Come Back, Backsliders

Good morning. My name is Sean. If you're a guest here with us, I'm one of the pastors of Trinity

Cambridge Church, and I have the privilege of bringing God's Word to you on most Sundays.

And today, as Ruth read from, we're in Jeremiah 2, 1 to 4, 4, but because it's a long passage,

I didn't read, we didn't read the whole thing. But that means as I'm preaching, because I'm

preaching from the whole passage, I will be reading extended portions of it from God's Word.

And so I really encourage you to open your Bibles if you haven't already. Don't rely,

because I'm not going to be putting the main passage of Scripture on the screen. And I know

some of you guys might find that a little bit frustrating. Like, why doesn't he just preach?

Why does he have to keep going back to the Bible and read all this? Just tell us what it says. But

that it's a strong conviction of mine that it's God's Word that is efficacious unto our salvation,

not my words. And my words are just unpacking God's Word so that the effect of God's Word bears on us.

And that's why in 1 Timothy, in Paul's letter to Timothy, Paul says,

devote yourselves to the public reading of Scripture and to exhortation and to teaching.

Not just to exhortation and teaching, to the reading of Scripture, because it's God's Word that is

effective in changing our lives. So please be patient with me. I'll refer you back to Scripture

and go with me and read with me as I go. You've all heard the phrase, oh, it's nothing personal.

And ironically, sometimes people say that to you before they hurl their most personal criticisms at you.

As if merely saying it's not personal now gives them the license to vent all of their frustrations and anger.

And sometimes we think of our offenses against God, our sins, in the same exact way. We think of sin in

this abstract, impersonal terms. And we say, oh, it's nothing personal, God. I love you and I think

you're great, but I really can't resist this. I really need this right now. And we sin.

But today's passage talks about sin in concrete and intensely personal terms. Sin is not an

abstract. It's always personal. It's an offense against. To sin is to choose something or someone

instead of God and to take concrete steps away from God. And for that reason, all who sin must truly,

genuinely, wholeheartedly return to God. That's the main point of this passage. That those who have turned

away from the Lord must return to Him wholeheartedly. And we'll see that in two parts. First, we'll talk

about how Israel turned away in chapter 2. And then we'll talk about how Israel should return to Him

in chapters 3 and the beginning in 4. In chapter 1, we saw the word of the Lord come to Jeremiah to call

him and consecrate him and then commission him as a prophet to the nations. And then here in chapter 2,

we begin to see Jeremiah's obedience to God's commission. So read verses 1 to 3 with me.

The word of the Lord came to me saying,

Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem,

Thus says the Lord,

I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride,

how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

Israel was holy to the Lord,

the first fruits of His harvest.

All who ate of it incurred guilt.

But disaster came upon them,

declares the Lord.

In their youth, this is a picture of Israel.

Israel was devoted to God.

The word devoted is the same word that is used to describe God's covenant love toward His people,

His steadfast love, His loving kindness.

As they should be, Israel was once loyal to God and faithful to God.

They once loved Him like a bride who loves her husband and follows him anywhere he's willing to go.

Like a bride, Israel followed God out of Egypt into the wilderness to a land not sown,

to a land that is not until before.

This is a beautiful image of a bride giving herself complete to her husband

and leaving her household to start a new place, in a new place, a new life together.

That's what Israel was like to God, a bride for Him.

And yet, and they were holy to the Lord, it says,

consecrated to belong exclusively to Him.

And they were the first fruits of His harvest.

First fruits was a stipulation in the Old Testament

where all the first fruits of your produce and livestock

were supposed to be given to the Lord as an offering of thanksgiving.

And so by recognizing giving a portion, the first fruits of your produce to God,

you recognize that all that you have ultimately came from God.

And so that first fruit was considered sacred, devoted to the Lord,

His special portion, symbolizing that everything belongs to Him.

And Israel was that first fruit for God,

meaning that there would be in the future, the rest of the fruits would come,

all the nations, people would come from all nations to be saved by Him.

But Israel was the first fruits, and because of His special possession,

all who tampered with the first fruits that belonged to God,

all who messed with Israel,

incurred guilt and invited the wrath of God.

That's the picture of intimacy and trust we find here.

But that is a thing of the past.

The present state of things is quite different.

Read verses 4 to 7 with me.

Follow with me as I read.

Hear the word of the Lord.

O house of Jacob and all the clans of the house of Israel,

Thus says the Lord,

What wrong did your fathers find in me,

that they went far from me,

and went after worthlessness,

and became worthless?

They did not say,

Where is the Lord,

who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

who led us in the wilderness,

in a land of deserts and pits,

in a land of drought and deep darkness,

in a land that none passes deep,

where none dwells.

And I brought you into a plentiful land

to enjoy its fruits and its good things.

But when you came in,

you defiled my land

and made my heritage an abomination.

At this point of Jeremiah's ministry,

the northern kingdom of Israel

has already been conquered by Assyria,

but some of them would have taken refuge

in the southern kingdom of Judah,

and that's where Jeremiah is based

and is ministering.

And so Jeremiah's here,

he's addressing all the clans

of the house of Israel,

and asked them a rhetorical question,

What wrong did your fathers find in me,

that they went far from me?

This is God speaking.

Of course, the answer is nothing.

There was no wrong in God.

God was always faithful to them.

No one has found fault with God,

because God has been faultless with them,

yet still they found fault.

Yet still they went far from him.

And because they went after worthlessness,

they themselves became worthless.

The spelling and pronunciation in Hebrew

of the word worthless

is very much the same as the word Baal,

who is the main pagan god,

the Canaanite deity.

And so every time in these passages

and throughout Jeremiah,

you hear phrases and words like worthless

or unprofitable, good for nothing, useless,

those are all kind of references to Baal.

Saying that you abandoned me,

the true God who saved you,

and you went after worthless things,

and in worshiping worthless things,

you became worthless yourself.

And then look in verse 8 with me.

All Israel forsook the Lord, it says.

And not just the people,

all the leaders of Israel.

It says in verse 8,

The priests did not say,

Where is the Lord?

They didn't search for him.

Those who handled the law did not know me.

The shepherds transgressed against me.

The prophets prophesied by Baal

and went after things that do not profit.

Again, Baal, right?

The priests who are responsible for seeking the Lord

did not ask, Where is the Lord?

The scribes and Levites who are responsible

for teaching about God themselves

did not know God.

And the shepherds are metaphors for kings

and rulers of Israel.

And these rulers, these shepherds,

did not lead people in God's way,

but they themselves transgressed the ways of God,

went across the boundaries

that were forbidden to them.

And finally, even the prophets

who are supposed to speak by the Lord

and reveal His will,

prophesied by Baal instead.

For this reason,

God must bring His charge against them.

And this is what He says in verse 9 to 13.

He contends with them.

Therefore, I still contend with you,

declares the Lord,

and with your children's children

I will contend.

For cross to the coast of Cyprus and sea,

or send to Kedar and examine with care.

See if there has been such a thing.

Has a nation changed its gods,

even though they are no gods?

But my people have changed their glory

for that which does not profit.

Be appalled, O heavens, at this.

Be shocked.

Be utterly desolate, declares the Lord.

For my people have committed two evils.

They have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

The main thrust of God's contention is this.

Israel, what Israel has done,

is so wicked,

so treacherous,

that it has not been done

in the history of any nation around them.

Nations in the ancient Near East

were polytheistic,

so they might add deities

to their pantheon of deities.

They might reorder their deities

in their prominence,

but they never changed their gods.

They never abandoned the gods

that their ancestors worshipped completely.

Yet Israel

have abandoned the one true God.

They have changed their God

and worshipped idols.

And then God specifies their offense

to two parts in verse 13.

My people have committed two evils.

They have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Many people in this geographic area

where Jeremiah is writing from

did not have access to living waters.

So living water is referenced

to a live water source.

It could be a river

or it could be a spring

that spews forth water.

And because most people

didn't have access to such living water,

they had to resort to rainwater.

And the way they saved rainwater

is by digging a cistern

into these rocky lime hills.

They would dig a cistern out,

hew it out,

and then they would plaster the walls

with lime plaster

to make sure that the water

doesn't leak.

And then they would use irrigation

to direct the water,

the rainwater,

into the cistern

and store it for further use.

But such cisterns

frequently developed leaks

and cracks,

and it drained

the very life source

of their people

who were depending on them.

So this is an image

that's very familiar

to God's people.

And God says to them,

I am the fountain

of living waters.

Yet you have abandoned me

to hew out broken cisterns

that can hold no water.

Let that image

just be etched indelibly

on your minds.

God is the fountain

of living waters.

The God is the eternal life.

And only He can satisfy you.

We were created

for eternity

to glorify God

and to enjoy Him forever.

And nothing less than that

can ever satisfy us.

whatever else

you might turn to

for joy,

for purpose,

for fulfillment,

whether it's other gods

or success,

job,

wealth,

charitable work,

beauty,

fitness,

or power,

whatever it might be.

It doesn't matter

how good these things are

in and of themselves.

If you turn to them

for your ultimate fulfillment,

if you turn to them

as your ultimate goal in life,

they will turn out

to be broken cisterns

that can hold no water.

It might seem like

it's working for you

for a little while,

but it's just a matter of time

and you'll discover

a crack here,

a leak there,

and find that

your cistern is empty

and that your life

is running dry.

The same has happened

to Israel at this point

and we see the consequences

of their idolatry

in verses 14 to 19.

Follow with me

as I read.

Is Israel a slave?

Is he a home-born servant?

Why then has he become a prey?

The lions have roared against him.

They have roared loudly.

They have his land a waste.

His cities are in ruins

without inhabitant.

Moreover,

the men of Memphis

and Tapanis

have shaved the crown

of your head.

Have you not

brought upon yourself

by forsaking the Lord your God

when he led you in the way?

And now,

what do you gain

by going to Egypt

to drink the waters of the Nile?

Or what do you gain

by going to Assyria

to drink the waters

of the Euphrates?

Your evil will chastise you

and your apostasy

will reprove you.

Know and see

that it is evil

and bitter for you

to forsake the Lord your God.

The fear of me

is not in you,

declares the Lord God of hosts.

God has bestowed

great honor in Israel

by calling them

in Exodus 4.22

the firstborn son.

And he rescued them

out of their slavery in Egypt.

But by turning to

these idolatrous pagan nations,

to the broken cisterns

that can hold no water,

instead of turning to God

the fountain of living waters,

these people

have enslaved themselves

all over again.

And so God asks them,

is Israel indeed a son?

Is Israel indeed free?

Why then are they wasted

and enslaved to other nations?

Even the Nile of the Egyptians,

the famed Euphrates

of the Assyrians,

are just broken cisterns

that can hold no water.

So don't turn to them,

turn to me.

And then using a series

of hard-hitting images,

and this is how personally

God takes this,

God describes the apostasy

in verses 20 to 25.

First, he describes it

in verse 20 this way,

For long ago I broke your yoke

and burst your bonds,

but you said,

I will not serve.

God freed them

from their slavery,

but still they said,

No, we will not serve the Lord.

We will serve these idols instead.

And then this analogy

is used of prostitution.

Yes, on every high hill

and under every green tree,

you bow down like a whore.

Baal, the Canaanite idol,

was considered a god

of rain and fertility.

And so because of that,

those who worshipped Baal

performed sexual rituals

at local shrines

that were located

on the high hills.

And even though

they had been freed

by the sovereign Lord,

these Israelites

sprawled themselves out

under leafy trees

like a common harlot.

Then the second analogy

is in verses 21 to 22.

God says,

He planted them

as a choice vine,

holy of pure seed,

to bear grapes

of the highest quality,

sweet grapes

that can yield premium wine.

Yet,

they became like a wild vine

that yields bitter fruit.

And they stain themselves

with scents

that not even soap

can wash them clean.

And then in verse 23,

God compares Israel

to a restless she-camel.

He says,

How can you say

I am not unclean?

I have not gone

after the Baals.

Look at your way

in the valley.

Know what you have done.

A restless young camel

running here and there.

The word Baal here

is important

because even though

Baal is one Canaanite God,

there were many centers

of Baal worship.

It's almost as if

there are many Baals.

And Israelites,

as if worshipping Baal

wasn't enough

in one place,

they worshipped him

at every high hill,

under every green tree.

And in their idolatry,

they were like a restless

young camel running

here and there.

It's a well-known fact

among cultures

that use camels

that a young female camel

is very skittish and jumpy.

And so they are considered

very unreliable for riding.

They kind of run around,

jig-jag like this,

like,

and very fickle.

And so God's comparing Israel

to this she-camel

that goes from one camel

to another.

And according to verse 24,

Israel was also like

a wild donkey

used to the wilderness,

in her heat,

sniffing the wind,

who can restrain lust.

A wild female donkey,

when in heat,

almost becomes violent.

Sniff the wind,

trying to pick up

the scent of the male donkey

from their urine.

When she does catch the scent,

she races down the wilderness

in trying to find

this male donkey.

And so because of that,

God says,

none who seek her

need weary themselves.

In her month,

they will find her.

There was no need

for the adherents of Baal

to plant alatize

because Israel

was so eager

to chase after Baals

like a wild donkey

whose lusts

cannot be restrained.

And that God commands

Israel in verse 25,

keep your feet

from going unshod

and your throat

from thirst.

Don't let your sandals

wear out

and your throats

parched

from going after

these idols.

Return to me.

But Israel responds,

it is hopeless,

for I have loved

foreigners,

and after them

I will go.

Given Israel's

stubborn refusal

to repent

of their idolatry,

God denounces

and derides,

really mocks

the futility

of their idols

in verses 26 to 28.

Read with me,

verses 26 to 28,

chapter 2.

As a thief

is shamed

when caught,

so the house

of Israel

shall be shamed.

They,

their kings,

their officials,

their priests,

and their prophets

who say to a tree,

you are my father

and to a stone

you gave me birth,

for they have

turned back to me

and looked at their face.

But in the time

of their trouble,

they say,

arise and save us.

But where are your gods

that you made for yourself?

Let them arise

if they can save you

in your time of trouble.

For where are your gods,

O Judah?

Is this something

bothering you guys?

Should I just grab a mic,

hand out a mic?

I'll just keep going.

So this is really ironic

because in Canaanite worship,

idolatry,

on the high hills,

they would usually have

two symbols.

One would be a tree

that is supposed

to represent

a male deity

or a female deity.

It would be a stone

representing a male deity.

And so they're turning,

so it's ironic

that people made

in God's image

are turning to these creatures

and saying,

oh,

this tree,

you are my father.

And then to a stone

who gave me birth.

And there's bitter irony here.

Jeremiah is using satire

because notice that

even though the tree

is supposed to represent

the female deity,

they turn to a tree

and say,

you are my father.

Even the stone

is supposed to represent

the female deity,

they turn to the stone

and say,

you gave me birth.

So God's painting

this picture

of Israelites' idolatry

and pointing out

the absurdity of it.

They are devoted

to these idols

and as devoted

they have been,

they're still utterly confused.

They have no idea

what they're doing.

They're turning to sticks

and stones,

literally,

and saying,

you are my father,

you are my mother.

And then even then,

they say in verse 27,

when times of trouble come,

they say to God,

arise and save us.

Like an adulterous wife

who returns to her husband

only when she runs out of money.

Or like a rebel,

a son who calls his father

only when he is in trouble

with the law

and needs to be bailed out of jail.

When they are in trouble,

Israel still cries out to God,

arise and save us.

But God will not be mocked

by such hypocrisy.

And he says in verse 28,

but where are your gods

that you made for yourself?

Let them arise

if they can save you

in your time of trouble.

For as many as your cities

are your gods,

O Judah.

There are as many idols in Judah

as there are cities.

Why don't you ask one of them

to save you?

Statement is dripping with irony.

Can the gods you have made

with your own hands

really save you?

It's easy for us

to dismiss these kinds

of idolatry

as something of the past,

as superstitions of people,

of gullible people

in the ancient world.

And idolatry

have not diminished

over the years.

We may not worship

sticks and stones,

but we too worship

the work of our own hands.

And instead of

worshiping the God

who created us,

we may not worship

the work of our own hands.

Hopefully that's better.

Let's not let ourselves

off the hook

as we look at the idolatry

of these Israelites

because he's saying

that as much as they

have worshipped

the works of their own hands,

we too worship

the work of our own hands

because instead of

worshipping the God

who created us

in his image,

we often worship

a God whom we have

fashioned in our own image.

We reduce God

to amulets,

pendants,

and talismans

as if we can put God

in our pockets

and carry him around

with us

and use him

when we want.

We reduce God

to rituals,

formulas,

and legal requirements

as if we can

manipulate God

by performing

the right rituals,

saying the right things,

pressing the right buttons.

Instead of doing

the things

that God

purposed

and God

prioritizes,

we ask

God

to align himself

to our purposes

and priorities.

Instead of letting

God's word

challenge us

and change

our perspectives,

we do elaborate

interpretive acrobatics

and water down

God's word

to avoid

the clear teaching

of scripture

and make it

suit our whims

and wishes.

We pay lip service

to God

but give our hearts

to the idols

of this world

to fame

and acclaim

to beauty

to wealth

to comfort

to power.

God

It's no different

from worshiping

sticks and stones.

It's no wonder

that such

a domesticated

God

can't do us

any good.

And after we do this,

we are surprised

that our spiritual

lives lack

vitality.

And after living

as we have

no need

for God,

when crises come,

we turn to God

for help

and God asks

us,

where are your

gods?

that you

have made

for yourself.

Let them arise

if they can save you.

And then

in verses

29 to 37,

God continues

his charge

and expresses

his grievance

comparing Israel

to a bride

that forgets

the attire

that marks her

as a bride,

someone who is

betrothed to someone.

Israel likewise

has been unfaithful

and Israel has become

an expert in wickedness

that they are now

even teaching

prostitutes.

So that's how

Israel has turned

away.

It sounds pretty bad.

I'm sorry it's so heavy

for the first part

of the sermon.

But there's hope

because God calls

us to return.

And that's the second

part of the sermon.

Chapter 3,

verses 1,

and all the way

to chapter 4,

verse 4,

it tells us how

Israel should return

to the Lord.

And King Josiah

did begin

a nationwide

reformation

during his reign

and that's a time

when Jeremiah

is ministering.

But much of Israel's

repentance,

it turns out,

was short-lived

and it wasn't

really genuine.

And so God

addresses that situation

here in verses 1-5

of chapter 3.

Follow along with me.

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.

Lift up your eyes

to the bare heights

and see.

Where have you

not been ravished?

By the wayside

you have sat

awaiting lovers

like an Arab

in the wilderness.

You have polluted

the land

with your vile whoredom.

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.

Have you not

just now

called to me?

My father,

you are the friend

of my youth.

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.

Chapter 3,

verse 1

is referring to

Deuteronomy 24,

1-4

which forbids

a man

who divorced

his wife

from remarrying her

if she had

in the intervening period

been married

and divorced

or widowed

from a second husband.

If the woman

had not remarried

in the intervening period

it would be

a happy reconciliation

for her to return

to her husband.

But because

the woman

had remarried

and then subsequently

been divorced

or widowed

for her to get back

with her husband

was tantamount

to adultery.

And so that command

in Deuteronomy 24

outlawed

basically prevented

serial divorce

and remarriage

that could be used

as a form

of legal adultery.

right?

Well I've divorced

and you can take

back your own wife

you can pass

along wives

among yourselves

among immoral men

and so that's

what the law

prevented

and so if

that's the case

even with this

human marriage

God asks Israel

you who have

whored with many

idols

can you just

return to me

in this glib

casual way?

This is a serious

matter that requires

true repentance

and transformation.

Israel has been

like an Arab

in the wilderness

so this is

a proverbial

expression from

this time

an Arab waits

in the wilderness

a marauder

waits for the

caravans to come

to raid them

in the same way

Israel has waited

for lovers to come

by to pounce

on them

and yet

will they return

this casually

to the Lord?

Then in verse 4

Jeremiah shifts

metaphors

and compares

Israel's relationship

to God

with the relationship

between a son

and a father

after being afflicted

with droughts

and recognizing

that their devotion

to Baal

the so-called

God of rain

has been futile

Israel says to God

glibly

my father

you are the friend

of my youth

will he be angry

forever?

Will he be indignant

to the end?

But God knows

that Israel's insincere

because what they have said

and what they are doing

does not line up

so he says

behold you have spoken

but you have done

all the evil

that you could

and their evil deeds

have belied

the smooth words

that they speak

and not only Israel

Judah has fallen

into the same trap

and Israel

at least

you know

didn't have anyone

to go before them

to show them

that this will be

the consequence

of their evil doing

but Judah had Israel

going before them

they should have known better

yet Judah has

one-upped really Israel

in their wickedness

and they have not

returned to God

but they have instead

returned to him

as it says in verses

8 to 10

in pretense

they have not returned

with their whole heart

and so God says

in verses 12 to 14

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

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

return

oh 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

notwithstanding

the earlier teaching

that a man

may not

remarry

his ex-wife

who was

remarried

in the intervening period

Jeremiah declares

that God

is still

willing to take

Israel back

as his spiritual bride

and this passage

really beautifully

captures God's mercy

and grace

towards sinners

because God says

over and over again

return

he used the language

return

oh faithless Israel

return

oh faithless children

for I am your master

the word master

is Baal

in Hebrew

he's saying no

I am your true master

not Baal

and so God is

and he exhorts them

to return repeatedly

in chapter 322

he says it again

return

oh faithless sons

I will heal

your faithlessness

and then again

in chapter 4

verse 1

if you return

oh Israel

declares the Lord

to me

you should

return

the words

return

and faithless

actually come from

the same

Hebrew root word

so the two words

form a poetic wordplay

that reveals

God's gracious

character

it's as if

he's saying

to us

saying to Israel

come back

to me

backsliders

return

return

to me

you who have

turned away

from me

God gives us

a second chance

God calls us

to himself

not when we are

faithful to him

but when we are

still unfaithful

while we're in

the middle

of our adultery

he calls us

to himself

not when we are

remorseful

repenting

of our sins

but while we are

still rebellious

he calls out

to us

when we are

still in our

sins

and backsliding

headlong

away from

God

he calls

to us

come back

to me

return

to me

and not only

does it reveal

God's heart

for us

that word

return

which is used

16 times

just in chapter

3 alone

perfectly captures

what our response

to God

should be

in order

to return

to God

we must

trace

our path

and renounce

all of our

sinful ways

we can't

simply continue

in sin

and say

to God

God

I return

to you

I'm here

because every

sin is a step

away from God

you can't take

a step forward

and backwards

at the same time

but when it comes

to sin

and repentance

going backward

is sometimes

the best way

forward

C.S. Lewis

illustrates this

in his book

Mere Christianity

he says

we all want

progress

but progress

means getting

nearer to the

place where you

want to be

and if you have

taken a wrong

turning

then to go

forward

does not

get you

any nearer

if you're

on the wrong

road

progress

means doing

an about

turn

and walking

back

to the right

road

and in that

case

the man

who turns

back

soonest

is the

most progressive

man

there's nothing

progressive

about being

pigheaded

and refusing

to admit

a mistake

and I think

if you look

at the present

state of the

world

it's pretty

plain

that humanity

has been

making some

big mistake

we're on

the wrong

road

and if that

is so

we must

go

back

going back

is the

quickest

way

on

that's

what it

means

to repent

of our sins

and to believe

in Jesus

Christ

you turn

from

your sins

away

from your

sins

and you

turn

toward

God

in faith

and you

cling

to him

and for

those of

you who

are not

yet a

follower

of Jesus

this is

how you

become

a follower

of Jesus

Christ

how you

become

a Christian

you might

be an

honest

person

that's

trying

to live

a good

life

but that's

not

good

enough

you might

be

imagine

this

think about

this

imagine

a very

dutiful

wife

right

she

fulfills

all

the

things

that

society

might

expect

her

to do

as a

good

wife

she

raises

her

children

well

she's

an

amazing

chef

who

prepares

a meal

for all

her

household

so that

they are

well

fed

and

in the

midst

of all

of that

she

still

has

time

to

get

some

extra

income

to

help

supplement

the

income

that her

husband

brings

in

she

does

everything

well

except

she

doesn't

love

her

husband

in fact

she

doesn't

even

acknowledge

him

if you

were to

observe

her life

you would

not even

know

that her

husband

exists

when you

ask her

why she

does all

of these

things

she

simply

says

it's

just

the

right

thing

to do

she

is

not

doing

any

of

this

for

her

husband

she

is

doing

it

for

herself

she

is

doing

it

for

her

children

she

is

doing

it

for

others

do you

think

she

is

a

good

wife

absolutely

not

she

is

derelict

in her

primary

duty

to

love

and

to

belong

to

and

to

support

her

husband

god

created

us

his

people

are

supposed

to

be

a

bride

for

him

he

created

us

to

have

a

relationship

with

him

and

that's

our

ultimate

eternal

divinely

ordained

purpose

he

designed

us

to

know

him

and

to

trust

him

and

to

love

him

and

he

pledged

his

people

as

a

bride

for

himself

yet

we

have

refused

to

acknowledge

him

in

our

ways

and

we

have

lived

not

for

him

but

for

ourselves

and

in

doing

so

we

have

effectively

turned

to

other

lovers

have

committed

adultery

against

God

that

prideful

unbelief

that

refusal

to

acknowledge

God

is at

the

root

of

all

sin

and

that's

why

every

sin

is a

personal

affront

to

God

and

if

you

are

not

yet

a

follower

of

Christ

that

describes

you

now

and

you

must

repent

of

your

sins

and

believe

in

Jesus

for

salvation

and

that

means

a

fresh

start

a

new

beginning

look

at

chapter

4

verses

3

to

4

with

me

God

says

break

up

your

fallow

ground

and

sow

not

among

thorns

circumcise

yourselves

to the

Lord

remove

the

foreskin

of

your

hearts

O

men

of

Judah

and

inhabitants

of

Jerusalem

lest

my

wrath

go

forth

like

fire

and

burn

with

none

to

quench

it

because

of

your

evil

deeds

a

fallow

ground

soil

a

ground

that

has

never

been

tilled

before

and

a

land

that

is

tilled

of

course

is

easier

to

farm

but

a

land

that

is

tilled

also

more

readily

grows

thorns

and

thistles

and

so

often

Israelite

farmers

were

sowing

on

thorns

and

so

here

by

saying

break

up

your

fallow

ground

and

sow

not

among

thorns

he's

saying

the

same

thing

he's

saying

you

can't

just

change

what

you

have

you

need

a

complete

new

start

it

means

if

we

want

to

turn

to

the

Lord

it's

not

enough

to

get

a

little

modification

here

and

there

in

our

lives

a

little

alteration

here

and

there

we

need

not

a

mere

reformation

of

some

aspects

of

our

life

we

need

a

complete

transformation

God

says

circumcise

yourselves

to

the

Lord

but

lest

you

think

that

he's

merely

referring

to

the

physical

circumcision

that

marked

the

Jewish

people

as

God's

own

he

adds

remove

the

foreskin

of

your

hearts

external

conformity

to

God

is

not

enough

going

to

church

is

not

enough

doing

good

deeds

is

not

enough

you

need

to

become

a

new

person

in

order

to

be

saved

you

need

a

changed

heart

and

that's

why

it's

impossible

for us

to

return

to

God

on

our

own

that's

not

something

that

we

can

do

in

our

own

strength

despite

God's

offer

of

forgiveness

and

his

restoration

Israel

and

Judah

never

fully

return

to

God

they

become

repeat

offenders

over

and over

again

committing

this

adultery

and we

likewise

are

incapable

of being