God Must be Number One

Jeremiah 17:1–18
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God’s people continued to sin even though they had the law, the prophets of God, and history filled with God’s miracles. Because of the people’s sin God would give the city of Jerusalem (His mountain in the land) and the wealth of its inhabitants as plunder (Jer. 15:13); (Jer. 20:5) to the invaders. It is easy for us to condemn them but why do we cherish sin even though we understand the eternal consequences. So deep is our tendency to sin that only God’s redemption can deliver us. In this chapter we see how Jeremiah was against the sins of his people and named them:

1. Idolatry (vv. 1-4) - In Jeremiah’s day the people of Judah were permeated with idolatry. It was as if their sin was engraved on their hearts with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond (v. 1). Their sin, however, showed up on the horns of their idolatrous altars (vv. 2-4).
2. Unbelief (vv. 5-10) - The leaders of Judah were prone to trust in the flesh instead of depending on the power of God. The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it” (v. 9).
3. Greed (v. 11) - The rich exploited the poor and the courts did nothing about it. “for from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness” (Jer. 6:13).
4. Forsaking the Lord (vv. 12-13) - Though the previous generations (fathers) had abandoned the true God to follow other gods, the present generation behaved even more wickedly.
5. Rejecting God’s servant (vv. 14-18) - The people called Jeremiah a false prophet and kept asking when all of his predictions would come true. Because they refused to accept his message, he asked God to bring the full measure of judgment against them (v. 18).

Application

There were many false gods in Jeremiah’s day, but there are many false gods in our day such as money, possessions, fame, power, pleasure, etc. I need to be on guard about what I love and trust more than the living God. God must be number one.