This is
what the Lord says:
“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves. Jeremiah 2:5
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves. Jeremiah 2:5
In the book of Jeremiah, God
wonders why the people don’t even question the broken relationship between them and God, instead wondering
where God is in their lives. The people
stray so casually and naturally they don’t even know they’re off course.
God is surprised because
He’s done so much for us. For the
Israelites, He saved them from Egypt, protected them from enemies (many times
miraculously) and still they forgot about God.
Even more surprising, the
priests and the prophets completely forgot about Him (2:8,9). That’s got to befuddle God.
God knows why. The people created their own forms of
spiritual replenishment (2:13) but those dry up. They build their own gods of wood and stone
and call it their god and father (2:27).
God called them wild vines growing wherever they wanted or donkeys in
heat sniffing out the next relationship (2:24). The people cannot cleanse themselves of their
sins (2:22). And yet the people blame
God (2:29).
But if God knows why and
knew they would reject Him, is He “surprised” by people’s rejection. He’s not surprised in the sense that He
didn’t see it coming, but He is surprised because there’s so much evidence and
benefit in having a relationship with Him that He can’t believe people can be
so stubborn.