Jeremiah 2
2
God’s Love for Israel
1Yahweh spoke these words to me: 2“Go, preach this message # 2:2 Jeremiah began his first sermon with an impassioned plea for Israel to forsake her shameless idolatry. Jeremiah compared Israel to a wife who forsakes her husband for promiscuous affairs with men. Jeremiah charged his people with unfaithfulness to God and warned Israel of the coming Babylonian invasion. In contrast to Hezekiah’s response to Isaiah’s warnings that saved Judah from the Assyrians, Jeremiah’s warnings went unheeded. For twenty chapters Jeremiah appealed, pleaded, and warned with strong words and, at times, with tenderness of heart, but still Israel would not listen to the young prophet whom God had sent to them. publicly for all Jerusalem to hear: ‘Yahweh says to you:
“ ‘I fondly remember the single-hearted devotion # 2:2 Or “faithfulness.” This is the Hebrew word chesed, which stresses covenant love, kindness, and loyalty. See Pss. 98:3; 106:44–45; see also Ps. 132:11.
you had for me in your youth. # 2:2 See Ezek. 16:8, 43, 60; Hos. 2:15.
You loved me deeply as a bride loves a bridegroom. # 2:2 Or “[I remember] how you loved me in the time of your engagement.”
You followed me closely in the desert,
in a land where no crops grow.
3Israel, like the firstfruits of my harvest,
I set you apart, and you belonged to me alone. # 2:3 Or “Israel was holy to Yahweh.” The Hebrew concept of holy is “to be set apart and reserved [only for Yahweh].”
Anyone who devoured you # 2:3 Or “All who ate of it.” See Gen. 12:3; Jer. 12:14; Ezek. 25:12–13. I made to suffer,
and I rained disaster down upon them.
I, Yahweh, have spoken.’ ”
Israel’s History
4Jacob’s tribes, listen! Every clan of Israel, listen to the words of Yahweh. 5He declares to you:
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me
that they would run so far away from me?
They left me to follow worthless idols
and themselves became worthless! # 2:5 This Hebrew pun is intensified by the word for “worthless,” which in Hebrew sounds like the name Baal. Baal was a Canaanite fertility god.
6They never stopped to ask themselves,
‘Where is Yahweh, who rescued us from Egypt?
Where is the Yahweh who led us through the wilderness, # 2:6 See Deut. 6:10–18; 8:14–16; 32:10; Rom. 8:14.
through a barren wasteland with its pits and problems?
Where is the one who led us
through a land of deserts and droughts,
dangers and deep darkness # 2:6 Or “death’s shadow.” —
where no one lives nor even passes through?’
7“I brought you to this land of abundance
to enjoy its lush fruit and goodness,
but you entered the land and defiled my land. # 2:7 The land was defiled by Israel’s adoption of Canaanite fertility cults (see Hos. 5:3; 6:10). The land can be polluted by the sins of its occupants.
You made hideous the very land I call my own.
8The priests did not stop and ask,
‘Where is Yahweh?’
The scribal scholars # 2:8 Or “those skilled at handling the law.” did not intimately know me.
The shepherds # 2:8 That is, the rulers. of the people rebelled against me.
The false prophets prophesied by the spirit of Baal, # 2:8 That is, the prophets may have assumed that they were prophesying by the Spirit of Yahweh. In reality, they were moved by the spirit of Baal. They were guilty of intermingling the Canaanite religion with the worship of the true God.
and they worshiped idols that could not help them. # 2:8 The Hebrew text contains a play on words that is lost in English in the similarity of the words for “Baal” (Hb. baʿal) and “no help” or “no profit” (Hb. yaʿal).
9Therefore I, Yahweh, will bring charges against you once more,
and not only against you but against your descendants as well.
I, Yahweh, have spoken.”
Israel’s Idolatry
10“Go off to the Greek islands # 2:10 Or “the coastlines/islands of the Kittites [Cyprus],” a metonymy for the Greek isles. and investigate for yourselves.
Take a close look at Kedar # 2:10 Kedar was the region of desert nomads descended from Ishmael (see Gen. 25:13) in northern Arabia, situated in an easterly direction (see Jer. 49:28). Yahweh wanted Israel to send messengers to the west and to the east (everywhere) to see if any nation was forsaking their god to worship another god as Judah was doing. also
and observe very carefully.
Has there ever been anything as disgusting as this?
11Has a nation ever traded in its gods
(even though they are not really gods)?
But my people have bartered away their glory # 2:11 The phrase “their glory” refers to God, who is their glory. Our only glory is God, who set his love upon us. See Hos. 4:7; Pss. 3:4; 4:2; 106:20; Rom. 1:22–23.
in exchange for gods who do nothing.
12Be appalled, O heavens, and cringe with fear!
Be shocked # 2:12 Or “shudder with fear” or “be terrified.” “Be shocked” comes from a verb that means “to have one’s hair stand on end.” and utterly devastated at this betrayal!
I, Yahweh, have spoken.
13“My people are guilty of a double sin:
they have abandoned me, the Spring of Living Water, # 2:13 See Isa. 12:3; 55:1; John 4:13–14; 7:37–39; Rev. 22:17. The pleasure of God is to be the Source of Living Water within our innermost being. He longs to satisfy his chosen ones for their enjoyment. He wants to dispense himself into every part of our being until we are saturated and become his expression on the earth. To turn away from our Fountain to another source of life will take us to a dead end, and God calls it “sin.”
and they have dug for themselves cisterns # 2:13 That is, a contextual metaphor for worshiping false gods. Our true Spring of Living Water never fails us and is available for us to drink of him and find restoration. False gods are impotent and as useless as cracked, broken cisterns (see continuation of v. 13 and the following footnote). Living waters flow from the throne of God; broken cisterns hold the waters of the world and are hewn by human hands. —
cracked cisterns that hold no water.” # 2:13 Ancient agricultural societies needed to store rainwater to last through a prolonged dry season. A hewn-out rock cistern had to be lined with plaster in order to be waterproof. If the plaster were to crack, the water would seep out. The false gods that Israel pursued were nothing more than contaminated, broken cisterns, but Yahweh was to Israel a never-failing Spring of Living Water.
The Bitter Results of Unfaithfulness to God
14“Is Israel a slave? Was he born a slave?
Why, then, has he been seized like prey?
15His enemies have raged against him,
roaring like fierce lions. # 2:15 The image of lions was associated with the Assyrians.
They leveled his cities, left them without inhabitants,
and devastated his land.
16Moreover, Egyptian armies will march from Memphis and Tahpanhes. # 2:16 Memphis was once the capital of Lower Egypt and the place where the kings of Egypt resided. Tahpanhes was a major city on the Nile delta on the caravan route to Israel and Mesopotamia.
They will come and shave your head bald. # 2:16 Or “crack your skull” or “graze your head.” Conquering armies shaved the heads of the men they conquered as a sign that they had been reduced to slavery.
17Israel, you have no one to blame but yourselves!
You stubbornly turned away even though Yahweh, your God,
was leading you the right way.
18Why, then, would you now go down to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile? # 2:18 Or “Shihor,” a tributary of the Nile River. To “drink the waters of the Nile” is likely a metaphor for the people leaning on the strength of Egypt to deliver them. There is, perhaps, a little irony here because in Jer. 43:7, the people of Judah ended up going to Egypt, specifically Tahpanhes.
Why would you go to Assyria
to drink from the river Euphrates? # 2:18 Yahweh was rebuking his people for turning away from him, the Source of Living Water, only to seek comfort and stability somewhere else. How we must remove every false crutch we would lean on! God is enough to fill every need we have.
19Your own wickedness punishes you.
Your own unfaithfulness rebukes you.
Look deep into your heart and you will learn
how evil and bitter it is
to forsake me, Yahweh your God,
and have no awe of me. # 2:19 Or “the fear [awe] of me is not on you.”
I, Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, have spoken.”
Israel Is like an Unfaithful Wife
20“Long ago, you broke your bond with me and severed ties. # 2:20 Or “you broke your yoke and tore off your straps.”
You boldly said, ‘I will not serve you!’
Yet, on every high hill and under every green tree,
you offered yourself to other gods.
You were like a prostitute sprawled out awaiting sex.
21I planted you like a special vine # 2:21 See Gen. 49:11; Isa. 5:1–2; John 15:1–10.
from the absolute best seed, # 2:21 See 1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18; 1 John 3:9.
but look at what you’ve become now!
You’re like a twisted, rotten vine.
22Even if you scrubbed yourself with the strongest soap,
your guilty stains # 2:22 The Hebrew word katam is found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Katam can refer to menstrual bloodstains on a woman’s clothes or body. Jeremiah used ten images in this chapter to describe the detestable dimensions of Israel’s idolatry: (1) an unfaithful wife who strayed from God (see vv. 1–5); (2) a prostitute (see v. 20); (3) a choice vine that produces nothing but worthless fruit (see v. 21); (4) a guilty person whose sin cannot be washed away with soap (see v. 22); (5) a wild camel and donkey in heat (see vv. 23–24); (6) a fool bent on self-destruction (see v. 25); (7) a thief (see v. 26); (8) a foolish idolater (see vv. 27–28); (9) a thankless, rebellious people (see vv. 29–32); and (10) a blinded nation who cannot see her obvious guilt (see vv. 33–37). would remain before my face.
I, Lord Yahweh, have spoken.
23“How dare you say, ‘I have not defiled myself.
I’ve not chased after false gods.’ # 2:23 Or “the Baals.”
Look how you behaved badly in the valley. # 2:23 The Targum identifies this valley as Beth Peor (see Num. 25:1–5; Deut. 4:46; Hos. 9:10). However, the Latin Vulgate and most scholars point to the Hinnom Valley, where child sacrifices were made to the god Molech. The Septuagint reads “in the cemetery.”
Don’t you realize what you’ve done?
You’re like a restless wild camel running loose
24or like a wild female donkey
accustomed to the wilderness.
While in heat, she sniffs the wind,
and in her lust, no one can restrain her.
Any male that wants her will find her ready.
25Israel, don’t chase after other gods
until you wear out your sandals
and your throats are parched with thirst.
Yet, you still say,
‘It’s hopeless; I can’t stop chasing them.
I desperately love these foreign gods.’ ”
Israel Disgraced
26“Just as a thief is ashamed when caught in the act,
so all Israel will be shamed—
your kings and princes, your prophets and priests.
27You have called an idol of wood your ‘father’
and an idol of stone your ‘mother.’
You have turned your back toward me instead of your face.
But how different it is when you get into trouble!
You cry out to me and ask me to come and save you.
28Now where are all your homemade gods?
They are nowhere to be found.
Let them arise and save you in your time of trouble!
Judah, you have as many gods as you have villages! # 2:28 The Septuagint adds “and they offer as many sacrifices to Baal as there are streets in the city of Jerusalem.”
29What right do you have to complain about me?
You have all rebelled against me,” declares Yahweh.
30“I’ve wasted my time punishing you
because you did not respond to my correction.
With the ferocity of a hungry lion,
you murdered the prophets I sent to you.
31“O people of this generation,
see the word # 2:31 How can the word of God be seen? One ancient symbol of God’s word was the jar of manna kept in the ark of the covenant. According to Jewish tradition, God commanded that this jar be taken out of the ark in Jeremiah’s time and exhibited (see the Mekilta, an ancient exegesis of the book of Exodus). Today, God’s word is made visible through the lives of those who faithfully follow Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor. 3:2–3; Heb. 8:10). of Yahweh:
Have I been like a wilderness to Israel
or a dangerous land full of gloom?
Then why do my people say,
‘We’re free to do as we want,
and we have no intention of returning to serve you anymore.’
32Does a young woman disregard her engagement ring,
or does a bride forget about her wedding dress?
Yet, my people have continually forgotten me.
33How skillfully you pursue your lovers;
even the worst adulterers could learn from you. # 2:33 Or “you have taught yourselves how to follow evil ways.”
34Your clothes are stained
with the lifeblood of the helpless and innocent,
though you did not catch them breaking into your home. # 2:34 See Ex. 22:2.
Despite all your guilt,
35you dare to say, ‘I’m innocent!
Yahweh is not angry with me anymore.’
But watch out! I, Yahweh, will judge you for perjury
because you say: ‘I have not sinned.’
36Look how you cheapen yourself
by constantly shifting your course. # 2:36 That is, Israel was constantly pursuing foreign gods and foreign alliances.
Egypt will put you to shame just as Assyria did.
37You will turn away from Egypt utterly humiliated, # 2:37 Or “You will turn away from Egypt with your hands upon your heads [a figure of speech for shame and disappointment].”
for I, Yahweh, have completely rejected those you trust.
No alliance will be able to help you!”
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Jeremiah 2: TPT
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