Jeremiah 3:1-25 NIV
1“If a man divorces his wife
and she
leaves him and marries another man,
should
he return to her again?
Would
not the land be completely defiled?
But you
have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—
would
you now return to ME?”
Declares The Lord.
Is
there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the
roadside you sat waiting for lovers,
sat
like a nomad in the desert.
You
have defiled the land
with
your prostitution and wickedness.
3Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and no
spring rains have fallen.
Yet you
have the brazen look of a prostitute;
you
refuse to blush with shame.
4Have you not just called to ME:
‘my
FATHER, my Friend from my youth,
5Will YOU always Be Angry?
Will Your
Wrath continue forever?’
This is
how you talk,
but you
do all the evil you can.”
Unfaithful Israel
“Have you seen what faithless
Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading
tree and has committed adultery there. 7I thought that after she had done all this she would return to ME
but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her
away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah
had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she
defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return
to ME with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares The Lord.
11The Lord Said to me, “Faithless Israel is more
righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12Go, proclaim this message toward the north:
“ ‘Return,
faithless Israel,’ Declares The Lord,
‘I Will Frown On you no longer,
for I AM
Faithful,’ Declares The Lord,
‘I Will Not Be Angry forever.
13Only acknowledge your guilt—
you
have rebelled against The Lord your GOD,
you
have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under
every spreading tree,
and
have not obeyed ME,’ ”
Declares The Lord.
“For I AM your Husband. I Will Choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and Bring you to Zion. 15Then I Will Give you shepherds after My Own Heart, who will lead
you with knowledge and understanding.
16In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the
land,” Declares The Lord, “people
will no longer say, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of The Lord.’ It will never enter their
minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made.
17At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of The Lord, and all nations will gather
in Jerusalem to honor The Name of The Lord.
No longer
will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18In those days the people of Judah will join the people of
Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave
your ancestors as an inheritance.
19“I Myself Said,
“ ‘How
gladly would I treat you like My children
and
give you a pleasant land,
the
most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’
I
thought you would call ME ‘FATHER’
and not
turn away from following ME.
20But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
so you,
Israel, have been unfaithful to ME,”
Declares The Lord.
21A cry is heard on the barren heights,
the
weeping and pleading of the people of Israel,
because
they have perverted their ways
and
have forgotten The Lord their GOD.
22“Return, faithless people;
I Will Cure you of backsliding.”
“Yes,
we will come to YOU,
For YOU Are The Lord our GOD.
23Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills
and
mountains is a deception;
Surely In The Lord our GOD
Is the
Salvation of Israel.
24From our youth shameful gods have consumed
the
fruits of our ancestors’ labor—
their
flocks and herds,
their
sons and daughters.
25Let us lie down in our shame,
and let
our disgrace cover us.
We have
sinned against The Lord our GOD,
both we
and our ancestors;
from
our youth till this day
we have
not obeyed The Lord our GOD.”
In this chapter the sins of the people of Israel and Judah are
exposed; particularly their idolatry, signified by playing the harlot; which is
aggravated by the number of lovers or idols they had worshiped; by the many
places where they had committed it; by their impudence in doing it; and by the
bad consequence of it, showers of rain being withheld from them on that
account, Jeremiah
3:1 and the Grace of GOD towards them is abundantly declared
by frequent calls unto them to repent and turn to Him, and this after putting
them away, which is not usual, Jeremiah 3:1,
The Lord expostulates with them, and puts words into their mouths, what they
should say to Him, even after they had spoken and done as evil things as they
could, Jeremiah
3:4
The sin of Judah is particularly aggravated, by having seen what
Israel, or the ten tribes, had done; their impenitence, notwithstanding the Divine
Call; their going into captivity for their sin; and yet all this had no effect
on Judah, to restrain them from the like sins, and to engage them to
repentance; so that, of the two, the men of Judah were most to blame, Jeremiah 3:6,
wherefore the prophet is bid to go towards the north, where Babylon lay, and
Israel were carried captive, and call upon them to return to The Lord, and proclaim
His Grace and Mercy to them, only insisting upon an acknowledgment of their
sins, their idolatry and disobedience, Jeremiah 3:12
And next the call to them to return is repeated; to which they
are encouraged by observing the relations, they stood in to JEHOVAH, which
continued, by promising to bring a remnant of them to Zion, and give them
shepherds/pastors approved of by Him, and profitable to them, Jeremiah 3:14 which
respect Gospel times, and the latter day, when the Ceremonial Law would be
abrogated, Jeremiah
3:16, the Gentiles called, Jeremiah 3:17 and
an entire agreement between Judah and Israel, Jeremiah 3:18 and
yet The Lord Expresses a concern how HE Should Reckon them as His children, and Treat them as such, who had behaved so bad towards Him; but His Grace Gets Over
the difficulties; finds out a way, by putting it into their mouths to call Him
their FATHER, and not turn away from Him, Jeremiah 3:19
And this, notwithstanding their great treachery to Him,
perversion of their ways, and forgetfulness of The Lord, Jeremiah 3:20,
and they are again exhorted to repent and turn, with a promise of healing their backsliding, which has such an effect upon them, as to engage them to come to
Him, Jeremiah
3:22 acknowledging their salvation is only in
Him, and not in their idols; and that sin was the cause of all their calamities;
and that shame and confusion of face belonged to them on that account, Jeremiah 3:23.
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