Jeremiah 2b: The Old Switcheroo.

 In our text, God is in the middle of a sustained charge against Israel, that is, the refugees from the now defunct Kingdom of Israel as well as residents of the now faltering Kingdom of Judah. All, of course, are descendants of the Abraham-Isaac-Jacob line, so all are children of Israel. 

 God recalls the good times, then God asks, “What went wrong?” Of course, God knows how the people strayed away from their close relationship with YHWH, but maybe the people themselves do not know. How have they deceived themselves? 

2: 7-8.  I brought you into a plentiful land   

to eat its fruits and its good things.

But when you entered you defiled my land   

and made my heritage an abomination.

The priests did not say, "Where is the LORD?”   

Those who handle the law did not know me;

the rulers transgressed against me;   

the prophets prophesied by Baal (the Master)   

and went after things that do not profit.

 We have left the honeymoon analogy, the lights go dark, and when they come on again, we find ourselves in a courtroom where God is judge and jury. The indictment here is pretty inclusive, a dragnet catching up the elite of society. God says that they are the problem in that they have led the people astray. 

 Who are the ruling class? First up are the religious leaders, the priests, pastors, and the preachers who are confused about what devotion to YHWH means. The character of YHWH, self-disclosed and historically-demonstrated, certainly does not include greed, selfishness, and abuse of the other. Why didn’t the priests remind people of God’s character and God’s plan? Have they lost their place in the old, old story? Why did they instead sanction the political and economic practices of a wayward government? Were they afraid, or were they benefitting from the abuse of the poor and the marginalized? Jesus later calls those who are in charge of making the temple “den of robbers” (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).

 Second come the lawyers. Instead of defending the vulnerable in society, they have sanctioned the hoarding of natural resources which are stored up for the welfare of the rich and powerful. If they knew the law, they would know that God is always concerned about the marginalized and the poor in society. 

 Third come the rulers. King David was a ruler, but he had a heart after God. David said, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions” because he understood that a ruler does not cover up his sins but confesses his sins. Then David begged God to “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me” because David knew that his behavior had not been like God’s behavior. Finally, David promised God, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” (Psalm 51). That’s a leader. Do we even have one of those?

 Finally come the prophets. Not all who claimed the title of prophet in Israel were put in that position by God or, if they were, remained true to God. Many were political appointments and thus they served other gods and kings dressed in gold. Their prophecies thus sanctioned power grabs and reliance on armies instead of trusting in God. So much for the notion that prophets speak truth to power. Real prophets do, but most priests and prophets run after things that profit themselves.

 Were these the famous ‘false prophets’ that we hear so much about? If you mean prophets of other gods, then it might be more complicated than that. There may be confusion in devotion here as well. 

 Notice that God takes the priests to task for not asking in times of trouble, “Where is YHWH (the LORD)?” In every situation, one must ask, “Where is God in all this?” It is a bit of a problem when those who handled the law “did not know me,” says God. So, they failed to recognize God in the situation, yet they kept intoning the name of God, Yahweh. That means that they got it wrong.

 The priests, the scribes, and now the prophets are sacrificing to YHWH, preaching about YHWH, and prophesying in the name of YHWH, but they do not really know who YHWH is nor do they recognize YHWH in the day’s circumstances. What is happening?

John Goldingay argues that the priests and prophets are confused. Look at the phrase “the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.” The word ‘ba’al’ means ‘lord’, ‘master’, or ‘owner’. As such, it can refer to a god who is ‘Lord’ or ‘Master’. The priests and prophets called out to YHWH, but YHWH says that they “did not know me.” The prophets are prophesying by Ba’al instead of YHWH because they are confused about who ‘the Lord’ or ‘the Master’ really is. They are serving ‘the Master’ but they substitute the character of Ba’al for the character of YHWH. Thus, they do not know YHWH. 

 What is the lesson here for us? Here is the view of John Goldingay, “They resemble modern congregations that refer to Jesus but have so reconceptualized him that their acknowledgement is in name only” (Goldingay, The Book of Jeremiah, 2021. Pages 111-112).

 To call the name of YHWH but prophesy according to the character of Ba’al means that the prophets are leading the elite and the people to go “after things that do not profit.” God had given the Israelites so much and had cared for them in the Wilderness, and yet when the people settled into the Promised Land, they are “no longer asking the right questions or seeking the presence of God” (Christopher Wright, The Message of Jeremiah, 2014, page 55). 

 We do not define God. That is the meaning of “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). God defines himself and we learn from that. But, Israel and now often the Church tend to define God in their own terms. They no longer ask the right questions (who is God really?) or seek God’s presence in every situation (how does God act?). We are indicted along with Israel and Judah.