Home     

The Sin of Israel's Ancestors

   Jeremiah 2.4-13

   Good News Translation (GNT)

*************************

  4  Listen to the Lord's message, you
   descendants of Jacob, you tribes of Israel.
  5  The Lord says:

    "What accusation did your ancestors bring
      against me?
         What made them turn away from me?
      They worshiped worthless idols
         and became worthless themselves.
  6     They did not care about me,
         even though I rescued them from Egypt
         and led them through the wilderness:
         a land of deserts and sand pits,
         a dry and dangerous land
         where no one lives
         and no one will even travel.
  7     I brought them into a fertile land,
         to enjoy its harvests and its other good
         things.
      But instead they ruined my land;
         they defiled the country I had given them.
  8     The priests did not ask, 'Where is the Lord?'
         My own priests did not know me.
      The rulers rebelled against me;
         the prophets spoke in the name of Baal
         and worshiped useless idols.

   The Lord's Case against His People
  9    "And so I, the Lord, will state my case
      against my people again.
      I will bring charges against their
      descendants.
10     Go west to the island of Cyprus,
         and send someone eastward to the land
         of Kedar.
         You will see that nothing like this has ever
         happened before.
11     No other nation has ever changed its gods,
         even though they were not real.
      But my people have exchanged me,
         the God who has brought them honour,
         for gods that can do nothing for them.
12     And so I command the sky to shake with
      horror,
         to be amazed and astonished,
13        for my people have committed two sins:
      they have turned away from me,
         the spring of fresh water,
      and they have dug cisterns,
         cracked cisterns that can hold no water
         at all.

*************************

Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by the Scripture Union

'The Sin of Israel's Ancestors'

     Jeremiah 2.4-13

The first task of God's prophet is to tell it as it is; to look at the world and at the community of God's people; then describe how God views it and us.
There is no room for alternative truths when speaking for God. Jeremiah certainly begins as he means, or is meant, to go on!

Now put yourself in his hearers' shoes. No one likes to hear this kind of truth and you can imagine their response (later in the book we read that they did react like this!):
'Look, Jeremiah, you are out of order, you are exaggerating, we are God's people, we hold proper services every week, we bring all the right offerings, we speak out against the sins of others; we really are good people.
Don't speak to us like this: you deserve punishment for this kind of disloyalty to your country.'

The point is, however, that this nation, which has committed itself to being the people of God and which has signed the covenant, has completely forgotten what that means and has actually rejected everything that the covenant with God stands for.

The people have been told all they need to know about God, but they have thrown it away.

It is a real challenge to those of us who claim to be part of God's people today.
Are we really living in the way that reflects that relationship?

The gods of ancient Egypt and Assyria are no temptation to us, but the gods of materialism, consumerism, selfish nationalism and many other such things certainly are.
If a modern Jeremiah spoke like this to me or my church, would I get defensive and dismiss it out of hand, or would I be willing to listen and change?

The good news is that because of the life and death of Jesus 'the stain of [our] guilt' (v 22) has been taken away.

Other versions are available here

Return to the Home Page

  During the Interregnum
  March 2025 to ....
  contact the Benefice Office
  E-mail:
  thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com

  Contact the Benefice Office
  Sunday School Rooms, Church Lane,
  BUGBROOKE, Northampton, NN7 3PB
  Land Line: 01604 830373
  E-mail:
  thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
  Mon., Tues., Wed., Thur.
  9:00^am to 11:30^am

  For Baptism bookings  (Christenings)
  to arrange an appointment please contact
  the Benefice Office.

  For Wedding bookings:
  please contact the Benefice Office to arrange
  an appointment.

  Who Made This?
  Seeing as you asked, if you can give helpful
  advice or report factual corrections and
  'deliberate mistakes',email:-
  regparker3 at gmail dot com

  Email addresses shown using words in an
  attempt to avoid 'spam',
  Type the email address replacing 'at' with '@',
  and 'dot' with '.'