Wed. or Thur. - Jeremiah 3 - Yes, But He is Willing to Take You Back

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F a man's wife cheats on him with another man, it seems understandable that he would hesitate (or refuse) to accept her back. And, the same with a woman whose husband is unfaithful to her.  Even Jesus declared that sexual deviancy establishes a chasm between a husband and wife that may be insurmountable (Matthew 19:9). Yet, even though Israel committed spiritual adultery (Jeremiah 3:9 & 21), God was still willing to take her back. Oh, what grace!

Unlike us, God is perfect! He doesn't need to be nice to us to sooth His conscience or to make up for some error in His past. He has never made any errors. He owes us nothing! Still, here we are reading about His offer of forgiveness and acceptance. "Just return; come back," He said (Jeremiah 3:1, 7 & 22).

Now, it isn't like Israel was only guilty of a minor infraction. No, they were repeat offenders. They were asked, “Is there any man's bed in which you have not slept” (Jeremiah 3:2).  He described their demeanor as being as desensitized as a whore's (Jeremiah 3:3).

Actually, this chapter presents two wives here. Israel was the first wife of God to be divorced from Him (vs. 20). Judah was His second wife, and Judah paid little attention to the plight of Israel. Whatever amends Judah made were only outward and insincere (vs. 10). This seems to have offended God even more than Israel's extreme inflexibility (Jeremiah 3:11). At least if Israel repented, it would likely be sincere.  They had no record of false apologies. And so again, God invited them to repent (vs. 13-14). He promised abundant grace if they would just return to Him (vs. 15).