Jeremiah 3:31-32 - We belong to God

 So far in Jeremiah 2, we saw how God had portrayed Judah’s unfaithfulness and rebelliousness using imagery. In verses 29-30, Judah was said to be like an incorrigibly stubborn child. Despite God’s chastening, they remained unchanged. They even had the nerve to gripe that they were suffering unjustly and insinuating impudently that God had been unfair to them. They were indeed like a bunch of unteachable children.

In verse 31, God through Jeremiah then urged the people of Judah to pay attention to what He was saying to them. The prophet called on them saying, “O generation, heed the word of the Lord” before using two more imageries to compare Judah with. He first compared them to obstinate travelers who refused God’s direction. They were not left helplessly to meander in the wilderness without His help. The Lord did not leave them to grope in uncharted territories by themselves. His presence was always near in their journey. In Exodus, we learned that God would guide them by the cloud by day and by the pillar of fire by night. Yet here in verse 31, we are also told that they wanted to be free to roam unguided. Defiantly, they refused God’s guidance by outrightly rejecting Him.

 

Then in verse 32, Judah is compared to a mindless bride who has forgotten her status. A faithful bride will never forget her groom or the garment that she has adorned.  She will cherish the love her husband has showered on her and treasure the pledge of love that has espoused her to him. Yet Judah like a forgetful bride had forgotten her position. She had entirely disregarded her status and the vows she had made to God her husband. Her amnesia is described as “days without numbers.” In other words, her forgetfulness was not just temporary but permanent.  

 

These two verses challenge us to never be forgetful believers. God had paid an awesome price to make us His. In Christ, He sought us and made us His very own. He promised never to leave us or forsake us. One reason the Lord’s supper was instituted is for us to remember what the Lord Jesus has done for us and whose we are. Think about this, the way the Lord Jesus invites us to the communion regularly has the unflattering inference that we can be forgetful people. If we are not careful and stay focused, we may be distracted in our divine pilgrimage. The communion calls our attention to the fact of what Christ has done for us. He died for us, and we are now His redeemed people. And that is what we must always remember and live as one.