God's Love Brings Repentance

God's Message of Love to His People

Book of Jeremiah 2

Verses 4-9, 13, 21, 26-32, 35

We already know that the Nation of Israel had been divided at the end of the rule of King Solomon. One called Judah consisted of 2 tribes and the other called Israel consisting of 10 tribes. The men of Israel had long been carried off by Assyria and the women left behind and provided with other men and this area became known as Samaria. This was the reason there was so much, uncalled for, hatred of the Jews and Samaritans.

These things happened because the ten tribes of Israel had abandoned Jehovah and had chosen false gods.

Judah had now become more sinful than Israel had been!

Judah had forsaken the Lord Jehovah for a multitude of false gods, yet they still claimed to be the children of God.

It was an insult to God for the people of Israel to neglect God and forget Him. No one acknowledged his kindness, and no one acknowledged His great love He had for them. Today we would say those who backslide away from the Lord.

I said no one, but God always has a remnant who stands by him.

Let's Begin:

*****Jer 2:4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

Jer 2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

We must first understand that the Lord will only forget those things that He chooses to forget! It should be obvious that as the children of God we are always under His watchful eyes.

These people had broken off their commitment to God!

We should ask ourselves, just what kind of relationship do we have with our Savior? I know the Lord prefers an up close and very personal relationship with each of us.

An atheist denies the existence of God.

An agnostic believes that no one can even really know if there is a God.

If we admit we believe that God exists but we ignore and neglect Him what does that say about us?

If we say we believe God, then maybe we should obey the words He says.

If we came face to face with the Lord today, would He take us on to Heaven with Him or would He reject us as we have rejected Him?

Would He ignore us as we have ignored Him?

When we make a genuine decision to follow the Lord but then pull away, what does that say about our love for Him?

The Lord God Jehovah promises to be faithful to us if we will commit to be faithful to Him.

Our relationship with the Lord must be based on "faith"!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If we please the Lord with our faith, then the Lord will please us with His promises and He promise us eternal freedom to be with Him wherever He is!

Unfaithfulness is such a terrible sin that this will be the thought behind the very first message given to Jeremiah by God the Holy Spirit!

2Ti_3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

It behooves each one of us to listen to what God has to say!

How can anyone take a piece of wood and carve out a figure and call it a god with power?

How can anyone take a stone and carve out a figure and think of it as a god with power?

How can anyone take a mold and pour melted silver or gold and say it is now become a god with power?

To put it bluntly, how could an educated people believe such things as this?

How can an educated people look at all that we can see with our eyes and say these things happened by accident?

God says it right, those who believe such things are vain. Vain means worthless.

The Apostle Peter said:

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

The children of Israel were brought out of Egypt with the power of God and they witnessed powerful wonders that could not be explained other than to say they came from Jehovah God. This was the first time they had met their Savior!

Exo_6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

God had made a promise to Abraham and Sarah and God will always keep all His promises!

*****Jer 2:6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?

What is wrong with a people who will not concern themselves with the truth, after all the things their forefathers had witnessed of the truth of God.

The wilderness journey of the nation of Israel was the birth of the Nation that God had charged with preserving the Word of God.

As many has 600,000 may have died on the journey, yet as many as 600,000 were also born on this journey, so we could say that the nation of Israel was "born again" as they traveled from the death of Egypt to the life of the Promise land but so many had forgotten the truth of the wilderness journey!

Some Christians do the same today. They forget what they use to be before the Lord broke our chains of captivity to Satan.

They had forgotten that the Lord had warned them that this would happen.

Deu 8:13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

Deu 8:14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Deu 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

Deu 8:16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Deu 8:17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

God had given Israel a land that was to be their own land and it was a plentiful land.

To me it seems that as we get older it is our memories that must sustain us until the Lord takes us home. Here we see a nation who had rejected their own memories and made the present the truth.

We see this same thing happening in our nation today as our history is being erased by those who reject the truth!

We have forgotten the birth of our own nation and the struggles to build our nation into a great nation but now a nation falling because we have forgotten our past and are trying to live in today, which has become very evil!

*****Jer 2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

We should understand that everything we see, and all the land belongs to Jehovah God and He allows us to live on it.

When we defile God's land then He will deal with us just as He dealt with Israel back in this day of Jeremiah!

We can just imagine that these words of Jeremiah from the Holy Spirit would not go over well with these people, who still felt they were giving God the Glory with their false worship.

The Lord insisted that Jeremiah be obedient, and he would, because he still loved the Lord and He knew these Words of the Lord were true.

In most every case we just feel like we are incapable to do what God ask us to do. I know I have felt this way myself. If we use the Word of God and much less of our own words things will usually be alright.

The truth is, it is always best to submit to the will of God! We are all called to share the Word of God! We must also remember that the Word of God will cut deep to most of those who hear it!

As we study these lessons in the Book of Jeremiah we are looking into the past of Israel. There were many of these Jews in the time of Jesus and in our day that know another promise, that has not yet taken place.

Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

When we realize that the nation of Israel ruled their own destiny and things would have been much different if they had remained true to the Lord.

We could also say this about our own selves and our own nation, today!

When we do not learn from our mistakes as a people and as a nation, the results will be very similar, but God's patience will not last forever.

When the Lord says that His heritage has become an abomination, He is not talking so much about the land, it is the people.

*****Jer 2:8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

All those who were set aside to teach the people the Word of God, were themselves worshippers of Baal!

How can we not see a comparison to the church that exists today? Certainly not all but more and more as time passes.

In fact, it is becoming against the law to teach the truth of God and many are pushing this to the limit because they serve sin and the father of all sin Satan, the Devil!

Israel, the nation that had been set apart to serve the Lord, had themselves become a wicked nation.

What is sin? Sin is the departure from God and the truth of God!

We should understand that no matter how evil our leaders, or our church leaders become, we are still responsible for our own relationship with the Lord!

Sin can be described as going from things that are real to depending on things that are unreal and vain!

If our Heavenly Father had some sin within His being, we might have grounds for our sin but in all the years since our creation no sin has been discovered in the Lord!

The priests did not seek the Lord nor call upon Him!

The judges who handled the Laws of Moses did not regard Jehovah God!

The pastors, another word for shepherds, did not pasture the flocks of believers.

The prophets only prophesied of Baal and led the people to false gods!

When we forget and erase our history, we are headed for destruction!

It had been Jehovah God who had set the people of Israel free and brought them to a land of milk and honey.

The leaders of Israel had led the people of Israel in a revolt against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

We live in a land today that is ruled by those who have reprobate minds and our own President is treated has one who is hated by those who reject him in the highest office in the land. Our Congress and Senate has become a place where fools gather to do nothing!

I never knew such foolish people exists as those who are against the laws of the land and the laws of our republic!

What kind of God do we serve? The God of love who will offer chance after chance until He has had enough of our rebellion!

*****Jer 2:9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.

Israel had backslidden several times since leaving Egypt, but they soon returned to Jehovah but this time there was no sign of them returning to the truth of God.

It was the Lord Himself who gave these words to Jeremiah and these charges were brought no only against the parents but also to the children and those children's children.

Children normally will follow the teaching of the parents and many as we know will follow in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents!

We are never to think that any child will be disciplined by the Lord for the sins of the parent.

Each of us will live or die by our own mistakes in serving the Lord or in not serving the Lord!

What God is saying is that the discipline of this nation would last a long time. We already know that besides being in siege for a period, they would spend 70 years in captivity until the time God brought Cyrus onto the scene.

Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

God will not tolerate this sin for very long!

*****Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

This verse was not part of our lesson but let's look at it anyway.

Those who are lost who go around switching from one false god to another, only commit one sin and that is the sin of unbelief which will indeed bring their eternal death.

When any Christian forsakes the One True God, they have committed at least two sins.

Once we have been introduced to the Lord then it's time to make a choice.

We can continue to live in sin or we can accept the truth of God and be gloriously saved!

What we cannot do is claim to follow in the ways of Jesus Christ and remain out in the world, like so many we see today.

Judah currently was still claiming Jehovah, but they were serving Baal. God simply will not allow this!

What did the Lord teach that Samaritan woman at that well in Samaria?

Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

There is nothing in this world, no water, no idol and no false god that can bring eternal life, for these things are only broken cisterns that can hold no water.

We must drink from the living waters that flow from the Lord Jesus Christ!

Those cisterns were used to collect rain water because water was a scarce thing at the time of Jeremiah and these people knew exactly what Jeremiah was talking about because it was the absolute truth.

Isa 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Isa 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Another Scripture that is not in our lesson verse 21.

*****Jer 2:21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

A noble vine, here is a healthy vine or some would say tree, but it will not show its death in the short term. Some time must pass by before it will be noticed that it is dying. Sometimes it cannot be revived and sometimes it will still produce fruit, but the fruit will not be of good quality, or not even edible.

God says Israel was a noble vine, from the right seed but turned out to be a degenerate plant, a strange looking vine that produced wild grapes as is said in another Scripture.

A so-called believer who does not retain the truth of God and veers from the truth of God will never reach its full potential!

How was Israel described:

Isa 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

Isa 5:2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

Isa 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

Isa 5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

Isa 5:5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

Isa 5:6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

Isa 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

We must understand as Christians we must not follow this same path to destruction!

*****Jer 2:26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,

Jer 2:27 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

The children of Israel were all in a shameless pursuit of false gods trying to satisfy the lust of their flesh instead of giving themselves over to serve the Lord.

Verse 25 said they had loved strangers(false gods) and after them would they go.

They were in direct denial of Jehovah forgetting the wonders of their escape from Egypt and the miracles in the wilderness.

They had forgotten the great battles where God had fought for them.

They had forgotten the manna from Heaven and the water from the rock.

They had turned their back on God and had turned to animals such as a bull.

They had turned their back on Jehovah and turned to carved stones or carved wood and who knows what they said were now their gods.

They were not even ashamed! Even a thief is ashamed when they get caught but not these Jews, who were not ashamed that they had left the Lord for false things.

They had not been obedient to the Lord and it was Jeremiah who would point out all these things to them jeopardizing his own life, but God would be with him and they could not harm him even if they tried and they did try.

It is hard to imagine those who go back out in the world after they have known the Master, but it happens all the time.

Immorality has proven that it destroys nations throughout history and therefore an attempt to erase our own history continues to take place.

We live in a world that will be happier when us older Christians die off and then they can deal with a younger generation that has been taught lies and not the truth!

They worshipped these idols with the honor due to our Heavenly Father!

What is a backslider? Verse 27 says "they have turned their back unto me and not their face"

How can we call ourselves Christians if we are afraid to come face to face with our Lord and Savior!

They would in fact call upon these things to help them in a time of trouble, but no man-made god can help anyone, and our world today is filled with many man-made gods.

You cannot be a Christian without your Heavenly Father!

Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Isa 64:9 Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

Until we accept the truth of our Father in Heaven, we will never know our Lord and our Savior!

Joh_6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

Joh_10:30 I and my Father are one.

There is no God except the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost! Not three gods but One God in three persons!

*****Jer 2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

The Lord in ridicule said, you have more than enough gods, that you made with your own hands, call out to them and see if they can save you.

Even in this day of Jeremiah, it is said that the non-Jews had above 30,000 false gods, that they worshipped. Much more than enough if they had any power which was impossible, for they had no power at all!

Then the Lord said, "wherefore would you plead with Me".

When we push the One True God away, why then should He help us in our hour of need.

Here in America, The Lord has been removed from and pushed away from us, until something happens such as a Hurricane, or the death of a child, or all the school shootings, then He gets the blame by non-believers.

Why should He stop any of these things in our land when He has been told to leave?

While our nation is so deep in sin and immorality, why would the Lord ever listen to any of our prayers.

He will only listen to the prayers of His children and that one who prays the sinner’s prayer. He will not act on prayers to those who reject Him!

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Do not come to the Lord or even call upon Him if you are not willing to worship Him and Him only!

*****Jer 2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.

The Lord does not expect perfection, but He does expect our worship, which means we ask for forgiveness when we know we have failed Him in any way.

2Ch_7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

*****Jer 2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

We should understand that with every sin comes the chastisement of God and these people had been chastised repeatedly but it had brought no positive results this time.

They just placed their trust in other people and other nations and other gods.

Remember sometimes they would turn to Egypt for help against the Assyrians.

They would turn to other nations for help when they had the God of their forefathers who had shown Himself invincible to people who trusted Him!

Once a great nation under King David and King Solomon even when he had done wrong he had kept the nation safe from invasion.

The worship of false gods had only brought emptiness, distrust, restlessness and betrayal.

They could not even trust each other.

These things sound familiar to us today!

When they had sinned the prophets of God had preached repentance, but they did not want to hear such things and they killed the prophets of God like lions in search of their prey.

They still thought of themselves as good and decent people, but goodness will never bring salvation!

God had pity on them because He still loved them even though they desired to be free of God and His commandments.

Again, this sounds like the America we live in today.

2Ti_4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

2Ti_4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

These people had forsaken Jehovah God!

*****Jer 2:31 O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?

Jer 2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

When the Lord speaks through His prophets, He is asked questions from His people, many times that the answer is a simple "No".

If we have something to ask the Lord, then ask. He already knows what the question is, and He is always the answer!

Just ask, why delay because of shame?

**No, the Lord has never been a wilderness to Israel. We see Israel to day and as Christians we know what God is saying is true, but it was just as true in the time of Jeremiah.

**No, the Lord has never been a land of darkness. The Lord has always been a bright shining light for all people who placed their trust in Him!

We must never treat the Lord like He has left us when He never will leave us.

If we cannot trust the Word of God and the promises He makes, then we are a pathetic people!

When we place ourselves above the god we serve, it should be obvious we have taken on the traits of Satan!

Eze 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

When we take on the traits of Satan then we will suffer with him in the burning lake of fire. "The wages of sin is still death"

Eze 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

What would Judah see for her iniquities?

Eze 28:7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

Assyria lay to the North of Judah and had already captured the ten tribes but now Babylon had captured Assyria and it was this powerful nation that God called upon to punish Judah for her sins.

They would be captives throughout Babylon for 70 years.

Why do the guilty always declare their innocence?

*****Jer 2:35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

Just as in America today, people will always try to justify their sinful behavior. Not very many thought they deserved to see the wrath of God.

Again, we see this happening right before our eyes!

We must never forget that any act of sin, no matter how small is enough to be rejected by the Lord if we refuse to repent.

Preaching on repentance is not heard from many of the pulpits today.

When we are short of God's glory, we are unacceptable to our Holy God!

We must wear the righteousness of His Dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

In the day of Jeremiah these people turned everywhere except toward the Lord!

Amen

Let's Pray!