Passage Reading: Jeremiah 3-5
In today’s passage, Jeremiah follows up his previous words with greater criticism of Israel and Judah for their idolatry and once again likens it to adultery (Jer. 3:1,6-10). Israel first forsook the Lord in favor of idol gods, and then Judah followed the example of the north. What made matters worse though, was their disingenuous repentance. They didn’t return to the Lord with their whole hearts, merely in pretense (3:10). Thus, the Lord sends Jeremiah with a message, calling them to turn from their wicked ways, desiring that their repentance would spring from the heart.
“Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord” (Jer. 3:12b-13).
Despite God’s call to repentance, the people didn’t listen, and so God’s promised judgment was sure. Yet, even in the midst of this, there was hope. For God promised that He wouldn’t make a full end of them (4:27; 5:10,18).
This passage today showcases the Lord’s incredible mercy which is an invitation to repentance. Judah refused correction and refused to repent (5:3) no matter how many prophets called out against them. They warned of the coming destruction; truly, so much of prophetic ministry was to turn the people from their sin before judgment came. It’s almost as if the bridge is out at the end of the road and the prophets’ message was, “Turn! Turn from the way you’re going! The bridge is out! Wake up! Turn! You’re heading for destruction!”
What is amazing in this, is that despite the adulteries of the people, the Lord is a gracious and merciful God. The people could find forgiveness if they would only realize their need for forgiveness and come to the Lord in repentance and seek His mercy. Judgment is sure, but so is forgiveness for those who turn to Him. The same is true in the New Testament! The first step of repentance is acknowledging that you’ve done wrong. You can’t claim you’re sorry if you aren’t willing to own up to wrongdoing! You can’t confess sin without acknowledging that it is in fact sin! Judah was unwilling to own up to their sins, they weren’t willing to confess, they wouldn’t even acknowledge what they were doing was wrong!
For those who have come to Christ, there has to be an initial acknowledgement of sin and repentance or else there would be no need of a Savior. It begins with a realization that I am a sinner that is utterly hopeless before God, and I need grace. That is the initial act of repentance, owning up to sin and acknowledging our need before God. We also know that repentance will continue throughout the Christian life to some extent, because none of us are perfect. The good news though, is that God is still a merciful God who will not bring about a full end.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
1 John 1:9, ESV
But if repentance truly involved a change of mind and acknowledgement that something is sinful, it will also necessarily produce fruit (see Matt. 3:8). If we realize something is sinful and confess it, the expectation is then that we won’t continue in it. Unfortunately, as we see in the text today, Judah wasn’t willing to do any of this. They wouldn’t acknowledge sin, and they certainly wouldn’t turn from it. So, they remained on the road to destruction until the captivity in Babylon.
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