WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME? ~ A study in Jeremiah

My family once rented a fully furnished home in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. A couple from Manhattan owned the home but had their elderly mothers both managing this home for lease. The listing represented the home as having four bedrooms which would have been perfect for us to have a home office. I say, ‘would have been’ because when we moved in, we found the fourth bedroom locked without a key. When we questioned the managers of the home, they informed us that the bedroom was for keeping all the personal belongings the owners did not wish to share with tenants. We were not thrilled that the home was not as originally listed, but we decided we could make it work for our family. I had one caveat that I did not feel the need to share with the managers. There were pictures on the living room walls that I could not live with. They seemed to have eyes that followed my every move. I carefully removed them, wrapping them in paper and stored them in the garage. (I would later find out that they are ‘icons’.)

 

One woman was more in charge of the property as our main landlady. She would occasionally drop by to inspect the home. On one occasion, she asked us about an item that she believed had been in the home when we rented it. We had no idea what she was talking about. She was beyond distressed over this item and accused us of having done something with it. We pleaded with her to no avail. My husband suggested that perhaps it was in the locked room. She adamantly denied this possibility, but she said she would come over and check it out. With key in hand, our landlady opened the door to the bedroom that was stacked from top to bottom with the owners’ treasures. There, in the closet, was the item she was relieved to find…the item we had never seen before.

 

When the day came for the women to come and do the final inspection for our security deposit, I was a little post-partum and not myself. I was nervous to make sure that everything was as we found it after the other encounter we had. I forgot, however, the icons in the garage. Wouldn’t you know it, the ladies first walked into the living room. The landlady we were most familiar with gasped immediately, “Where are my icons?” Seriously? I said, “What are icons?” I then remembered the pictures I had removed years earlier. Because I was never good at dealing with conflict, I started crying (blubbering like the baby I was holding). As I was running out the door I shouted, “I couldn’t stand those evil eyes looking at me everywhere I went!” The women both dropped their jaws, then sheepishly came outside a few moments later profusely apologizing to me. They said, “It’s okay, honey. We will give you your security deposit. Please don’t cry.” My husband must have apologized for my fragile state. Silly story, but true.  I mention the story to show how valuable idols can be to those who worship them.

 

“For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see and send to Kedar and observe closely and see if there has been such a thing as this! Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:10-13)

 

Israel had been chosen as a nation by the living God for Himself. Unbelievably, they forsook the only true God (who had made them a glorious people for the most glorious purpose of all) for false gods that were no gods at all and did not give them anything. God had blessed them and proved His love for them time and time again. It was absurdity. God furthers His case against them by pointing to the pagan nations around them. People can pray over beads, bow down to statues, and sacrifice in all manner of ways to false gods all the while believing in their hearts that these gods are real and are blessing them. And they hold on tightly to these false gods. Israel has the one true and living God, and they turn away from Him. The Lord is saying, “Who does this?”

 

Micah 6:1—Hear now what the LORD is saying, “Arise, plead your case before the mountains and let the hills hear your voice.” To call the rest of God’s creation to the witness stand to testify against the foolishness of man turning from his Creator should reveal the appalling nature of man turning to false gods…gods he has made with his own hands. Man’s apostasy in turning from the true and living God to false gods was as appalling as it was ludicrous. Man cannot live without God. Without Him, he will die. Yet, he believes he cannot live without his idols.

 

Be appalled at this, O heavens…Appalled sha’mem means to be stunned, to stupefy, or to cause horror.  And shudder…Shudder sa’ar means to be horribly frightened, to storm away, or tempestuous. Be very desolate…Desolate is charab which means to lay waste, be in ruins, to be dried up.

 

Ezekiel 32:10—"I will make many peoples appalled (sha’mem) at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid (sa’ar) of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.” This was a prophesy brought against Pharaoh and Egypt. When that judgment fell, many others would be troubled. Bringing desolation to such a mighty nation like Egypt would make men everywhere tremble in the presence of Almighty God. Even this, however, would not cause them to turn from their wickedness. James 2:19 says that even demons believe in God and shudder, but it does not mean that they will turn from their wickedness. If God’s judgment could come to a superpower like Egypt, it could come to any nation.

 

Israel had committed two evils: They had forsaken He who is the fountain of living waters to hew for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. John 4:13-14—Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” Revelation 21:6—Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”

 

We caught our puppy outside yesterday drinking from mud puddles while his sparkling clean, refreshing water sat untouched just steps away. We say, “Only dogs would do that, people never would.” Oh, yeah? The water of life is freely given by God, yet man is on his hands and knees nearby frantically digging for himself cisterns for catching rainwater that crack and leak. “I don’t need Your water; I can get water for myself!” Sound familiar?

 

My family was in the bottled water business. A very important part of the business is marketing and advertising. The best way to get people to try a product is a good package. Images of refreshing mountain springs, cold and pure water that flows freely sells bottled water. Who would ever put a picture of a damn on the front of the label to entice people to drink water?

 

Water is vital for human life. Clean water is a public health problem, even more so in ancient times. There is a spiritual thirst in each of us that only the water of life can quench. This water can cleanse us on the inside and satisfy the deepest longings of every spiritual thirst in our souls.

 

“Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn servant? Why has he become a prey? The young lions have roared at him, they have roared loudly. And they have made his land a waste; his cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant. Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. Have you not done this to yourself by your forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way? But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates? Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, and the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 2:14-19)

 

Sin enslaves. John 8:34-36—Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” Israel was God’s firstborn son, not a slave. A son enjoyed certain privileges, special care, provisions, and protection in the family. Israel chose slavery over freedom. So, how had Israel become prey to enemy nations? “Young lions” are seen throughout the Old Testament as the enemies of Israel. In the New Testament, Satan, our adversary, is portrayed as a hungry lion seeking his prey to destroy them. In His covenant with Israel, God had assured them that He would defend them if they were obedient to Him. Shaved the crown of your head could mean to have killed their good king Josiah.

 

God’s beloved wife was now captive, enslaved, her home ransacked and burned. Why? Did she get it yet? Because she forsook her husband when He had led her in the way. God was sovereign and in control. Yet, she did this to herself. He was leading her in the way, the truth, and the life; but she turned away from Him walking back to the world. If she realized the genesis of her status, surely, she would turn around and run back to the loving arms of her husband. Sadly, we see her walking down the desolate road back to Egypt. Turning away from the living water, she chooses to drink, instead, the river waters of the Nile and the Euphrates! God’s own people shamefully turned back to the world for refreshment, instead of to Him. Apostasy still looks the same.  With no shame, she turns to other lovers, her very enemies, seeking alliance with them to help her. Nile is the word Shihor or Sihor which means dark. In Jesus, the living water, was life, and the life was the Light of men. In Him was no darkness at all. People who love darkness are those who do not want the Light to expose their sin.

 

Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, and the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 2:14-19) There are always consequences for sin. Even after God has redeemed a person’s past, there may still be consequences for sin that will be a bitter reminder to that one for the rest of their earthly life. One commentator said: The consequences of the people’s own wickedness and apostasies would come back on them and plague them. This should teach them that it was morally evil and experientially bitter for them to abandon Yahweh their God.

 

We see people who commit their lives to Christ, then turn back to the world all the time. We see the sinful lifestyles that result which are visible to our eyes. The bigger issue is the moral evil of having turned from worshipping the Creator to worshipping the creation, ultimately ‘self’. Why do people turn away? Because they have no fear of God. We see this being lived out in our streets today. What is in the hearts of man is being very visibly displayed in the violence and corruption in our cities. Why isn’t God stopping it? One of the worst possible judgments God can render to a disobedient people is to give them over to their own depraved hearts and minds. And they will reap the painful consequences of their sins all the while believing they are living ‘the good life’ and finding true happiness.