Jeremiah for many years has been one of my favorite books in the Bible. God’s dealings with Israel are very very relevant to where we are in the U.S. today; and to where Israel is today (spiritually). As I’ve read through this book over the years certain themes have begun to stand out to me. One of them is Israel’s forsaking God and forsaking their call to know and walk with Him and listen to His voice. This may be Israel’s greatest sin, and probably is ours as well. So the following verses are given to help you and I see how pervasive a problem this is; but also to see how much God wants His people Israel to know and walk with Him along with the rest of us Gentiles. And ultimately to know that He is jealous for us and He will in time give us a burning heart for Him, and along with that grace to finally let go of all the idols we have worshipped/entertained along the way.
Forsaken, Forsake, Forsaked, Forsakes, Forsaking, Forgotten in Jeremiah re: Israel/Judah “I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. Jer. 1:16 “For My people have committed two evils:They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters,To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water." Jer. 2:13
“Have you not done this to yourself By your forsaking the LORD your God When He led you in the way? Jer. 2:17
“Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to forsake the LORD your God, And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts." Jer. 2:19
Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me Days without number. Jer. 2:32
A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; They have forgotten the LORD their God. Jer. 3:21
“Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlot’s house." Jer. 5:7
“It shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’ Jer. 5:19
The LORD said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, Jer. 9:13
“This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me,” declares the LORD, “Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood. Jer. 13:25
“You who have forsaken Me,” declares the LORD, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting! Jer. 15:6
“Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. Jer. 16:11
“You who have forsaken Me,” declares the LORD, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;I am tired of relenting! Jer. 15:6
‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country? Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away? For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods…”Jer. 18:14,15
“Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. Jer. 19:4
“Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’” Jer. 22:9
“My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside on the mountains; They have gone along from mountain to hill And have forgotten their resting place. Jer. 50:6
Me not; They are stupid children And have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, But to do good they do not know.” Jer. 4:22
For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered. Jer. 10:21
Know
“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, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that did not profit. Jer. 2:8
“For My people are foolish, They know Me not; They are stupid children And have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, But to do good they do not know.” Jer. 4:22
Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God. I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the LORD And the ordinance of their God.” But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds. Jer. 5:4,5
“Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove and the swift and the thrush Observe the time of their migration; But My people do not know The ordinance of the LORD. Jer. 8:7
“They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD. Jer. 9:3
“Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD. Jer. 9:6
“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.” Jer. 9:23,24
Listen: (these are select verses)
“To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.” Jer. 6:10
“Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers.” Jer. 7:26
“For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice.” Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.” Jer. 11:7,8
“This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.” Jer. 13:10 (see vs. 11, 15, 17)
“Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.” Jer. 17:23
“I spoke to you in your prosperity; But you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your practice from your youth, That you have not obeyed My voice.” Jer. 22:21
“They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction.” Jer. 32:33
“and the Lord has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you.” Jer. 40:3
God’s Promises:
“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know- This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they shall know that My name is the Lord.” Jer. 16:21
‘I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. Jer. 24:7
“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jer. 31:4
“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jer. 31:34
For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the LORD of hosts, Although their land is full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel. Jer. 51:5