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Monday, December 23rd, 2024
the Fourth Week of Advent

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Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 2

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Verses 1-37

Intro to Jer.2:
1. Jeremiah is a masterful artist painting 10 pictures that expose the unfaithfulness & sins of the people.
2. These word pictures range from human down to animal.
An Unfaithful Wife (1-8)
1. Here is a story w/which we are too sadly familiar today, the story of a marriage gone wrong!
2. vs.1-3 - This picture goes all the way back to Ex. 19 where the Lord made a cov. W/Israel, & He entered into a loving relationship w/them that He compared to a marriage. {“a sp. treasure” = lit. a people for his ownpossession}
3. Story - William Penn, the founder of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was well liked by the Indians. Once they told him he could have as much of their land as he could encompass on foot in a single day. So, early the next morning he started out and walked until late that night. When he finally went to claim his land, the Indians were greatly surprised, for they really didn't think he would take them seriously. But they kept their promise and gave him a large area which today is part of the city of Philadelphia. William Penn simply believed what they said. Should we do less with God!
4. vs.4-8 - Now they were unfaithful!
5. Q: Who can understand or fathom there poor response to the yearning love of God?
6. Q: Who can understand or fathom “our” poor response to the yearning love of Christ?
  1. The heathen so devoted & w/their lavish sacrifices at their shrines, may well shame us. (Macau, incense all day, at their shops).
Broken Cisterns! (9-13)
1. vs.9-11 - “From West to East, you will not find a nation that changed its gods!”…But Israel did…the True for a Fake!
2. vs.12-13 - (12) “Let your hair stand on end!”
3. The trade - Drinking from a clear fresh flowing spring of water, to now dipping their bucket into a cracked muddy cistern!
  1. Porous limestone cisterns were plastered to keep the water in. The plaster would often crack, thus losing the collected water!
  2. “Like these cisterns we too have cracks in our bottoms!”
4. Story - A United Press release in a midwestern city told of a hospital where officials discovered that the firefighting equipment had never been connected. For 35 years it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients in case of emergency. But it had never been attached to the city's water main. The pipe that led from the building extended 4 feet underground -- and there it stopped! The medical staff and the patients had felt complete confidence in the system. They thought that if a blaze broke out, they could depend on a nearby hose to extinguish it. But theirs was a false security. Although the costly equipment with its polished valves and well-placed outlets was adequate for the building, it lacked the most important thing -- water!
A Plundered Slave! (14-19)
1. God redeemed the Jews from Egypt & gave them freedom in Canaan, but now they’ve gone back into bondage because of its idolatry (allying w/Egypt & Assyria).
2. Instead of Israel drinking from the pure river the Lord gave them - they go to the polluted Nile & Euphrates.
3. vs.18 - Good questions to ask ourselves!
  1. Q: “Have you ever gone back to anything in the world you once got rid of?”
4. vs.19 - Q: Does God chastises us by allowing our own sins to bring pain & discipline to our lives. (Yes, This is called consequence!)
  1. Sometimes this is our greatest judgment.
A Harlot! (20)
1. vs.20 - This refers to the Exodus when God set the Jews free.
2. Jeremiah uses the picture of an Yoke 15 times.
A Degenerated Vine! (21)
1. Israel as a vine is a familiar image in the O.T.
  1. God planted them in the good soil of Israel, but they brought forth wild grapes!
  2. Is.5:1,2 “Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.”
A Stained Body! (22)
1. The stain of sin is more than skin deep.
  1. Maybe the greatest problem in our day & age is the lack of understanding of the depth of how serious sin is?
2. No amount of good works or religious ceremonies could wash away their sins.
3. (WW) “The heart of the nation’s problem was the problem in their heart!”
A Swift Camel & A Donkey in Heat! (23-25)
1. Like a lost camel, looking for an Oasis! (Bongo - Gate open, heee’s off….)
2. A powerful driving force of an animal in heat.(Haiti Goat)
  1. So Israel was so driven to go after the other Baals/gods.
  2. They even wore out their Reeboks & wouldn’t even stop to drink.
3. vs.25b - “There is no hope” - it’s useless! Like one who is a compulsive drinker, eater, gambler, …they lose all hope.
  1. Yes, there is always hope! Jn.5:7 (dispair) "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."
  2. Jesus specializes in hopeless cases. He sets prisoners free...what’s your prison?
A Disgraced Thief! (26-28)
1. vs.27 - Right now, are you facing God, or turned away from Him? Be honest!
2. vs.27b - Trouble can be a good thing, Thank you Lord!
3. vs.28 - That’s a lot!
Uncontrollable Children! (29-35)
1. vs.30a - God spanks them but they won’t change.(Ever have a child do that?)9.1.1. Read 5:3.
2. vs.32 - Have you been forgetting God lately?
Prisoners of War! (36,37)
1. vs.36 - To keep peace w/its neighbors (Egypt & Assyria) Israel flitted between them(14-19).
  1. Both ultimately disappointed Judah.
2. vs.37 - A picture of prisoners of war.
  1. Any decision we make that are contrary to God’s plan will lead to bondage!
  2. Often what we think is freedom, often can become slavery! {“I can smoke as a Christian!…”}
3. Q: Was there any way Judah could escape the coming wrath? Yep, that what ch.3 is about!

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Verses 1-37

Intro to Jer.2:
1. Jeremiah is a masterful artist painting 10 pictures that expose the unfaithfulness & sins of the people.
2. These word pictures range from human down to animal.
An Unfaithful Wife (1-8)
1. Here is a story w/which we are too sadly familiar today, the story of a marriage gone wrong!
2. vs.1-3 - This picture goes all the way back to Ex. 19 where the Lord made a cov. W/Israel, & He entered into a loving relationship w/them that He compared to a marriage. {“a sp. treasure” = lit. a people for his ownpossession}
3. Story - William Penn, the founder of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was well liked by the Indians. Once they told him he could have as much of their land as he could encompass on foot in a single day. So, early the next morning he started out and walked until late that night. When he finally went to claim his land, the Indians were greatly surprised, for they really didn't think he would take them seriously. But they kept their promise and gave him a large area which today is part of the city of Philadelphia. William Penn simply believed what they said. Should we do less with God!
4. vs.4-8 - Now they were unfaithful!
5. Q: Who can understand or fathom there poor response to the yearning love of God?
6. Q: Who can understand or fathom “our” poor response to the yearning love of Christ?
  1. The heathen so devoted & w/their lavish sacrifices at their shrines, may well shame us. (Macau, incense all day, at their shops).
Broken Cisterns! (9-13)
1. vs.9-11 - “From West to East, you will not find a nation that changed its gods!”…But Israel did…the True for a Fake!
2. vs.12-13 - (12) “Let your hair stand on end!”
3. The trade - Drinking from a clear fresh flowing spring of water, to now dipping their bucket into a cracked muddy cistern!
  1. Porous limestone cisterns were plastered to keep the water in. The plaster would often crack, thus losing the collected water!
  2. “Like these cisterns we too have cracks in our bottoms!”
4. Story - A United Press release in a midwestern city told of a hospital where officials discovered that the firefighting equipment had never been connected. For 35 years it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients in case of emergency. But it had never been attached to the city's water main. The pipe that led from the building extended 4 feet underground -- and there it stopped! The medical staff and the patients had felt complete confidence in the system. They thought that if a blaze broke out, they could depend on a nearby hose to extinguish it. But theirs was a false security. Although the costly equipment with its polished valves and well-placed outlets was adequate for the building, it lacked the most important thing -- water!
A Plundered Slave! (14-19)
1. God redeemed the Jews from Egypt & gave them freedom in Canaan, but now they’ve gone back into bondage because of its idolatry (allying w/Egypt & Assyria).
2. Instead of Israel drinking from the pure river the Lord gave them - they go to the polluted Nile & Euphrates.
3. vs.18 - Good questions to ask ourselves!
  1. Q: “Have you ever gone back to anything in the world you once got rid of?”
4. vs.19 - Q: Does God chastises us by allowing our own sins to bring pain & discipline to our lives. (Yes, This is called consequence!)
  1. Sometimes this is our greatest judgment.
A Harlot! (20)
1. vs.20 - This refers to the Exodus when God set the Jews free.
2. Jeremiah uses the picture of an Yoke 15 times.
A Degenerated Vine! (21)
1. Israel as a vine is a familiar image in the O.T.
  1. God planted them in the good soil of Israel, but they brought forth wild grapes!
  2. Is.5:1,2 “Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.”
A Stained Body! (22)
1. The stain of sin is more than skin deep.
  1. Maybe the greatest problem in our day & age is the lack of understanding of the depth of how serious sin is?
2. No amount of good works or religious ceremonies could wash away their sins.
3. (WW) “The heart of the nation’s problem was the problem in their heart!”
A Swift Camel & A Donkey in Heat! (23-25)
1. Like a lost camel, looking for an Oasis! (Bongo - Gate open, heee’s off….)
2. A powerful driving force of an animal in heat.(Haiti Goat)
  1. So Israel was so driven to go after the other Baals/gods.
  2. They even wore out their Reeboks & wouldn’t even stop to drink.
3. vs.25b - “There is no hope” - it’s useless! Like one who is a compulsive drinker, eater, gambler, …they lose all hope.
  1. Yes, there is always hope! Jn.5:7 (dispair) "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."
  2. Jesus specializes in hopeless cases. He sets prisoners free...what’s your prison?
A Disgraced Thief! (26-28)
1. vs.27 - Right now, are you facing God, or turned away from Him? Be honest!
2. vs.27b - Trouble can be a good thing, Thank you Lord!
3. vs.28 - That’s a lot!
Uncontrollable Children! (29-35)
1. vs.30a - God spanks them but they won’t change.(Ever have a child do that?)9.1.1. Read 5:3.
2. vs.32 - Have you been forgetting God lately?
Prisoners of War! (36,37)
1. vs.36 - To keep peace w/its neighbors (Egypt & Assyria) Israel flitted between them(14-19).
  1. Both ultimately disappointed Judah.
2. vs.37 - A picture of prisoners of war.
  1. Any decision we make that are contrary to God’s plan will lead to bondage!
  2. Often what we think is freedom, often can become slavery! {“I can smoke as a Christian!…”}
3. Q: Was there any way Judah could escape the coming wrath? Yep, that what ch.3 is about!

return to 'Top of Page'

JeremiahJer 1 JeremiahJer JeremiahJer 3

Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Jeremiah 2". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/jeremiah-2.html. 2017.

Bible CommentariesJeremiah 2

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-37

Verses 1-37

Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 2