Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 3:4

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 3:4. Wilt thou not - cry unto me, My father — Wilt thou not allow me to be thy Creator and Preserver, and cease thus to acknowledge idols? See on Jeremiah 2:27.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Judah unfaithful and unashamed (3:1-5)

By her spiritual adultery Judah has broken the marriage bond with Yahweh and defiled the land. In her immorality and idolatry she has acted like a prostitute who lures lovers in the city streets. She is like a desert outlaw who looks for innocent victims along the country’s highways (3:1-2).
God sent drought to bring Judah to repentance, but the nation has remained unmoved. She is so shameless she even looks like a prostitute (3). Yet she is bold enough to ask God to act like an over-kind father and give her whatever she wants. But God will act in righteousness against her because of her sin (4-5).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"They say, if a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's wife, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith Jehovah. Lift up thine eyes to the bare heights, and see; where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he retain his anger forever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast had thy way."

"They say, if a man put away his wife" Many scholars are quick to point out that this corresponds to Deuteronomy 24:1-4, with the implication that this information had only recently come to Jeremiah through the discovery of that Book of the Law in the temple. This is by all odds an improper deduction, "This does not necessarily presuppose the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple in 622 B.C."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 41.

The words, `they say,' here clearly indicate that the knowledge revealed in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, at the time Jeremiah wrote, was already well known by the whole Jewish nation, that the impossibility of a divorced woman going back to her first husband after being married to someone else was a common proverb known to the whole Jewish world of that period. Why not? Deuteronomy was nothing new to Israel, having already been in their possession since the great Lawgiver had written it and left it for them, along with the whole law.

Of course, this little phrase is a death-blow to the theory of the late `discovery' of Deuteronomy; and that accounts for all the confusion among so many scholars, as pointed out by Cheyne, of whom he said, "Various ingenious attempts have been made to explain this!"T. K. Cheyne, Jeremiah in the Pulpit Commentary, p. 48. However, no amount of ingenuity can remove the obvious import of the words.

"Will he return unto her again" This type of question in Hebrew always requires a negative answer, therefore affirming that God will not return to the divorced Israel; but the final clause of the verse represents the Lord as inviting the reprobate apostate wife to return? This can be nothing on earth except a mistranslation.

"Yet return again to me, saith Jehovah" The marginal reading in the American Standard Version has, "And thinkest thou to return unto me?" This alternative has been adopted in the Revised Standard Version, "And would you return to me, says the Lord?"The Interpreter's Bible, p. 824. This is obviously to be preferred above the American Standard Version. Some scholars have appealed to the analogy of Hosea and Gomer in this passage, even affirming that Hosea's example in taking Gomer back, "Indicated that God would do even this."Anthony L. Ash, Psalms (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 59. We are astounded that so many scholars believe this but seem totally unaware that Hosea made it perfectly clear that he was NOT taking Gomer back as his wife, but as a slave!

"And Hosea said unto her: Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man's wife: so will I also be toward thee!"(Hosea 3:3).

Yes, there is a triple betrothal mentioned later in Hosea; but it was for Jezreel, not Israel, to the New Israel, not to the old reprobate whore! (See the full development of this in Vol. 2 of my series on the Minor Prophets.)

The true meaning of the last phrase of Jeremiah 3:1, therefore is this: "After your wretched conduct, do you really suppose that you can return as the wife of God?"

"Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights" These words explode the arrogant notion of Israel that she might again be God's wife. Jeremiah here challenges her to look everywhere and find a single tree under which she has not committed whoredom by worshipping false gods and indulging in their sexual orgies. Israel has been like the Arabians in the wilderness, (1) either lying in wait to rob a caravan, or (2) sitting by the highway seducing travelers to adultery. That this was a device often followed by immoral women is proved by Tamar's seduction of Judah (Genesis 38:14 ff).

"The showers have been withholden… no latter rain" God's punishment of the Once Chosen People by the withholding of rain and other blessings had not led them to repentance, but rather to a bold and presumptuous arrogance. The "latter rains" were the ones in the spring, without which it was not possible to have an abundant harvest.

"Wilt thou not from this time cry, My father... Behold thou hast spoken and hast done evil things!" Yes, yes, Israel continued to claim Jehovah as their national God, and they always called upon him when in trouble, but their conduct made it impossible for God to help them. The last lines in this paragraph were rendered thus by Feinberg:

"This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 396.

Matthew Henry considered the meaning of these last two verses to be:

"Thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldst, and wouldst have spoken and done worse if thou hadst known how; thy will was to do it, but thou hadst not the opportunity!Matthew Henry's Commentary, p. 416. "The essential message of these first five verses is simply this: `Judah, after it has turned away to other gods will not be received again by Jehovah (as his espoused wife), especially in view of all her chastisements and her adherence to evil ways.'"C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 78.

At this early period in Jeremiah's ministry, he evidently entertained high hope that Judah would indeed repent and that the looming punishment of their captivity might yet be averted. However, the shocking development of Judah's guilt being even greater than Israel's occurred to Jeremiah as raising another problem. If indeed Judah (more guilty than Israel) was to be spared, "Then the privilege of forgiveness and restoration must be offered to the Northern Kingdom also, because Judah's sins were worse than theirs."Raymond Calkins, Jeremiah the Prophet (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1930), p. 78. This great privilege of forgiveness and restoration to all men would be realized under the gracious and benevolent terms of the New Covenant, prophesied a moment later in this chapter.

Nothing even resembling the repentance and return of Judah to their true God, however, came to pass. Surely God yearned for such repentance; but it never happened; and as Cook pointed out, "The words of this paragraph are not the language of consolation to the conscience-stricken, but they are the vehement expostulation with hardened sinners. They prove the truth of the interpretation put upon the last clause of the 1 st verse."Canon F. C. Cook, Jeremiah, p. 153.

And what was that interpretation? Here it is:

"`Yet return again unto me' should be rendered, `and thinkest thou to return unto me?' The whole argument is not of mercy, but is proof that after her repeated adulteries, Israel could not again take her place as a wife. To think of returning to God with the marriage-law unrepealed was folly."Ibid.

A vital point so often misunderstood by expositors is the difference between God's covenant with Racial Israel, which was terminated irrevocably in the total apostasy of the Once Chosen People and the New Covenant without any racial requirements whatever. The promises a few verses later pertain to that New Covenant, and not to the old Racial Covenant that endowed the race of Israel with the status of being Jehovah's espoused wife. That status was terminated irrevocably and finally by the events of the apostasy of both Israel and Judah. And yet, no racial descendant of Abraham who ever lived was in any manner excluded from the mercies and blessings of God. It only means that his access to those blessings would be upon the same terms applicable to everyone who ever lived on earth. "Whosoever will may come"!

As Harrison observed, "Even though from the analogy here the nation (that is racial Israel) could not take her place again as God's wife because of her repeated adulteries, she could still be forgiven if she was truly repentant."R. K. Harrison, Jeremiah in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, p. 65. That forgiveness, however, would not be under the old Sinaitic covenant, but under the terms and conditions of the New Covenant.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Or, Hast thou Not from this time called “me, My Father, thou art the” husband “of my youth?” i. e., from the time of Josiah’s reforms in his eighteenth year, in opposition to “of old time” Jeremiah 2:20.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

God, after having set forth the wickedness of his people, and severely reproved them as they deserved, now kindly invites them to repentance, Wilt thou not say to me hereafter, he says, My Father! Some incorrectly render the words, “Wilt thou say to me, My Father,” as though God would reject what they said: and they give the meaning, — that the Jews would act dishonestly in thus glorying in God’s name, from whom they were so alienated. But very different is the meaning of the Prophet: for God mitigates the severity of the reproof which we have observed, and shews that he would be ready to be reconciled to them, if they repented: nay, he waits not for their repentance, but of his own accord meets and allures these perfidious apostates: “What!” says God, “shall there be no more any union between us?” For God expresses here the feeling of one grieving and lamenting, when he saw the people perishing; and he seems anxious, if possible, to restore them.

It is with this design that he asks, “Will they not again call on me as their Father and the guide of their youth?” And by this periphrastic way of speaking, he intimates that he was the husband of that people; for most tender is that love which a youth has for a young virgin in the flower of her age. God, then, makes use now of this comparison, and says, that he still remembered the love which he had manifested towards his people. In short, he shews here that pardon was ready, if the people sought reconciliation; and he confirms the same thing when he adds —

Smith's Bible Commentary

They say ( Jeremiah 3:1 ),

That is, in quoting the law and in speaking of the law, Deuteronomy.

If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man's wife, shall he return unto her again? shall not the land be greatly polluted? ( Jeremiah 3:1 )

Under the law if you divorce your wife and she married another man, then you could not marry her again. That was under the law of Deuteronomy, chapter 24, I think it is. Yet God said, even so,

you have played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again unto me, saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 3:1 ).

"I'll take you back." Oh, the patience of God. The love of God. It's just so amazing to me. "Though you've become a harlot and you've had many lovers, yet turn back to Me," saith the Lord. "Come on back."

Lift up your eyes unto the high places ( Jeremiah 3:2 ),

Just find a place that you haven't committed spiritual adultery.

In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness ( Jeremiah 3:2 );

That is, the robbers in the wilderness. You've just lurked and waited.

and thou hast polluted the land with your whoredoms and with your wickedness. Therefore [because of this] the showers [the rain] has been withheld, and there hath been no latter rain; and you had a whore's forehead, and you refused to be ashamed. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as evil as you could ( Jeremiah 3:2-5 ).

Now, that is the end of the first message that the Lord gave to Jeremiah. Verse Jeremiah 3:6 starts the second message that the Lord gave to Jeremiah concerning the backsliding of Judah.

The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king ( Jeremiah 3:6 ),

He introduces his second message with that phrase.

Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot ( Jeremiah 3:6 ).

As I said, the places of worship were established on the high mountains and then in these groves. And the worship, of course, God speaks of it as playing the harlot. And most of the worship was involved with the goddess of fertility, and thus, they were fertility rites, and the worship of the gods involved sexual intercourse in various fertility rites and all.

And I said after she has done all these things, Turn unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it ( Jeremiah 3:7 ).

Now you've seen what happened to Israel. You saw how that they went into idolatry, how that they worshipped all of these gods. And I called them to return to me but they didn't. And you saw them, treacherous sister Judah, down here. She saw what happened to Israel, her sister Israel.

And I saw, when for all of the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went out and played the harlot also ( Jeremiah 3:8 ).

In other words, they should have learned from what happened to the Northern Kingdom. They should have learned the lesson when the Northern Kingdom was carried away captive by Assyria. And they should have returned to God with a whole heart and completely, but they didn't learn from it. But they themselves persisted in the same kind of actions that brought the judgment of God upon the Northern Kingdom.

And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks ( Jeremiah 3:9 ).

That is, with the little idols made of stone and of wood.

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but only feignedly, saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 3:10 ).

It was only a surface revival that was going on. It wasn't really down deep affecting the heart of the nation. It was just something that was taking place on the surface. Somewhat like what is happening in the United States as churches are reporting increased attendance and Gallup poll is reporting fifty percent Christians, sixty percent born again in the United States. That's just a surface thing. It hasn't really affected the real life of the individual. There is a lack of real commitment to God and to Jesus Christ. People mouth the words. It's a popular movement. They're using born again for everything now. Shampoos or anything else, you know. It's a term that has been picked up and become popularized in the worldly jargon. But it is without meaning or significance in so many cases.

Let us examine ourselves. Is it meaningful with me? Have I really made a true commitment to God? Is my love divided? Do I love God partially? Am I committed partly? Or is there a total, full commitment of myself unto God and to Jesus Christ and the things of the Spirit? Or am I still desiring and lusting after the things of my flesh? And do I have a divided heart? Now God is calling us for a full commitment of ourselves to Him. God is calling us away from the idolatry, the things of the world, the love of the world and the things that are in the world. "Come ye apart from them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing. And I will be a Father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters" ( 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 ).

So many are being enticed by the things of the world. They're being drawn and attracted by the excitement of the things of the world. But, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For he that hath the love of the world in his heart hath not the love of the Father" ( 1 John 2:15 ). And many of you are like treacherous Judah. Your love for God is only feigned; it is only a surface thing. It really isn't a full true commitment of your life to Him. You go through the motions. You say the words. But God is looking at your heart and He sees a heart that is divided. He sees a heart that is lusting after the world. And God knows your heart and it is breaking God's heart.

What iniquity, God said, have I done that you should turn from Me? I can remember that day when your commitment was so fervent. When you were singing praises unto Me all day long. When all you could think of was Me and you were in this beautiful harmony and communion with Me. What happened? Why is it that you've turned away and you're drawn after the things of the world? And God said, I'm calling to you. Listen. Wake up. Come back.

And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah ( Jeremiah 3:11 ).

Now Judah is more to blame because she saw the example of Israel and what happened. And yet she did not turn.

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep my anger for ever. Only acknowledge your iniquity ( Jeremiah 3:12-13 ),

That's all God asks you to do. Acknowledge your iniquity. "If we confess our sins, then He is faithful and just" ( 1 John 1:9 ). But if you cover, "Oh, it's all right. I am not too bad. I still love the Lord. I still do this and that." And you're justifying yourself, then God can't do anything with you. Acknowledge your iniquity and your transgressions against the Lord thy God. Acknowledge the things that you've done.

how that you've turned to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding ( Jeremiah 3:13-15 ).

God gave me this passage of scripture several years ago, and He said, "This is the kind of a pastor I want you to be. This is a pastor after God's heart. The pastor who will feed the people with knowledge and understanding of God. That's the pastor after God's heart." And I said, "Lord, I want to be a pastor after Your heart. To feed the people with the knowledge and the understanding of God." And God is speaking of this day that is coming when He gives them this kind of pastors.

And it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more ( Jeremiah 3:16 ).

Talking about the glorious Kingdom Age. You won't be talking about the ark of the covenant because you'll have the new covenant--Jesus Christ dwelling with us. You'll not be thinking about the laws and the tables of stone and all that were in that ark, the covenant that God made with Israel. Whereas if you keep these laws I will be a God unto thee. That will be taken away, for Jesus said, "This blood is a new covenant in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins."

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD ( Jeremiah 3:17 );

For Jesus is coming and He will reign over the earth from Jerusalem.

and all of the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imaginations of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God ( Jeremiah 3:17-22 ).

This is the response of the people in that day.

Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills ( Jeremiah 3:23 ),

That is, those that are worshipping on the tops of the mountains.

and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel ( Jeremiah 3:23 ).

You won't find salvation in any of the cisterns that you may have hewed out. Salvation only lies through Jesus Christ.

For shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and in our confusion we are covered: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God ( Jeremiah 3:24-25 ).

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The spiritual unfaithfulness of Judah 3:1-5

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Instead of repenting, they besought God to help them, calling Him their "Father," the friend who had guided them in their youth.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me,.... These words are either a confirmation and proof of that impudence with which these people are charged; for had they not been impudent, or had not a forehead like a whorish woman; or were they truly ashamed, they would have cried to the Lord henceforward; called upon him; claimed their relation to him; and owned his favours in time past: or, if they had not been impudent, they would not have dared from this time to have called God their Father and their guide, when they had so wickedly sinned against him; so that this is a charge of hypocrisy and deceit, calling God their Father and guide, when they were at the same time worshipping idols: or rather they are expressive of the wondrous grace and goodness of God towards this people, that had so highly offended him, yet he expostulates with them, puts words into their mouths to return unto him with, saying:

my father; I have sinned against thee, and am not worthy of the relation, yet receive me as a returning prodigal:

thou art the guide of my youth; or, "hast been": I acknowledge the favours I have received in time past, which is an aggravation of my sin; reject me not, but receive me graciously into thy favour; see

Hosea 14:2, so the Targum interprets the words as a prayer,

"wilt thou not from this time pray before me, saying, thou art my Lord, my Redeemer, which art of old?''

or else they point to them their duty, what they ought to do from henceforward; that seeing the Lord had withheld from them the former and latter rain for their idolatry, it became them to return to him by repentance; and to call upon him, who had been their Father and their guide in time past, to have mercy on them, and avert his judgments from them.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.   2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.   3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.   4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?   5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

      These verses some make to belong to the sermon in the foregoing chapter, and they open a door of hope to those who receive the conviction of the reproofs we had there; God wounds that he may heal. Now observe here,

      I. How basely this people had forsaken God and gone a whoring from him. The charge runs very high here. 1. They had multiplied their idols and their idolatries. To have admitted one strange God among them would have been bad enough, but they were insatiable in their lustings after false worships: Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers,Jeremiah 3:1; Jeremiah 3:1. She had become a common prostitute to idols; not a foolish deity was set up in all the neighbourhood but the Jews would have it quickly. Where was a high place in the country but they had had an idol in it? Jeremiah 3:2; Jeremiah 3:2. Note, In repentance it is good to make sorrowful reflections upon the particular acts of sin we have been guilty of, and the several places and companies where it has been committed, that we may give glory to God and take shame to ourselves by a particular confession of it. 2. They had sought opportunity for their idolatries, and had sent about to enquire for new gods: In the high--ways hast thou sat for them, as Tamar when she put on the disguise of a harlot (Genesis 38:14), and as the foolish woman, that sits to call passengers, who go right on their way,Proverbs 9:14; Proverbs 9:15. As the Arabian in the wilderness--the Arabian huckster (so some), that courts customers, or waits for the merchants to get a good bargain and forestal the market--or the Arabian thief (so others), that watches for his prey; so had they waited either to court new gods to come among them (the newer the better, and the more fond they were of them) or to court others to join with them in their idolatries. They were not only sinners, but Satans, not only traitors themselves, but tempters to others. 3. They had grown very impudent in sin. They not only polluted themselves, but their land, with their whoredoms and with their wickedness (Jeremiah 3:2; Jeremiah 3:2); for it was universal and unpunished, and so became a national sin. And yet (Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 3:3), "Thou hadst a whore's forehead, a brazen face of thy own. Thou refusedst to be ashamed; thou didst enough to shame thee for ever, and yet wouldst not take shame to thyself." Blushing is the colour of virtue, or at least a relic of it; but those that are past shame (we say) are past hope. Those that have an adulterer's heart, if they indulge that, will come at length to have a whore's forehead, void of all shame and modesty. 4. They abounded in all manner of sin. They polluted the land not only with their whoredoms (that is, their idolatries), but with their wickedness, or malice (Jeremiah 3:2; Jeremiah 3:2), sins against the second table: for how can we think that those will be true to their neighbour that are false to their God? "Nay (Jeremiah 3:5; Jeremiah 3:5), thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldst, and wouldst have spoken and done worse if thou hadst known how; thy will was to do it, but thou lackedst opportunity." Note, Those are wicked indeed that sin to the utmost of their power, that never refuse to comply with a temptation because they should not, but because they cannot.

      II. How gently God had corrected them for their sins. Instead of raining fire and brimstone upon them, because, like Sodom, they had avowed their sin and had gone after strange gods as Sodom after strange flesh, he only withheld the showers from them, and that only one part of the year: There has been no latter rain, which might serve as an intimation to them of their continual dependence upon God; when they had the former rain, that was no security to them for the latter, but they must still look up to God. But it had not this effect.

      III. How justly God might have abandoned them utterly, and refused ever to receive them again, though they should return; this would have been but according to the known rule of divorces, Jeremiah 3:1; Jeremiah 3:1. They say (it is an adjudged case, nay, it is a case in which the law is very express, and it is what every body knows and speaks of, Deuteronomy 24:4), that if a woman be once put away for whoredom, and be joined to another man, her first husband shall never, upon any pretence whatsoever, take her again to be his wife; such playing fast and loose with the marriage-bond would be a horrid profanation of that ordinance and would greatly pollute that land. Observe, What the law says in this case--They say, that is, every one will say, and subscribe to the equity of the law in it; for every man finds something in himself that forbids him to entertain one that is another man's. And in like manner they had reason to expect that God would refuse ever to take them to be his people again, who had not only been joined to one strange god, but had played the harlot with many lovers. If we had to do with a man like ourselves, after such provocations as we have been guilty of, he would be implacable, and we might have despaired of his being reconciled to us.

      IV. How graciously he not only invites them, but directs them, to return to him.

      1. He encourages them to hope that they shall find favour with him, upon their repentance: "Thou thou hast been bad, yet return again to me," Jeremiah 3:1; Jeremiah 3:1. This implies a promise that he will receive them: "Return, and thou shalt be welcome." God has not tied himself by the laws which he made for us, nor has he the peevish resentment that men have; he will be more kind to Israel, for the sake of his covenant with them, than ever any injured husband was to an adulterous wife; for in receiving penitents, as much as in any thing, he is God and not man.

      2. He therefore kindly expects that they will repent and return to him, and he directs them what to say to him (Jeremiah 3:4; Jeremiah 3:4): "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me? Wilt not thou, who hast been in such relation to me, and on whom I have laid such obligations, wilt not thou cry to me? Though thou hast gone a whoring from me, yet, when thou findest the folly of it, surely thou wilt think of returning to me, now at least, now at last, in this thy day. Wilt thou not at this time, nay, wilt thou not from this time and forward, cry unto me? Whatever thou hast said or done hitherto, wilt thou not from this time apply to me? From this time of conviction and correction, now that thou hast been made to see thy sins (Jeremiah 3:2; Jeremiah 3:2) and to smart for them (Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 3:3), wilt thou not now forsake them and return to me, saying, I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now?" Hosea 2:7. Or "from this time that thou hast had so kind an invitation to return, and assurance that thou shalt be well received: will not this grace of God overcome thee? Now that pardon is proclaimed wilt thou not come in and take the benefit of it? Surely thou wilt."

      (1.) He expects that they will claim relation to God, as theirs: Wilt thou not cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth? [1.] They will surely come towards him as a father, to beg his pardon for their undutiful behaviour to him (Father, I have sinned) and will hope to find in him the tender compassions of a father towards a returning prodigal. They will come to him as a father, to whom they will make their complaints, and in whom they will put their confidence for relief and succour. They will now own him as their father, and themselves fatherless without him; and therefore, hoping to find mercy with him (as those penitents, Hosea 14:3), [2.] They will come to him as the guide of their youth, that is, as their husband, for so that relation is described, Malachi 2:14. "Though thou hast gone after many lovers, surely thou wilt at length remember the love of thy espousals, and return to the husband of thy youth." Or it may be taken more generally: "As my Father, thou art the guide of my youth." Youth needs a guide. In our return to God we must thankfully remember that he was the guide of our youth in the way of comfort; and we must faithfully covenant that he shall be our guide henceforward in the way of duty, and that we will follow his guidance, and give up ourselves entirely to it, that in all doubtful cases we will be determined by our religion.

      (2.) He expects that they will appeal to the mercy of God and crave the benefit of that mercy (Jeremiah 3:5; Jeremiah 3:5), that they will reason thus with themselves for their encouragement to return to him: "Will he reserve his anger for ever? Surely he will not, for he has proclaimed his name gracious and merciful." Repenting sinners may encourage themselves with this, that, though God chide, he will not always chide, though he be angry, he will not keep his anger to the end, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion, and may thus plead for reconciliation. Some understand this as describing their hypocrisy, and the impudence of it: "Though thou hast a whore's forehead (Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 3:3) and art still doing evil as thou canst (Jeremiah 3:5; Jeremiah 3:5), yet art thou not ever and anon crying to me, My Father?" Even when they were most addicted to idols they pretended a regard to God and his service and kept up the forms of godliness and devotion. It is a shameful thing for men thus to call God father, and yet to do the works of the devil (as the Jews, John 8:44), to call him the guide of their youth, and yet give up themselves to walk after the flesh, and to flatter themselves with the expectation that his anger shall have an end, while they are continually treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath.