Jeremiah continued God's message to the Israelites. The Lord told the people their leaders were corrupt. The people rejected the God who could help them and instead, begged their idols of stone and wood for help. They had made many them, they should be able to help them! God told the people that they accused Him of not saving them, but at the same time, they rejected Him. The Lord had proven Himself to the people again and again, but they wouldn't listen.
The Lord asked why He should take the Israelites back? They had more gods than a prostitute has lovers. They had used sex to worship their gods and had polluted the land with their sins. So, the Lord refused to let the spring rain fall, still they had no shame. God had heard them call Him, but they went right on sinning. God compared Israel and Judah to two sisters. The first one, Israel, was like an unfaithful wife who became a prostitute. He had hoped she would stop, but when she didn't He divorced her and sent her away. Then her sister, Judah, watched what happened and did the same as her sister! She didn't care that she had made herself unclean, but worse, she pretended to come back - even Israel didn't sink that low. God told Jeremiah to shout an invitation to the north to come back to Him. The Lord promised them good things if they would turn away from their lives of sin. God knew that the people would confess their sins and that they would speak empty words.
God insisted they get rid of every idol. He told them that they were stubborn, but needed to keep the agreement their ancestors had made with Him. If not, then His anger would burn like a fire that could not be put out. The Lord told Jeremiah to tell the people He was sending disaster from the north. Jeremiah told the people to keep mourning because the Lord was still angry with them. Jeremiah described the coming doom. He told them it was their own fault they would be punished. Jeremiah saw a vision of the desolation to come. The land would be a barren wasteland where everything was in ruins. The decision had been made, Jerusalem would be destroyed, but not completely.
The Lord told Jeremiah to go and find one honest person who tried to be faithful. If he could find just one, Jerusalem would be spared. Sounds familiar - like Sodom and Gomorrah... When the people would ask why the Lord would punish them and take away their inheritance, Jeremiah was to tell them they abandoned the Lord and worshiped other gods, so they would become slaves in a foreign country.
Tomorrow read Jeremiah 5:20-8:22
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