Israel, An Unfaithful Wife (Day 4)

Read Jeremiah 2:23-37
 
   The people are compared to animals who search for mates in mating season. Unrestrained, they rush for power, money, alliances with foreign powers, and other gods. The idols did not seek the people; the people sought the idols and ran wildly after them. Then they became so comfortable in their sin that they could not think of giving it up. Their only shame was in getting caught. If we desire something so much that we’ll do anything to get it, it is a sign that we are addicted to it and out of tune with God. 
   Being a prophet in Jeremiah’s day was risky business. Prophets had to criticize the policies of evil kings, and this made them appear to be traitors. The kings hated the prophets for standing against their policies, and the people often hated the prophets for preaching against their idolatrous life-styles (Acts 7). 
 
   Forgetting can be dangerous, whether it is intentional or an oversight. Israel forgot God by focusing its affections on the allurements of the world. The more we focus on the pleasures of the world, the easier it becomes to forget God’s care, His love, His dependability, His guidance, and most of all, God Himself. What pleases you most? Have you been forgetting God lately? 
 
   God is not against alliances or working partnerships, but He is against people trusting others for the help that should come from Him. This was the problem in Jeremiah’s time. After the days of David and Solomon, Israel fell apart because the leaders turned to other nations and gods instead of the true God. They played power politics, thinking that their strong neighbors could protect them. But Judah would soon learn that its alliance with Egypt would be just as disappointing as its former alliance with Assyria (2 Kings 16; Isaiah 7). 
 
   In this section, the marriage analogy sharply contrasts God’s love for His people with their love for other gods and reveals Judah’s faithlessness. Jeremiah condemned Judah for seeking security in worthless, changeable things rather than the unchangeable God. We may be tempted to seek security from possessions, people, or our own abilities, but these will fail us. There is no lasting security apart from the eternal God.