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762. Bible Study: Jeremiah 2 (What God thinks about people who turn away from Him) · Faith by annm2705

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Jeremiah chapter 2. Dear Lord, please open our minds
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and let us receive what you intended by giving this
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information in scripture for us in the Bible we ask this in
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Jesus name. My study Bible says Israel
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forsakes God. That's the title given to this
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chapter. The word of the Lord came to me.
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Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem.
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This is what the Lord says. I remember the devotion of your
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youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the
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wilderness, through a land not sown.
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Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of His harvest.
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All who devoured her were held guilty and disaster overtook
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them, declares the Lord. So right there there's this
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really sounds a lot like what's in Revelation also in when Jesus
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it has when John has the vision and Jesus is there and he says
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to give a message to the churches and there's seven
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churches that he gives messages to.
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And this sounds very much like, I remember your original
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devotion and things have changed.
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He gives that message to the churches also.
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So God is the same today as he was.
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He doesn't change. And humanity does the same
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things over and over again as repeated through history.
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The Bible documents all of that. So we can learn from the
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mistakes that our ancestors made when we read the Bible, and we
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can learn from what God says about it.
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So here's what the study Bible says.
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How could Jeremiah get Oh, actually that was for chapter 1.
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So chapter 2, why did Jeremiah use so many disconnected images?
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Well, we haven't gotten to that yet, but I will read this.
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Why did Jeremiah mix together images of brides, polluted land,
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cisterns, runaway slaves, prostitutes, and she camels in
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heat? Probably because no single image
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could adequately express the depths of Judah sin, Jeremiah
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used many symbols, possibly delivered on separate occasions,
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but later collected together, each one picturing a different
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facet of the nation's deliberate unfaithfulness to God.
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God had made a covenant with Israel which the people had
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broken in the ways Jeremiah had described.
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How was Israel holy and 1st fruits of God's harvest?
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Holy means set apart for special use.
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Israel was chosen by God, set apart as the nation through
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which all nations would be blessed.
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And like the first vegetation harvest brought in during the
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harvest, Israel would be the First Nation among many to
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receive God's special blessings. Israel is still God's chosen.
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There are some in the Christian world who say otherwise today.
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And there is this like anti-Semitism that's going
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around the world right now. And the Bible predicts that as
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well. And but we just need to stay
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grounded in the word of God and not go along.
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If we see the whole world going after something, the majority of
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people are going in agreement on something which we are seeing,
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we are seeing the majority of the world coming against Israel.
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And that's when we know if the whole world is doing it, it's
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probably not in alignment with God because typically the whole
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world does not follow the ways of God.
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And God still has chosen Israel. Israel is not perfect, just like
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every single one of us is not perfect.
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And so it doesn't mean that God condones everything.
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When we go through this book of or this chapter of Jeremiah, it
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talks about how God is really disgusted by what they did.
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And God gets disgusted by what we do in our life at times as
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well. But the point isn't so much, I
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mean, it's it's pointing out like here's what you're doing,
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but it's pointing out the holiness of God, what God wants
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for each and every one of us and how we just like Israel, do bad
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things to God. And and it's, you know, it's
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just a wake up time for all of us to really reflect on our own
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lives. We can't control anyone else.
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So why don't we just look at our own lives and see what do we
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need to do to be more like who God created us to be?
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So anyway, I'll go back to what it says here.
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Let's see. I'll read one more question and
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answer, and then I'll continue in the scripture.
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Why were people attracted to worshipping idols?
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They probably believed that a God, a spiritual being, resided
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within each idol. But there have been many other,
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more practical concerns to stay on good terms with their
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Assyrian overlords. For example, the people of Judah
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had imported Assyrian idols. Thus, Josiah's decree against
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worshipping false gods was seen as more than a religious act.
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It was also a sign of political independence.
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Other popular practices, such as the fertility cults with their
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prostitutes appealed to the people's immoral desires.
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So of course the this'll this is, I don't know, they're that's
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always the weapon of choice. It seems like these appealing to
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the people's immoral desires. People have those desires, and
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when you can put those desires forth and say they're all good
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and out of context, then you can sway people to rebel against
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God. And that's what the enemy does.
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And we can see this here again. So it says, hear, hear the word
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of the Lord, You descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel,
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this is what the Lord says. What fault did your ancestors
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find in me that they strayed so far from me?
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That's a good question. Like why?
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Why do we go against God when God is good and he does good
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things for us and he promises us a future, an inheritance, you
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know, why is it that we rebel against him?
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It's a question we all should ask ourselves.
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They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
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They did not ask where is the Lord who brought us up out of
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Egypt and LED us through the barren wilderness, through a
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land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter
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darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives.
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So again, seeking God. There was a lack of seeking God.
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All of a sudden, you know, when things are going well, a lot of
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times we don't think about God. It's like when we get brought
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down low, that's when we start thinking about God again.
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And he's seeing that in Israel at this time, He was seeing that
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nobody's even seeking him. I brought you into a fertile
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land to eat its fruit and rich produce, but you came and
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defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.
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So taking something that is good that God gave and making it
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detestable, like doing things that God forbid, you know, like
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Jesus said, you know, what are the great 2 greatest
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commandments and #1 is love God Two, love your love people or
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love your neighbor. Those are the 2 greatest
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commandments. And the word love has been
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distorted by the world, by culture where people don't even
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know what love means. And God is love.
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And then Jesus said, if you love me, obey my commands.
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So somehow in our world, we don't, we no longer associate
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obedience to God's command as showing God's God love.
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All of a sudden we just like get into this rebellious place in
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the world where it's like, no, we don't need to obey his
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commands. That's being legalistic really.
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I mean, we just like we need to be in the word of God and
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reflect on what the word of God says.
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That's what happened with the the kings of Israel when in
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Deuteronomy you can read that the king of Israel was supposed
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to read from, I guess what I don't know if it was called the
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Torah at that time, but the books that Moses wrote, he was
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supposed to read on those daily. And you can see that Solomon
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didn't do that. That was what Solomon was
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supposed to do and he didn't do that.
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And then also it's reflected when you get to Josiah, I think
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he was, he was a young person, a young king, and all of a sudden
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he finds all these commands and things that they were supposed
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to be doing that they hadn't done, I don't know, probably for
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hundreds of years. And so then he repented on
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behalf of all of Israel and was, you know, saying we need to get
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back to God. Well, I, I don't know if that's
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where we are today too, is that, you know, we do have this
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generally worldly view that I, I hear it from people coming out
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of people's mouths who say they're Christians where, you
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know, we don't have to the, we don't have to obey God's
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commands. You know, we just, we're covered
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by grace and and I don't believe that's true.
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Yes, we will mess up here and there, but we're not going to
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keep on sinning because all you have to do is go to Hebrews
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chapter 10, verse 26, where it says basically, if you keep on
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sinning and you know you're doing that, then the only thing
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that you should expect from God is judgement.
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And it also calls that person an enemy of God.
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And it says that they're going to be going into the, I think
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the, I don't know, the lake of fire or the gnashing of teeth,
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Whatever the description that is in the Bible, it's pretty much
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like what hell is described as or eternal separation from God.
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That's what it describes. So be leery of anybody who
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emphasizes too much grace to cover up sin.
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Yes, it is there for the incidental, you know, I made a
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mistake kind of sin, but not for the habitual.
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I'm just going to keep on going because thank God for grace.
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That is an abuse of Jesus's death on the cross.
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It's disrespectful to God to think that.
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So anyway, God dealt with it back then and in in what we're
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reading right now, and he'll deal with it again in the
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future. But we need to wake up to the
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reality of what's in Scripture and not live our lives according
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to what the world says. But what God says, the priest
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did not ask. Where is the Lord?
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Those who deal with the law did not know me.
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The leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal
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following worthless idols. This one stood out to me because
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think about this. The prophets prophesied by Baal
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following worthless idols. So the prophets were getting
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information from who? Baal.
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Baal, that's a, that's a spiritual thing.
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That's the word for Lord. And it's not God.
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It's not the God. And it's just like Elijah when
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he was saying Lord, there's, you know, no one that is with me.
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All of these others, there were people prophesying and they were
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prophesying because of Baal and Elijah.
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All right, yeah. Elijah had a showdown with them
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and said, you know, let your God, you know, light this fire.
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And then he proved who the true God was.
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And because he doused this place that they were going to sacr,
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make a sacrifice on Elijah did and he doused it with water and
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he called on God and the fire consumed the water and the
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sacrifice. His sacrifice was the only
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sacrifice that worked. The other prophets, and there
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were thousands of them are hundreds of them.
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There were a lot of them that were prophets of Baal and and it
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was a showdown. It was like who's who's God is
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the real God. So they were really struggling
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with this. And again to in support of how I
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came to this theory that, you know, there is this evil entity
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that is behind so much of these other religion things that do
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not name that do not accept Jesus is because this is what
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happened in the past. They there were spiritual
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entities that I mean, even the study Bible says as there were
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spiritual entities probably that presented themselves as
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something supernatural, as something godly and caused
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people to worship them to turn away from God.
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And and these people were even getting information prophecies
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by bell. So it's, it's just, you know,
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how deceptive, that's what I guess I take away from this is
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how deceptive the enemy can be and how ignorant people can be
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to not see the deception. And it's just like open your
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eyes because the enemy is still at work.
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The enemy is still trying to get us.
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But we don't have to be fearful. All we have to do is turn to
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God, to the true God. And God is our protection.
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We trust in him. We don't have any fear of
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anything else. And it's just a matter of we
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need to turn to God. And thankfully, we're actually
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seeing a lot of that today as a result of some horrific things
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that have happened. People do seem to be turning
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towards God. And I just hope that that
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continues and that people stay close to God because I think we
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are in really critical times where deception is really high,
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a very high level with technology that we have.
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And I think we need to be grounded in the word of God and
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truly know God. It does say in Scripture that
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when Jesus returns, he will say to some, I never knew you.
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And they will even say that they prophesied in his name.
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So they were, you know, saying in Jesus name, they were
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prophesying, but they weren't hearing from Jesus.
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So I think we actually see some evidence of that in the world
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today with some things that have recently happened.
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So it's just a word of warning to make sure that you are close
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to God and another just stay in the word of God.
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And anyway, let's just get back to Scripture and the study
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Bible. So it continues in Scripture.
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Therefore, I will bring charges against you again, declares the
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Lord, and I will bring charges against your children's
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children. Crossover to the coast of Cyprus
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and look, send to Kedar and observe closely.
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See if there has ever been anything like this.
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Has a nation ever changed its gods?
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Yet they are not gods at all, but My people have exchanged
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their glorious God for worthless idols.
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Be appalled at this you heavens, and shudder with great horror
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declares the Lord. My people have committed 2 sins.
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They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have
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dug their own cistern, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
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Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth?
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Why then has he become plunder? Lions have roared, they have
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growled at him, they have laid waste his land.
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His towns are burned and deserted.
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Also the men of Memphis and Tapanos have cracked your skull.
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Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord
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your God when He led you in this in the way?
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So this is something else that I think we should pay attention
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to. Have you not brought this on
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yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when he led you in the
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way? So God shows us the way when we
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forsake him, when we turn away from him and do our way, not his
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way, we can we bring on disaster.
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I mean, that's like, if you want to learn something from
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Scripture, it's really clear that when you turn away from
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God, there will be God's trying to get you to come back to him.
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So there's going to be some hardships that come your way.
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So it's really clear in Scripture and people don't see
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it. And I think the study Bible kind
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of addresses that too. Now, why go to Egypt to drink
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from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink
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from the Euphrates? Your wickedness will punish you.
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Your backsliding will rebuke you.
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Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you
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when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me.
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You know, like the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
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When people are in their rebellion, they don't have any
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fear of God. They're like, I'm fine.
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And that's the same. That's what Israel was like.
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They didn't think there was anything wrong.
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And then they probably wonder, like, why are these bad things
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happening to me, declares the Lord the Almighty.
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Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your buns.
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You said, I will not serve you. Indeed, on every high hill and
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under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute, I had
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planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock.
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How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, vile vine?
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What a corrupt wild vine. Although you wash yourself with
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soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of
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your guilt is still before me, declares the sovereign Lord.
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How can you say I am not defiled?
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I have not run after the bales. See how you have behaved in the
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valley. Consider what you have done.
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You are a swift she camel running here and there, a wild
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donkey, accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her
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craving, in her heat, who can restrain her.
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Any male that pursues her need not tire themselves at mating
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time. They will find her.
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Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry.
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But you said it's no use. I love foreign gods, and I must
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go after them. As a thief is disgraced when he
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is caught, so the people of Israel are disgraced.
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They their kings and their officials, their priests and
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their prophets. They say to Wood you are my
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father, and to Stone you gave me birth.
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They have turned their backs to me and not their faces.
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Yet when they are in trouble they say come and save us.
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Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?
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Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble.
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For you, Judah, have so have as many gods as you have towns.
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Why do you bring charges against me?
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You have all rebelled against me, declares the Lord.
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In vain I punished your people. They did not respond to
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correction. Your sword has devoured your
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prophets like a ravenous lion. You of this generation, consider
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the word of the Lord. Have I been a desert to Israel
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or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say we are free
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to roam, we will come to you no more.
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Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride, her wedding
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ornaments, Yet my people have forgotten me?
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Days without number. How skilled you are at pursuing
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love. Even the worst of women can
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learn from your ways. On your clothes is found the
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life, the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did
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not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all of this, you
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say I am innocent. He is not angry with me, but I
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will pass judgement on you because you say I have not
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sinned. Why do you go about so much
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changing your ways? You will be disappointed by
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Egypt as you were by Assyria. You will also leave that place
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with your hands on your head. For the Lord has rejected those
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you trust. You will not be helped by them.
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And that's the end of chapter 2. So I'll read the questions and
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answers and then we'll finish this.
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So why did God accuse innocent grandchildren?
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This probably expresses the idea that Judah sins would have long
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lasting consequences affecting generations to come.
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This was in fact, exactly what happened.
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Judah was exiled for multiple generations.
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It could mean that just as God would contend with the present
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generation of sinners, He would also contend with future
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generations of sinners. Why would anyone choose a
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cistern over a fresh spring? This was Jeremiah's point
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precisely. In the parched land of Israel,
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cool spring water was extremely rare and highly valued.
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Most people had to use cisterns hewed out of rock to store
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water. Despite their value, cisterns
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presented challenges. They could leak, their limited
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supply could run dry, and they could be polluted by bugs or
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carcasses. No one would deliberately choose
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a cistern if a clean spring with freshwater were available.
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Yet Judah and deserting God had abandoned A gushing spring of
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living water for a leaking cistern.
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Who were the lions that had roared?
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The lion was a symbol of power and ferocity.
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The roaring lions mentioned here probably refer to Assyria, the
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dominant nation of the time. The dominant nation of the time,
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Assyria invaded the northern nation of Israel, destroying it
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in 722 BC. It's ominous, threatening roars
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could still be heard in nearby Judah when Jeremiah prophesied a
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century later. Why did these men crack the
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skull of Israel? Memphis and Tapanus, cities of
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ancient Egypt, symbolized the whole nation of Egypt, just as
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Washington, DC is understood in certain contexts to represent
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the United States. This passage possibly describes
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Josiah's humiliating defeat at the hands of the Egyptian under
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Nikko in six O 9 BC, and you can find that in Second Kings
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chapter 23. How good was ancient hygiene?
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Pretty good. Soda or sodium bicarbonate or
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more cost or more. Caustic sodium hydroxide, known
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as Lye, can be found in natural deposits much like rock salt.
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Since ancient times, soda has been used for cleaning,
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including dissolving grease and eliminating odors.
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Soda, made by combining fats with ashes, was used to wash
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away oils which attract dirt. Jeremiah's point was simply that
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the best cleaning agents available cannot remove the
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stains of sin. What had they done in the
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valley? This was exact.
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This was likely Jeremiah's way of recalling the people's
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participation in various Pagan rituals.
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Child sacrifice and other detestable practices were
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carried out in the valley of Ben Hinnom, just outside Jerusalem.
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Or the phrase might have been simply used simply to set the
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scene for the following metaphor of the She camel.
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How had the people behave like a wild donkey?
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A wild donkey in heat behaves erratically, chasing after male
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donkeys in a violent and uncontrolled manner and is
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unable to be restrained in her lustful state.
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As vulgar as this image may be, it vividly describes Judah's
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unbridled lust for other gods, which she act actively pursued
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with no regard for the Lord. She had become uncontrollable
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and irrational for getting the past goodness the Lord had shown
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her. Why did the people bring charges
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against God? They probably blamed God for not
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protecting them from defeat in their recent battle against
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Egypt. They may have also been accusing
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God of neglecting Judah and permitting the nation to be made
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subject to Assyria. But God answered Judah's charges
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with his own charge. You have all rebelled against
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me. What had Judah done to the poor?
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Innocent lives were being lost, probably as a result of social
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injustice or perhaps due to the practice of child sacrifice.
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There was no defense for such atrocities.
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Why does it matter that they did not catch them breaking in?
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The blood staining Judas clothes showed that the nation had taken
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part in violence. If the bloodshed had been the
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result of burglary, then they would have been acute.
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Then they could not have been accused of murder because they
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had killed in self-defense. The point is that Judah had no
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justification for her actions and was deserving of the Lord's
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wrath despite her claims of innocence.
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How had Judah been disappointed? In the past, on more than one
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occasion, Judah had looked to other nations, including
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Assyria, for political and military support, only to be
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betrayed by those they had hoped would help them.
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God wanted His people to trust Him, not the military powers of
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foreign nations. Guess we can all learn from that
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too, that we just should all trust in God, in everything, in
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every aspect of our lives. And that concludes Chapter 2.