Jeremiah 2:1-37

“What have you done for me lately?”  We use this phrase to express a lack of gratitude for the past because of a perceived lack of interest in the present.  Jeremiah looks to remind Judah that they have forgotten the gifts of God from the past and therefore have forsaken God in the present.  When we turn our backs on God it is a very dangerous thing with many undesirable consequences.  Jeremiah seeks to demonstrate to his countrymen that their lack of faithfulness in the past is going to result in their lack of freedom in the future. 

THE LOSS OF LOVE: In the beginning of her history, there was a love and devotion from the children of Israel to the Lord.  The first years after entering The Promised Land, was like a honeymoon in the history of the nation.  There was great love for the Lord and devotion to Him.  However, that love has now been lost.  Jeremiah now looks back and laments what has happened in the nation.  Generation after generation has refused to love the Lord.  Their fathers had defiled the Land that God gave them.  The priests did not know God or follow His law.  The shepherds sinned against the Lord.  The prophets turned to idolatry.  This loss of love is going to have terrible consequences for the nation.  It is easy for us to lose that love for the Lord and begin to follow the idols of our hearts.  We must constantly guard our hearts from this danger in life.

THE LOSS OF LOYALTY: Jeremiah calls the people to observe the loyalty that the other nations have to their gods which are no gods at all.  Yet Judah who knows and has been blessed by the one and only true God has turned from God and given her loyalty to the false gods of the other peoples.  The shocking reality is that they have forsaken God and then set out to fashion gods of their own making and liking.  God is the source of living water but the people preferred to try to store water in broken pots.  This left the nation vulnerable to slavery, the land to destruction and the people to utter humiliation.  They left their loyalty to God and followed after the god’s of Egypt and Assyria.  God stands against and will reprove all who are not loyal to Him.  We must all live in fear of the Lord out of our love for Him and desire to please Him in all we do. 


THE LOSS OF LIBERTY: God had freed the nation from slavery in Egypt at her very beginning.  Yet instead of using this liberty to worship God as was His intention they turned to worshiping idols under every tree and on every mountain.  Her attempts to cleanse herself by washing with soap have been futile.  The nation has gone wild with idolatry and immorality.  Her refusal to be tamed by the Word of the Lord will result in God’s refusal to protect her from adversaries.  The “freedom” to live in disobedience will soon result in the loss of liberty.  The worship of sticks and stones instead of the living God will cause God to turn a deaf ear to their pleas for help.  There will be no one to rescue them from the nations.  Their refusal to listen to the Lord and respond to His discipline will result in a long and dark captivity.  The nations of the gods the people preferred will soon become the nations in which the people will be enslaved, having lost all liberty.  God has set us free from sin that we might live in liberty from sin to serve Him with a pure heart.  

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