Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
I counted 22 verses containing the word 'desert' in the book of Jeremiah...and almost ALL of them are pronouncements of judgment against nations. Mostly against Judah/Israel, with a smattering of pronouncements against Babylon and one or two against other nations.
So...be prepared for some heavy weather comin'.
But the first verse in Jeremiah that mentions desert is 2:2...
"Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD. -- Jer. 2: 2 - 3
What was. The way things used to be. The rest of chapter 2 describes what has happened since that time; the falling away.
What is.
"How can you say, 'I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals'? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving -- in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her." - Jer. 2:23-24
"You of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: 'Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, 'We are free to roam; we will come to you no more'? " - Jer 2:31
"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers -- would you now return to me?" declares the LORD. "Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness." - Jer. 3:1 - 2
It is kinda...creepy...that the rebellion of Israel is described in sexual terms. A she-donkey in heat... a prostitute looking for business. And it is also interesting that such rebellion is described as defiling the very land on which the nation exists..
Jeremiah's reaction is to want to run away, get away, be done with them
Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people. - Jer. 9:2
If you read through the first few chapters of Jeremiah, there's a lot more detail given in all the verses that DON'T mention the desert. But...how interesting is it that the verses that mention the desert kind of provide a synopsis of the situation? Israel once followed God and were protected by Him; they deserted him and went after what satisfied their appetites, defiling even the land and filling God's prophet with grief and abhorrence.
Consequences will follow.
And that'll preach today, y'all. That'll preach today. And the people today would listen about as well as the people of Jeremiah's day listened to him.
Will we face the same sort of consequences?
The one thing that doesn't turn up in the verses about 'desert' is the call to repentance; the people were implored to return to God and repent and prevent the judgement. But they would not, and the judgment came.
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