Jeremiah 3:1–4:4 God’s Call to Repentance

Jeremiah: God’s Call to Repentance

3:1—4:4

Introduction: “Repentance,” how often do you think about it? The whole concept probably does not cross our minds very often. However, repentance is one of those commands that should be an ongoing, regular part of our lives. If we ask God for forgiveness every day, repentance should be on our minds.

Possibly our major problem with the concept of repentance is that we think it means being sorry for something we did. We could only wish it was that easy! It is not. Repentance is changing the very core of who we are, and change is not easy. 

This section of Jeremiah calls upon God’s people to change. But their challenge comes from the fact that they have been practicing their lifestyle for generations. Mom and dad lived this way and so did grandma and grandpa. Day to day life is embedded in who they are, and their culture continues to reinforce their failures. 

Nothing has changed. Everyone of us has faults, flaws, weaknesses and habits that are not in favor with God. And we ignore these things within us, even nurture them and protect them. 

1. God’s Call to Repentance: Overview
   1. God gives no doubt as to the message of this section. The key Hebrew word used 17 times in this section in different forms is sub (pronounced ‘shoove’). Depending on context, the word means to “turn or return.”
   2. Used negatively it is Israel “turning away” from God. It is also translated “faithless.” For example, 3:22 read more literally, “Turn, you turning away sons, and I will heal your turnings.” 
   3. Used positively, the word is translated “return,” as in repentance. Israel had turned away, but now they are called upon to “turn back.” 4:1 gives an example of this turning, “If you return, O Israel…to me you should return.” You can see God’s point. Israel had a tendency to “turn” in this way and that, from one idol to another and from one nation to another for help. God’s plea is, if you are going to turn, turn to me!
2. God Exposes Israel’s Turning Away, 3:1-20
   1. 1-5 The Lord quotes from Deuteronomy 24:1-4. This law was given to stop the misuse of wives trading them back and forth to other men and then bringing them back. It was considered an abomination. This was the way Israel was treating God: “you have played the whore with many lovers and would you return to me?” (3:1).
      1. Did this mean it was impossible for them to return to God? Obviously not because this is God’s plea. But their return must be with their whole heart 3:10, and not in pretense.
      2. Oh how this is still done today! How can we even think of paying homage to God, pretending to be thankful in the eating of his body and the drinking of his blood, but then giving ourselves to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and then in the pride of our hearts act as if God is accepting us! 
      3. 2-5 describes the lustfulness of the nation toward their idols. They have been a brazen prostitute, sitting alone like in a wilderness, willing to be ravished by anyone who passed by. They have the “forehead of a whore,” indicating their boldness in their sins and refusal to be ashamed. 
      4. And yet they are so brazen that they will speak to God with words of love as if their harlotry has been a minor issue and that God’s anger should not endure. 3:5b indicates how God is appalled at their words, “Behold you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.” We would say, “You are a joke, Israel!” 
   2. 6-14 Notice how God refers to Israel as “faithless one,” that is, “Turning away” one. God had hoped that after she had her fill of her whoredoms that she would “return” to me.” But not only did she not turn back to God, her sister Judah saw what she did, and in spite of God divorcing Israel by sending her away, Judah followed in the path of Israel’s harlotry. Judah became so bad that she was worse than Israel. So much worse that God even calls Israel to “return, faithless (turning)” Israel. God would happily have her back if she would “acknowledge her guilt.”
   3. 15-20 The Lord looks ahead to speak of future blessings if his people will truly repent. This section obviously sees God’s blessings in the Messiah and his kingdom.
      1. God will provide good shepherds who will feed them with spiritual knowledge and understanding. 
      2. God will multiply them and they will be fruitful (clearly and evangelistic blessing). 
      3. The loss of the ark of the covenant will no longer be a care because the new Jerusalem will be the throne of God (not the throne of a physical, temporary king). 
      4. When this happens, the nations will be gathered to the Lord in the new Jerusalem. 
      5. The people’s hearts will be changed. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 
      6. They will be united as one nation; no longer a divided kingdom.
      7. 19-20 The previous blessings remind God of what he had originally planned for the nation. They would be his sons and daughters and they will call him Father, and they would not “turn” from following him. But instead they had been as a treacherous wife who left her husband.
3. True Repentance Defined: 3:21—4:4
   1. This section is either the hopefulness of Jeremiah or the future picture of the restoration of Israel as seen in the Messiah’s disciples. I favor the latter view because there are similar pictures given by Isaiah and Ezekiel. 
   2. Notice the ingredients of true repentance:
      1. 21: “weeping and pleading” is the result of two signs of a changed heart. 
         1. (1) The realization that to be accepted back would be completely undeserved. As in the parable of the prodigal, he would have been thrilled just to be considered his father’s servant. 
         2. (2) Weeping and pleading is evidence of a heart that despises and loathes self for the sins committed. There is no ambivalence that is typical in a half-hearted repentance in which sin is grudgingly given up but the deep desire to continue the sin is still present. (Israel in the wilderness)
      2. 22: Their desire to return to God, to repent, is because he is the Lord our God and only in the Lord our God “is the salvation of Israel (23b). As Jesus said in Matthew 16:25, “Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” A sure way to “lose life” is to try to live life for ourselves.
      3. 23: Repentance requires the recognition that all sin is but a delusion—a deception or lie. In other words, sin promises life, but its wages are misery and death. There is no fulfillment or satisfaction. There is only greater misery and despair. 
      4. 24: Illustrates the deception & confession of sin. All that they have has been devoured. The result of their sins have been shame and dishonor.
   3. 4:1-4 God’s call to an active repentance:
      1. This section plainly illustrates that repentance is not simply sorrow for sin. There must be an active pursuit of getting right with God. 
      2. 1: “If you return, O Israel, to me you should return.” Make sure your change is truly a return to God. Stopping former sins will be short-lived unless the return is actually to God. Repentance is not just stopping sin. It is a passionate turn to God. 
      3. 2: Our words of allegiance to God must be lived out in truth, justice and righteousness.
      4. 3-4: Start sowing good seed to produce fruit in your life. Get rid of the thorns—those things that hinder the process and choke out the word. Further, get your heart right! This is not something that happens instantly, but progresses as you pray and study regularly so that your heart can be transformed (Rom. 12:1). In the beginning, your heart will not “feel” like changing, but God repeatedly emphasizes a principle that always succeeds: “circumcise your hearts” is just another way of saying, act yourself into a new way of feeling.

Berry Kercheville

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