Slices
Prepare
I have titled this note ‘Jilted God’. How do you react? Pray that you may gain an insight into God’s heart.
Bible passage
Israel forsakes God
2 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ‘Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
‘This is what the Lord says:
‘“I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness,
through a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
and disaster overtook them,”’
declares the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
‘What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, “Where is the Lord,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?”
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
“Where is the Lord?”
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.
9 ‘Therefore I bring charges against you again,’
declares the Lord.
‘And I will bring charges against your children’s children.
10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
send to Kedar and observe closely;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
11 has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for worthless idols.
12 Be appalled at this, you heavens,
and shudder with great horror,’
declares the Lord.
13 ‘My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
14 Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth?
Why then has he become plunder?
15 Lions have roared;
they have growled at him.
They have laid waste his land;
his towns are burned and deserted.
16 Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have cracked your skull.
17 Have you not brought this on yourselves
by forsaking the Lord your God
when he led you in the way?
18 Now why go to Egypt
to drink water from the Nile?
And why go to Assyria
to drink water from the Euphrates?
19 Your wickedness will punish you;
your backsliding will rebuke you.
Consider then and realise
how evil and bitter it is for you
when you forsake the Lord your God
and have no awe of me,’
declares the Lord,
the Lord Almighty.
Explore
This is painful reading. God reminds Judah of her history. There were good times, but they are gone. The marriage has turned sour (v 2). Judah is no longer devoted to God (v 3). She has turned to worthless idols (vs 5,8). The climax is in verse 13. They have turned from the source of life and have tried to live in their own strength which proves totally inadequate. No other nation would dream of giving up on its gods, worthless though they are (v 11), but Judah has deserted the living God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt into a rich and fertile land.
This is humanity’s sad story from Eden onwards: turning from God and believing that we can run our lives, we lose contact with the only source of life. Here we see the pain this causes God and we shall meet it again. How do we feel about the way that our world responds to God?
Judgement is never something that God wants; it is something that we bring on ourselves (v 19). It causes God pain. However much we shrink from it, it is a reality that we cannot ignore.
Respond
Take a few moments to reflect on the pain that God feels when people turn their backs on him. As you begin to sense something of his grief, pray for your community.
Deeper Bible study
Bring to mind the moment you came to faith. Thank God for the people, the place and the realisation involved in that experience.
My wife and I recently celebrated our golden wedding anniversary. We are happily married after 50 years. This, sadly, is not the situation pictured here. The young love and early devotion to God (v 2) of the nation of Israel have not merely waned, they have been wilfully torn to shreds. Evil is rampant, vividly symbolised as dry wells (v 13), wild, uncultivated vines (v 21) and lustful, indiscriminate adultery (vs 23,24,33). As the injured party, God asks, ‘What did I do wrong? Did I not treat you right?’ (see vs 5,6,8). He says that no other nation changes its gods (vs 10,11) and points to the consequences already experienced by the northern kingdom (Israel) of this breakdown (vs 14‑17). In the end he focuses on the nub of the matter: ‘you … have no awe of me’ (v 19). This is not just a human relationship. This is the fearful Lord, your God.
Jeremiah is commanded to proclaim this word in public to the whole city of Jerusalem. A response is required from each citizen. However, the message is directed particularly at those who have influence and decision-making power within the nation: the priests, the Levites (the law-givers), the rulers and the prophets (v 8). It’s concerned with politics, bipartisan treaties with pagan neighbours (v 18), national and international issues. Again, he is implying that this is not merely a human issue. This is the Lord their God.
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’.1 It’s right to remember that our relationship with God, precious and comforting as it may be, is more than an emotional attachment. We are privileged to love, to follow and to obey the one who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
Meditate on what God has the power and the right to do, to you and the whole of this world. Thank him for Jesus, who makes us his children.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Judges 21; Mark 7
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the Gap Year scheme run by Local Mission Partner Scripture Union Ministries Trust on the Isle of Man, for recruitment, and wisdom to know what changes need to be made as they have moved away from community living. Pray for the staff team – Ruth Walker, Hannah Grove, Sue Yardy, Linda Wildman, Kelly Taylor and Hannah Elphick.
