Session 2 | Jeremiah 2:1-13
SESSION 2
JEREMIAH 2:1-13
MEMORY VERSE: JEREMIAH 2:29
Every day we are bombarded with messages from a variety of sources. Many times, we receive conflicting information, making it difficult to know who or what to believe. Sometimes the conflicting claims are harmless, such as with advertisements of restaurants claiming they have the best chicken in town. Other times, however, the message we choose to listen to can be a matter of life and death. This is the case when it comes to God’s Word. Failure to listen to God has dire and eternal consequences.
(In PSG, p. 19)
Jeremiah reminded the people how they followed God through the wilderness, yet the people had strayed despite His care (2:1-9). It made no sense for the people to exchange their worship of God for the worship of idols (2:10-19). God had set them free, but they had pursued idolatry and corrupted themselves (2:20-28). God pronounced judgment against His people because they rebelled against Him and forgot Him (2:29-37).
The people had prostituted themselves and proven to be more treacherous than Israel (3:1-13)! Nevertheless, God promised to restore His people if they would turn back to Him (3:14-25). He would restore them, but they needed to abandon their idols (4:1-4).
Jeremiah warned that judgment would come against God’s people from the north (4:5-9). He also lamented that false prophets confused the people by promising peace (4:10). God continued to warn Judah that judgment loomed, yet the people did not repent (4:11-18). As Jeremiah learned details of God’s judgment, he lamented what was coming (4:19-31).
The Lord told Jeremiah that no righteous people remained in Jerusalem He said that the people’s wickedness would lead to their punishment, yet the people consistently refused to believe it (5:1-13). God explained that He was bringing a distant nation to judge Judah and to consume all they had (5:14-19). Still, the people did not fear God because their hearts had turned away (5:20-28). Meanwhile, false prophets continued to assure them everything would be fine (5:29-31).
Jeremiah warned Judah to prepare for judgment (6:1-15). God had given the people His Word and had appointed His watchmen, the prophets, over them, but they refused to listen (6:16-26). The Judeans needed to mourn bitterly because cruel people were about to attack them.
God appointed Jeremiah as an examiner over the people (6:27-30). Jeremiah’s refining words should have positively impacted the people, but sadly they did not.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
q1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: I remember the loyalty of your youth, your love as a bride— how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.”
The word of the LORD came to me parallels the expression in Jeremiah 1:4. Neither passage reveals how God spoke, but Jeremiah clearly understood the message. More important, he understood that it was the word of the Lord.
God told Jeremiah to announce directly to Jerusalem all that God said. Jerusalem designates the general population, meaning Jeremiah’s message was for everyone. The words this is what the LORD says highlighted Jeremiah’s role as God’s messenger. Jeremiah often suffered because the people did not like his message. They failed to recognize Jeremiah was communicating God’s message, not his own. Pastors and teachers also function as God’s messengers, though not on the same level as prophets. Still, they must faithfully proclaim the text. Likewise, those who receive the message must have receptive hearts to what God might teach them through God’s messengers.
~God told the people that He recalled the loyalty of their youth. The word translated loyalty also can mean “faithfulness.” God remembered the people’s past loyalty when He led them from Egypt to the promised land. They were His choice possession, and disaster awaited any who sought to harm them. The image of a bride likens the love God’s people once held for Him to a woman’s passion for her husband. The Lord affirmed that Israel had trusted Him in the wilderness, a place not sown. God’s people had depended on Him, and He had provided manna to eat (Ex. 16:2-35; Deut. 8:16) and water to satisfy their thirst (Ex. 17:1-7; Num. 20:2-13).
3 “Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it found themselves guilty; disaster came on them.” This is the LORD’s declaration.
Jeremiah affirmed that at that time, Israel was holy to the LORD. The expression holy to the Lord elsewhere describes people and items set aside for God’s purpose (Ex. 28:36; Ezra 8:28; Zech. 14:20-21). God cared for His people as His special possession. The reference to firstfruits describes the initial produce of the crops each year. God commanded His people to bring offerings from the firstfruits as a recognition of His blessing (Lev. 23:10-14). Here, God likened His people to His firstfruits. They were His special treasure.
The ones who ate of God’s people faced God’s wrath. Israel’s enemies in the wilderness found themselves guilty and had disaster strike them. Israel was God’s holy portion, and no one opposed her without experiencing the consequences. The LORD’S declaration affirmed the truth and settled the matter.
The Israelites were not perfectly faithful in the wilderness, but God still viewed them as His precious possession. His grace overcame their sin as He worked His purposes in them. God still extends grace to His people today.
(In PSG, p. 22)
4 Hear the word of the LORD, house of Jacob and all families of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: What fault did your ancestors find in me that they went so far from me, followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?
Jeremiah’s command hear the word of the LORD is plural in form, meaning all God’s people needed to listen! The expressions house of Jacob and all families of the house of Israel recall Genesis 32, where the patriarch Jacob received God’s blessing after wrestling with a heavenly messenger. Jacob also received a new name—Israel (Gen. 32:24-28)—because He was willing to strive with God for that blessing. By using these parallel expressions, Jeremiah subtly challenged his people to pursue God’s blessing with similar passion and devotion.
This is what the LORD says again stresses Jeremiah’s role as God’s messenger. The Lord bluntly asked His people to identify what fault their ancestors found in Him. The Hebrew wording could imply an injustice or unrighteous act that God committed. Of course, God had remained completely faultless as He led His people through the wilderness and into the promised land.
Meanwhile, the people had drifted so far away from God. The book of Judges records how the Israelites repeatedly abandoned the Lord and followed worthless idols, such as Baal and Asherah (Judg. 2:11-19; 3:7). God said that when they did that, they became worthless themselves. The writer of Ecclesiastes used the same wording to describe the futility of trying to find purpose apart from God (Eccl. 1:2; 12:8). The people’s idolatry was an exercise in futility.
God’s question implied Israel’s ancestors found no fault in Him. Nonetheless, they pursued idols to their own ruin. The psalmist mocked idols that had human features but no real power (Ps. 115:2-8).
6 They stopped asking, “Where is the LORD who brought us from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, through a land of drought and darkness, a land no one traveled through and where no one lived?”
As the people pursued idols, Jeremiah said they stopped asking about the one true God. They stopped pursuing the One who brought us up from the land of Egypt and who led us through the wilderness. The wilderness did not contain nearly enough resources to sustain a group so large; yet, God provided for the people’s needs. He even led them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 40:36-38).
The wilderness was a difficult land of deserts, where people might suffer from the heat or fall into unseen ravines. The wilderness also was a land of drought and darkness. The original wording is similar to the expression David used in Psalm 23:4 to describe particularly dangerous or hopeless areas. But this wilderness was no metaphor. It was a barren place where no one traveled and no one lived. God’s words further accentuated the people’s isolation and why they needed to rely solely on God.
7 I brought you to a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but after you entered, you defiled my land; you made my inheritance detestable.
God affirmed that after years in the wilderness, He was faithful and led His people into a fertile land. Indeed, the people ate its fruit and bounty from the time they entered it (Josh. 5:12). Tragically, the people also defiled my land. The word defiled has the sense of making something impure. The people corrupted the land with their idolatry and made God’s inheritance detestable. The people ruined God’s good gift of the land with their pagan worship practices, despite His warnings through Moses (Lev. 18:24)—a habit they continued into the days of Jeremiah and other prophets.
8 The priests quit asking, “Where is the LORD?” The experts in the law no longer knew me, and the rulers rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.
Like the people, the priests also stopped asking, “Where is the LORD?” The priests served as mediators between God and His people and were called to guide Israel in spiritual matters. But they stopped seeking God, which encouraged the people to stop seeking Him too. The experts in the law literally refers to leaders who would “take hold” of the law. The priests should have focused on studying and teaching the law of Moses. Instead, God said, the priests no longer knew me because they lacked a genuine relationship with Him. Moreover, He said, the rulers rebelled against me. Those appointed to mentor God’s people instead pursued dishonest gain, and their corruption was an affront to Him.
Jeremiah also noted that the prophets prophesied by Baal instead of prophesying in the Lord’s name. Baal was a leading deity of the Canaanites. He was considered a god who controlled the weather, as well as fertility. The people followed useless idols that could not protect them or provide for them. They were nothing but lifeless statues.
In contrast, God’s people had known solid, godly leaders over the years. Still, they had a habit of neglecting God and repeating the failures of the wilderness generation. Leaders such as Moses, Joshua, Deborah, and Samuel led them in God’s ways; but once those strong leaders died, the people forgot God and returned to idolatry.
All believers need to take personal responsibility for their faith. Peter stated that God’s Word provides all we need for living godly lives (2 Pet. 1:3). Nothing this world offers even comes close.
(In PSG, p. 24)
9 Therefore, I will bring a case against you again. This is the LORD’s declaration. I will bring a case against your children’s children.
The word therefore introduced God’s conclusion regarding the people’s failures. The idea of bringing a case against you includes legal language and appears elsewhere in the Prophets with the same sense (Hos. 4:1; Mic. 6:2). As in verse 3, this is the LORD’S declaration stresses the certainty of God’s pronouncement.
Including your children’s children highlights how the sin of God’s people had continued for generations. God determined the time was right to execute the judgment He had promised.
10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look. Send someone to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this: 11 Has a nation ever exchanged its gods? (But they were not gods!) Yet my people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
Jeremiah challenged God’s people to learn from their pagan neighbors. First, he instructed them to visit the coasts of Cyprus. The island of Cyprus is located off Israel’s Mediterranean coastline and was an important place in ancient times (Isa. 23:1; Ezek. 27:6). In the first century, Barnabas, one of the apostle Paul’s ministry partners, hailed from Cyprus (Acts 4:36).
Second, God instructed the people to send someone to Kedar. Bible interpreters believe Kedar was located in the desert region southeast of Judah. Its people may have been nomadic (Ps. 120:5; Jer. 49:28-29) and were significant during Isaiah’s ministry (Isa. 21:16).
The phrase translated consider carefully contains the nuance of discernment. God was about to ask His people an important question that they needed to ponder seriously. He invited them to visit these nations to find out if anything like this had ever happened. Clearly, what the Lord saw among His own people was quite unexpected.
The rhetorical question about whether nations have exchanged deities anticipated a negative response. Ancient nations might worship different gods, but they loyally followed those they worshiped. The Moabites worshiped Chemosh, while the Ammonites worshiped Milcom (1 Kings 11:7) and the Philistines worshiped Dagon (1 Sam. 5:2). Each had a god it considered supreme, but none swapped old gods for new ones. They simply added new ones to the list. Jeremiah was suggesting that if someone had asked Cyprus and Kedar to comment on Judah’s spiritual situation, these countries would have responded with amazement.
Of course, God and Jeremiah emphasized that even the deities that Judah’s neighbors worshiped were not gods at all. Ironically, God’s people knew the one and only true God, but they had switched their loyalty to useless idols. They exchanged what was real for a cheap and worthless imitation.
In fact, that was God’s primary indictment: they had exchanged their Glory for idols. In Him, God’s people had more than they ever needed. However, they settled for something useless.
12 Be appalled at this, heavens; be shocked and utterly desolated! This is the LORD’s declaration. 13 For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves—cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.
God continued the indictment by summoning another witness: the heavens. Heaven and earth provided reliable witnesses to what God and His people had done, for they were present for all of it (Deut. 30:19; Isa. 1:2). God further commanded the heavens to be shocked and utterly desolated. The verbs are strong words that describe extreme fear and amazement. Again, God’s declaration validated the truth of His words.
God accused Judah of a double evil. Each made little sense, but each carried painful consequences. First, God’s people had abandoned Him, the fountain of living water. The expression living water refers to water that came from underground channels. Springs offered the freshest and purest water and, in ancient times, often provided water for entire cities. Jerusalem, with its Gihon Spring, was a prime example. God compared His relationship to His people to this living and moving water. He had given them pure water for their thirst, but they had rejected His provision.
Second, instead of living water, the people had trusted in cracked cisterns that cannot hold water. A cistern was a reservoir that collected precipitation during Israel’s winter rainy season. People carved out underground cisterns in rock and cut channels that directed that rain water into the cistern to save for Israel’s arid summers. Visitors can see such channels in Jerusalem’s Old City streets even today.
Unfortunately, cisterns collect not only rain water, but also dirt, debris, and anything else the channeled water washes in. Consequently, cistern water was not as pure as spring water and, therefore, less desired. But Jeremiah noted that idols were the equivalent of cracked cisterns. If the bottom of a cistern cracked, the water would seep out, leaving only residue and muck behind. A cistern that was not water tight was worthless.
Jeremiah’s application was clear. God was living water to Judah. He would provide the best for them. However, the idols to which they had turned left them with only mud and muck.
Perhaps some of Judah’s citizens in Jeremiah’s day were not believers at all. Others likely started out solely following God before compromising their walk with Him by also worshiping idols. The Bible teaches that a Christian’s salvation is secure through faith in Jesus (Rom. 8:38-39). Nevertheless, it also teaches that if we are not faithful to God, we may miss out on many of the blessings He has for us.
Believers must guard against drifting away from God. Spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, and active participation in a local church help our relationship with Him remain strong and growing. However, neglecting these disciplines can lead to spiritual compromise and drifting from God. If we have strayed, God can and will restore us. We just need to repent and reaffirm our commitment to Him.
(In PSG, p. 26)
God
There is one and only one living and true God. (See Jer. 10:10; 1 Tim. 2:5.)
Use other Scripture to help understand a Bible passage.
Twice in Jeremiah 2, God charged His people with abandoning Him to follow worthless and useless idols (vv. 5,11). Compare Psalm 115:2-8; Isaiah 41:22-24,29; Jeremiah 10:8; and Hosea 9:10. How are idols described? How do these passages shed light on the idea that people become like what they worship?