Jeremiah 2:1

The Bible says in Jeremiah 2:1-3, “Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.” The key phrase of these verses is where the Lord said, “I remember thee.” And then notice the things that He remembered about Israel. He remembered the good things that the children of Israel had done. God remembered their kindness and their love. He remembered when they desired God. God remembered their holiness, and their fruitfulness, and how much they were victorious over their enemies. They were not perfect: no one is, except for Jesus. But because they were rightly-related to the Lord, He remembered only the good things that they did. That is what heaven will be like for everyone who is there. We will all only remember the good things. How wonderful that will be. Of course, we can try to be like that now. It says in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 2:4-6, “Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: 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? 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?” God remembered the good things that the Israelites had done, but one of the problems was that the Israelites had not remembered the good things that God had done for them. They had not remembered that “the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt.” That is symbolic of the salvation that we have through faith in Jesus. They had not remembered that the Lord led them “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.” This is symbolic of how much the Lord guides us, and blesses us, and provides for us in this life after we are saved. Do not ever forget all of the wonderful things the Lord has done for you. He died for you on the cruel cross. He came to you and saved you. Since your salvation, Jesus has helped you and blessed you every day of your life. Do not forget.

The Israelites forgot, and thus they turned away from the Lord. The Lord said in Jeremiah 2:7-8, “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. 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.” Because they stopped serving the Lord, they turned to something else that filled up the spiritual void: false religion. Anyone who turns away from the Lord, will be an easy prey for false religion and false teachings. Why do so many people join false religions and accept false teachings? One reason for this is that so many people have turned away from the Lord already. If they turn away from the truth, they naturally fall into that which is false. A very revealing phrase is given in Jeremiah 2:8 that says, “they that handle the law knew me not.” Of course, this is talking about the religious leaders. If the leaders go astray, then everything and everyone in the organization will suffer and will be weakened by them. The leaders will teach the wrong things from the Word of God, even though they are studying the Word of God, because they do not know the Lord. One of the key elements of having true religion is to know the Lord Jesus in a personal way. The question is not: are you a member of a church, do you claim to be a Christian, or have you been baptized? The question is: do you know the Lord personally? Jesus said in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 2:9-13, “Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead. For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. 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.” What happened to the children of Israel was a great disaster indeed. At one time they served the Lord and were close to Him, but they fell away, and fell away so greatly that they changed to worshipping a different God. They started worshipping Baal instead of God. God Himself said that such a circumstance is very rare among nations: to see a nation totally change its religion, especially to see a mass change from tat which is true to that which is false. In spite of how much the Israelites failed the Lord, it is important to notice that God said to the Israelites in Jeremiah 2:9, “I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.” The Lord is very patient and tenderly merciful to His children. Jesus constantly is waiting with open arms, inviting the wayward ones to come back to Him. That is why First John 1:9 is such an important part of continuing to walk with the Lord month after month, and year after year. It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

God told the Israelites in Jeremiah 2:13 that they had committed two evils. The fist evil was that they had departed away from God. God did not depart from them. Hey departed from God. If anyone is separated from God, they are responsible for that separation because of their own choices. Normally, the Lord works in the hearts of people while they are children. By the time someone is an adult, they have made their choices spiritually speaking. Time after time, the Lord has pleaded with them, and time after time they have turned away. One reason that it is going to turn out so badly for those who turn away away, is that they turned away from “the fountain of living waters.” Of course, water is one of the basic requirements for life. Without water you can have no life at all. Anyone who turns away from God is ensuring their own destruction. Jesus talked about the fountain of living water. Jesus said in John 4:6-14, “Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 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.” Jesus also said in John 7:37-39, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

The second evil committed by the Israelites was according to Jeremiah 2:13 that “they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” This verse refers to the vanity of life for anyone who does not walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?” Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 2:14-17, “Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?” Notice the contrast in the first little question asked in Jeremiah 2:14. It asks, “Is Israel a servant?” The word “Israel” means “prince of God.” That is the name that God gave to Jacob when God changed Jacob’s name. What a contrast to being a “slave” to being a “prince.” That is the story of every believer. You can be a prince or a slave. God wants you to be a prince or a princess by staying close to King Jesus. But if you wander away from the King, you will live like a servant to the forces and to the people of this world who do not know God. Why do bad things happen to believers? One reason is because believers can bring sorrows upon themselves as it says in Jeremiah 2:17, “Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 2:18-25, “And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 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? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.” These verses are a great emphasis on how much the children of Israel departed from God. Notice the words that are used to describe what the Israelites had become: “wickedness,” “backslidings,” “evil,” “bitter,” “thou wanderest,” “harlot,” “degenerate,” “iniquity,” “polluted,” “gone after Baalim,” and “no hope.” How did this happen to the Israelites. How did they fall this far from being the people of God? To them were given the covenants of God. They came in the lineage of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. What happened? The answer at least partly is found in Jeremiah 2:25 that says, “thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.” What they “loved” ended up determining everything. Be careful what you love. It will decide your destiny. It says in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Also, Jesus said to Peter in John 21:15-17, “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

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