1“They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says Yahweh.
2“Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness. 3Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be ashamed. 4Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth!’?
5“‘Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.”
6Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there. 7I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear, but she also went and played the prostitute. 9Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood. 10Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh.
11Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you, for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever. 13Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’” says Yahweh. 14“Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh, “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jeremiah’s task was not an easy one, he was to warn the people that they needed to return to God. He clearly tells them that they have rejected God and if they do not repent Judah will be captured and the people will be carried away in exile.
One of the ways that God describes the behaviour of the people through Jeremiah is that of a spouse who continually commits adultery. This comparison of a marriage bond is used many times in the bible, it reminds us that God is not distant but has a relationship with his people. He feels the hurt and betrayal when they reject him and worship other gods, he feels the wounds of being rejected while the people he loves abandon him. Yet in all of that he still says in verse 12 come home to me again. Despite everything God wanted his people to return to him. Now, we need to be careful not to interpret this analogy with marriage as a reason to tolerate unacceptable behaviour in spouse and put ourselves at risk. This is a spiritual comparison, which Jeremiah uses to convey the damage that rebellion against God does and the depths of God’s mercy.
The question for us today is, are we living in rebellion to God? Have we abandoned the relationship we once had with him? Have we let other things creep in and overtake our lives and in doing so we have forgotten to put God first? If we have he longs for us to ask for his mercy and re-establish our relationship with him. His mercy is so vast and deep and gracious and he still wants us to come home to him again.