should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled?
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers - would you now return to me?” declares the LORD.
2 “Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.
4 Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, 5 will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?’ This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.”
6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
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“‘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 forever. 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.
‘I will not be angry forever. 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.
14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you - one from a town and two from a clan - and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the LORD, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honour the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
19 “I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you like my children
and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.
20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the LORD.
and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.
20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the LORD.
21 A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God.
because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.”
“Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.
23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception;
surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our ancestors’ labour -
their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors;
from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God.”
23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception;
surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our ancestors’ labour -
their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors;
from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God.”
Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Morning Devotional for July 22
"I am married unto you." Jeremiah 3:14
Christ Jesus is joined unto his people in marriage-union. In love he espoused his Church as a chaste virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bondage. Full of burning affection he toiled, like Jacob for Rachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been paid, and now, having sought her by his Spirit, and brought her to know and love him, he awaits the glorious hour when their mutual bliss shall be consummated at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Not yet hath the glorious Bridegroom presented his betrothed, perfected and complete, before the Majesty of heaven; not yet hath she actually entered upon the enjoyment of her dignities as his wife and queen: she is as yet a wanderer in a world of woe, a dweller in the tents of Kedar; but she is even now the bride, the spouse of Jesus, dear to his heart, precious in his sight, written on his hands, and united with his person. On earth he exercises towards her all the affectionate offices of Husband. He makes rich provision for her wants, pays all her debts, allows her to assume his name, and to share in all his wealth. Nor will he ever act otherwise to her. The word divorce he will never mention, for "He hateth putting away." Death must sever the conjugal tie between the most loving mortals, but it cannot divide the links of this immortal marriage. In heaven they marry not, but are as the angels of God; yet there is this one marvellous exception to the rule, for in Heaven Christ and his Church shall celebrate their joyous nuptials. This affinity as it is more lasting, so is it more near than earthly wedlock. Let the love of husband be never so pure and fervent, it is but a faint picture of the flame which burns in the heart of Jesus. Passing all human union is that mystical cleaving unto the Church, for which Christ left his Father, and became one flesh with her.
"I am married unto you." Jeremiah 3:14
Christ Jesus is joined unto his people in marriage-union. In love he espoused his Church as a chaste virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bondage. Full of burning affection he toiled, like Jacob for Rachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been paid, and now, having sought her by his Spirit, and brought her to know and love him, he awaits the glorious hour when their mutual bliss shall be consummated at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Not yet hath the glorious Bridegroom presented his betrothed, perfected and complete, before the Majesty of heaven; not yet hath she actually entered upon the enjoyment of her dignities as his wife and queen: she is as yet a wanderer in a world of woe, a dweller in the tents of Kedar; but she is even now the bride, the spouse of Jesus, dear to his heart, precious in his sight, written on his hands, and united with his person. On earth he exercises towards her all the affectionate offices of Husband. He makes rich provision for her wants, pays all her debts, allows her to assume his name, and to share in all his wealth. Nor will he ever act otherwise to her. The word divorce he will never mention, for "He hateth putting away." Death must sever the conjugal tie between the most loving mortals, but it cannot divide the links of this immortal marriage. In heaven they marry not, but are as the angels of God; yet there is this one marvellous exception to the rule, for in Heaven Christ and his Church shall celebrate their joyous nuptials. This affinity as it is more lasting, so is it more near than earthly wedlock. Let the love of husband be never so pure and fervent, it is but a faint picture of the flame which burns in the heart of Jesus. Passing all human union is that mystical cleaving unto the Church, for which Christ left his Father, and became one flesh with her.
