18.
Israel forsook the Lord and looked to other gods. In so doing they brought upon themselves many and great difficulties. Mind you, it was self inflicted. They could have continued to serve the true and living God but they chose the hard way. Pr. 13:15 They poured out flagons of wine and they made pressed cakes of dried grapes to offer unto the gods of the heathen. Here, we find the diametrically opposite reaction and emotion of the Lord. Their actions angered Him. The Lord asked, do they provoke me to anger? Jer.7:21 Did they ever.
The Lord required that they obey His commands for in so doing He would be their God and all would be well with them. He desired that they would walk in fellowship with Him. That way in every aspect of life, they would be blessed of the Lord. When we take into consideration all the promises of the Lord to them, they had it made. However, they had a problem. A matter called disobedience. They would not listen to the voice of the Lord as He spoke to them of His will. They did their own things. They walked according to the counsels of their own evil hearts. All the while going backward and not forward. Jer. 7:24 There is much here that must be taken into account lest we find ourselves in the same predicament. The Lord had been faithful in sending prophet after prophet to them but they would not listen. They continued to harden themselves against the warnings and calls for repentance.
Surely, in utter exasperation the Lord named them to be a nation which would not obey the voice of the Lord. They rejected correction. The truth was no longer known or spoken by them. Jer.7:28 He then characterized them as being the generation of His wrath. Because of their attitudes and actions He rejected and forsook them. If a person is going to live according to the Law, then they must meet the requirements of the whole Law. That is not only to be applied to those of that day but also to people of today. Disobedience to a jot or tittle of the Law is disobedience to the whole of the Law. Jesus fulfilled the Law, what then is there to reinstate or keep of the Law? Mt. 5:17 The Law had one purpose and that was to make sin to be exceedingly sinful. By the Law is the knowledge of sin. However, the Law cannot justify any person in the sight of the Lord. Rom. 3:20 God’s righteousness is revealed outside of the Law. Rom. 3:21 What the Law failed to accomplish is carried out through faith in the Lord Jesus. To embrace the Law and have expectation of salvation through the keeping of the Law is a sign of having fallen from the grace of God. Gal. 5:4 The Lord derived no pleasure, enjoyment, or satisfaction from the multiplicity of sacrifices offered under the Law. Heb. 10:8 No one can possibly be justified by the works of the Law. Faith, belief, trust, confidence in the saving faith of the Lord Jesus is the only way of finding eternal life. Gal. 3:11.