By
Shelby G. Floyd
Good morning! We just had an uplifting song service. And that prepares us to study the wonderful word of God. Today I am speaking on a text that I have never used in 63 years of preaching. The Bible is in exhaustible and infinite just like God who gave it to us!
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, prophesied to Israel during the years 700 BC to 575 BC. During this time God’s people were backsliding. They were becoming like the idolatrous and adulterous nations around them. And our world is a lot like that today and we see some of the same things in the church of our Lord today. The danger is that the church, like Israel, will become like the world and many will end up lost. Not to reach the promised land of heaven is the ultimate failure of life.
The Prophets Warned Israel!
The prophets warned Israel of impending disaster. And they urged them to return to the Lord and he would bless them like he did in the days of old! God’s prophets spoke to Israel and Judah. I will stop right here and explain why we have Israel and Judah. When God’s people left Egypt they were just the 12 tribes of Israel. But later they had a division. And the 12 tribes divided between Israel and Judah. Israel ruled from Samaria and Judah ruled from Jerusalem. Therefore the prophets now speak to them as Israel and Judah. But formerly they were all just Israel.
The Prophets Used Figurative Language!
The prophets spoke to them in highly figurative language. Figures of speech can be very powerful in communicating truth to the people. We do not use this form of speaking as much as the ancients, but it is still very powerful in conveying great lessons to God’s people. Therefore, these prophets urged Israel and Judah to return to the husband that had loved them at the beginning when he led them out of Egypt. Our text today is just one verse: “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32 NKJV).
So there is the problem! They had forgotten who they were, and that they were married to the Lord. Therefore my lesson today breaks down into three parts: 1. God Married Israel; 2. God Divorces Israel; and 3. God Renews His Marriage With Israel. This is a very simple message, but I believe it to be very powerful to all of us today!
I. GOD’S MARRIAGE TO ISRAEL
First, let us look at Isaiah’s statement where he described God as Israel’s husband:
For your Maker is your husband,
The LORD of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5 NKJV).
That is a very plain statement. Do we all understand that? “For your husband is your maker.” Israel can understand that they are married to Almighty God who wants to bring them to the promised land.
Ezekiel Described How God Chose Israel
Now the prophet Ezekiel described in highly figurative language how God chose Israel to be his wife:
And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. 10 I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. 11 I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, 12 a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. 13 And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! 14 Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD. (Ezekiel 16:8-14 NLT).
In this reading we have a graphic description of the bride of Almighty God. He has described how much he loved Israel, and doted on her. She was a beautiful bride! That is a description of God’s wife – Israel and Judah! So Israel faithfully devoted herself to God her husband in the early days when they came out of Egypt, received the law at Mount Sinai, and then moved through the wilderness wanderings as they headed to the promised land.
So we read in Jeremiah that Israel was a devoted wife to God in the early days of their pilgrimage from Egypt:
“Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD:
I remember you,
The kindness of your youth,
The love of your betrothal,
When you [a]went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown. (Jeremiah 2:2 NKJV).
But we find out as they journeyed on to the promised land, it was not the people, but it was the leaders who turned the people from God to idolatrous worship! According to Jeremiah 2:8 it was the priests who were not faithful to the Lord. They failed in their task of leadership! They led the people to the false worship of Baal as they travelled along. Then Jeremiah charged Israel making a bad choice! They chose broken cisterns over God, the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13). God gave them living water out of the rock on several occasions, but they preferred broken cisterns that did not hold water!
CAN A BRIDE FORGET HER ATTIRE
It is at this point that Jeremiah asked these questions:
Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number. (Jeremiah 2:32 NKJV).
The problem with God’s people then and with us today, is that we FORGET! We have a “forgetting problem.” They had forgotten they were married to God “days without number.”
The bride does not forget her wedding dress! And she does not forget her ornaments and jewelry! My wife Sarah had a beautiful wedding dress and she kept it wrapped up and safe for a long time. But as our granddaughters grew up they liked to play “dress up.” So they discovered her wedding dress and “played dress up” with it until it was tattered and torn! But she loved seeing them play dress up. And most young girls look forward to growing up and meeting their Mr. handsome and becoming a beautiful bride!
II. GOD DIVORCES ISRAEL
Israel was a beautiful bride for the Lord. But she forgot her marriage vows, even though she did not forget her ornaments or her wedding dress (Jeremiah 2:32). Now let us notice that God divorces Israel. Why did God’s marriage to Israel break up ending in divorce?
Israel Forgot Her Wedding Vows!
Israel forgot her wedding vows to God her husband. She committed adultery toward God her husband. We all can forget important things. We can forget our priorities! We can forget our commitments, our oaths and promises to each other and to God! Forgetting important things can lead to a lot of problems. In Israel’s case, it led to a divorce! God led his bride from Egypt to the promised land, where they received great blessings! “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. (Joshua 24:13). Things do not usually happen that way. When you started your home, did someone just give it to you? And did you automatically receive food and clothing? This indicates how good God was to his bride Israel. But Israel did not respect the goodness of God her husband!
I brought you into a bountiful country,
To eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you defiled My land
And made My heritage an abomination. (Jeremiah 2:7).
But Israel defiled the promised land by engaging in idolatrous and adulterous practices. This was committing physical and spiritual fornication and adultery. Like the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, “Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. (Exodus 32:6). So now in the days of Jeremiah, Israel’s idolatrous and adulterous lifestyle caused God to divorce and put them away. This Jeremiah proclaims to them early in his letter:
They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man’s,
May he return to her again?’
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
But you have played the harlot with many lovers;
Yet return to Me,” says the LORD.
2 “Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not [a]lain with men?
By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a harlot’s forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed. (Jeremiah 3:1-3).
God Writes a Certificate of Divorce
That is the picture Jeremiah gave of Israel, God’s wife! He goes on to describe specifically why God must write a certificate of divorce to Israel and Judah:
The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king:
“Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. 7 And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
20 Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her [a]husband,
So have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” says the LORD (Jeremiah 3:6-8, 20).
Not only were the women living impure and idolatrous lives, but the sons of Israel lived the same lifestyle! In highly figurative language, Jeremiah indicts the men of Israel for breaking up God’s marriage to Israel:
Why should I forgive you?
Your sons have forsaken Me
And sworn by those who are not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
They committed adultery
And stayed at the prostitute’s house.
They were well-fed lusty horses,
Each one neighing at his neighbor’s wife.
Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD,
“And shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this? (Jeremiah 5:8-9).
III. GOD RENEWS HIS MARRIAGE TO ISRAEL
God remembered Israel’s faithfulness when they steadfastly followed the Lord during the wilderness wanderings: “I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal. When you went after me in the wilderness” (Jeremiah 2:2).
Finally, Jeremiah pleads for Israel to return to the Lord and renew their marriage to Almighty God. Therefore, this brings us to the last topic of this lesson. Now God renews his marriage relationship to his people Israel! The prophet Jeremiah cries out,
‘Return, O backsliding children, says the Lord; for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jeremiah 3:14 NKJV).
God is never willing to give up on anybody, and neither should we. The prophet continues to plead with the children of Israel to do the right thing:
“Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,
‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD;
‘I will not look at you in anger.
For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only [acknowledge your wrongdoing,
That you have revolted against the LORD your God,
And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 3:12-13).
That is how much God loved his people. That is how much God loves his bride Israel and Judah.
Finally, the prophet pointed Israel and Judah to a new day – a better day. On this day God will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, [a]though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their [b]hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33 NKJV).
We ask the question again: “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet you have forgotten me days without end” (Jeremiah 2:32 NKJV).
In the future I plan to present another lesson on the marriage of the church to Jesus Christ. Christ is the bridegroom of the Church of Christ. We pray that we all will be faithful to our bridegroom – the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have not been a faithful bride, come back to Jesus Christ right now. The Lord is willing to receive you, love you, and forgive you! *
Copyright © 2024 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved
+Shelby G. Floyd delivered this sermon October 20, 2024, at the Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142.