Jeremiah - Chapters 2-19

In these chapters of Jeremiah the Lord is declaring judgment on Judah for their sin against the Lord. There are comparisons with the Lord who provides living water, and the idols which are like broken cisterns that can't hold water. There is also a declaration that a nation from the north is coming, a people whose language the people of Judah do not know, and they will come and destroy Jerusalem and the temple. The Lord kept calling His people to follow Him, but they would not listen. Their sin had become so great that even if Moses and Samuel - two great mediators - were there, the Lord would not change His mind. The Lord also declared that even though the Jews bodies were circumcised, their hearts were not. The religious leaders of the day, those that proclaimed, "Peace, Peace," did not like Jeremiah who declared "Destruction." They tried to kill him, but the Lord fought for Jeremiah and took care of him. In the midst of the declaration of judgment, there were glimmers of hope such as 17:7-8, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that send out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."