Jer 3:3 | KingComments | STEP | In , the LORD compares the relationship between Him and Jerusalem to that of an earthly marriage in which a husband divorces his wife. Will that husband return to her? The answer is “no” if she has become the wife of another man ( ). The LORD did not divorce Jerusalem, but she herself left. However, she is seen as a wife sent away and her husband is not allowed to return to her, for the land would be completely polluted as a result. Indeed, she has made the return impossible by her harlotry with many lovers. The LORD presents to Jerusalem her behavior ( ). Let her look around. Is there any place to be found where she has not indulged in harlotry? She has shamelessly sat down along the roads to offer herself as a harlot to every passerby (cf. ; ; ). She sits there like an Arab in the desert offering his merchandise to passersby. An Arab lives in total unboundedness. If there is no trade, there is always something to loot. This is how Jerusalem lives. She is only out for harlotry. By her harlotry and all additional evil, she has polluted the whole land. Her sins lie like a covering over the land. The LORD withheld the showers to discipline her and make her return to Him confessing her unfaithfulness ( ; ; ; ). He wants her to feel how empty a life is that takes place outside of fellowship with Him. However, she no longer has a sense of what is good. She has the forehead of a harlot, who is shamelessly engaged and uncorrectable for her repugnant behavior. In pride, she carries on and takes no notice of the LORD. She refuses to acknowledge and break with sin. The LORD reminds them they called to Him as “my Father” ( ). He says this so that in Him they will acknowledge their origin in the consciousness that by serving idols they have separated themselves from Him, their origin. He adds that they will acknowledge Him as “the friend” of their youth. This means that they will acknowledge that they have rejected Him as Friend and have begun to serve the idols. But the LORD knows how they think about Him in their heart. Even if they would come to Him and say “my Father” to Him and confess Him as “the friend” of their youth, they do that without any confession of their sins. They do appeal to His goodness, as the good God Who will accept His people again anyway ( ), but they do it in hypocrisy. They believe that the good God will leave His anger some day. Surely He will not always remain indignant toward them, will He? Their language is flattering, so they speak, but their actions are evil. They manage to speak piously and act sinfully. The LORD sees through that and tells them so clearly. In saying, “you have had your way” we hear the LORD’s amazement at their appalling and incorrigibly insolent attitude. We would say: ‘Do you need to say another word about that?’ But where we stop, God continues in patience and grace. That is an attitude that should amaze us. This is what Jeremiah as a young man has to say to God’s people. Here his first message ends with the main topics summarized: 1. Israel is guilty of terrible sins. 2. The LORD is punishing His people. 3. In times of need, they want the LORD to help them. 4. However, they have no true repentance.

‏ Jeremiah 3:3

Judah, the Faithless Wife

In Jer 3:1, the LORD compares the relationship between Him and Jerusalem to that of an earthly marriage in which a husband divorces his wife. Will that husband return to her? The answer is “no” if she has become the wife of another man (Deu 24:1-4). The LORD did not divorce Jerusalem, but she herself left. However, she is seen as a wife sent away and her husband is not allowed to return to her, for the land would be completely polluted as a result. Indeed, she has made the return impossible by her harlotry with many lovers.

The LORD presents to Jerusalem her behavior (Jer 3:2). Let her look around. Is there any place to be found where she has not indulged in harlotry? She has shamelessly sat down along the roads to offer herself as a harlot to every passerby (cf. Gen 38:14-15; Eze 16:25; Pro 7:12-15). She sits there like an Arab in the desert offering his merchandise to passersby. An Arab lives in total unboundedness. If there is no trade, there is always something to loot. This is how Jerusalem lives. She is only out for harlotry. By her harlotry and all additional evil, she has polluted the whole land. Her sins lie like a covering over the land.

The LORD withheld the showers to discipline her and make her return to Him confessing her unfaithfulness (Jer 3:3; Lev 26:9; Deu 28:23-24; 1Kgs 17:1). He wants her to feel how empty a life is that takes place outside of fellowship with Him. However, she no longer has a sense of what is good. She has the forehead of a harlot, who is shamelessly engaged and uncorrectable for her repugnant behavior. In pride, she carries on and takes no notice of the LORD. She refuses to acknowledge and break with sin.

The LORD reminds them they called to Him as “my Father” (Jer 3:4). He says this so that in Him they will acknowledge their origin in the consciousness that by serving idols they have separated themselves from Him, their origin. He adds that they will acknowledge Him as “the friend” of their youth. This means that they will acknowledge that they have rejected Him as Friend and have begun to serve the idols.

But the LORD knows how they think about Him in their heart. Even if they would come to Him and say “my Father” to Him and confess Him as “the friend” of their youth, they do that without any confession of their sins. They do appeal to His goodness, as the good God Who will accept His people again anyway (Jer 3:5), but they do it in hypocrisy.

They believe that the good God will leave His anger some day. Surely He will not always remain indignant toward them, will He? Their language is flattering, so they speak, but their actions are evil. They manage to speak piously and act sinfully. The LORD sees through that and tells them so clearly. In saying, “you have had your way” we hear the LORD’s amazement at their appalling and incorrigibly insolent attitude. We would say: ‘Do you need to say another word about that?’ But where we stop, God continues in patience and grace. That is an attitude that should amaze us.

This is what Jeremiah as a young man has to say to God’s people. Here his first message ends with the main topics summarized:

1. Israel is guilty of terrible sins.

2. The LORD is punishing His people.

3. In times of need, they want the LORD to help them.

4. However, they have no true repentance.