Return to Me
Jeremiah 2
37 verses≈ 8 minBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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Where we are
- 1The callJosiah’s thirteenth year (about 627 BC): a prophet to the nations
- 2–6Return to MeBroken cisterns, faithless Judah, disaster from the northChapter 2
- 7–10The temple gateThe temple sermon, a weeping prophet, the living God
- 11–20Covenant and complaintThe broken covenant, the potter, Jeremiah’s confessions
- 21–29Shepherds and prophetsKings judged, the Branch, seventy years, the yoke, the letter
- 30–33The Book of ComfortRestoration, the new covenant, a field bought in a siege
- 34–39The last days of JudahThe scroll burned, the cistern, Jerusalem falls (586 BC)
- 40–45After the fallGedaliah at Mizpah, the flight to Egypt, a word for Baruch
- 46–51The nationsEgypt to Babylon: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
- 52Jerusalem fallsThe record of 586 BC, and a king released
Israel Has Forsaken God
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God
Israel was holy to the LORD,
the firstfruits of His harvest.
All who devoured her
were found guilty;
disaster came upon them,’”
declares the LORD.
Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel. This is what the LORD says:
“What fault did your fathers find in Me
that they strayed so far from Me?
They followed worthless idols,
and became worthless themselves.
I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and bounty,
but you came and defiled My land
and made My inheritance detestable.
The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the LORD?’
The experts in the law no longer knew Me,
and the leaders rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed useless idols.
Therefore, I will contend with you again,
declares the LORD,
and I will bring a case
against your children’s children.
Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus
and take a look;
send to Kedar and consider carefully;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But My people have exchanged their Glory
for useless idols.
Be stunned by this, O heavens;
be shocked and utterly appalled,”
declares the LORD.
“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
the fountain of living water,
and they have dug their own cisterns—
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Question
Quick question
Two evils, one picture. Look again at what the LORD calls Himself.
What does the LORD call Himself in 2:13?
The Consequence of Israel’s Sin
The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have shaved the crown of your head.
Have you not brought this on yourself
by forsaking the LORD your God
when He led you in the way?
God
Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
What will you gain on your way to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Your own evil will discipline you;
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Consider and realize
how evil and bitter it is
for you to forsake the LORD your God
and to have no fear of Me,”
declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
“For long ago you broke your yoke
and tore off your chains,
saying, ‘I will not serve!’
Indeed, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you lay down as a prostitute.
God
Although you wash with lye
and use an abundance of soap,
the stain of your guilt
is still before Me,”
declares the Lord GOD.
Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
Egypt or Assyria
West to Cyprus, east to Kedar: no nation swaps its gods. Judah ran to Egypt and to Assyria instead.
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;
I have not run after the Baals’?
Look at your behavior in the valley;
acknowledge what you have done.
You are a swift young she-camel
galloping here and there,
a wild donkey at home in the wilderness,
sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire.
Who can restrain her passion?
All who seek her need not weary themselves;
in mating season they will find her.
You should have kept your feet from going bare
and your throat from being thirsty.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless!
For I love foreign gods,
and I must go after them.’
Why do you bring a case against Me?
You have all rebelled against Me,”
declares the LORD.
“I have struck your sons in vain;
they accepted no discipline.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a voracious lion.”
You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’? Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
How skillfully you pursue love!
Even the most immoral of women
could learn from your ways.
Moreover, your skirts are stained
with the blood of the innocent poor,
though you did not find them breaking in.
But in spite of all these things
you say, ‘I am innocent.
Surely His anger will turn from me.’
Behold, I will judge you,
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
How impulsive you are,
constantly changing your ways!
You will be disappointed by Egypt
just as you were by Assyria.
Moreover, you will leave that place
with your hands on your head,
for the LORD has rejected those you trust;
you will not prosper by their help.”
0:18
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
Pray
Pray
LORD, You are the fountain of living water, and I have dug cisterns that crack. Forgive me for running to what cannot hold. Bring me back to the spring, and let me never forget You. Amen.
You’ve experienced
Jeremiah 2
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A verse to carry with you
For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Jeremiah 2:13
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