Wednesday 12th August
Read Jeremiah 3:11-13
“The Lord said to me, ‘Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go, proclaim this message towards the north:
‘“Return, faithless Israel,” declares the Lord,
“I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,” declares the Lord,
“I will not be angry for ever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt –
you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favours to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,”’
declares the Lord.” (NIVUK)
Jeremiah’s listeners would be shocked (v11). God declares an amnesty on his wrath towards Israel, the scattered and judged ones, and issues the plea that is the hallmark of the passage – ‘return’. Again and again the call to return will be issued (3:7, 10, 12, 14, 22, 4:1). It is one of the more detailed treatments of what the call to repentance looks like in Scripture.
First, the offer of forgiveness and restoration is entirely undeserved. It is offered to a people who have already demonstrated they are unworthy. They are dead and dispersed. It is offered purely because God is gracious and faithful by nature (v12).
Second it demands acknowledgement of sin. Those who don’t know themselves to be guilty will not, indeed can not respond. There is a recognition that their faithlessness has resulted in their predicament – it was self-inflicted and voluntary.
Their sin was also universal. Idolatry was practiced everywhere, ‘under every spreading tree’, in many ways, ‘scattered favours to foreign gods’ (plural) (v13). In other words, it was in the air they breathed, absorbed from the people around them and unconsciously adopted. It required a recognition that they needed to be different from those around them and turn away from what everyone else considered normal.
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:1-5) (NIVUK)
