I Remember the Devotion of Your Youth

I was reading through Jeremiah 2:1-19 the other day, and if I was to write a summary of what’s going on, I would have to say that in the past, Israel loved, lived for, and followed God. She followed Him everywhere He led her, and if anybody attacked God’s bride, they had hell to pay (literally). “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,’ declares the Lord.” But between that time an now, something happened – Israel changed.

The way that Israel’s turned her devotion from God is completely polar from how it was at the start:

• Abraham loved God
• Isaac loved God
• Jacob/Israel loved God

God led them places, and they gladly went. They were as a happily married couple.

Devotion Re-directed

But somewhere, Israel left her devotion for her husband in order to whore herself out to the sinful world. I can see Israel compared to the parable of the Prodigal Son (or the Prodigal Daughter), for she was with the Lord, good marriage, good family, good home, good land, etc. But then, for some reason, she turned from Him and:

• Left her home
• Left her loving husband
• Left all that was good and loving
• Whored herself out to worthless idols
• Consulted those who lie and lead astray
• Rebelled against all that she’d grown up knowing
• Engaged in false and wrong worship (such as the “good messages” of the world)
• Destroyed the land given to her

Everything good and Holy that she once knew and owned, she traded for the exact opposite. In contrast, from a Queen to a prostitute:

• From one loving husband to many lovers who hate her
• From holy to sinful
• Rich to poor
• Leader to slave
• One who owns much to one who was owned by many.
• Drenched by the living water, now parched and dried up.

And the most sad part about all this is that it was all by choice!

Relating to Christianity Today

As Christians today, we recognize ourselves in the parable, usually as the one who rebelled, but also usually looking back as ones who’ve returned. Israel, however, has yet to return her devotion (or treats the “Gate” more like a swinging door to a saloon).

“Look everywhere, at all the sinful nations who worship godless idols, and tell me, have they ever changed gods? Yet My people have traded their glorious (and priceless) God for worthless idols.” (Paraphrased)

The area that’s known today as Iraq and Iran were a continuous threat to Israel (even to this day). But since Israel forsook the Lord, she had no help against them. I think this is a good example of how as Christians today, we’ll still have trials and continuous attackers, but like with Israel, if we step away from the Lord, we too will be on our own against them. Only with Christ can we have victory.

But not for Israel, because she left the Lord. So when they were in trouble, though they could have repented and turned to the Lord for help, they instead went to Egypt and Assyria for help. The problem with that though was that they never helped Israel. If anything, they’d rob Israel of their trust and damage them more, thus they’ve “cracked your skull”. What good can you do in battle with a cracked skull? Also, would you trust anybody who hit you over the head that hard intentionally? They’re obviously not good allies.

Violent Neighbors

I have a friend whose kids are in a similar situation. Not in the sense of being attacked or bullied by somebody else, but in that these kids hurt them each time they play together. They’re neighbors, and the other kids are a bit violent. One day, my friend called me, crying because she didn’t know what to do. They were seriously on the verge of moving, just to get away from this violent neighbor’s kids. So far, while playing together, they’ve beaten them up, hit them over the head with a golfing wood, knocked out their teeth, done something else that’s caused stitches several times, and the neighbor’s mother stands up for her kids and treats my friend the same way as the surrounding nations treated Israel.

If you are (or were) a parent, wouldn’t you forbid your kids from playing with them? And if your kids disobeyed and played with them anyway, and got hurt again, even though you’d care for them, wouldn’t you inform them that the reason they got hurt was because they disobeyed you by going to their house anyway? And if they continued to disobey you, wouldn’t you wonder why they kept going back, only to return home crying again?

Now do you understand God’s frustration with Israel?

Unfortunately, Israel still does this today. Although I don’t believe they go to Egypt anymore, I do continue to hear about the U.S. selling (or giving) them weapons and gear to protect themselves from the same surrounding now-Muslim countries. And to this day, God is still saying, “I remember the devotion of your youth – how as a bride you loved me…all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them.”