(Jeremiah 3:1-25)
God says, “If a husband divorces his wife
And she leaves him
And becomes another man’s wife,
Will he return to her again?
Would that land not be completely defiled?
But you are a prostitute with many lovers;
Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.
2 “Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see;
Where have you not been violated?
You have sat for them by the roads
Like an Arab in the desert,
And you have defiled a land
With your prostitution and your wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no spring rain.
Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead;
You refused 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,
Or keep His anger to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken
And have done evil things,
And you have had your own way.”
6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. 7 Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also. 9 And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord.
11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be 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 at you in anger.
For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your wrongdoing,
That you have revolted against the Lord your God,
And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.
14 ‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the Lord;
‘For I am a master to you,
And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
And bring you to Zion.’
15 “Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
19 “Then I said,
‘How I would set you among My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father,
And not turn away from following Me.’
20 However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover,
So you have dealt treacherously with Me,
House of Israel,” declares the Lord.
21 A voice is heard on the bare heights,
The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel.
Because they have perverted their way,
They have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, you faithless sons,
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You;
For You are the Lord our God.
23 Certainly the hills are a deception,
Commotion on the mountains.
Certainly in the Lord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation 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.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
And she leaves him
And becomes another man’s wife,
Will he return to her again?
Would that land not be completely defiled?
But you are a prostitute with many lovers;
Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.
2 “Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see;
Where have you not been violated?
You have sat for them by the roads
Like an Arab in the desert,
And you have defiled a land
With your prostitution and your wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no spring rain.
Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead;
You refused 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,
Or keep His anger to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken
And have done evil things,
And you have had your own way.”
6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. 7 Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also. 9 And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord.
11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be 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 at you in anger.
For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your wrongdoing,
That you have revolted against the Lord your God,
And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.
14 ‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the Lord;
‘For I am a master to you,
And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
And bring you to Zion.’
15 “Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
19 “Then I said,
‘How I would set you among My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father,
And not turn away from following Me.’
20 However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover,
So you have dealt treacherously with Me,
House of Israel,” declares the Lord.
21 A voice is heard on the bare heights,
The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel.
Because they have perverted their way,
They have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, you faithless sons,
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You;
For You are the Lord our God.
23 Certainly the hills are a deception,
Commotion on the mountains.
Certainly in the Lord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation 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.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
The deepest betrayal there could ever be is when a spouse commits adultery. And the deepest disappointment there could ever be is when a father sees his child choosing to become a debauched criminal. So, here then, we can see and understand just how personal our relationship with the Lord is! Once we have put our faith and trust in the Lord, and He has adopted us as His children... or as a husband and wife (who have become one flesh), we are unified with the Lord and He has given us His indwelling Holy Spirit of promise... why would we betray Him by going astray to worship our own strength and mind, or worship another god, idol, creature, person or thing?
Yet, we do! Even when we don't want to, it is very easy to get sidetracked and start relying on ourselves or someone or something else. It is so very easy to forget about the Lord and everything He has done, is doing and will do. But thanks be to the Lord who is faithful, patient and full of grace!!! We can never lose our salvation, but when we do go astray, God will allow consequences into our lives.
Just for the simple fact that when we are not going to the Lord to nurture and enjoy the most sweetest and important relationship in our life, we will be missing out on many of His blessings (like peace, joy, contentment, courage, wisdom, strength...)! And we can't just pretend to go to the Lord, all nicey-nicey for the moment, in religious postering, and think we can fool Him into thinking we are being faithful.
The Lord knows our hearts and our intentions! That would be like a philandering spouse returning home from time to time, pretending to be loving and caring, just to get what they wanted, only to disappear again, to continue on in adultery. Meanwhile, the other spouse will sense what they are doing, and wonder how the cheater cannot see how wonderful things would be if they would just remain faithful, and stick around to work on the marriage and the relationship! A spouse will even sense when their loved one is emotionally cheating... even when the object of their lust is an image or fictitious!
In the same way, believers will arrogantly and without remorse think that they can cheat, play games or make deals with God. Like, they'll read their Bible, and/or go to church for a little while until they get what they want. Also interesting, is when some people do realize the gravity of their sin, they can get stuck in shame and humiliation, unable to move on or accept help. Somehow their pride prevents them from confessing their sins, apologizing and changing course. Yet, the Lord waits for exactly that! All God wants is our hearts!
God desires that we go to Him for forgiveness and salvation with a humble heart, and then with a humble, thankful heart, continuously seek a close relationship with Him. Whether people accept or reject the Lord, He came in flesh to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life, peace and joy. This should inspire us to want to worship and thank Him!
Our desire should not be to escape church - but to run to church to worship and serve! Our desire should not be to continue wallowing in our past sins - but to celebrate our freedom in God's grace and praise Him for all that He does for us! Our desire should not be to just try to do better - but to be better in God's strength, guidance and wisdom, asking Him to work for us, in us and through us. Our desire should not be to look elsewhere, wondering if the grass is greener on the other side (because it is not) - but to ask our faithful Lord and Savior to help us be faithful!
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