human lips are ‘I was wrong; I am guilty.’” This stubborn refusal led to shame and failure. The Northern Kingdom experienced the consequences when Assyria scattered them throughout the world in 721 before Christ, carrying them away as captives. Judah still had an opportunity to repent, and Jeremiah was sent as the final prophetic voice to warn them. In Jeremiah 2:36 he declares, “How much you go about changing your way! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria.” Their unwillingness to confess would eventually lead to disgrace.
The charge against Judah included inconsistency and disloyalty. The phrase “changing your way” reveals a nation shifting allegiances whenever convenient. They trusted Egypt one moment, Assyria the next, and later Babylon. They moved from one idol to another, abandoning the Lord who had delivered them from Egypt. Hughes writes, “Loyalty is indispensable to the survival of friendship. How many once-prosperous friendships have faded because of disloyal talk? Pascal put it pointedly: ‘I set this down as a fact, that if all men knew what each other said of the other, there would not be four friends in the world.’ You will never know a deep friendship unless there is mutual loyalty and trust.” Disloyalty inevitably produces shame. This pattern feels familiar in everyday life. It is easy to shift commitments when circumstances change or to place confidence in whatever promises immediate security. The human heart can change directions with surprising speed, often while insisting it has remained steady all along.
The New Testament exposes this same tendency and offers a clearer path. James writes, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). Jesus taught that divided loyalty cannot endure: “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). Yet Christ also embodies the loyalty humanity lacks. Paul reminds believers, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13). While people often search for meaning in shifting alliances, the gospel points to a Savior who remains constant. Willis notes that Israel should have looked to the Lord, the One who delivered them with a mighty hand. The New Testament echoes that truth, declaring that salvation is found not in earthly power but in Christ, “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).