Return to Your First Love

“Moreover, the Word of the Lord came to me, saying...” Jeremiah 2:1

Hebrews 1:1-3 says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Praise God that He spoke to us, and He speaks to us through His prophets like Jeremiah. Though the prophets of the Bible are no longer physically with us, their recorded words in the Bible are still speaking and still bearing fruit among us. God has preserved His Word.

Previously, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah of his people being attacked from the north because of their abandonment of Him and their current worship of material gods which are not gods.

“Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, thus says the Lord: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.” Jeremiah 2:2

How is that that we forget that the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind?

To not love God is a bad choice. Deuteronomy 32:21 says, “They have made Me jealous with what is not God…” Jonah 2:8, “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy.” Romans 1:21 says, “…Though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Deuteronomy 4:37 says, Because he [God] loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His presence, with His mighty power.”

Jeremiah reminds his people that at one time they loved the Lord as an engaged woman loves the man that she is about to marry. The Lord compared Israel’s time in the wilderness with Him to an engagement period preceding the marriage covenant with Him that was made at Mount Sinai.

In John 21:15-18, after His resurrection, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. All three times Peter responded, “Lord, You know that I love You.” To love the Lord is the heartbeat of our mission.

The Lord urges both Israel and the Church to return to their first love to Him. In Revelation 2:4-5, Jesus said to the Church in Ephesus. “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.”

“Israel was holiness to the Lord, the first fruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; disaster will come upon them, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 2:3

Holiness means set apart. Israel was set apart from other nations to be God’s special people through whom His Word and His Messiah would come.

1 Peter 2:9 says to all of us who are in Christ, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Revelation 14:4 says, “...These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.”

“Hear the Word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: what injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters?” Jeremiah 2:4-5

The Lord wanted Israel to think about how they treated Him. They were His representatives but they forsook Him to worship idols of foreign nations. What wrong did He do that they treated Him this way? God did not do any injustice to them. It was they who mistreated Him.

The love God gives to us has always been greater than the love He receives from us, but we do no always perceive it. We best see God’s love for us when we look at Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:6-8 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

In Matthew 24:12, Jesus warned us not to let our grow cold. Jude 1:21 says to “keep yourselves in the love of God awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

God’s heralds of good news, the Israelites, had turned from God to idols. Kind of like “Christians” who get more excited about the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus than Jesus Christ. Sad also when there are more conversations about imaginary superheroes than about our Redeemer Jesus Christ.

“Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt?’” Jeremiah 2:6

When we do not see God moving among us, we should ask God, “Where are You?”

In 2 Kings 2:14, Elisha picked up the mantle of Elijah and struck a river with it. As he did, he asked, “Where is the God of Elijah?” God divided the river and he crossed the dry river bed.

“Where are You God?”

In Judges 6:12-13, 16, when an angel told Gideon that the Lord was with him, he replied, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord assured Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

When we are with God and God is with us, great things happen. God is ready to be with us. Are we ready to be with Him?

“I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination.” Jeremiah 2:7

They inherited houses they did not build, and fields that they did not plow. When they listened to the evil one, they lost a type of paradise… again.

“The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the Law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.” Jeremiah 2:8

We need to know God to make Him known. 1 Samuel 2:12 says, “The sons of [High Priest] Eli were worthless men [priests]; they did not know the Lord.” In Hosea 4:6, the Lord lamented, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” In John 16:3, Jesus explained why people mistreat God, “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”

Priests who behave like dogs are mentioned in the Bible. In Isaiah 56:10-11, God says, “They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark—dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who cannot understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain…”

“I will yet bring charges against you, says the Lord, and against your children’s children I will bring charges. For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their glory for what does not profit.” Jeremiah 2:9-11

Kedar was a son of Ishmael. The descendants of Kedar and the people of Cyprus worshiped the do-nothing idol named Molech. Life among them was unpleasant.

In Psalm 120:5, David wrote, “Woe is me… for I dwell among the tents of Kedar.” In Leviticus 20:5, the Lord said, “I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech.”

Convictions against idolatry did continue and are to continue in the New Testament era. The names of false gods are mentioned in Acts 14:11-13 – Zeus and Hermes, in Acts 19:24-27 – Artemis and Zues, and in Acts 28:11 – Castor and Pollux.

1 Thessalonians 1:9 says that led people to turn from idols to the living God.

In Acts 19:18-20, new believers purged satanic possessions from their lives in a public bonfire. “Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 pieces of silver. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”

The right thing to do in lieu of the Lordship of Jesus Christ is to destroy all other contenders to His throne. Jesus is the answer for the world today. Stargazing, tarots cards, voodoo, witchcraft, fortune telling, horoscopes, palmistry, spells, necromancy and satanism are not the answers.

The primary purpose of people is to love God and love people. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.”

The Lord provides living waters for us. He wants us to drink them. In John 7:37, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

“Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate, says the Lord. For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:12-13

In 2 Peter 2:1, 17, the Apostle Peter describes “false prophets and false teachers” as “wells without water… for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

Revelation 22:1 says, “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” The Father and the Son gives us life-giving water.

Rejection of the Gospel yields severe judgment. In Mark 6:11, Jesus said, “Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Ezekiel 16:49 speaks of the sins that led the Sodomites to reject the truth. “Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.”

We cannot replace GOD with ourselves and be saved. We must believe in the Savior God sent for us. Jonathan Edwards wrote, “You contribute nothing to your salvation but the sin that made it necessary.” “Thank You Jesus for dying for our sins!”

“Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered? The young lions roared at him and growled; they made his land waste; his cities are burned, without inhabitant.” Jeremiah 2:14-15

As the people distanced themselves from the Lord, the Babylonians were roared and growled like lions, and ultimately pounce on them.

“Also the people of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.” Jeremiah 2:16

The cities of Noph and Tahpanhes stand for all of Egypt. After Pharaoh-Necho of Egypt invaded Judah, he deposed Jehoahaz and levied a heavy tax on the land. Pharoah-Necho previously slew King Josiah of Judah (See 2 Kings 23:29-35).

Prior to this event, God said in Isaiah 31:1, “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!”

Judah erred when they turned to pagan nations for help rather than to God.

“Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the Lord your God when He led you in the way? And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?” Jeremiah 2:17-18

They should not have abandoned the Lord to join themselves to pagan nations. Isaiah 30:1 says, “Woe to the rebellious children, declares the Lord, who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin.”

Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord God of hosts.” Jeremiah 2:17-19

In Isaiah 30:3, the Lord warns us against scammers who project themselves as saviors but do not save. “The strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation.”

Have we assumed human words are more reliable than God’s? Have we assumed that human help is greater than God’s? Have we turned a deaf ear to God? If so, may He forgive us and grant us grace to boldly trust in Him. Our faith in God glorifies Him. Jesus does miracles for those who trust in Him.

Judah’s faith in God and God’s response to their faith in Him was to be a partnership that would light up the world with divine glory. When they turned to pagan Egypt during their greatest hour of need, they denied the Lord the opportunity to be glorified in and through them.

“For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down, playing the harlot.” Jeremiah 2:20

The Lord set His people free from Egypt. That liberation was their betrothal with Him. He brought them to Mount Sinai and made a covenant with them. Judah broke that covenant. As they drifted farther from God, their sins became increasingly grotesque.

God’s messenger helps God’s people to remember and consider the greatness of God’s deeds on their behalf. In Deuteronomy 4:34, Moses asked Israel, “Has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?”

In Joshua 24:15-16, Joshua made a strong position statement before God’s people, saying, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And they responded, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.”

“Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?” Jeremiah 2:21

If we abide in fellowship with God, God’s presence with us will help us bear good grapes. Judah did not remain with the Lord. In Deuteronomy 32:32, Moses warned them long before Jeremiah was born: “For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison, their clusters, bitter.”

Jesus told a parable in which a vineyard owner expected His laborers to produce good grapes, but they produced rebellion against the owner. Is it any wonder that He allowed them to experience great tribulations?

In Mark 11:12-14, Jesus wanted to see the fruit of faith among His people. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

In Luke 24:42, after His resurrection, Jesus asked His disciples, “Have you any food here?” Perhaps, He was referring to fruit of faith that He finds delicious.

“For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me, says the Lord God.” Jeremiah 2:22

Good deeds do not erase sin. Good intentions do not negate them. Regret for sin does not remove it. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without shedding of blood there is no remission.” In Matthew 26:28, Jesus said, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Faith in the blood of Jesus cleanses sin away.

“How can you say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals? See your way in the valley; know what you have done: you are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways. a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs at the wind in her desire; in her time of mating, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they will find her. Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘There is no hope. No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.’” Jeremiah 2:23-25

Sin blinds us from seeing wrong from right. The Lord compared Judah to a swift camel and a wild donkey that had an insatiable desire for illicit sex. They were addicted it. They assumed it was no use to turn to the Lord for help. Even when confronted about it, they would not change.

Proverbs 30:20 says that “an adulterous woman eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’” Proverbs 20:9 asks us, “Who can say I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?”

Faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins is God’s antidote for sin. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

“As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their prophets, saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’” Jeremiah 2:26-27

The people of Judah were thieves. They robbed God of the glory He deserved. They called carved and chiseled images their parents. They were proud of their work. Confessing their need for divine intervention required humility. They needed to say to God, “You are right. We are wrong. Please forgive us and change us.”

Genuine repentance results in a change of action: a deep-seated conviction of sin, sorrow for offending God, a turning away from sinful ways, and a turning toward a life that honors God.

“Where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah. Why will you plead with Me? You all have transgressed against Me, says the Lord. In vain I have chastened your children. They received no correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” Jeremiah 2:28-30

The Lord addressed their mistreatment of Him. They crossed over every line that He drew for them. They would not listen to His advice. They had put to the sword His prophets. No, He was not going to rescue them this time from the army that coming against them.

Jesus spoke in a similar fashion to the unreligious religious leaders of Jerusalem, saying, “I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill… that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth… Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:34-36

“O generation, see the Word of the Lord! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, we are lords; we will come no more to You? Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.” Jeremiah 2:31-32

In Luke 15:8-10, Jesus told a parable to illustrate the depth of longing that God has for us. Shouldn’t we long for Jesus in return?

Luke 15:8 says, “What woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it?” Israeli women often received ten silver coins as a wedding gift. Besides their monetary value, these coins held sentimental value like that of a wedding ring.

Luke 15:9-10 says, “And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Judah had forgotten her betrothal ornaments. She forgot the covenant she made with God on Mount Sinai! The Lord longed for Judah to remember her first love for Him and return to it.

“Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore, you have also taught the wicked women your ways. Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but plainly on all these things. Yet you say, because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead My case against you because you say, I have not sinned.” Jeremiah 2:33-35

Some examples of those who had the opportunity to be the Lord’s beloved forever but turned from Him to become among His worse enemies were the angel Lucifer and his fellow angels, Judas Iscariot, Muhammad the founder of Islam, and Joseph Stalin! They were all exposed to Christ during their early years, but later turned against Him, and led others to do the same.

The blood of poor innocents is shed by those who turn against the Lord. Hatred leads them to betray God and those who love Him. Their bitter feelings seem to justify whatever pain they cause others. The Lord by His Spirit pleads with them to come to their senses and turn from their wicked ways. Can’t they see the pain in the eyes of those they destroy? How can they live with themselves?

2 Kings 21:16 says, King “Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another...” Psalms 106:37 says, “They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.” Abortion is like a sacrifice to demons because it is not of God but of a demon that thirsts for the shedding of human blood.

Revelation17:7-8 prophesies of the end of the harlot empire, “In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’ She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

“Why do you gad about so much to change your way? Also, you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria. Indeed you will go forth from him with your hands on your head; for the Lord has rejected your trusted allies, and you will not prosper by them.” Jeremiah 2:36-37

“Hands on your head.” “Ashamed!” Egypt and Assyria will not honor Jerusalem. They will be like to them as the brother who raped his sister. 2 Samuel 13:14, 19 says, “He forced her.” “Then Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe of many colors that was on her and laid her hand on her head and went away crying bitterly.”

Judah needed an internal rescuer more than an external one. They needed someone who could change their hearts and make them new. Then, the curses of sin would not be laying siege to all that they owned and to their very soul.

Conviction of sin is God’s way of inviting you to restore fellowship with Him. To abide in God’s love is to enjoy peace and harmony with Him and with others in His body,

The good news is that God earnestly desires a love relationship with us.