In Jeremiah 3 God is explaining why the people’s lack of guilt and shame has been a problem to the relationship. We noticed in our last lesson that God expects us to experience guilt and shame so that we will have clarity about what we have done, be genuine about our sin which then will ultimately lead to a true repentance rather than stubbornness. We concluded that lesson by God making promises about what he was going to do through Christ in the future. Here in Jeremiah 3:19-4:4 we are going to see more promises that God gives to his people. God is going to proclaim the hope that comes from the shame and guilt we are experiencing.
What God Wants To Do (Jeremiah 3:19-22)
One of the problems we have is that we equate guilt and shame with hopelessness. But God is telling his people that he wants their guilt and shame to allow him to do things for his people. Notice what God says in Jeremiah 3:19-22. In verse 19 God says that he is trying to make these people his children. He wants to treat them has his very own, giving them their beautiful inheritance among the nations. You will notice that God says that he thought the people would want this. God says that he believed that the people would call him, “My Father,” and would not turn from following him. This makes sense. What could be better than having the Creator God make you his child and give you a beautiful inheritance? God wants to make you his treasured possession, belonging to him as his children. Who would not want to be able to call the Lord God, Father? It is a glorious offer. It is truly an amazing invitation.
Think about how Jesus emphasizes that he is the way that this is possible. The apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 1 that we have been born again to an imperishable inheritance. Jesus said that when you pray you can call the Lord, “our Father” (cf. Matthew 6). This should be enough for us to not turn from following him. But notice what happened in verse 20. The people have been treacherous toward the Lord. They have been unfaithful like an unfaithful wife leaving her husband. Instead of enjoying the relationship God wants to have with his people, the people have betrayed him.
Now what do you expect God to do about this treachery? Look at verse 21. A voice is heard crying out on the hills, weeping and pleading with Israel’s children. Notice that the voice is crying out because the people have perverted their way and forgotten the Lord their God. The people have taken the straight path to life that God gave them and made it crooked. God is brokenhearted like a spouse cheated on about how his people have left him and ruined themselves. Now here is the offer in verse 22. “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” God is saying that he can heal this problem. He can heal the faithlessness. He can heal the treachery. He can heal the backsliding. Here is the point: it is not too late! Even though the people’s treachery should be the end (cf. Jeremiah 3:1), there is an opportunity for healing and restoration.
What Returning Looks Like (Jeremiah 3:22-24)
So what do the people have to do and how could the people return? Look at what the people are described as saying to enjoy the healing God is crying out to offer them. Look at verses 22-24. First, they say that they will now come to the Lord because he is the Lord their God. Now look at their understanding in verse 23. They recognize that the hills are a delusion and the commotion on the mountains is a delusion. Now this sounds strange. What does this mean? The hills and the mountains were the places for idolatry. These were the locations for sinful behavior in honor toward their idols. The people now understand that there is no other place for salvation than in the Lord our God. All of the false worship is useless. All of the idols are empty. The people understand that there is no other hope and no other satisfaction than in the Lord.
But notice what they say next and how it fits into our short study on guilt and shame. In verses 24-25 the people understand that these shameful behaviors and shameful idols have consumed all the fruits of the labors and shame and dishonor should cover them. Think about what this is saying. The people will recognize that they have spent their hard earned money on shameful things. They have taken their time and wasted that time on sinful behaviors. They are able to see the error of their sinful living and proclaim that they should let shame and dishonor cover them. Here is the heart I want us to see that God wants from his people. He wants them to see that they should be ashamed of what they have done. They should be ashamed for sinning against the Lord and not obeying his voice.
Now our problem is we think we should not experience any dishonor or shame for our sinful choices. But that is not how God looks at it. God wants the people to come to him and tell him, “Give us what we deserve!” They are not crying out to cover over their shame. They are not saying that these things should be hidden. They are saying we should lie down in our shame. We are worthy of shame. We need to feel this shame. We need to feel the weight of our dishonor because of our sinfulness. We need to feel our consequences so that we will turn. If we never feel the weight of our consequences, and if we never feel guilt or shame for sinful choices, we are never going to move toward God. But God wants us to feel the weight of the emptiness of life that comes by rejecting him.
Think about how terrifying it is to be so open and honest. But this is what God is looking for. The people are not hiding the problem. They are admitting their problem. Imagine how terrifying it is to say these words to God! We are tempted to hide these things from God and from others. We will pretend that we have this all figured out. But these people are openly telling people that their only hope is in the Lord and that everything else is a lie and a delusion. Nothing in the world will give what we are looking for because it is false hope. How will God respond if we offer this confession from the heart? Look at Jeremiah 4 as God explains how he will answer.
What God Promises to Answer (Jeremiah 4:1-2)
God is now explaining what he will do for those who have allowed their guilt and shame to realize that salvation is only in the Lord. First, God says that if you are going to return, then return to the Lord. This might sound obvious. But if you think about it, this is a really important point that God is making through Jeremiah. It is not just feeling the need to return. You need to make sure you are returning to the right person.
Here is what I mean and here is a common problem. Something happens in life and a light bulb comes on. There becomes a sense that what this person is doing in his life is not working. The person is like the lost son in Luke 15 who has wasted his life in destructive living. So the light bulb comes on and they think they need to stop this and return. But they do not return to God. They return to a false idea. In our world, we say, “What I need to do is be true to myself.” We say, “I just need to be me” or “I just need to find myself.” We think we are returning but we are not returning to the Lord. We are turning to something else. We are returning to something false. This sometimes reveals itself in the person who is seeking the Lord, but they hit hard times. So they return to their sinful ways because they do not see that God is working. So here is God’s first message. If you are going to return and if this is going to work, then you need to return to God. Let your guilt and shame move you to return to God.
Second, the Lord says to remove the detestable things from your life without wavering. Get rid of the false in your life. Get rid of the filth. Get rid of the idols that you are putting your hope in. So first, make sure you are returning the Lord, not some false idea. Then you need to get rid of the detestable things that you are holding on to in your life.
Finally, in verse 2, the Lord says that the people truly pledge themselves to the Lord. In truth, justice, and righteousness you take an oath saying, “As the Lord lives.” Another way to say this is that you need to make a real commitment. This is not going to be a half-hearted return. No, we are making an oath before the Lord that we will live in a new way. We will live in a new way of truth, justice, and righteousness.
Now look at what God says will happen if you will get real with him. Look at the end of verse 2. “Then the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.” What does this mean? God tells Israel that if they would return to him, then the nations would want to come to the Lord also. The nations will want to be blessed by the Lord and find their joy in the Lord. If the people would repent, it would change the world. If the people stop acting like the world, the world would take notice. There are a lot of reasons why the world is the way that it is. But I want us to think about one of problems is us. If all we are doing as the people of God is trying to be like the world, not standing out, not being different, and trying to make God conform to the world, then the world cannot change. The world won’t glorify God and won’t seek God’s blessing because they do not see that in us. The way to change the world is for the people of God to repent of their sins and return to the Lord in a committed, dedicated way.
Responding To God’s Answer (Jeremiah 4:3-4)
So what do the people need to do? Or to ask this another way: how do you return to the Lord, remove the detestable things, and commit yourself to the Lord? Look at what God says to do in verses 3-4. Plow your heart and do not sow among thorns. God has always wanted guilt and shame to be used to cut our hearts. What does God mean when he tells us to circumcise our hearts? What is the problem? God describes this in a few places. Listen to what Moses said to the people in Deuteronomy.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. (Deuteronomy 10:16 ESV)
We have a choice with our guilt and shame. We can be stubborn, refusing to yield to our consciences and not responding to our guilt. We can harden our hearts against the shame we feel. Or we can use the guilt to no longer be stubborn. We can use the shame to plow our hearts and scatter seeds for life. But we do need to do some heart work first. You will notice that God gave a warning in Jeremiah 4:3. Do not sow among thorns. God is telling us something really important here. God’s seed cannot work if the ground of your heart has not been prepared first. Jesus told a parable to make the same point in Mark 4. Jesus talked about the seed of God’s word being scattered on the soils of all kinds of hearts. The thorny ground was described as a heart being so cluttered by the cares and concerns of the world that the seed gets choked out. If we think that the word of God can do any work on us if we have not first opened the ground of our hearts to receive it, then we are continuing to delude ourselves. The scriptures repeatedly reveal the importance of not allowing hearts to become hardened or callous. Guilt and shame are part of that process of maintaining soft hearts. When we do not care about our sins any longer, then we are in a very dangerous spiritual condition.
The Hope of Guilt and Shame
I want to end our thoughts on this subject noting that God has given us a place of hope in our guilt and shame. I want us to see in Jeremiah 3 that God’s message was not that he just wants people going around their whole lives feeling guilt and shame. That is not the purpose of our conscience. Rather, God wants us to use our guilt and shame to return to him for healing. This is God’s stated purpose in our lesson today. If we will return to him, God will heal our guilty and shame-filled hearts (3:22). The way to be free from guilt and shame is not to harden your hearts or ignore what you are feeling. The way to be free from guilt and shame is to seek forgiveness from God. God says he wants to be your Father. He wants to heal your life. He wants to be your glory and joy. Return to him, remove the detestable things in your life, and commit yourself to the Lord. This process all begins by opening your heart. Plow the fallow ground and let God’s word begin to plant fruit for your life. Do not run from shame. Do not ignore guilt. See guilt and shame as your hope to return to your God for healing.