Jeremiah 3 – Have You Been Faithful?

Let’s explore today’s Daily Devotional centered around Jeremiah 3, where God uses strong imagery, likening Israel to a wayward spouse. It’s a jolting comparison, isn’t it? Yet, it prompts us to examine our own faithfulness to God. Have we remained steadfast or strayed? Have we allowed other things to take precedence over our relationship with Him? Read how God relates His love to marriage in Jeremiah 2.

The theme of Jeremiah 3 remains consistent: Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s persistent call to return. Despite their waywardness, God’s mercy always extends, inviting them back into His embrace.

Jeremiah’s language is blunt—he accuses Israel of straying, of chasing after other gods. It’s a reminder of the consequences of abandoning our relationship with God. But there’s hope in the midst of it all. God’s forgiveness is limitless. He calls us, like He did Israel, to acknowledge our faults, seek His forgiveness, and come back to Him. Let’s take this opportunity to pray for repentance and gratitude for His unending grace.

In Jeremiah 3, God likens Israel to a whore. Pretty harsh, right? Have you been faithful to God your whole walk with Him, or have you left Him for another, or something else? Have you played the whore? Please read or listen to the twenty-five verses of Jeremiah 3.

We will go backwards in my journals, once again starting in 2016 and go back to 2004 and 1991. In 2016, I read Jeremiah 2 and 3 on the same day. Concerning chapter 3, I wrote, “By playing the whore they polluted their land, according to verse 2. And God’s blessings are withheld. Judah does the same thing. Even so, God begs them to come back, return, repent. God is merciful, forgiving, and He would bless again.”

In 2004, I read Jeremiah 1-3 (NASB) on the same day, and I did not make any notes on chapter 3. In 1991, I read Jeremiah 3 and 4 on the same day. Concerning chapter 3, I wrote, “As harlots, we turn back to the Lord and God opens His arms and hugs us, declaring, ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious . . . I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity.’”

In Jeremiah 3, God uses the illustration of marriage, once again, for His relationship with Israel. Let’s look at the first couple of verses:

If a man divorces his wife
    and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
    will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
    and would you return to me?
declares the Lord (vv. 1-2).

Jeremiah is accusing Israel of walking away from the relationship with God. Let’s go back to 2:19, “Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you”. Jeremiah 2:22 says, “Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God.” And 2:35 says, “you say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.’ Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’”

Those verses in chapter 2 set us up for chapter 3:1, “You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.” Verses 2 and 3 reiterate the point, “You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom . . . yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed.”

Verses 6-8 continue the case:

The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?”  And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me,” but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.

The whoredom being described is walking away from the relationship with God and worshiping idols from the nations surrounding Israel. And God is not pleased. He is not pleased with the tribes of Israel, and He is not pleased with the tribe of Judah. God would not be pleased with us today, either, if we traded our relationship with Him for some idol or something more important than Him in our lives today.

But, praise God, He is a forgiving God. In spite of all that has been done against them, He says:

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,

“Return, faithless Israel,
declares the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
    for I am merciful,
declares the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.

Only acknowledge your guilt,
    that you rebelled against the Lord your God” (vv. 12-13).

With God, there is always hope, “And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (v. 15). And verse 17, “At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem”. Though Israel and Judah have sinned, God holds out His hand of forgiveness. Aren’t you glad He does that for you and me today?

How do we apply Jeremiah 3 to our lives? Is there anything between you and your relationship with God today? Is there a thing, is there a person, is there anything between you and your relationship with the Lord? If so, you are like Israel, whoring around. Our application today is to stop that behavior and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. It is what the Lord wants; acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God.

The chapter closes with their admission of guilt, “For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God” (v. 25). Maybe you need to offer a prayer like that, even now.

Father, we are thankful for the stark reality of Jeremiah 3. You want relationship with us. You do not want any competition. When we go outside our relationship with You, You are angry, and yet You say, “If you would just come back to Me, I will forgive you.” Thank You, Almighty God, for Your forgiveness.

Reach out Your hand to us today. Forgive us if we have gone outside our relationship with You. As You promised in Jeremiah 3, feed us also with knowledge and understanding so we can walk worthy in Your sight.  We ask it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.