Jeremiah 3:11-20 – God Gathers a Nation

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

In returning to the Lord, you might think that God will strike you down, yet Jeremiah 3 shows us that God is a forgiving God who will welcome you to dwell with Him.

Introduction

Let us never think that God is pleased when we disobey.  Disobedience provokes God to anger, yet, as our lesson shows us this week, God is a God who will forgive those who return to Him.

In our lesson this week, we’ll see through the prophet Jeremiah where the Lord calls backsliders to return to Him.  In returning to the Lord, one may think that God will strike them down, yet we will see this week is that God has no desire to strike down anyone.  Something that all people ought to know is that God desires to dwell with, rather than dwell apart from, mankind.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover scripture from Jeremiah 3:11-20. 

What we will focus on learning in this week’s Sunday School commentary:

1. Why you shouldn’t be afraid or ashamed to go to God.
2. Gold’s love – His grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
3. The reward of returning to God compared to choosing to remain living in sin.

Return Backsliders!

Our lesson this week opens with the Lord giving instructions to the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah 3:11 is an indictment of just how wicked Judah had become in their ways, as the Lord stated that “backsliding Israel” had shown itself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

Backsliding and treacherous (or treachery), while sounding like they would be similar, do have different meanings.  To backslide means to have fallen back or reverted in one’s ways.  One who backslides in their faith is reverting to sinful living rather than walking in committed obedience.

To move treacherously is an act of betrayal or treason.  So, for example, one who moves treacherously in their country has stopped being loyal to their country and moves against it. 

So, this was certainly more of an indictment to Judah, and to share with you just how bad an indictment this was, I feel it necessary for you to understand the history of Israel and Judah, the divided kingdoms.

The backsliding history of Israel

After Solomon’s reign as king ended, his son, Rehoboam, ascended to the throne and was supposed to be the king of a united Israel, as his father Solomon, as his grandfather, David.  However, Rehoboam caused division, and ten of the tribes revolted against him and made Jeroboam their king.  Those ten tribes settled their kingdom in the north, while Rehoboam reigned over Judah and Benjamin in the southern kingdom.

The northern kingdom was a wicked kingdom that was led by wicked kings.  Scripture shows us that there was not one good king who reigned in the northern kingdom.   

Eventually, the northern kingdom became consumed with sin, as they made a temple so that nobody in the region needed to go to the temple in Jerusalem.  This may seem a good thing for comfort for those living in the northern kingdom, but the building of that temple was not according to what God had instructed to be done.  

Moreover, they established idol worship in the northern kingdom and was consumed by it.  They were so consumed with the worship of Baal that Elijah, on Mount Carmel, had to show them how foolish it was to worship gods who don’t answer (1 Kgs.  18).  Yet, God had said that Judah was in far worse condition than Israel!

So, why was Judah in worse condition, even though it had a mix of good and bad kings in its history?  God judged Judah to be treacherous because they had the law, but got to the point where they refused to be obedient to it.  In other words, Judah knew better but refused to do right.

Hope for treacherous backsliders

Now, though things sound bad for Israel, this proclamation from God was not one to hammer down upon Judah.

The hope for Judah is seen in God’s call to the wicked backsliders in the northern kingdom.  In Jeremiah 3:12, we will see that God instructed Jeremiah to preach towards the north, calling for backsliding Israel to return.  Let us note that God told Jeremaih to relay this message:  “I will not cause My anger to fall on you.  For I am merciful,’ says the Lord; I will not remain angry forever.”

One of the greatest fears that I have heard from many over the years is the belief that God desires to destroy one for their sins.  I have often heard this said to me:  “Pastor, I am too wicked to be forgiven.”  

May I say to any of you who share this same sentiment, ‘No, you’re not!  That sentiment expresses both guilt and shame.  However, the one that feels such guilt and shame about living sinfully is exactly who the Lord desires to return to Him so that He may remove that guilt and shame!  God has no desire to destroy, and that has been proven through the giving of Christ, God’s only begotten Son.

In John 3:17, Jesus told Nicodemus that He had not been sent to condemn, but rather, He had been sent to save.  In Luke 5:31-32, Jesus told the religious leaders that He had not come to call those who think they’re righteous to repentance, but sinners to repentance.  

If you know you’re a sinner and are ashamed of your sins, the Lord desires only one thing from you.  What does the Lord desire from you?  Jeremiah 3:13 gives us the answer, as the Lord told backsliding Israel that they only needed to acknowledge their iniquity; they only needed to admit that they transgressed against God.

There is hope for the one who can humble themselves and come before the throne of grace.  It sounds like an easy thing to do, yet acknowledging that we are imperfect sinners has proven to be the most difficult thing for many to do.  Some people just cannot admit they are spiritually flawed, and failing to do so bars them from the Lord.

 Do not let pride block you from the grace and mercy of God, as it did for both Israel and Judah, who were eventually conquered.  The Assyrians conquered Israel, and Judah was conquered by Babylon for their refusal to acknowledge their sin.  As John said, when one confesses their sin, the Lord who is both faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse one of all their unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

The Reward of Returning to God

Jeremiah 3:14-20 helps to highlight the rewards of one returning to the Lord.  However, let us first notice how the Lord described His relationship with Israel in Jeremiah 3:14.  

In one verse, we see God refer to them as backsliding children, which means He was their Father.  But then, in that same verse, God said He was married to them.  This speaks to the two ways that God loved Israel, with both fatherly love and affectionate love.  In other words, the Lord was deeply committed to the children of Israel.

God’s desire was to continue to love Israel in such a manner, but the question they would have to answer is whether or not they desired such love from the Lord.  Up to that point, Israel had backslidden, refusing such love, and Judah moved treacherously, also refusing such love.

To get them to return, we will see God pitch to all of Israel the reward of returning to Him.  Let us pay close attention to what the Lord said He would give IF the house of Israel returned to Him.  

A reward for the present

In Jeremiah 3:14, God said that IF the house of Israel would return to Him, He would bring her to Zion.  Now, this did happen when Judah returned to Jerusalem after their 70-year exile in Babylon.  

In Jeremiah 3:15, God said that IF the house of Israel would return to Him, He would give them shepherds (or leaders) who would feed (or lead/teach) with knowledge and understanding.  This also happened after the Jews returned to Jerusalem, as they had leaders like Ezra who helped to restore living in obedience to the law.

Now, while Jeremiah 3:14-15 was certainly directed to the backsliders and treacherous ones of Judah, it also points ahead to the church.  You see, the Jews eventually rejected the Shepherd who was given to them; they did not accept the Messiah as their Savior.  

As Paul explained in Acts 13:44-48 and Romans 11:11, the Jews’ rejection of Christ brought the teaching and preaching of salvation to the Gentiles to provoke the Jews to return to the Lord through Christ.  So, the promise of Jeremiah 3:14-15, including God viewing the church as both His children and His bride, has fallen upon all people.

Today, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, if you return to the Lord, God will love you, just as the prodigal son was loved by his father when he returned from living sinfully.  God has given pastors (teachers and guides) to all people of the Church Age to help lead them to know the truth so that they may be saved.  Moreover, the Lord has promised that whoever believes in His only begotten Son will be brought to Zion.

An eternal reward

Now, the bringing of the redeemed to Zion is not just a promise for what was the present in ancient times.  Again, I repeat to you, the Jews did return to Jerusalem after living in exile for seventy years in Babylon.  However, Jeremiah 17:16 begins to look at a Zion that is beyond what we can imagine, as this Zion is the Zion that Jesus will establish on earth in the Second Coming of Christ.

It is prophesied in Zechariah 8:3 that the Lord said, “I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.”

Revelation 14:1 shows the day that this prophecy is fulfilled, as Christ will stand on Mount Zion at His Second Coming, at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.  A glimpse of Jesus’ judgment at that time is shown to us in Matthew 25:31-46, when He will separate the righteous from the unrighteous of the Great Tribulation period. The judgment shown in Matthew 25 has often been used as an example of what God will judge of all of mankind.

Jeremiah 3:17 highlights that at the time, all the nations will gather to Jerusalem, which Revelation 21:2 tells us will be the New Jerusalem, which is the prepared city for Christ’s bride.  

Let us continue to love how Scripture always speaks of the New Jerusalem.  Jeremiah 3:17 tells us that no more will one follow the dictates of their evil heart!  All those lusts and temptations that we can’t help but give in to will be gone tomorrow!  In Revelation 21:4, the Lord reveals to us that the former things will have been put away, and there will be no more death, crying, sorrow, or pain!  What a beautiful picture that is!

Jeremiah 3:18 points to the promise for the house of Israel, as their eternal dwelling will not be in New Jerusalem.  As shown in Revelation 21-22, the house of Israel will have new earth as their home, and they will both come and go to New Jerusalem in the day of eternity.

God’s Goodness Esteems

Lastly, the Lord then said that in that day, those who make the choice to return to Him will be given a new title!  In Jeremiah 3:19, God said, “You shall call Me, ‘My Father.’”

We are all God’s children, yet, as Paul said, we are also His servants.  However, notice how personalized the relationship is in that day.  

I am reminded of what Jesus taught the disciples when He taught them about loving all people, rather than doing what they had heard about loving their neighbor and hating their enemy.  Jesus taught His disciples to love everyone so that they may be “sons of your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:43-46).”

Jesus had also said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9).”  We are servants today, but one day, we will hold the title that heavenly angels hold today – the sons of God.

What a ray of hope this scripture and lesson was/is for the backslider and one who moves treacherously against God today.  As I said in the opening, God offered an opportunity to those in Israel who had not His law or temple to worship.  God still offers this to those who move sinfully today, and the hope is that one would accept God’s offer rather than be destroyed because they chose not to return to the Lord.