Passage Reading: Jeremiah 1-2
As we saw in Isaiah, Jeremiah is a specially chosen prophet of the Lord. Isaiah answered God’s call, and here we see at the outset that Jeremiah likewise answered God’s call to him. He was appointed to be, “a prophet to the nations” before he was even formed in his mother’s womb! (Jer. 1:5).
Jeremiah’s ministry comes at an important time in Israel’s history during the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. It extended from King Josiah’s rule into the captivity after Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. Jeremiah will be a testimony of consistent faithfulness to Yahweh and incredible obedience to a hard calling when Judah was steeped in idolatrous sin.
Jeremiah’s initial message that we see in chapter two is a confrontation of Judah regarding their unfaithfulness to God, despite His faithfulness to them. He briefly recalls the early days, when Israel was largely faithful (2:2-3) but quickly transitions into their faithlessness (2:5-6). Although God brought them into a good land (2:7) they rejected Him. The priests, the shepherds, the prophets, rejected Him 2:8). Even though no other peoples of that time had forsaken their false gods and remained loyal to them, Israel, who alone worshipped the true and living God, did (2:11).
God, through Jeremiah, criticizes the people in many terms. For one, they’d forsaken Him, the fountain of living waters, and instead hewed out cisterns or containers that were broken and unable to contain water. They had access to a fountain! A fountain of living water! Yet, they rejected Him in favor of a broken container that can’t hold even ordinary water. God also refers to their idolatry in marital terms by referring to Judah’s actions by saying they, “bowed down like a whore” (2:20). An example used many times in the Scripture. Israel and Judah’s unfaithfulness broke the heart of God. They were so senseless as to accumulate gods in the number of their cities (2:28) there was no exclusive loyalty to Yahweh anymore.
I often wonder how He must feel today. Israel lost sight of how their worship was supposed to be an exclusive possession of God and they shared it with other lovers, so to speak. Clearly, they forgot that the very first commandment of the big 10 was concerning loyalty to God!
“You shall have no other gods before me”
Exodus 20:3, ESV
If this was foundational before all the rest, how could you forget that one?
But it makes me wonder, how often do the people of God in the present fall prey to the same traps, perhaps without realizing it? How often do we find ourselves devoting our lives to other interests? Are we faithful to the Lord as our only Lord? Or do we have competing interests with desires for wealth, success, prosperity? These are just some of the many gods of our present age.
Jeremiah displays what it looks like to be faithful when the culture around him was faithless. The people of Judah served other gods and as such God (in fulfillment of His promise) sends them into captivity. Jeremiah pleaded with them all along the way, but the people never listened. I don’t know if we would have been faithful then, but hopefully we will be today.
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