Chuck Larsen

The image of the unfaithful wife perseveres in Jeremiah’s writings. There seems to be a direct reference or at least an allusion to it in every chapter. It pops up again in Jeremiah 3:6. It says, “The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: ‘Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?’” Martens explains this verse, “Israel, the kingdom to the north of Judah, had been disowned by God because of her spiritual unfaithfulness. ‘Adultery’ was the word used to describe Israel’s awful behavior. Because of it the Assyrians had overrun the Northern Kingdom. One would expect that Judah, a witness to these events, would learn the seriousness of spiritual adultery. The charge is that Judah has not learned.”^[1]

I’ve often heard that the wisest man in the world, Solomon, teaches us in the book of Proverbs about the difference between being a fool, a smart man, and a wise man. The fool is the one who never learns from his mistakes. He repeats the same folly over and over again expecting different results. The smart man is the one who makes the mistakes but the consequences teach him a lesson and he learns to avoid that behavior in the future. The wise man is the one who can watch the mistakes that others make and learn from them without having to make them himself. Jeremiah’s indictment of Judah is that they are being foolish. They’ve seen what the results of pagan pluralism brings to a society, but weren’t wise enough to avoid the same sin.

We find ourselves in a secular culture that promotes its own idols. As the pagan gods of the Canaanites became the “lovers” of the unfaithful bride of God we’re enticed by the same temptations. We’re too smart to be lured away by images carved in stone or cut out of wood, yet the same pull on our hearts is seen repeatedly in our society. We all struggle with these things. Even us professing believers have our own idols that suck our vitality from our God. Ryken is very pointed in his condemnation of the church when he writes, “The church is supposed to be married to Jesus Christ, but we have many mistresses. If we kept a little black book with the names of our lovers, it would read something like this: ‘For a good time, call material prosperity, idle entertainment, political power, sexual license, and self-indulgence.’”^[2] We see shipwrecked lives of those all around us that have served these gods to no good end. Do we learn?

^[1] E. A. Martens, Jeremiah, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1986), 52.

^[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 54.

God called Israel his first born son when addressing Pharaoh. But now in this context of the book of Jeremiah we read that desiring the good things of life lead them back into slavery. They went from an honored position to a disgraceful one. Jeremiah expresses this in Jeremiah 2:16-17. He writes, “Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?” Constance concludes, “Lastly they are made captives in Egypt with shame brought upon them, the hair being shaven from their heads. Humiliation and suffering had been inflicted upon them.”^[1]

Gingrich sums up Jeremiah’s use of the image of Israel becoming humiliated slaves by saying, “Israel, the Northern Kingdom, had had her cities spoiled and her people carried away captive by the Assyrians and their allies (‘the young lions’) and Judah had had the crown of her head broken by the Egyptians (‘the children of Noph [Memphis] and Tahapanes [a town on the border between Egypt and Palestine]’). Why had these calamities come upon Israel and Judah? Was it not because these nations had forsaken their God Jehovah soon after He led them through the wilderness?”^[2]

Many of our problems we bring upon ourselves. I know that’s true for me. The sins of Israel were marked on their heads by Egypt. There was a visible sign of their failure. If I had a notch carved on me for every time I brought problems upon myself I would be unrecognizable except for the scars. The Psalmist often cries out to God in the consequences he has brought on himself by his sin. He pleads with God for forgiveness. Lady Macbeth looks at her murderer’s hands in horror: “Out, damned spot! out, I say!… Hell is murky… Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” Knight says, “…God does not ‘mark’ iniquities at all as iniquities, he ‘marks’ them only as occasions for the showing of his grace and forgiveness!”^[3]

^[1] Mrs. T. M. Constance, Jeremiah, vol. 1 (Dickson, TN: Explorer’s Bible Study, 1978), 11–12.

^[2] Roy E. Gingrich, The Book of Jeremiah (Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing, 2001), 9.

^[3] George Angus Fulton Knight, Psalms, vol. 2, The Daily Study Bible Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 287.

Jeremiah had used the images of an unfaithful wife and then a broken cistern from which no thirst can be quenched. Now in Jeremiah 2:14-15 he moves on to another image. He says, “Is Israel a slave? Is he a home born servant? Why then has he become a prey? The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.” In Exodus 4:22 God instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh that “Israel is my firstborn son.” How then now can she be a slave? Constance says, “Instead of being His children they had become slaves and servants, bound, beaten, abused, and carried off as slaves. Jeremiah likens Israel to one that has fallen victim to a lion’s young, to a wasted land, their homes desolate and the crops stripped from the fields, vineyards destroyed, and their flocks and herds driven away, their cities left in smoldering ruins.”^[1] The very land that flowed with milk and honey were left in ruins as were the lives of His own children.

When we think of the deportation we usually think of what we call the “Babylonian Captivity.” Ezekiel, Daniel, Nehemiah and others were taken away to Babylon. Jeremiah however was taken away to Egypt. By 200 AD, the largest population of Jews lived in Alexandria, Egypt. Obviously, they must have been the descendants of the slaves of Jeremiah’s day. It was this group that brought about the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. The Septuagint is a work that Jesus often quoted from directly. Obviously, like many in Babylon, many of the Egyptian exiles looked to God’s word for comfort and direction again. It seems that the hardships of slavery again in Egypt brought them back to their senses. That often happens for us all, doesn’t it?

This is fascinating because on several occasions Israel expressed their desire to go back to Egypt to enjoy the leeks, melons and other good things they had when they were slaves in Egypt. Well, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it! We all know the story of King Midas. He thought it would be great to have everything he touched turn to gold. He didn’t think that through, did he? We all learned along with King Midas that gold in the wrong places can become the worst of all ills. In this case, God did send Israel back to Egypt, but the circumstances became the worst of all ills for them. Solomon has been said to have had the Midas touch. Everything he did turned to gold. But because of such bounty in his life he failed to manage his own appetites. At his death the nation split and started its journey to exile in Babylon and Egypt. Wanting the best, Israel went from honored son to humiliated slave. I’m always reminded to watch out myself for this.

^[1] Mrs. T. M. Constance, Jeremiah, vol. 1 (Dickson, TN: Explorer’s Bible Study, 1978), 11–12.

Jeremiah is talking about the bad bargain Israel made in exchanging the knowledge of the one true God for the idols of the nations around them. God had demonstrated His sovereignty over all the idols in Egypt and then again over all the pagan idols of the peoples of Canaan. But Israel deserted their one true God to join in the useless worship of idols. How ridiculous is that? In Jeremiah 2:12-13, Jeremiah calls the heavens to witness this stupidity. He says, “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Guest and Ogilvie explain, “They acted against common sense. Why would anyone take something of great value and deliberately exchange it for something worthless? It defies every law of common sense, so much so that the astonishment can only be felt in heaven because the earth has lost its mind (v. 12). Jerusalem’s capacity to comprehend the loss was gone. A shudder ran through the heavens and through the prophet as he contemplated the two evils of verse 13. First, they had forsaken God, the fountain of living waters. …It makes no sense to forsake such satisfaction, such a link to life itself. No one parched by the desert sun would have given a moment’s consideration to such insanity. Yet this was exactly what Jerusalem had done. Furthermore she had compounded that insanity with another. …They have hewn cisterns of their own making. Tanks out of hard rock, without feeding springs, were unable even to retain what little water might flow into them because they were broken. Judah had given up everything and had gone after nothing. She cheated herself. The loss was poignant and all pervasive. There was nothing now to quench her thirst but mire and filthy sediment. How totally without logic has been her course of action…”^[1]

There was a woman at a well in Samaria that Jesus encountered. He offered her “living water.” His living water would be refreshment that would swell up from within and bring contentment and meaning and purpose to her life that she had never experienced before. But we chase the wind hoping to find something of substance and always come up empty! Pink says that “These frying experiences, these bitter disappointments, are another of the means which our gracious God employs to save us from the pleasure and pollution of sin. By them He discovers to us the vanity and vexation of the creature. By them He weans us more completely from the world. By them He teaches us that the objects in which we sought refreshment are but ‘broken cisterns,’ and this that we may turn to Christ and draw from Him who is the Well of living water, the One who alone can supply true satisfaction of soul.”^[2]

^[1] John Guest and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 19, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1988), 35.

^[2] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Arthur Pink Anthology (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005).

The nations surrounding Israel all worshipped their own gods. Egypt had many gods all of which were humiliated by the one true God during the Exodus. But did Egypt as a whole repent and change gods? No, they continued on their course of idolatry. The same was true for the peoples of the land where God led Israel. God demonstrated His mighty power but the nations as a whole remained peoples of idolatry. How astounding is that? One might think that with the grand demonstrations of God’s presence and power all peoples would be like Rahab the harlot in Jericho and abandon their idols and turn to the one true God. But that didn’t happen. But there is something even more remarkable. Israel turned from the one true God to join the nations in their idolatry. That’s what Jeremiah 2:10-11 tells us. It says, “For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, or send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.”

It’s a difficult question. Has a nation ever changed gods? I want to think yes, but the form of the question demands a negative answer. When asking if a nation had ever changed gods, Ryken answers, “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!”^[1] And Davidson explains it this way, “Go west to the islands of the Mediterranean, for example Cyprus; east to the desert communities, for example Kedar; search the whole wide world and see if any other nation has exchanged its gods. How ironic that Israel, to whom had been given the privilege of knowing the majesty and splendor of the one true God, should outpagan the pagans, replacing this God with gods who are no gods! We are sometimes told that the ways of God are strange; the ways of people can be even more strange.”^[2]

Willis says, “What makes this all the more tragic is Israel is the only nation whose God is real; yet they are the only nation to ‘trade in’ their God for another. Their God possesses Glory, yet they have put their faith in things that cannot profit, things that are worthless. So what Israel has done is not typical, even for nations who would have more reason to do it.”^[3] Paul expresses the same truth to the Church in his letter to the Romans. He was utterly amazed at those who traded God for idols (Romans 1:22f). They exchanged natural desires for unnatural ones. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie. Jesus talked about what good it would do for someone to gain the entire world but forfeit their own soul in return. It is a bad bargain. We often go after things in life and compromise everything that truly matters for things that will not last. I like what Moore says, “Realizing your dream at the cost of your soul is always a bad bargain.”^[4] It was for Israel and it is for us as well.

^[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 41.

^[2] Robert Davidson, Jeremiah, vol. 1, The Daily Study Bible Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1983), 28.

^[3] Timothy M. Willis, Jeremiah/Lamentations, College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 2002), 44–45.

^[4] Steve Moore, The Dream Cycle: Identify and Achieve God’s Purpose for Your Life (Indianapolis, IN: WPH, 2004), 110.

Israel had forgotten the God who brought them through so many hard times and delivered them into a life flowing with milk and honey. It was the loss of the corporate memory that so impacted Israel as a nation. It wasn’t the common persons fault. God did not blame them. Instead, it was the fault of all those in leadership positions. Jeremiah 2:8 points that out clearly when he says, “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.” The prophets, priests, leaders and caregivers of a nation are to be of such wisdom and maturity as to preserve the order which established civilization as it came to be. In Israel it was God’s personal deliverance from oppression and slavery into a land of promise. It was His laws that preserved the standard of living and maintained the health of the nation. But they forgot!

There are signs of that in our own nation in the 21^st century. We’ve forgotten our moral, ethical and judicial roots. I know it’s unpopular and not politically correct to argue that America has always been a Christian nation, but regardless of where you stand on this issue, you cannot deny the fact that the Judeo-Christian ethic is what blessed America with freedom and prosperity. French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831, said, “I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests—and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning—and it was not there.  I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”^[1]

Ingratitude denotes spiritual immaturity.  Infants do not always appreciate what parents do for them.  They have short memories.  Their concern is not what you did for me yesterday, but what are you doing for me today. The past is meaningless and so is the future.  They live for the present. Those who are mature are deeply appreciative of those who labored in the past.  They recognize those who labor during the present and provide for those who will be laboring in the future.^[2]

^[1] Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).

^[2] Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).

History is important. We’ve all heard the saying, “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” Israel had forgotten their history as a nation. The records of 1^st and 2^nd Kings, the Chronicles and other parts of the writings of the Prophets make it clear that when Israel turns from God, God leaves them to their own devices. They suffer the consequences of rejecting God. Yet over and over in Israel’s history they came to their senses and returned to God to find Him ready and waiting to deliver them from their trials. Jesus told the story of the Prodigal son to point out this truth to Israel. Jeremiah 2:6 reminded the Israelites of all the miraculous events of their deliverance from Slavery in Egypt and God’s providential guidance and provision through the wasteland of the Sinai Peninsula. Now, Jeremiah 2:7 looks at the final result of God’s providence. It says, “And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.” It didn’t happen all at once. It took time. It took time for prosperity to do its work.

I can’t help but believe how much better off we all would be if we’d never forget our wasteland experiences. But Israel Not only forgot the miraculous deliverance from the wilderness; they took for granted the many blessings that God gave them at the end of their journey.  It is often said that for every thousand people who can cling to their faith in times of trial and hardship there is only one who can stand firm in times of prosperity. With nice homes and full stomachs and money in the bank it seems easy to forget the times in the wilderness. But it’s the time in the wilderness that should stimulate our gratitude.

I’ve always liked a good survival story since my early elementary years when I read Robinson Crusoe for the first time. I just recently watched “Cast Away” again. A man who was marooned on an uninhabited Island wilderness had to fend for himself against the elements and to take meals wherever he could find them. Identifying with him arouses a sense of gratitude in me as I sit comfortably in my easy chair with my wife beside me.  I’m thankful for a house that protects me from the weather, even though the hail beat it up good last summer. I’m thankful for a stove at which I have “fire” to cook whatever I want. I’m so thankful for the refrigerator that is over stocked with good things and only about 10 steps away. When I put myself, vicariously, in the position of the cast away, I can appreciate the good things I have now and refresh my gratitude. Ben Franklin wrote, “…ingratitude is one of the most odious of vices; let me not be unmindful gratefully to acknowledge the favors I receive from Heaven… For all Thy innumerable benefits; for life and reason, and the use of speech, for health and joy and every pleasant hour, my Good God, I thank Thee.^[1]

^[1] William J. Federer, Great Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Quotations Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced according to Their Sources in Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions and Constitutions (St. Louis, MO: AmeriSearch, 2001).