LESSONS FROM JEREMIAH – PART 6 – WHEN THE LORD IS FORSAKEN DISASTER AWAITS
PART 6 - Jeremiah 2:13-19
CHAPTER 2
[A]. TWIN EVILS HAVE BEEN COMMITTED
{{Jeremiah 2:13 for My people have committed TWO EVILS. THEY HAVE FORSAKEN ME, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.}}
The first was to forsake the Lord. That was terrible. How did they forsake the Lord? By following a rebellious spirit, and determining not to be dependent on God, and that has been dealt with earlier, for it is a common theme in Jeremiah. They chose to do their own thing. They decided to do what they thought was best, but it was their evil hearts that was leading them. When man maps his own way, the human spirit is pitted against the Spirit of God. That is humanism. Most of the governments of the nations of the world today are humanist. Judah had already concluded God was unjust so the people would pick and choose what of God they wanted to accept. The rebellious mind will justify itself in its perversion.
What was it they had forsaken? God claims it to be “the Fountain of living waters”. That is life forever more. It meant they were cutting themselves off from life. Not only did it mean life, but it meant security and peace and proper direction and the wholesome, correct values that nourish the human soul. Judah walked away from it. The Lord Jesus Christ came with the same message to the same nation and got the same result. {{John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you LIVING WATER.” John 7:37-38 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow RIVERS OF LIVING WATER,’”]]
It was evil to forsake God but their stubbornness determined they would replace what God had given them, but THEY WOULD DO IT THEIR OWN WAY. That was the second evil. They threw away what was good and proper to make for themselves an imitation that was useless. Jeremiah called that imitation, “cisterns that can hold no water”. If they appear filled with water, then up you go to draw water from them, but they are empty because they can not hold water. It’s like they are constructed of mesh. What God gave them was freely available and that is why Isaiah spoke about the living water which is free without price in chapter 55.
In 1968 Paul Anka wrote a song called “My Way” or sometimes “I Did It My Way” and it was first sung by Frank Sinatra. Someone has written this very true comment on that – [[“Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' Is America's Anthem Of Self-Determination Made famous by Frank Sinatra — who grew to hate it. "My Way" represents the quintessentially American outlook that nothing in life matters more than living on your own terms.”]]
In this path of Israel’s self-determination, Jeremiah uses the word “hew”, and that would be in rock, for a cistern was to have an impervious location. It meant a lot of toil and effort but it amounted to nothing, because the result was cracked or broken. It is always like that with the unsaved. Lots of toil, lots of effort, but in the end it is worthless according to God’s values. The people turned from God but they turned to the flesh; to idolatry and perversion. They had become worthless. They committed twin evils.
So much of the heartache in the world today is from the same mould. The world is doing it “my way”. God has been rejected, but not only that – utterly blasphemed and despised – and replaced by humanism springing from atheism and socialism/Marxism. That is why so much chaos is growing in this world, and it will get worse. In speaking of the last days God warned, {{2Timothy 3:13 “Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”}} The world’s cisterns are broken; actually, full of gaping breaches. The only solution is the living water of Christ, but the world will have none of that. It has already placed itself firmly in Satan’s camp.
[B]. SAVAGED BY THE LIONS OF THE NATIONS
{{Jeremiah 2:14-15 “Is Israel a slave, or is he a home-born servant? Why has he become a prey? THE YOUNG LIONS HAVE ROARED AT HIM. They have roared loudly and they have made his land a waste. His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.”}}
The question is asked of Israel's origin and the answer of course is to be what Israel has become, not what Israel is supposed to be. A home-born servant had a high honour, considered more worthy than the common slave. However Israel's origin is neither of these. Israel is a son of the household. {{Exodus 4:22-23 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Israel is My son, My first-born, so I said to you, ‘LET MY SON GO, THAT HE MAY SERVE ME’, but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your first-born.”’}} Israel is the son of Jehovah, but the problem was that when Jeremiah wrote his prophecy, Israel had become the hunted animal of the nations.
It had become prey to the emerging nations and would become prey to the coming world empires. Young lions are strong and these represent nations that have been at war with Israel for hundreds of years. Their military leaders roar at Israel and devastate the land. There is upheaval, all because Israel forsook Jehovah. The Islamic nations today would like to savage Israel, and are doing so. Inspired by Iran, Satan’s henchman, Hamas, Hezbollah Houtis and other terror groups, are savaging Israel, but I believe Israel is under God’s divine protection and the savage lions will not succeed. God is preparing Israel for the events of the Great tribulation, when in the end every nation will send troops to Israel to exterminate the nation, but at Armageddon, they themselves will be so savaged, they will end. {{Revelation 16:13-14 “I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to THE KINGS OF THE WHOLE WORLD, TO GATHER THEM together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.”}}
{{Zechariah 14:2-3 “For I will gather ALL THE NATIONS against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then THE LORD WILL GO FORTH AND FIGHT AGAINST THOSE NATIONS, as when He fights on a day of battle.”}} {{Zechariah 12:2-3 “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH WILL BE GATHERED AGAINST IT.”}}
[C]. PLAYING THE FIELD, BUT WITH PRETEND HUMILIATION
{{Jeremiah 2:16-18 “Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. Have you not done this to yourself by your forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way? But now, what are you doing on the road to Egypt - to drink the waters of the Nile? or what are you doing on the road to Assyria - to drink the waters of the Euphrates?”}}
There are a few different views on the location of these two places in verse 16 but they almost certainly are in Egypt. Tahpanhes was on the eastern branch of the Nile and commanded the road to Palestine and therefore was very important for military purposes. Memphis was the ancient capital of Egypt. When Jeremiah was writing in the time of King Josiah, Pharaoh Neco was a powerful ruler who was making inroads into Palestine with the Egyptian army and was becoming a constant threat to Josiah. Eventually it was in a battle with Neco, that Josiah was killed.
The two towns represent the Egyptians who have caused insults to the Jews. The AV says “broken the crown of your head” which was a strange translation but the word means to “feed on, to de-pasture” and is correctly translated as shaving the head, to de-pasture the crown of the head. It would be like leaving a bald top to the head, maybe a little like the tonsure on some monks is like. Baldness was a disgrace to the Jews and was also a sign of mourning. It could very well be that the Egyptians insulted the Jews that way, but the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says this, [[“In that case the verse may be paraphrased thus: the Assyrians have ravaged you. The Egyptians, to whom some of you are looking for help, will presently fleece you (as they did, {{2 Kings 23:35 Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.).”}} In more ways than one, Judah was shaved by the Egyptians.
Jeremiah then points out that the real blame does not lie with the Egyptians, but with Israel/Judah itself because the whole land forsook the Lord who had been good to them and led them along the way, so the people brought all that humiliation upon themselves. Sinfulness turned their hearts from their God. Then Jeremiah asks them two questions, both with the same answer. Judah had been playing off Assyria against Egypt, and Egypt against Assyria, while all the time Babylon had been growing stronger in military might. Eventually Babylon swallowed them all. Being “on the road to”, as the prophet says, was horse trading one against the other, according to who seemed stronger at the time, or whose army seemed closer to Judah at the time. Jeremiah asks a rather silly question to show up the silliness of Judah.
The world does this all the time, nationally and individually. There are deals, alliances, bribes and the list goes on. All this is full of dishonesty and corruption, which is why the spy trade is so very strong. The USA spies on Russia, and vice versa. NATO spies of the nations of the eastern bloc. Israel spies on its neighbours (very necessary!). China spies on everyone taking what they can rake illegally and steal from every nation.
There is an interesting mention in these Jeremiah verses. “On the road to Egypt and on the road to Assyria.” In a coming day, and that day will be in the Millennium following the Tribulation that begins when the Church is removed in the Rapture, things are going to be so much different and renewed. Here are some interesting verses from Isaiah – {{Isaiah 19:21 Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and THE EGYPTIANS WILL KNOW THE LORD IN THAT DAY. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. Isaiah 19:22 The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. Isaiah 19:23 IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE A HIGHWAY FROM EGYPT TO ASSYRIA and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. Isaiah 19:24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, Isaiah 19:25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed saying, “BLESSED IS EGYPT MY PEOPLE, AND ASSYRIA THE WORK OF MY HANDS, AND ISRAEL MY INHERITANCE.”}}
Verse 21 tells us that God will make Himself known to the Egyptians and I believe the reason for that is because Egypt nurtured the Israelites for 400 years. The verse says, “in that day” and that will be after the Second Coming and at the start of the Millennium. Verse 22 is clear that the Lord will punish Egypt before that happens because of the problems Egypt has given the Jews. The Lord will punish, heal them and Egypt will be saved.
Verse 23 is the key verse in this mention where I relate it to Jeremiah. There will be a special highway in the Millennium that links Egypt and Assyria and that passes through Israel. “On the road to Egypt and on the road to Assyria”. In those days the three chief nations of the world will be Egypt, Assyria and Israel, and the last will be the chief nation of all where the Lord reigns from Jerusalem. That Isaiah passage is a very special and important one. I wonder how Covenant Theology spiritualises all that away! It will be literal!
[D]. FORSAKING THE LORD LEADS TO BITTERNESS
{{Jeremiah 2:19 “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you. Know therefore and see that IT IS EVIL AND BITTER FOR YOU TO FORSAKE THE LORD YOUR GOD, and the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.}}
In this verse God states that forsaking Him is evil and bitter. All this comes because they had cast away the fear (dread) of the Lord. There is a godly fear and awe, but these people became arrogant and proud in their attitude, so it is no surprise when they pursue evil and bitterness. In the verse before this one, the leaders are pictured as being on the roads to Egypt and Assyria with their wheeling and dealing. When they inevitably face the result of their expulsion from the land, it will be only then, when they are in that sorry state, that they will realise why it happened, and Jeremiah makes the comments that their own wickedness will correct them, and their own apostasies will reprove them.
The trouble is, it will be too late, for dreadful suffering was to happen and many people died. The survivors had time to be in remorse but it was too late. The captives in Babylon taken there by Nebuchadnezzar, had time to reflect and were corrected by their own sin. At the end of 70 years the ones who returned from Babylon did seek the Lord, but alas, as always it did not last.
It always seems to be the case with rebellious people. They don’t ever want to change, or are not open to conviction from God so that they can change. We live in a world where Godly awe (dread) is missing, and people are living bitter lives in so many parts of the world, but we know that God is the only solution. To have the dread of the Lord, is to live peacefully and happily.
The world is plunging ever onwards to the cliff fall. The people generally don’t care. Try speaking to one about his soul’s destiny and these day you are more likely to be abused, and even worse, some evil nations in the western world have anti-discrimination and hate laws. Those charges will be brought against you.
