“If a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man's wife,
will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
declares the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have the forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now called to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 will he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.”
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”
11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
“‘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.
13 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.
14 Return, O faithless children,
declares the Lord;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
15 “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
19 “‘I said,
How I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beautiful of all nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20 Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.’”
21 A voice on the bare heights is heard,
the weeping and pleading of Israel's sons
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, O faithless sons;
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
for you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills are a delusion,
the orgies on the mountains.
Truly in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 3 ESV
Jeremiah 3 Faithless Israel
1If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house. 2If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if he dies,…
4then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.… Deuteronomy 24: 1-4
1-5. Would not that land be greatly polluted - Marriage was a sacred institute, established by God, and therefore belonging to Him. Divorce should not be considered a light thing, and so this is not written in opposition to forgiveness, but rather opposing those that would sell out that which is set apart as holy.
“This law, which forbade a divorced couple to reunite, was aimed against what would amount to virtually lending one’s partner to another…it would degrade not only her but marriage itself and the society that accepted such a practice.” (Kidner)
By the waysides you have sat - You didn't accidentally trip along the way, no, you were proactive in your sin, and sought out other gods. They weren't picky either, prostituting themselves everywhere along the way. Look, there is someone sitting on top of that knoll with his legs crossed, he says he has looked deep inside himself and found the answers to life, and so you follow. I remember my mother warning us about drunkenness, drugs and fornication, but I saw people doing it and achieving a state of happiness. The first time I tried all those things nothing bad really happened, repercussions came much later, but looking back, that shouldn't have been my measure. What did God say? Satan asked, "hath God said?" He didn't care what God said, but he wanted to sew doubt about what God said, and what was His intent in saying it. Israel, God's chosen people, no longer cared what God said, but rather how they felt about a thing, what it looked like to them. They were more afraid of missing out on what the world suggested were the keys to happiness. Like everyone says now, "I just want you to be happy."
You refuse to be ashamed - The heavens were sealed up, yet they had done rain dances, buried little saints in their fields, like St. Isidore or St. Medardus. They had gone to mediums, the prophets of Baal, broken the ten commandments, and now they would ask God's favor, but unrepentant. Pride says, "yeah, I did that, and so what, yes, that was me, but I am not sorry." Lets just get this over with, I will sacrifice a bull, and say some empty words, and then You open up the skies, heal our diseases and give us a good crop this year. They didn't want God, they wanted a genie in a bottle.
…5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? 6But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “ God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.… James 4: 5-7
6-11. In the days of King Josiah - Now Josiah was a good king as kings go, but even in his time of reform, the hearts of the people were still not turned towards God. When Josiah falls so does their morality with him.
Have you seen what she did - God is talking through Jeremiah to Judah, about the northern tribes of Israel. When she split from Judah many forsook the temple and true worship, for an alternative offered by king Jeroboam. He made idols for the people of the northern kingdom to worship, removed Levitical priests and set up his own. Jeroboam was afraid that the people of the northern tribes would not be under his control if they still went to Jerusalem to worship. It is a sad legacy, his name comes up often, but always as a disgrace, "he sinned or walked in the ways of Jeroboam."
33In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years. 34And Baasha did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. 1 Kings 15: 33-34
Her treacherous sister Judah saw it - Judah witnessed the apostasy of northern Israel, some of the northern tribes had even fled to Judah to escape it, but for all her knowledge, having Jerusalem, the temple, and Levitical priests, yet Judah becomes a whore just like her sister, but worse. Let's think about this, when we have the word of God still available to us, the temple and it's history, and certainly Judah had her share of bad kings, but more good reigns than the northern kingdom ever had, now what excuses do we have left. We saw that Israel forsook God and she was taken away by Assyria into captivity, but we have also been warned by Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, yet we spilled their blood in the hopes that their words would die with them.
But in pretense - "You worshiped Me with your lips, but your hearts were far from Me."
12-18. Proclaim these words towards the north - Judah, the south, proves herself no better than her sister, worse even if we consider Judah's blessings, so God tells the prophet to call to the north. Here comes the gospel.
Return, faithless Israel - Repent, it means to turn away from sin and delusion, from self righteousness and empty religion.
…15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” 17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”… Matthew 4: 15-17
For I am merciful - You are faithless, you are vile, wretched, so there is no work fitting for you, no goodness, but this is all a call of grace.
…7in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast.… Ephesians 2: 7-9
Only confess your guilt - Seems simple enough, acknowledge the load and I will take it off your back. The problem with the discussion of sin is that people fall into two general categories, they don't see themselves as sinners or they don't see their sin as cosmic treason against a holy God, not worth the mention. Look at the cross for clarification, it doesn't matter what you think about it or how you grade it, in order for God to show mercy to me, He had to endure the curse of the tree, the disrespect of the religious and Rome. He had to pick up this cross, be ridiculed with perfect composer, not allowing any moment to escape Him, refusing to even whisper to the legions of angels. For the love of God, try to see, look past yourself, your sin was that heinous to Him.
…8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.… 1 John 1: 8-10
“True confession, unfortunately, is a harrowing and humiliating experience, and thus seldom encountered, whether in individuals or nations.” (Harrison)
iii. “In his days there had been great reform outwardly. The king had wrought with a true passion for righteousness, but as Huldah, the prophetess, had told him, the reforms, so far as the people were concerned, were unreal, they did not touch the deepest things in life.” (Morgan)
And I will give you shepherds after My own heart - The priests and politicians had been a disappointment. The northern kingdom had slipped into dark ages. It doesn't take long. Adam and Eve knew the true God, walked with Him, so even after they fell they could tell very clearly what happened, and they lived a long time, but one of their sons became the first murderer, killing his brother. Cain wanted God to accept what he wanted to give, but without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. God didn't accept his sacrifice, and Cain killed Abel out of pride and jealousy. The time of Noah wasn't long after this, but the earth was full of violence and people had it in their hearts to do evil all the time. It wasn't that they didn't have the testimony of the truth, but they hated the truth. 8 people built an ark and got into it right before God brought a world wide flood that would destroy Cain's line. These 8 people were saved by God and knew that to be the case, but not long after Ham dishonored his father. God told them to spread out, to disperse and fill the earth, but instead they had chosen to follow a leader, Nimrod, and build a tower that reached into the heavens. They had their own manmade religion, and even though God had said He would not destroy the earth by flood again, maybe they thought they could build higher than those waters, or come against the throne of heaven. Let's be honest with ourselves, the weak shepherds, the wicked ones that perform on stages even now, they have those platforms because we built them for them. They are seeing a niche, itching ears, and they are willing to scratch that itch, to preach softly and defile the things of God, to lead you astray so that you will be following them, enriching their purses and egos. But look here, if you will humble yourself, repent, admit your wrong doing, desire the pure milk of the word, He will send you real preachers, shepherds that will defend against the wolves.
…10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.… John 10: 10-12
In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel - What had been split up long ago, had known civil wars and unrest, shall be reunited in the land. This looks forward to the Millennial reign of Messiah, and must have seemed unlikely considering the Assyrian captivity, the coming Babylonian captivity, and the bad relations between north and south.
19-25. So you have been treacherous to me - The charge, and this is the way of good shepherds, the hirelings would never preach to such conviction, you have dealt falsely with God, and here God gives Jeremiah the whole counsel to pass along, but look at the fruit.
The weeping and pleading of Israel's sons - Ah, true conviction, so then true revival, and this was not offered by golden calves, high places, and indulgences. God had His man speak the truth boldly, and the fruit of it will not even be known in his time, but what a beautiful and comforting glimpse to the prophet who will have one of the most difficult messages to deliver. He sees a future Israel repenting, mourning over their sin.
I will heal your faithlessness - Faith is truly a gift.
…25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.… Ezekiel 36: 25-27
Truly the hills are a delusion - They are denouncing their apostasy, their hope in following their feelings, finding their own way, being "spiritual", thinking themselves righteous in themselves. They are tearing down the high places in their own hearts, this other gospel that cannot save. They want the one true God, Creator of all, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Let us lie down in our shame - It is a full confession, much like Isaiah 53, and shame is another weapon waiting, a roaring of a lion too old to fight, but we can't see that he is already fettered and caged. Do not let shame keep you from confession, do not let it keep you from that forgiveness that is waiting open armed on the other side.
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.… Hebrews 12: 1-3
…36What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”… Mark 8: 36-38
…10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved. 11It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” 12For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,… Romans 10: 10-12
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