Jeremiah 3:1-10
1 “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. 2 Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom. 3 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. 4 Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth— 5 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.” 6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”
Are you a prostitute? My initial reaction is "of course not!". But that is what God is accusing Israel of being: "you have played the whore with many lovers" (verse 1). Most of the people were not actual prostitutes, but in God's eyes they were equivalent, for they were offering themselves to others in hopes of gaining some reward. The contrast is between faithfully following God alone versus looking to other people/things/idols for help. There are a myriad of things that can replace God in our lives: work, people, superstitions, sex, power, etc. In verse 9 God accuses Judah of "committing adultery with stone and tree". They didn't have sex with the stone and tree, but they probably ascribed some magical power to it, thinking that it could bring them good luck or some such nonsense. But before judging them too harshly, we need to look at the things we replace God with. Thinking that a new car or new spouse will bring us happiness is probably just as foolish from God's perspective.
Lord, forgive me for being unfaithful.
1 “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. 2 Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom. 3 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. 4 Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth— 5 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.” 6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”
Are you a prostitute? My initial reaction is "of course not!". But that is what God is accusing Israel of being: "you have played the whore with many lovers" (verse 1). Most of the people were not actual prostitutes, but in God's eyes they were equivalent, for they were offering themselves to others in hopes of gaining some reward. The contrast is between faithfully following God alone versus looking to other people/things/idols for help. There are a myriad of things that can replace God in our lives: work, people, superstitions, sex, power, etc. In verse 9 God accuses Judah of "committing adultery with stone and tree". They didn't have sex with the stone and tree, but they probably ascribed some magical power to it, thinking that it could bring them good luck or some such nonsense. But before judging them too harshly, we need to look at the things we replace God with. Thinking that a new car or new spouse will bring us happiness is probably just as foolish from God's perspective.
Lord, forgive me for being unfaithful.