Jeremiah 3

This is a wonderful chapter that demonstrates God's love and mercy. It is a continuation from chapter two. 

The Lord asked that if a man divorced his wife and she joined with another man, could he return to her again after she was "greatly polluted?" See, Israel "...played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me, says the Lord."

Israel had "polluted the land with...harlotries and...wickedness." Therefore, God had withheld rain from them. 

Now God called them to repentance. After they had done these things, He would still take them back, if they would return to Him. Judah saw that Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery, and God had to turn His back on her.

Nonetheless, God called Israel to "acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God..." 

Return, O backsliding children...for I am married to you...I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 

Then the Lord moved to future prophecy and said:

At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. 

In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers. 

Next, a voice (Jeremiah) was heard weeping for the children of Israel. They had forgotten their God: "Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding." 

Jeremiah continued:

Truly, in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel...We lied down in our shame, and our reproach covers us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth...and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

COMMENTARY 

To clarify, sometimes Jeremiah refers to Judah as Israel, but Israel had already gone into captivity. The warning for Judah was that they will end up like Israel if they do not repent and return to the Lord.

IDOLATRY

Judah was committing idolatry, and there was immorality in the land. Idolatry is anything that a man "gives himself to wholeheartedly." The moment a man turns away from God, he fills that vacuum with something else to worship.

McGee quoted Dr. G. Campbell Morgan on the nature of idolatry and the worship of the true God. He said that "when a man makes a god according to the pattern of his own being, he makes a god like himself...[which] will demand from him that which is according to his own nature. 

Take Islam, for example: 

It is clearly evident in Mohammedanism...the blighting sensuality of the man curses the whole of Islam today. Men will be faithful to those gods who make no demands upon them which are out of harmony with the desires of their own hearts. 

Dr. Morgan: "When God calls men, it is the call of the God of holiness, the God of purity, the God of love; and He demands that they rise to His height....He will not consent to the things of desire within them that are of impurity and evil. He calls men up, and even higher, until they reach the height of perfect conformity to His holiness. God's call to humanity is always first pure, and then peaceable; first holy, and then happy; first righteous, and then rejoicing."

BACKSLIDING

God told Judah that He was already judging them by withholding rain. Then He charged the people with backsliding, which meant that when you refuse to obey God, you are rebelling against Him, and this will move you further back and away from Him. 

Again, God warned them to look at Israel, whom He had also warned to return to Him, though they rebelled. Now they were in captivity. But if Judah returned to Him, He would receive them again. However, since they had Israel as an example, it will be much worse for Judah if they do not obey. 

The same can be true for us today. Those of us who have no excuse to hear the truth, but rebel, will be held to a higher account, and "God will judge us according to the opportunities He [gave] us."

Now, there will be a revival under King Josiah, however, it was superficial. A true revival is through the Word of God and a transformation of individual hearts. A superficial revival is more of an emotional experience and response that does not last beyond the first disappointment or desire for sin. 

One important aspect to conversion is a confession of sin. People must confess their iniquity. In chapter three, the voice weeping was Jeremiah. He was moved to confess the sins of Judah, as well as his own. We, too, must humble ourselves before God and recognize how short we fall of His glory. And thank Him for Jesus who died for our sins.