A People Gone Astray

KEY VERSE: “I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof, but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.” —Jeremiah 2:7

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7, 8, 11-13

HOW typically the attitude and deportment of the nation of Israel reflected that of fallen mankind in general. The Lord had indeed brought them into a prosperous and productive land. Historians tell us that at that time, Canaan was a well-watered land, agriculturally rich, and possessed those natural resources which could have made its inhabitants the wealthiest of all nations. Beyond this, the Lord had promised to protect them and bless them materially if they would honor him and his Law. A hint of what could have been was experienced for a fleeting moment during the reign of Solomon. With prosperity, however, came a tendency to forget God and his statutes, and to take on the more popular ways of the nations about them, which led them into idolatry and the worship of Baal.

How sad that their great potential for good and for blessing should have been lost to a history where they were made an example of a curse. (Zech 8:13) They defiled the land with their greed, and made his heritage an abomination with their stiff-necked refusal to serve the principles of his Law. And now the ultimate punishment faced them—they were to lose their land and be reduced to slavery.

The Lord dealt with Israel tenderly, carefully, giving them every opportunity to learn the needed lessons. In the separation of the kingdom into two parts, an object lesson was furnished to Judah (the loyal remnant), to notice the works of idolatry in Ephraim (the disloyal ten-tribe kingdom). To a certain extent this for a time was beneficial to Judah. When they witnessed the captivity and dispersion of the ten-tribe kingdom because of disloyalty to Jehovah, the lesson should have been even more deeply impressed.

Judah represented those Israelites who were faithful to the Lord, those who trusted in the promises, all of which centered in Judah; and many of the faithful of the ten tribes moved into their territory. Yet, with all these lessons and with the instructions of the prophets, the history of the nation was one of unfaithfulness to their great king, Jehovah. Now the time for the change which God saw best to bring upon them had come, and nothing could avert it. Nevertheless, they were given a hope that at the end of a certain period of seventy years’ chastisement, the Lord would graciously bring back those who reverenced him. And it is worthy of note that only those who had respect for the Lord and the promises made to their fathers would find any inducement to return; for the Land of Promise, meanwhile, had become a veritable wilderness, while seventy years’ residence in a new land would root and attach to it all who had not considerable faith in God’s promises. And although the edict of Cyrus gave permission to all of the multitudes of the entire twelve tribes then in captivity in his dominion to return to Israel, less than fifty-five thousand persons availed themselves of it and returned. The others were faithless, and pleased to remain in Babylon. The whole number of the children of Israel at that time, it is estimated, exceeded two million scattered abroad.

Thus did the Lord sift out from that nation all except the more faithful families; to give them a better opportunity of profiting by his instructions and disciplines, and to the intent that, if possible, a sufficient number of that people should be brought to a condition of heart-readiness to receive Messiah at his first advent. God’s dealings with that nation did develop, as we know, a considerable number who received the Lord, and to whom he gave liberty to become “sons” and of the kingdom class. (John 1:12) Nevertheless, these were but a remnant selected out of that nation, after it had been sifted several times. And these, fortunately for the Gentiles, were not enough to complete the elect number, and hence the call to joint-heirship with Christ was extended to them also.

In this select class of Jews and Gentiles lies Israel’s hope of restoration to God’s favor. “And so all Israel shall be saved … for there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn ungodliness from Jacob.”

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