False Worship Angers God - Jeremiah 1-6

Jeremiah 2:26-28 (ESV)

“As a thief is shamed when caught,

so the house of Israel shall be shamed:

they, their kings, their officials,

their priests, and their prophets,

who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’

and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

For they have turned their back to me,

and not their face.

But in the time of their trouble they say,

‘Arise and save us!’

But where are your gods

that you made for yourself?

Let them arise, if they can save you,

in your time of trouble;

for as many as your cities

are your gods, O Judah.

These three verses could very well be the summary of Jeremiah’s first six chapters.   God is sending the prophet to call out the way the nation of Israel (to the north) and Judah (to the south) have turned from their God to serve idols.   They have tried to satisfy themselves without God:

Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV)

for my people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 4:22 (ESV)

“For my people are foolish;

they know me not;

they are stupid children;

they have no understanding.

They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!

But how to do good they know not.”

Jeremiah 5:1 (ESV)

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,

look and take note!

Search her squares to see

if you can find a man,

one who does justice

and seeks truth,

that I may pardon her.

The nation of Israel has turned to their own gods, but when they needed God to deliver them they would turn to Him.  God is having it no more.   They were wicked and they did not want God in their lives.  Note the ridicule of them God shows here:

Jeremiah 2:11 (ESV)

Has a nation changed its gods,

even though they are no gods?

But my people have changed their glory

for that which does not profit.

We can’t worship our own inventions and then, in the end, expect God to be there to deliver us.   God knows those who truly follow Him:

John 2:23-25 (ESV)

Jesus Knows What Is in Man

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Matthew 7:22-23 (ESV)

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’