The Lord continues in this chapter to describe how his people have been unfaithful to him, comparing them to a prostitute going after other lovers (other gods), which is reminiscent of the book of Hosea, where God commands the prophet to marry a prostitute as a demonstration. In both cases, while God is heartbroken by his bride’s unfaithfulness, he nevertheless calls them back to repentance. Think about it: he wants them back! Despite their betrayal, he continues to give them a chance to turn back to him until the very end.
The Hebrew is שׁ֣וּבוּ (shuvu – a plural imperative, used in verses 14 and 22). It means to turn back or return. It is the same message as John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus (Matthew 4:17). Repentance is not merely a change of mind, but a change of action. It is a resolution to turn around and go a different way. The same root is used in the word “faithless” (shovav) in those verses to describe how they’d strayed.
During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.
Jeremiah 3:6
The phrase “every high hill and under every spreading tree” is repeated several times throughout Jeremiah and the rest of the Bible. Moses first uses it to tell the people to destroy such places:
Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.
Deuteronomy 12:2
Since these would be a snare to the people, they needed to get rid of them.
To Ponder…
- From what do you need to repent?
- Is there anything that needs to be cut out of your life that is drawing you astray?