Jeremiah 3

Brendaonline.com

The word of God speaks!  Do not place anyone else in my place.

God is telling us that He does not want another man or thing taking care of his family.  Even to this day, it is not easy to understand how a man who has children allows another man to take care of those he gave seed to.

When we get in trouble we perhaps look to family or friends to bail us out of the trouble we have sunk ourselves into.  When we do this too much, it causes the family member to hate us because we use them for our lack of discipline in making the right decisions.

God sees all sides of every circumstance; that is why he said let me be your provider.  I will not hold a grudge when you continue to come to me when you are in need.

It is amazing to me how God chose a child to minister for Him this message.  God gave Jeremiah a profound message.  He made sure Jeremiah did not say he was a child.  It does not matter if God uses a child or a woman who is marked by the world to be out of order when delivering God's message.  None of us has anything to do with who God uses.  Always check the Word of God to see if God is speaking rather than the person He uses to say what He said to say.

If God gave this message to a young person to speak to nations, leaders, and people it shows me that He has no boundaries when He wants a message heard.  Jeremiah had the right personality to say what God said. Why? because we are looking at what he spoke in the third chapter and he shows no reluctance in speaking the truth to people who God loves but does not demonstrate the love back to Him.

Jeremiah 3:1-25 (KJV) 

1 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. 

Notice that Jeremiah said it is the word on the street that if a man put away his wife and she marries another man, can that man return to his wife who left him?  Would that not be counted as pollution in that marriage?  but God is telling His people you did that to me.  You played the prostitute, but I ask you to come back to Me!

2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. 

Look around where you live and see who you have become into bondage with.  You have become prostitutes sitting where they told you to sit.  You are like men in hiding waiting for victims you can take advantage of in unknown places: and my people have done this evil against me in your corruption.

3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. 

If you are wondering why there is no rain, it is because you have bold in your sins and you are not shamed. Our sins have a lot to do with the reaction of nature. 

No rain means a drought; when you have dry weather, is it not enough for you to call Me?

Even today, our world is suffering because of a virus.  Many leaders who are well known have not spoken up to call our nation to repent for the evil present.  It is because God has not spoken through them and He is not speaking through them in our time of crisis.

4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou [art] the guide of my youth? 

During a time when things are lacking, is it enough to remember I am God?

5 Will he reserve [his anger] for ever? will he keep [it] to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

You say God is angry and holds grudges.  Look at your behavior and see you are the blame for what is going wrong.  You are doing all the evil you can do even during a time you ought to be seeking me.

6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen [that] which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

Jeremiah said God asked me if I saw what He sees concerning the sins of Israel during the time Josiah was king?  He said to look around, Israel is sinning everywhere and the sins she is committing is the sin of a prostitute; she is laying with anything she can, to get gain.

7 And I said after she had done all these [things], Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw [it]. 

Israel knows that I know what she has done, but I still wanted her to come to me, but she refused.  Now her little sister Judah is acting just like her.

8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

Judah saw what I did to Israel, but she still did the same thing Israel did even after I divorced her.  God hates divorces, but, He never said he would not give you one.

 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 

My people thought so little of the wrong they were doing, they did not realize they were having a wrong relationship with stones and animals.

People can be so blinded that they have no idea they are dealing with what could hurt them.  Stones can be used for many things and stocks can represent the stuff we feel secure in owning.  God wants us to know that having a wrong relationship with anyone or anything can be deadly if what you are connected to does not know you and how to take care of you from all angles in life.  Only God knows about man and man was and is created for God's glory.

10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 

Judah who is unfaithful pretends she is holy but she has not turned to me to do what is right. 

11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 

Judah is worse than Israel and Israel did nothing to brag about concerning righteousness.  When we see the wrong of others and still do what they do, we are evil.

12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; [and] I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I [am] merciful, saith the LORD, [and] I will not keep [anger] for ever. 

Jeremiah was told to go to Israel and tell her to come back to God.  God told Jeremiah to tell His people I do not want to hurt you, come back to me and I will pardon you for your misconduct.

13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 

Admit your sins and start over.

14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: 

God asked the children of Israel to return back to him, although they left him. God said I would take one of you from the city and two out of a family; there is nothing too hard for God. But he shared with us his strategy; the city will be a slower process and the family is a small group and I would deal with them easier. (This is my opinion).

15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 

When you come back I will give you pastors like Me and they will help guide you back to the place I want you to be.

16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit [it]; neither shall [that] be done any more. 

When you grow in size, you will never have to wonder what I will do next. Do not worry about the way I did things using the ark of the covenant. I'll give you my word it will be enough.

17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. 

Jerusalem will be my headquarters and all Nations will recognize that. People will learn to do things right and they will not have to imagine what life would be like because what they will be experiencing will be really good.

18 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 for an inheritance unto your fathers. 

In those days there will be no difference between the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom; they will both be walking together. This is my plan and this is what I would do.

19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

When you recognize that I am your God then I will give you the promises I just made.

 20 Surely [as] a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. 

Yes my people you have treated me wrong just like an unfaithful wife to her husband and you are mine.

21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping [and] supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, [and] they have forgotten the LORD their God. 

The voice of my people will be heard crying because she refused to change; she refused to stay in the word of God.

22 Return, ye backsliding children, [and] I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou [art] the LORD our God.

Come back home all of you who love me and I will be glad to be your God. 

23 Truly in vain [is salvation hoped for] from the hills, [and from] the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God [is] the salvation of Israel.

I am the only live in God everything else is a waste of time.

 24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 

You have lost everything that your ancestors wanted you to have because of your sins.

25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

We have done wrong and now we are paying for it. All of this could have been avoided if we had paid attention to the word of God.