The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
Jeremiah speaks to Judah's backsliding in its closing days before the Babylonian captivity, where the young lions are its enemies and the wasted land and burned cities without inhabitant show what falls on God's people when they leave His protection and take their destiny into their own hands. That ruin comes when they turn from Him to seek support from worldly powers and from false gods, looking to the hills and mountains for help that can only end in destruction. Their turning is unfaithfulness to the Lord to whom Zion was espoused and married, a broken marriage covenant through unlawful union of His church with the nations and the world. Its desolation is the confusion and waste of a backslidden people and church that has broken faithfulness to God by joining itself to the world. Yet the chapter calls backsliding Israel to return and be healed, for God pleads with backsliders to come back with all the heart though it be the thousandth time, giving up cherished sin and hoping in mercy, and He as a loving Father heals their backslidings because Christ gave Himself and His life to redeem them.
Setting and Devastation
Jeremiah 2:15 belongs to Jeremiah's declarations about Judah's backsliding in the closing days of Israel, before the Babylonian captivity. The young lions are Israel's enemies, and the verse shows the danger that follows when Israel leaves the place of safety and discipline God set for it and takes its life and destiny into its own hands. Outside those bounds and outside God's protection the enemies roar and yell, make the land waste, and leave the cities burned without inhabitant, so that rebellion brings devastation upon land and cities.
The verse belongs to God's warning that His people are ruined when they turn from Him and seek support from worldly powers, with their apparent gains ending in destruction. It belongs also to the record of how far Israel's backsliding had gone. Backslidden Israel first built altars unto Jehovah upon the high places, then became associated with false worship, grew lenient toward it, and entered into fellowship with idolaters. Then it built altars to Milcom and Chemosh and Baal and Ashtoreth and a multitude of gods, till at last altars to false gods stood in the very house of Jehovah. In that setting, looking to the hills and to the mountains for help was looking to the worship of false gods and hoping for help from false gods.
Apostasy and Restoration
Jeremiah 2 belongs to the portrayal of Zion and the Jewish church as espoused to the Lord and married to Himself and espoused to Christ alone. When she turns from God to the nations she becomes unfaithful to Him like a harlot, through an unlawful bond and union of His church with the world, like the harlot in Ezekiel 16. That union of His church with the world is fornication and adultery, a broken marriage covenant and spiritual departure and illicit union with other powers. The roaring of the young lions and the laying waste of the land and the burning of the cities without inhabitant stand in that charge as part of the example of Zion's apostasy.
That unfaithfulness brings confusion, and its desolation is the condition of a backslidden people and church that has broken faithfulness to God by joining itself to the world. The waste and the cities without inhabitant are what wandering from God brings upon a people that has left Him. Yet the chapter to which the verse belongs calls backsliding Israel to return and be healed, showing that forgiveness and hope remain for those who have turned away. Unfaithfulness like a broken marriage covenant does not end the dealing, for if they repent they may be received again.
The verse exposes God's feelings toward backsliders by showing the wickedness of His people as worse than the heathen, and yet in that condition God pleads with them to return. The sinner is told to turn and the backslider is told to return because Christ already redeemed the world and all things therein by giving Himself, His honor, His glory, and His life, and will accept what He purchased when it is delivered. It proves a backslider can be redeemed. He who gives up all cherished sin that separates from God and returns to God with all his heart, though it be the thousandth time, coming deserving nothing yet hoping in mercy, will find a loving Father who heals backslidings and will not cause anger to fall.
Jeremiah speaks to Judah's backsliding in its closing days before the Babylonian captivity, where the young lions are its enemies and the wasted land and burned cities without inhabitant show what falls on God's people when they leave His protection and take their destiny into their own hands. That ruin comes when they turn from Him to seek support from worldly powers and from false gods, looking to the hills and mountains for help that can only end in destruction. Their turning is unfaithfulness to the Lord to whom Zion was espoused and married, a broken marriage covenant through unlawful union of His church with the nations and the world. Its desolation is the confusion and waste of a backslidden people and church that has broken faithfulness to God by joining itself to the world. Yet the chapter calls backsliding Israel to return and be healed, for God pleads with backsliders to come back with all the heart though it be the thousandth time, giving up cherished sin and hoping in mercy, and He as a loving Father heals their backslidings because Christ gave Himself and His life to redeem them.
Setting and Devastation
Jeremiah 2:15 belongs to Jeremiah's declarations about Judah's backsliding in the closing days of Israel, before the Babylonian captivity. The young lions are Israel's enemies, and the verse shows the danger that follows when Israel leaves the place of safety and discipline God set for it and takes its life and destiny into its own hands. Outside those bounds and outside God's protection the enemies roar and yell, make the land waste, and leave the cities burned without inhabitant, so that rebellion brings devastation upon land and cities.
The verse belongs to God's warning that His people are ruined when they turn from Him and seek support from worldly powers, with their apparent gains ending in destruction. It belongs also to the record of how far Israel's backsliding had gone. Backslidden Israel first built altars unto Jehovah upon the high places, then became associated with false worship, grew lenient toward it, and entered into fellowship with idolaters. Then it built altars to Milcom and Chemosh and Baal and Ashtoreth and a multitude of gods, till at last altars to false gods stood in the very house of Jehovah. In that setting, looking to the hills and to the mountains for help was looking to the worship of false gods and hoping for help from false gods.
Apostasy and Restoration
Jeremiah 2 belongs to the portrayal of Zion and the Jewish church as espoused to the Lord and married to Himself and espoused to Christ alone. When she turns from God to the nations she becomes unfaithful to Him like a harlot, through an unlawful bond and union of His church with the world, like the harlot in Ezekiel 16. That union of His church with the world is fornication and adultery, a broken marriage covenant and spiritual departure and illicit union with other powers. The roaring of the young lions and the laying waste of the land and the burning of the cities without inhabitant stand in that charge as part of the example of Zion's apostasy.
That unfaithfulness brings confusion, and its desolation is the condition of a backslidden people and church that has broken faithfulness to God by joining itself to the world. The waste and the cities without inhabitant are what wandering from God brings upon a people that has left Him. Yet the chapter to which the verse belongs calls backsliding Israel to return and be healed, showing that forgiveness and hope remain for those who have turned away. Unfaithfulness like a broken marriage covenant does not end the dealing, for if they repent they may be received again.
The verse exposes God's feelings toward backsliders by showing the wickedness of His people as worse than the heathen, and yet in that condition God pleads with them to return. The sinner is told to turn and the backslider is told to return because Christ already redeemed the world and all things therein by giving Himself, His honor, His glory, and His life, and will accept what He purchased when it is delivered. It proves a backslider can be redeemed. He who gives up all cherished sin that separates from God and returns to God with all his heart, though it be the thousandth time, coming deserving nothing yet hoping in mercy, will find a loving Father who heals backslidings and will not cause anger to fall.