May 19, 2001
This is what the LORD says:
"What fault did your fathers find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
Jeremiah 2:5
Jeremiah chapters 2 - 6 are a poem and, as with much poetry, it is highly emotionally charged and filled with vivid imagery. Jeremiah attempts to shock the nation into an awareness of their condition and a realization that there is still time for them to return to God. I am thoroughly amazed at God's patience with us. He would of course have been fully justified in saying 'enough!' but he gives us more time to repent than we deserve. As I read verse 5 today it again struck me the pain God must feel in his heart. Much of the imagery we find in this poem is that of a marriage relationship between God and Israel and here God pours out his heart as a rejected bridegroom... what fault did you find in me? How did I not measure up? How have I not met your needs or provided for you? I can't imagine what it would feel like to be jilted at the alter or shortly thereafter but I do know the pain of having friend hurt me... that's more than enough for me. God endures this pain and then in incredible love gives his bride, us, time to come to our senses!!even begin to imagine how much God must feel as he looks down at this world.