August 24, 2020: Day 2 – Jeremiah 2

Jeremiah gives a basic message to the people of Israel which has been a message to the people of Israel since God created and made covenants with humans.  Look at vs.28 and we see the center of the trouble in which Israel finds itself: “But where are your gods that you have made for yourself?  Let them come, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.”  

We find this complaint when the people of Israel make the golden calf to worship back with Moses.  We see this complaint when Elijah fights against the prophets of Baal.  We see this complaint when Paul is walking in Athens and notes the many gods that were present.  But there is a difference between Paul’s audience and the audience to which Jeremiah is speaking.  Paul is speaking to Greek pagans who always worshipped other gods.  That was their way of being.

Jeremiah, on the other hand, is speaking to Israel whose ancestry worshipped and obeyed the commandments of the God of Israel.  The single, sole, only God of Israel.  Jeremiah speaks out against taking on any of the gods from the surrounding countries such as the Egyptians gods, or the Assyrian gods.  But the history of the people of Israel has been apostasy as he states in vs.19.

While we would never profess to worship other gods, preachers are quick to point out false gods that abide in our lives with whom we certainly spend time.  We spend time with the gods of materialism, wanting to be comfortable and have enough to buy what we want.  We spend time with the gods of safety which sacrifices the risks of relying upon the God of Jesus Christ exclusively, and we lean into the gods of security and safety.  We spend time with the gods of cultural acceptance where even though we know that the God that we worship in Jesus Christ commands us to welcome to stranger, we quickly look to set up walls and flagellate our citizens of color in the name of law and order.  

Those who say they are followers of Jesus Christ tend to have  the best kept secret gods that they hide away and disguise as cultural norms.  We must we aware and listen to the Jeremiahs who remind us that a tree is not our father and a stone did not give us birth (vs.27).  Jesus has claimed us and anything which might take us away from Christ is a god.