Jeremiah 2

20–25 Here God describes the idolatry of the people; He compares it to adultery. Having broken off the yoke of the Lord’s covenant, the people lay down as a prostitute on every high hill to worship idols¹⁶ (verse 20). God’s people had originally been “planted” like a choice vine (verse 21), but they had yielded only bad fruit (Isaiah 5:1–2). No matter how much His people washed themselves on the outside, they could not wash away their guilt, their inner defilement (verse 22). Only by confession and repentance could they be cleansed (1 John 1:9); but these people were still proclaiming their innocence! “I am not defiled,” the people said (verse 23).

God compares the people of Judah to a female animal in heat, looking for male animals (idols) to mate with (verse 24). God told them: “Don’t keep running after idols until you’re worn out, until your feet are bare”; but they loved their foreign gods too much to listen (verse 25).

26–30 The Lord continues His condemnation of the people’s idolatry. They make idols of wood and stone, and then call them “father” and “mother” (verse 27). Yet when the people get into trouble, they call out to God; but God tells them to let their idols come and save them! (verse 28).

Over and over God tried to discipline His people, but they did not respond to correction (see Hebrews 12:7–10); instead, they put to death the prophets God sent to warn them (verse 30).

31–37 Again God asks His people: “Have I been a desert or a land of great darkness?” (verse 31). No; God has led them through the desert and the darkness. And yet they have left Him to pursue the love of idols (verse 33). Having left God, they have also left God’s moral standards; they have descended into immorality and even murder. They kill innocent people, accusing them of being thieves even though they did not catch them breaking in (verse 34). Yet the people of Judah continue to say, “I am innocent” (verse 35). In this they are like people everywhere: we humans are experts in justifying ourselves. But God alone is the One who can truly justify us.

God says He will pass judgment on the people of Judah. They will be forced to leave Jerusalem with their hands on [their] head—that is, as prisoners (verse 37). Egypt and Assyria will be of no help, because the Lord has rejected them.

God proclaimed all this to the people of Judah through His prophet Jeremiah. And all this came true less than forty years later, when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took its people captive (see 2 Kings 25:1–21). With its capital city destroyed, the rest of Judah was easily conquered.