
SUBSTITUTE SATISFACTION
Text: Jer. 2:1-19
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.
10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
1. Exposition
1)
- The nation of Judah had departed from God and turned to idolatry.
- They departed from God. They sought to satisfy their souls apart from God.
2) Fumbling (vv. 5-8)
God asks a rhetorical question in verse 5, “What did I do that caused Judah to turn from me?” The answer, of course, is nothing.
1] Generational
2] Spiritual
3) Faithlessness (11)
- God asks a question that is designed to point out the faithlessness of Israel: “Has any nation ever exchanged their god even though their god is not even a god?”
- Israel exchanged the true and living God for an idol.
4) Fruit (vv. 18, 19; cf. Gal. 6:7)
- Judah will reap the fruit of
2. Correlation
- Is there a correlation between Judah in Jeremiah’s day and
- J. Vernon Magee – “No nation falls until it first falls spiritually. There is first of all a spiritual apostasy, then a moral awfulness, and finally a political anarchy.”
3. Application
1) Apply to those who don’t know there is a fountain of living waters
- Like the woman at the well who came to draw water, what you really need is not a cistern, but a fountain of living water.
- Jesus said, “If you knew who it was who asked you for a drink, you would ask of him, and he would give you living water.” (cf. John 4:10, 14)
- Lost people live on
2) Apply to those who know there is a fountain of living water
- Jer. 2:13 finds its best application to the saved who are
- The prodigal son sought satisfaction away from his father. He “dug a cistern” but wound up in a pigpen.