Jeremiah 3 - Return Faithless One

LINK: Jeremiah 3

BACKGROUND

In this chapter, Judah is portrayed as an adulterous harlot who has married other gods. The Law (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) says that she cannot reunite with her husband once she has divorced him and married another man. God has the right to permanently end the union with Judah, but He is a God of mercy and would take them back again if they would only return.

God had already given Judah's faithless sister, Israel, a divorce, and she was carried away by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17). Sadly, Judah did not learn from Israel's mistakes. They added insult to injury because they made a pretense of returning to the Lord while continuing in sin. (Remember Isaiah's indictment in Isaiah 66:2b-3?) This made the Lord proclaim through Jeremiah that, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah"!

Jeremiah pauses to give a message of hope to Israel if they would acknowledge their sin. He also states that Israel and Judah, who had divided as a nation in 931 B.C. will reunite, and there will be people mourning over their sinful condition. This awaits the return of Christ as King (Zechariah 12:10-13:1).

Keywords in this chapter are "return" (3:1, 7, 12, 22; 4:1) and "faithless" (3:6,8,11,12,14,22). God is always pleading for his faithless ones to return!

REFLECTION

My big brother, Bill (left), was a party animal. Despite being a successful beach, collegiate, US National, and professional volleyball player and expert surfer, he got involved in drugs and alcohol early in his life. Eventually, this led to his lonely death on July 7, 2008; face-down on the floor with bottles of booze surrounding him rather than his loved ones. He had alienated his wife of 20 years, his daughters, his brother, and his friends. By the end of his life, I was the only one left on cordial speaking terms with him, always inviting him to turn to the Lord, but he remained far away from Him.

Early on, I could see that his path was not a path I wanted to walk down. Sure, he was pretty famous, especially in Southern California beach and volleyball culture. My other brother, "C" (on the right), still looked at his big brother as somewhat of an idol and took the same volleyball/surfer/party path for many years.

I remember riding in C's Porsche (the car of the '70s) at a dangerous speed. When I asked him to slow down, he yelled, "Carol, I don't understand you, Bill and I live life in the fast lane. You come from the same genes. What is wrong with you?" In my mind, the only response was "There but for the grace of God (go I)," but I was too terrified by the tremendous speed and intimidating, big brother voice to say anything. In addition, I think speeding is often testosterone-driven, but I digress!

As I was reading about Judah not learning from Israel's mistakes, I thought of my brothers Bill and C. C was like Judah. Bill was like Israel. C saw Bill's faithlessness and followed suit. His famous words to me were always, "Don't tell Mom!" when he told me of his exploits. I was helpless to know how to respond. (What can I say? I am the youngest child, and I was usually too intimidated to say anything.) My brothers used to have a jolly old time together as they would get drunk/high, and I would just be on the outside. Wish I could have spoken up more like Jeremiah. Instead, I just got really sad. Sometimes being the "Little Goody-Two-Shoes" in the family can be very, very lonely. It still is sometimes.

Even after my brother Bill's divorce due to his alcoholism, my brother C continued in his waywardness for many more years, not learning the lesson from "Big Brother Israel." Thankfully, C did return. He had a "Jeremiah" in his life; and unlike Judah, he listened and returned. God healed him, and he sobered up. He is a man of deeper faith and prayer now, and he is seeking to help others through their own addiction. Sadly, it was too late for my big brother Bill. I was not there in his last moments though, and God is merciful and in control. I can rest in that even though I am still very sad over his death.

APPLICATION

Do you need to be a "Jeremiah" in another person's life? Do you need to speak truth to someone by calling them to return to the Lord? Do something before it is too late.

PRAYER

Lord, help us to be faithful to You because You are always faithful to us. Lord, help us to be bold in our love toward those who are walking down the wrong path. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.