Jeremiah 3

Sister Act

7 And I thought, "After she has done all this she will return to me"; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says the LORD. 11 Then the LORD said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, faithless Israel, says the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the LORD; I will not be angry forever. 13 Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God, and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice, says the LORD. 14 Return, O faithless children, says the LORD, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

Jeremiah Discusses Marketing Strategies with God

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Musings

This is a very colorful way of saying that Israel was unfaithful, thus Assyria conquered them, but Judah is even more unfaithful (to God) making their fall inevitable as well. Judah is actually worse because they saw what happened to Israel and didn't learn from it. Jeremiah is sent to Israel to tell them to return to God, since Judah is seemingly not interested in fixing their own situation. God offers to restore Israel if they will repent. Also underlying the message is that it isn't God who abandoned Israel or Judah, but just the opposite. Nothing like a little name calling to get people's attention.