Old Testament Commentary - Jeremiah 3

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 3 Israel and Judah defiled an polluted the land through wickedness—In the last days, the Lord will gather Israel, one of a city and two of a family, and bring them to Zion.
A Hierarchy of Sin and False Gods Now before this chapter is reviewed concerning the wickedness of Israel/Judah which polluted the land a statement concerning the hierarch of sin and how it relates to this chapter and also how it may be applied to us to day ought to be given. Of all the commandments of God and the sins of man which may be commited against those commandments there is a top three as given in the Book of Mormon by the prophet Alman in speaking to his son Corianton. "Know ye not, my son, that these things (sexual sin) are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?" ~ Alma 39:5 Alma continues on in pointing out that the nature of the greatest sin, denying the Holy Ghost once its special witness has had place in a person, is unpardonable. These will be the 'sons of perdition' who will dwell in the pit with Satan forevermore. The next greatest sin is the shedding of innocent blood that is whosoever 'murdereth' against the light and knowledge of God, such was the case of King David. He knew God and had a testimony of the commandments of God. Of such it is not easy to obtain forgiveness and even when such has been given, the greatest kingdom and blessings of God are not available to such. Then the third greates sin is sexual sin. It is a greater sin than lying, stealing, coventing, etc. It is the third greatest sin as it deals with the power of procreation, the very powers and processes of life production. When one considers Lehi's dream of the straight and narrow path and the broad roads which may lead one from that path and into the abyss or gulf of hell through those portals of wickedness and sin, one ought to also comtemplate the ways of the broad roads which lead to those three greatest and also interrelated sins. Then consider the false gods which Israel and Judah did worship and how that worship did lead to those great sins. Also then consider today's world and just such broad contemporay roads and their entrapments which also lead one into those greatest sins.
1 THEY say, If a man ^aput away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly ^bpolluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers^a; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. 2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.	1^a thous hast played the harlot with many lovers These 'many lovers' are the 'false gods' represented in the time of Jeremiah by such as Ba'al and Ashtaroth, the 'high places' and the 'grove'. And the God Ba'al even ultimately led to the shedding of the most innocent blood of all, the blood of children and babes, the blood of virgins and of those who were undeserving to being murdered upon the altars of Ba'al. The worship of Ba'al, even the concept of murdering the innocent to get gain or satisfaction for one's self, is that performance of the second greatest sin of all. And the paired worship of Ashtaroth, the Goddess of sexual immorallity, leads to that next greatest of sins, sexual immorallity - sexual sin. And together, to those who have heretofore 'known' God by that undenyable witness of the Holy Ghost, they tempt and lead one to commit that greatest of sins, the denying of the Holy Ghost which is unpardonable. Thus when one denys the one and only true God and chases after those false Gods of murder and sexual sin, they have certainly played the harlot and the question does loom about them, will they 'yet return unto the LORD or not'? Will they even after having receieve the sure knowlede of the witness of the Holy Ghost, even then will they return from their sins of whoredoms unto the LORD or not? Have they been drawn away so far as that they may of their own agency never return unto GOD of not? This is that broad road which these false gods of the greatest sins have drawn many of the house of Israel down and not only in days gone by, but even in today's world. And the entrapments may seem to begin as such little things which multiply into greater things and thus on into the most wicked of sins, even the top three, sexual sin, murder and denial of God.
3 Therefore the ^ashowers have been withholden, and there hath been no ^blatter rain^a; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. 4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? 5 Will he reserve his ^aanger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.	3^a the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain 'There is a law irrevocably decreed' (D&C 130:20-21) and the blessings of heaven come only upon the principles of righteousness and the performance of wickedness thwarts the hand of God in the bestowing of such blessings upon the heads of man.
6 ¶ The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree^a, and there hath played the harlot. 7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous ^asister Judah saw it.	6^a upon every high mountain and under every green tree The 'high mountains' are the places of other false gods which men worship in general and specifically in the time of Jeremiah it was the places of the altars of Ba'al. And the 'green trees' were the 'groves' of the worship of Ashtaroth in the days of Jeremiah and in general they are the desires of the flesh, the ways of the world, which do supersede that which is holy and of a spiritual nature or of the ways of God.
8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed ^aadultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of ^bdivorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and ^acommitted adultery with ^bstones and with ^cstocks. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but ^afeignedly, saith the LORD. 11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath ^ajustified herself more than treacherous Judah^a.	11^a backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah This is the difference between being hot or cold as compared with being 'luke warm' in the gospel. Israel was wicked but they did not pretend to worship Jehovah what being wicked and following other gods on the side. Yet Judah played the hypocrite. Judah pretended that they followed Jehovah all they while following after their other gods on the side. And the difference between Israel and Judah is that Israel was wicked and pretended nothing else. Judah was wicked and pretended to be righteous. Israel was backsliding and wicked but Judah was treacherous, pretending to be that which she was not. And thus Israel was more 'justified' that was lying hypocritical Judah who sat the fence of pretended and self proclaimed righteousness, all the time really actually being wicked.
12 ¶ Go and ^aproclaim these words toward the north, and say, ^bReturn, thou backsliding Israel^a, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. 13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity^a, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not ^aobeyed my voice, saith the LORD.	12^a proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel Now in the view of the Lord time is all in the present. Israel was destoryed and lost to the 'north' about 721 B.C., and it would not be so gathered again until the latter day. But in the view of the Lord it is all the present, thus he does cite the day of the proclaiming of the gospel of repentance to the world of the nations of scattered Israel, which is the latter day, in the same time frame, the prophetic present of Israel having been so scattered because of their wickedness. In any event, it is from the state of earthly wickedness that Israel scattered in the nations of the earth, the north, is being called back from unto the Lord. All that the LORD does require is that route of repentance which acknowledges ones own sinful state and the real intend of 'returning' coming unto the LORD and his ways. 13^a Only acknowledge thine iniquity The way which the LORD has provided is the way of the Doctrine of Christ, that is that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, the sins of mankind has been paid for and man is redeemed upon the condition of 'repentance', 'acknowledging his sins' before God and turning unto the ways of God's righteousness. It is the simpleness of the way which will not be seen by many just as in the day of Moses and the incident of the firey serpents. All they needed to do was to look to be saved. All we need to do is to come unto Christ, confess our sins and walk after him in righteousness.
14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am ^amarried unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will ^bbring you to ^cZion: 15 And I will give you ^apastors according to mine heart^a, which shall feed you with ^bknowledge and understanding.	15^a I will give you pastors according to mine heart Now understanding that this calling back of Israel is in the latter days of today, these 'pastors' of the church are to be understood as the General Authorities and leaders of the church who do serve returning Israel and bring them to 'Zion', unto the fold of the pure in heart.
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days^a, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ^aark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. 17 At that time they shall call ^aJerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the ^bnations shall be ^cgathered unto it^a, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the ^dimagination of their evil heart.	16^a in those days 'Those days' are these 'latter days' of today. And as the multitude of the restored church increased so did the LORD build his holy temples of these latter days. But they do not have the 'ark' at their center, rather, they have the actual LORD, now fully crowned with the work of redemption completed, all glory to his name. 17^a they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it Now this reference to 'Jerusalem' is in the same line in which Jerusalem is refered to in Zechariah chapter 3 verse 2 where it states that the LORD hath chosen Jerusalem (see commentary on Zechariah 3). The meaning there in terms of the judgment council between Lucifer and Jehovah is that Jerusalem is the 'Holy Community of the LORD'. It is synonymous with Zion when speaking of Zion as 'the pure in heart'. And though the latter day location of Zion has the New Jerusalem as it actual center location, Zion will fill the whole earth of the nations of the world as they all come unto the gathering of Israel, that is of Ephraim and his companions. And so it is with Jerusalem as the Holy Community of the Lord, the actual location of 'Jerusalem' will be a central point unto Judah and her companions. And they both with become one, of one city, of one 'Jerusalem' under the LORD in that day.
18 In those days the ^ahouse of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the ^bland of the ^cnorth to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers^a. 19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.	18^a the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers A prime question here might well be 'Which Fathers?' There is that land of inheritance as given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land and center of Israel in the east. And then there is that land of inheritance as give unto such Fathers as Adam, Enoch and even Noah. That is the land of promise which in the Americas or the western hemisphere. The Book of Mormon calls it a land choice above all others and specifies it as the 'Land of Joseph'. And so it is as Ephraim once stated, that land given him in the days of Joshua was 'to narrow' for him. And it is the whole of this western hemisphere that will be and is the land of Joseph and his companions. It is Zion even that land of father Adam.
20 ¶ Surely as a wife treacherously ^adeparteth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. 21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. 22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will ^aheal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. 24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 We lie down in our ^ashame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have ^bsinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.