“I will pronounce my judgments against them because of all their wickedness, for they have abandoned me…” (Jeremiah 1:16).

In God’s perspective, wickedness is primarily about refusing His presence and turning away from Him. This is the very reason that will keep people from entering heaven. This was what Nineveh had done, and this was what Israel was doing.

Israel no longer showed its first love for God. So God began to ask questions. Do you think God does not question Himself when we do not give Him the love He is due? That He considers it normal? Wasn’t Jesus surprised when only one of the ten lepers He healed returned to give glory to God?

“This is what the Lord says: What injustice did your fathers find in me that they went so far from me…?“ (Jeremiah 2:5).

What a dark reality. We come to the heart of the matter. The people of God abandoned their God. God was astonished:

“They did not say: Where is the Lord who brought us out of Egypt?… The priests did not say: Where is the Lord?… The shepherds were unfaithful to me“ (Jeremiah 2:6,8).

Neither the people nor their leaders sought God. They had received from Him what they desired and then abandoned the One who had blessed them. They exchanged their God for something worthless. How did this happen?
We might be tempted to focus on their actions, but first and foremost, it was their hearts and souls that had turned away from God. Time passed, and they began to indulge in their blessings.

“I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and its bounty…“ (Jeremiah 2:7).

In Canaan, they no longer needed to pray to receive from God, so they distanced themselves from Him. Can God count on our love, even when everything is going well in our lives? Are we among those who draw near to God only when things go wrong?

There are indeed such Christians: we rarely see them in church and almost never at prayer meetings, but one day they face a crisis. Suddenly, we see them at the next prayer meeting, motivated to get out of their trouble.
Once the problem is solved, they go back on vacation from the Lord.

Many people think that to love God, one must live in poverty and suffer greatly, but this is false! We can love God when everything is going well. If it is true that our love for God is demonstrated when times are tough, it is equally true that it can be demonstrated when things are good!

I have never needed to go through difficulties in my marriage to prove my love for my wife. Blessings, or what we also call prosperity, should not change us. Our love for God should never be based on external circumstances. Otherwise, we will always be unfair to God.

As time passed, Israel began to forget God. Their thoughts drifted toward vain things. They no longer prioritized God’s interests… and they regressed. No one wanted to take the time to seek God.

Then the kingdom of darkness seized the opportunity to destroy them. They chose the easy way: making gods in their own image, gods who would be satisfied with the little they had to offer. Cruel, bloodthirsty gods… and that’s what they themselves had become.

All the men of the Word—the priests, the teachers, and even the pastors—had become unfaithful.
Even the prophets prophesied under demonic inspiration.

“You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror“ (Jeremiah 32:21).

God had not held back His power in delivering His people. He had invested Himself “body and soul.” God could no longer bear to hear the cries of His people:

“I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cries before their oppressors. Yes, I know their pains“ (Exodus 3:7).

Oh, God knows your pain, and He WANTS to bring you out of it! Instead of pain, He wants to baptize you and immerse you in joy and His love:

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me… to comfort all who mourn, to give them a crown instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…“ (Isaiah 61:1,3).

This is God’s perfect will for your life. It is your choice whether to believe it or not, but this truth is yes and amen. If you believe it, receive it, and live it.

What motivated God to call Moses from the burning bush?

It was His love for His people. Just as when He created Lucifer, knowing that he would betray Him; just as when He created Adam and Eve, knowing they would betray Him, He called Moses to deliver a people who would eventually abandon Him.

The sons of Korah, and certainly David, spoke of their enemies mocking them, saying: “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:11), but the shepherds of Israel did not ask where God was. They did not seek Him—they had abandoned Him!

Even the experts in the Law had joined in this terrible ingratitude.

Those who specialized in the Law had no communion with the Author of the Law. They surely continued to read the Law, but for them, it had become “the letter that kills.”

Like the Pharisees who boasted of knowing the Law but did not know God, these experts murmured the Law from their mouths without knowing the Spirit who gives life.

The mirror of the Law reflected a catastrophic image of themselves.
They sought to be justified by the Law and their religious works instead of seeking to be justified by faith.

“For my people have committed two evils: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living waters, and dug for themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that hold no water.“ (Jeremiah 2:13).

It is one thing to abandon someone, but it is even more horrific when it is to turn to someone else. Many people have said, “I no longer have time to maintain our relationship,” only to end up with someone else…
This was the mindset that drove Israel: why turn away from God to cling to other gods, to idols?!

Israel’s Insecurity Toward God the Deliverer

It did not take long for Israel to show difficulty in walking by faith in God’s ways. Do you know what was the first thing that made them want to turn back? Misunderstanding and fear.

God had called them to leave Egypt through Moses, who had been His instrument to display His power through the ten plagues. But now, Egypt was chasing after them!

Seeing Pharaoh and his chariots approaching, the people were afraid. They did not understand why such a thing was happening. If God had promised them freedom, why was trouble coming their way?
This bad circumstance created confusion, increased their insecurity, and produced fear. Fear led them to regret wanting to serve God. They preferred to serve the Egyptians.

Israel’s heart was divided. All their afflictions had created a sense of insecurity, like a slave people. A slave does not live in security. He knows that at any moment, the worst can happen.
Israel did not have full and complete trust in God, even though they had cried out to Him for deliverance.

At the first opportunity, at the first test of faith, their insecurity resurfaced.
They had to learn to trust God in order to serve and truly love Him.
They preferred to serve their enemies in suffering rather than obey God, even at the risk of dying…

This text is an excerpt from the book “UNFAIR LOVE” written by Jérémy Sourdril.

We invite you to read the next article: “TRIALS.”

THE ABANDONED ETERNAL. THE ABANDONED ETERNAL.

THE ABANDONED ETERNAL. THE ABANDONED ETERNAL. THE ABANDONED ETERNAL.