Jeremiah - Lesson 2B

• Chapter 1 began by establishing that Jeremiah was called by the LORD as a prophet in the days of the last few kings of Judah before their exile from Jerusalem. The kingdom from the North would bring the LORD’s judgment to Judah.

• Chapter 2 The LORD speaks of Israel’s birth and relationship with Him and then her rejection of Him and embracing worship of false gods.

  • The LORD is still speaking to Judah about what He sees now to be true for His people.

Jer. 2:14  “Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn servant?
Why has he become a prey?
Jer. 2:15  “The young lions have roared at him,
They have roared loudly.
And they have made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
Jer. 2:16  “Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
Have shaved the crown of your head.
Jer. 2:17  “Have you not done this to yourself
By your forsaking the LORD your God
When He led you in the way?
Jer. 2:18  “But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt,
To drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,
To drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Jer. 2:19  “Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your apostasies will reprove you;
Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
For you to forsake the LORD your God,
And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

• Verse 14 The LORD asks if the reason Israel has deserted Him is because they were sold as slaves or born from a generation of slaves to these gods or these people in their land.

  • The LORD’s people have made themselves lower than slaves by becoming the prey of the peoples.

• Verse 15 The enemies of Israel are described as young lions who have already attacked Israel. This would be an accurate description of what had already happened to the northern kingdom of Israel.

  • The cities were destroyed, and the LORD’s people no longer inhabited the land.

• Verse 16 Two specific cities are mentioned as those who have shamed Israel by shaving their heads:  Memphis and Tahpanhes. Memphis is mentioned in Hos. 9:6

Hos. 9:6 For behold, they will go because of destruction;
Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will take over their treasures of silver;
Thorns will be in their tents.

• This is prophetic, concerning where some of the Israelites will end up when they are driven from Judah.

  • The LORD will also deal with those of Memphis according to Ezekiel 30:13-16.

Ezek. 30:13 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,
“I will also destroy the idols
And make the images cease from Memphis.
And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt;
And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
Ezek. 30:14  “I will make Pathros desolate,
Set a fire in Zoan
And execute judgments on Thebes.
Ezek. 30:15  “I will pour out My wrath on Sin,
The stronghold of Egypt;
I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes.
Ezek. 30:16  “I will set a fire in Egypt;
Sin will writhe in anguish,
Thebes will be breached
And Memphis will have distresses daily.

• Memphis was known as the city where the kings of Egypt lived.

  • Tahpanhes may have been a city used as an outpost to prevent Assyrian invasions.

  • The Egyptians were a people that did not approve of body hair, and they would have removed the hair of all who served them.

    • The reference to having the heads shaved could be a picture of the sons of Israel giving themselves over as slaves to the Egyptians.

    • This would follow the theme of slavery introduced in verse fourteen.

  • The other scripture references to a shaved head are when one shaves their own head in mourning or when committing oneself to an oath with the shaved head as a witness.

• Jer. 2:17 The LORD demonstrates a statement by asking the rhetorical question about Israel and how in fact they have done this evil to themselves.

  • This is how many people position consequences for children. “This is what will happen if you do this or if you don’t do that.” When the consequence happens it is not on the one who put the consequence in place, it is the choice of the child that brought on the consequence.

• Verse 18 The LORD tells Israel, “I see where you are going, who you are turning to for reprieve.”

  • Judah was looking for a defense from the powerful Babylon and sought an alliance with Egypt.

    • The sarcasm can be seen in the question when Judah is asked if they were going to Egypt to drink water from the Nile.

    • The same accusation is made about Assyria and water from the Euphrates.

    • The Israelites had become accustomed to reaching out to the powerful kingdoms of their time depending on who they thought could become an ally with them.

  • The LORD’s desire was for His people to rely on Him alone.

  • The irony is seen in that the people of God are returning to Egypt--the very land where He had freed them from bondage.

    • Believers can be guilty of this when we have been freed from sin, often a particular sin; and yet we return to that very sin after we have the Holy Spirit in us, Who can free us from all sin.    

• Verse 19 Your wickedness and apostasies will bring about undesirable consequences.

  • They will also cause you to continue to offend the God of Judah.

    • This is what happens when the LORD’s people turn away from Him and do not fear Him.

Jer. 2:20  “For long ago I broke your yoke
And tore off your bonds;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every high hill
And under every green tree
You have lain down as a harlot.
Jer. 2:21  “Yet I planted you a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
Jer. 2:22  “Although you wash yourself with lye
And use much soap,
The stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
Jer. 2:23  “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley!
Know what you have done!
You are a swift young camel entangling her ways,
Jer. 2:24  A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion.
In the time of her heat who can turn her away?
All who seek her will not become weary;
In her month they will find her.
Jer. 2:25  “Keep your feet from being unshod
And your throat from thirst;
But you said, ‘It is hopeless!
No! For I have loved strangers,
And after them I will walk.’

• Verse 20 The LORD now speaks of Israel’s past by stating, ‘For long ago…’

  • The LORD speaks of when He broke off the bonds of slavery from Israel.

  • This is always a reference to the LORD delivering His people from Egypt.

• The response from Israel was not to serve the LORD but to worship the gods of the people and the land where the LORD brought them.

  • This is also found detailed in Ezekiel 20:27-32

Ezek. 20:27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against Me.
Ezek. 20:28 “When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings.
Ezek. 20:29 “Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.”’
Ezek. 20:30 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things?
Ezek. 20:31 “When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will not be inquired of by you.
Ezek. 20:32 “What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.’

• Here are the details of what was offered on the high hills and under the leafy trees.

  • This is where the sacrifices were being made to other gods.

  • This is the definition of harlotry: to be in covenant with God, the one you have sworn an oath to be faithful to, and yet act wickedly and give worship and sacrifice to other gods.

  • The picture of Israel as a faithless wife given to idolatry is used throughout the scriptures.

• Jer. 2:21 The LORD refers back to His faithfulness to Israel as having everything they needed to grow and produce fruit as a healthy vine.

  • They instead grew as a degenerate shoot, not as the vine planted.

• Verse 22 The LORD says He sees they try to wash with lye and use much soap.

  • This is a description of someone cleaning their bodies on the outside.

  • In this same way, the LORD’s people seem to still be doing things to appear like they are cleaning themselves in an external way. (Maybe pilgrimages, some visual law-keeping, etc.)

    • There is no heart change.

    • No covering of the iniquity before the LORD.

    • The people’s sin is all the LORD can see.

• Verse 23 When this truth is spoken to the people, they respond that they are not defiled.

  • They declare they have not gone after the Baals.

  • The LORD says for them to look at what they did in the valley.

  • There is no hiding from the LORD what they have done.

    • Jeremiah gives more details later in this book in Chapter 7:30-31.

Jer. 7:30 “For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the LORD, “they have set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.
Jer. 7:31 “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.

• The LORD continues by comparing them to a young camel that becomes entangled, who can move quickly and does not have the wisdom to plan the steps more carefully. It is easy for it to trip over itself.

  • The young camel is known to wander around without true direction, often seeming lost. Not remembering where it has been or how to return, it moves in uncertain circles.

  • The LORD’s people appeared to be in a haze doing unspeakable things yet denying they were doing so in opposition to the LORD.

• Jer. 2:24 Next the LORD uses the imagery of a donkey.

  • The donkey is described as wild, and used to living in the wilderness, not a domesticated donkey.

  • When the donkey goes into heat she has one thing in her focus. Nothing turns her away from that obsession.

  • Those who seek her in her time of heat will not have to look long, for she will come to them.

    • In the picture the LORD is using here He paints Israel as a people the enemy did not have to seek out, as they were eager to seek out the false gods, willingly.

• Verse 25 The LORD says He directed Israel in the way to be protected and nourished.

  • Yet they did not discern His ways to provide for them and instead sought these from foreign gods and followed and worshipped them.

  • They chased after these gods so much that their shoes were worn out and they were thirsty, not having their desires quenched in their searching for other gods.

  • The people were addicted to this worship and could not give it up.

• Summation of v20-25:

  • I freed you from slavery, yet you choose slavery through idolatry.

  • I planted you to be a choice vine, yet you produce worthless actions through idolatry.

  • You try to lie to yourself and others with external works to appear clean, but you are stained.

  • You continue to throw yourself towards idolatry without hesitation.

    • The results are seen next:

Jer. 2:26 “As the thief is shamed when he is discovered,
So the house of Israel is shamed;
They, their kings, their princes
And their priests and their prophets,
Jer. 2:27  Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to Me,
And not their face;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise and save us.’
Jer. 2:28  “But where are your gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you
In the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.

• Verse 26 A thief is only shamed when discovered, not because of what he has done wrong.

  • This is how all of Israel responds to the LORD: the kings, princes, priests, and prophets.

• Verse 27 The LORD’s people were worshipping created things and giving those things credit for the beginning of life.

  • This will become more apparent as the study in Jeremiah continues.

• This is not a foreign concept to us today, as that is the same lie being propagated in the world today:

  • The world was birthed by mere accident. All life happens by chance.

  • Man is in control of nature.

  • We can control all outcomes with man’s interventions.

  • Control the population growth, the climate, who is born and who is to die, etc.…

• It is interesting the same people who once made the declaration God did not control creation then seek God when things go wrong in creation.

  • It appears that to many, God is not in charge of the world until things go wrong.

• Verse 28 Now that it appears the people in Judah realize they are in trouble, the LORD asks Israel where are the gods they made with their own hands and worshipped instead of Him.

  • There are so many gods they could call on, as many gods as the number of their cities.

  • This shows the pervasiveness of the idolatry in Judah.

    • This is reminiscent of Elijah in 1Kings 18:25-27.

1Kings 18:25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
1Kings 18:26 Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made.
1Kings 18:27 It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.”

• God is not mocked--but the false gods can be all day long.

Jer. 2:29  “Why do you contend with Me?
You have all transgressed against Me,” declares the LORD.
Jer. 2:30  “In vain I have struck your sons;
They accepted no chastening.
Your sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.
Jer. 2:31  “O generation, heed the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam;
We will no longer come to You’?
Jer. 2:32  “Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
Days without number.
Jer. 2:33  “How well you prepare your way
To seek love!
Therefore even the wicked women
You have taught your ways.
Jer. 2:34  “Also on your skirts is found
The lifeblood of the innocent poor;
You did not find them breaking in.
But in spite of all these things,
Jer. 2:35  Yet you said, ‘I am innocent;
Surely His anger is turned away from me.’
Behold, I will enter into judgment with you
Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
Jer. 2:36  “Why do you go around so much
Changing your way?
Also, you will be put to shame by Egypt
As you were put to shame by Assyria.
Jer. 2:37  “From this place also you will go out
With your hands on your head;
For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
And you will not prosper with them.”

• Verse 29 The LORD mocks the sons of Judah as they bring their complaints to the LORD now.

  • The people want to contend with the LORD (as we studied last week, this has a legal connotation). They want to accuse the LORD of wrongdoing.

    • The LORD points out it was the sons of Judah who left Him.

• Verse 30 The LORD said, “I tried to discipline the sons of Israel, but they would not change from their ways.”

  • “I also tried to speak to you through prophets, but you murdered them instead of obeying the warnings.”

Heb. 11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,
Heb. 11:33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,
Heb. 11:34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Heb. 11:35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;
Heb. 11:36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
Heb. 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
Heb. 11:38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

• Jer. 2:31 The LORD puts forth questions regarding His provision for Israel.

  • The LORD asks if He has not provided for Israel compared to the lack of provision one would find in the wilderness.

  • The LORD asks if He left the land in darkness.

    • This would be a literal truth compared to what was done in Egypt.

Ex. 10:21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.”
Ex. 10:22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
Ex. 10:23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.

• This could also represent a spiritual condition, displayed as darkness of the land, as the LORD cleared away the evil from the land, giving His people the light and truth.

  • The LORD’s people say they can go where they like, presented as free to roam, and they choose NOT to come to the LORD. He offers light; they choose dark.

• Jer. 2:32 The adornment on a virgin or a bride is what announces who she is to the world and that is what the LORD is to His people, yet they neglect to display that He is their God.

  • In our culture, it would be like a woman not wearing her engagement ring and then not wearing her wedding ring to demonstrate to others she is committed to someone already.

  • This had gone on for a very long time.

  • The ornamentation in this culture was much more extensive than a simple ring. (Ezek. 16)

• Verse 33 God’s people did not wander accidentally but with intent sought after other gods to worship (love).

  • The intent was so great the sons of Israel brought others with them in this worship.

  • The “others”, or the wicked women, would be those who were not of Israel.

  • Israel as a wife of the LORD’s was so blatant in her harlotry, she could teach the prostitute a trick or two.

• Verse 34 The reference to the lifeblood of the innocent poor being found on the skirts is a picture of one wearing a skirt and walking around the dead bodies where their blood has flowed out on the ground and been picked up or absorbed in the fabric of the skirt.

  • These dead were not killed because they did wrong by breaking into a location or attacking the nation to do harm. These dead were innocent of wrongdoing.

  • God’s people had done wrong to these people; they were guilty of their blood.

  • One example is in 2Kings 21:16.

2Kings 21:16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

• Jer. 2:35 The LORD accuses His people of lying about their innocence and then believing He will not hold them accountable, but the LORD says, “I will judge you especially harshly because you denied your sin.”

  • This is again comparable to disciplining a child when we tell them they will receive a harsher punishment if they add lying to the wrong actions they have already committed.

• Verse 36 The LORD accuses His people of changing their ways or their loyalties. The context becomes clear when the LORD says “you will be put to shame by Egypt” the same way they had been put to shame by Assyria.

  • Both Israel and Judah had become a vassal to Assyria at times and yet it was Assyria that had taken Israel into captivity, carried them away, and dispersed them in the world.

  • The changing direction the LORD is referring to is the people making alliances with one power and then another. They were not loyal; first not to their God, but then even in worldly measurements, they were fickle to others.

• Verse 37 Jeremiah is to tell the people they will be removed from where they are with hands on their heads, meaning in defeat and mourning.

  • The reason for this is because the LORD rejected those Judah had put their trust in.

  • Just like ancient Judah, God’s people are all slaves.

  • We are either slaves to sin or slaves to God.

Rom. 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
Rom. 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Rom. 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

• Believers should not backslide into the sin they have been released from.

Rom. 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Rom. 6:21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
Rom. 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Believers need to understand: just as God did not stop reaching out to Israel and Judah in discipline to bring them back to Him before He had to bring judgment on them, He does the same with HIs children today, reaching out in discipline because of love.

Heb. 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Heb. 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
Heb. 12:5  and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
Heb. 12:6  FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Heb. 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

• Keep in mind as we study the words of Jeremiah to Judah the accusations are put out nationally. That does not mean there weren’t some who were faithful to the LORD in this day.

• No matter what the world, or for that matter those who call themselves the church do, we answer before God alone.