YHWH Reminds Them Of Their Salvation History And Brings Out The Ingratitude Of Their Response (Jeremiah 2:4-8).
YHWH's initial complaint is that in spite of all that He has done for them in delivering them from Egypt and guiding them through the wilderness to a pleasant and fruitful land, they have turned away from Him. They had once loved Him, but now it seemed that incomprehensibly they had forgotten Him, so that even His appointed priests, rulers and prophets had gone astray after idolatry.
“Hear you the word of YHWH, O house of Jacob,
And all the families of the house of Israel,
Thus says YHWH,
‘What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,
That they are gone far from me,
And have walked after vanity,
And are become vain?' ”
In this initial opening to the main message of the book Jeremiah calls on the whole of Israel (‘the house of Jacob, even all the families of the house of Israel'), to consider what He was now saying. This reminds us that neither God nor the prophets ever lost sight of Israel as a whole, and in truth the ‘people of Judah' included many Israelites who had come to live among them, fleeing from the north as it had faced different invasions.
Furthermore Judah was now a multinational society, not only made up of many from all the tribes of Israel, but also from many from all nations, who had come to live among them and had been circumcised into the covenant. This had been so right from the very beginning, for initially the foreign servants of the households of the patriarchs had become a part of ‘Israel' (Genesis 17:11-13; Genesis 17:23), and then the mixed multitude of Exodus 12:43, had all come to be seen as ‘children of Abraham', a situation sealed at Sinai. (The myth that all Jews are literally descended from Abraham is wishful thinking and totally inaccurate. Anyone could become a genuine Israelite by submitting to YHWH's covenant and being circumcised. This would also be true when Jesus Christ as the true Vine (the true Israel) formed the new remnant of Israel, with whom Gentiles united by submitting to the new covenant and being circumcised in the circumcision of Christ through being united with Him in His crucifixion - Colossians 2:11).
So YHWH now challenged Israel by asking them to explain in what way He had failed them. They had initially been so eager to follow Him. What unrighteousness then had their fathers found in Him that they had gone so far from Him and had become caught up in vain and useless things? How had He failed them? Let them produce their defence. Let them explain their ways. Let them give an explanation as to why their love for Him had ceased? It appeared to be inexplicable. But the answer was really quite clear. It was because of the wickedness of their hearts.
This is a question that we must all face up to when our love for God and for our Lord Jesus Christ begins to grow dim. When we think of what He has done for us what positive reason can we have for not loving Him and following Him with all our hearts?
‘Have walked after vanity.' ‘Vanity' is literally ‘breath, puff of wind', indicating emptiness and hollowness. The word is found as early as Deuteronomy 32:21, as indicating that false gods were mere nonentities. But here the idea is rather of the groundless worship of them which brings no return to their devotees, but instead makes them ‘vain', that is, foolish and useless in thought and deed. They become like what they worship.
“Nor did they say,
‘Where is YHWH who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who 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 which none passed through,
And where no man dwelt?' ”
In pursuing false gods they had so far forgotten Him that they had failed to ask, ‘Where is YHWH who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness' with all its problems and difficulties? He had done so much for them, but they had forgotten it. Here then was a reminder that it was YHWH, and YHWH alone, Who had delivered them from bondage in Egypt, and had seen them safely through the wilderness with all its difficulties and pitfalls. The description of the wilderness is vivid. It was a land of deserts and pits. It was a land of drought. It was a land where death lurked. It was a land which no one passed through. It was a land where no one dwelt. In the words of Deuteronomy 32:10 it was a ‘waste, howling wilderness'. And yet YHWH had brought the whole people safely through it all. How was it then that they had forgotten Him and had gone after other gods? This was YHWH's complaint against the people of Jeremiah's day. It is often His complaint concerning many of us today. When the good times come we virtually forget the One Who led us through the dark times.
“And I brought you into a plentiful land,
To eat its fruit and its goodness,
But when you entered, you defiled my land,
And made my heritage an abomination.
The list of complaints continues. He had brought Israel into a plentiful land, so that they were able to eat of its fruit and its goodness. And what had they done? Having entered the land they had defiled it by breaking the covenant and ignoring its requirements, by indulging in false religion, and by setting up false gods. Note that this had been done to ‘My land' and ‘My heritage', which they had from Him under sufferance, which was why He was now considering ejecting them. It had been a direct insult in the face of YHWH. And it had begun early on, almost as soon as they were settled in the land. ‘The children of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and served the Baalim. They forsook YHWH the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, the gods of the peoples round about them, and bowed themselves down to them, and provoked YHWH to anger' (Judges 2:11-12). And the people in Jeremiah's day were no different.
“The priests did not say, Where is YHWH?
And those who handle the law did not know me,
The rulers also transgressed against me,
And the prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things which do not profit.”
Even the priests, rulers and prophets, those who should have known better, had failed Him. The Priests, who were supposed to be ‘handlers of the Law' (Deuteronomy 33:10), ensuring commitment to the covenant, had not sought YHWH by genuinely seeking His face, and they had failed to acknowledge (‘know') Him by true worship and by responding to His known will through the covenant. We can compare how some of Jesus' strongest opponents were those who claimed to be experts in the Law. The Rulers (literally ‘the shepherds', compare Psalms 78:70-71; 1 Kings 22:17), who were appointed to prevent transgressions of the Law, had themselves been transgressors against Him. (It is evident from inscriptions that many great rulers depicted themselves as shepherds of their people). The Prophets, who should have prophesied in the Name of YHWH, were instead doing it ‘by Baal'. And they were all following after things which were of no value to His people and did not benefit them. This then was the catalogue of Judah's awful failure.