“Question & Answer”

Question:
What picture does Jeremiah paint of Israel’s apostasy?
Answer:
Jeremiah returns to the ideal past from which the nation has fallen away. I remember the devotion of your youth. (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. Jeremiah 2:2 KJV) Jeremiah recounts God’s goodness to the nation. ( 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 my heritage an abomination. Jeremiah 2:7 KJV) (My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit Jeremiah 2:11) (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? Jeremiah 2:18) (A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffed 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. Jeremiah 2:24 KJV) (As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. Jeremiah 2:26-28 KJV) (They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 3:1 KJV) ( Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not seen it by secret search, but upon all these. Jeremiah 2:34 KJV)