Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 2:20-28
They Had Broken Free From YHWH To Worship False Gods And Had Thereby Become Defiled With A Defilement And A Degeneracy That They Could Not Remove, While Still Incredibly Claiming That They Had Not Broken Free At All. But Now The Truth Was Out In The Open As A Result Of Their Behaviour And They Were Discovering That They Had Made A Poor Choice (Jeremiah 2:20).
In a series of vivid illustrations YHWH brings out Judah's folly. Even though it was He Who had of old delivered them from bondage, they had rejected His service and ‘played the harlot' (indulged in ritual sexual activities) at Baal/Asherah shrines throughout the countryside. So although He had planted them as a choice vine, they had become a degenerate wild vine with the result that all that they produced was iniquity which could not be washed away. Yet in spite of it they still looked at Him innocently and claimed that what He claimed was simply not true, when all the time they were actually acting like a female camel or ass on heat, persistently sinning and easily available, and admitting that she was unable to restrain herself from following her lovers. All were involved in this, kings, princes, priests and prophets, bowing down to trees and stones and turning their back on YHWH. They had multiplied gods, with a new one to be found in every city. Well, where were these newfangled gods in the situation in which they now found themselves?
Judah's Rebellion Against YHWH.
“For of old time I have broken your yoke,
And burst your bonds,
And you said, ‘I will not serve,'
For on every high hill and under every green tree,
You bowed (literally ‘laid') yourself down,
Playing the harlot.
YHWH again reminds them that it was He Who had redeemed them from bondage and had broken the heavy yoke under which they had served in Egypt, and had set them free from their bonds. And what had been their reply? They had declared that they would not serve Him. And in consequence they had instead bowed themselves down before stone pillars and images, in sanctuaries established ‘on every high hill and under very green tree', and had there indulged in perverse sexual rites with sacred prostitutes and with each other.
Sanctuaries were erected on ‘high hills' because high hills were seen as bringing them ‘closer to the gods', and under ‘green trees' because green trees were seen as containing ‘life-force'. And their aim was, by sexual activity played out before the gods, to persuade them to imitate them and supply similar fertility to their fields. We can easily see the sensual attractiveness of this new religion, which was also as old as the hills, and it was additionally attractive because it freed them from being bound by YHWH's strict requirements. They could do what they liked and still attain their ends, but, of course, only if it worked.
Judah Have Changed From Being A Noble Vine To Being A Degenerate One And Should Be Ashamed At Their Behaviour.
“Yet I had planted you a noble vine,
Wholly a right seed,
How then are you turned into the degenerate branches,
Of a foreign vine to me?”
What a contrast this was to what YHWH had desired for them. He had planted them in the land as a choice vine, a noble vine, from precisely the right kind of seed (from the Patriarchs), with the intention of producing pure fruits, and of their being a holy people, a people with ideas like Himself, but they had become degenerate branches of a foreign, wild, uncultivated vine, producing only degeneracy and wickedness.
“For though you wash yourself with lye,
And take for yourself much soap,
Yet your iniquity is marked before me,
The word of the Lord YHWH.”
Indeed their iniquity was so marked before Him that even though they washed themselves with nitre (lye), and used a great deal of soap, they would be unable to erase it. The idea was that no kind of detergent would be of any use. And this was the word of the Sovereign Lord YHWH Himself. It is a reminder that we cannot ‘soft-soap' God, because God sees what is underneath.
‘Nitre' (nether) was an alkali obtainable for lakes in Egypt. ‘Soap' was a solution of potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate (potash and soda) in water which can act as a simple detergent. These chemicals were obtained by filtering water through vegetable ashes producing various alkaline salts of which potassium carbonate was the main one.
“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the Baalim?
See your way in the valley,
Know what you have done,
You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways,
A wild ass used to the wilderness,
Who sniffs up the wind in her desire,
In her occasion, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves,
In her month they will find her.”
Yet they looked at Him innocently and claimed that they were not defiled and had not gone after the Baalim, coming to the Temple at their feasts and ‘worshipping' as though their only desire was to please YHWH. Had not Josiah purified the cult? But YHWH was not to be deceived, and called on them to look at the way in which they behaved when they went back to their valleys, and recognise what they were really like. It was there that they really felt at home, like a dromedary (a one humped camel) in heat, going swiftly on its way, looking for a mate, and like a wild she-ass which is used to the wilderness, similarly filled with heat, and sniffing up the wind so as to find herself a mate, so determined in her quest that none can turn her away. The male asses do not need to weary themselves by seeking her out, because when it is her month it is she who will find them. And that is how Judah behaved with their gods and in their immoral worship.
“Withhold your foot from being unshod,
And your throat from thirst,
But you said, ‘It is in vain,
No, for I have loved strangers,
And after them will I go.”
He informs them that if only they would withhold themselves and look to Him He would ensure that their feet were shod, and that they were never thirsty, but their reply was that they preferred the way of the wild, uncared-for ass on heat, because they loved strange gods, and were set on following them.
Alternately the thought may be of the way in which they took their shoes off when entering a mountain shrine (compare Exodus 3:5), and thirsted after wine offerings offered to Baal, this being a command to refrain from such things.
Others have seen in it the picture of the harlot who, having enticed them into her home, and betraying her husband (Proverbs 7:10 ff.), liked nothing better than to take off her shoes and drink with her lovers (compare Hosea 2:5).
“As the thief is ashamed when he is found,
So is the house of Israel ashamed,
They, their kings, their princes,
And their priests, and their prophets,
Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father',
And to a stone, ‘You have brought me forth',
For they have turned their back to me,
And not their face,
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise, and save us.' ”
They are like a thief caught in the act, and desperately ashamed, and this includes their kings, princes, priests and prophets, for all are involved in the degeneracy from the greatest to the least (presumably in the time of Jehoiakim). Absurdly they claim a tree as their father, and a stone as their mother, because, having turned their backs on YHWH instead of turning their face towards Him, they are left with no alternative, for their gods are in reality precisely that, only trees and stones. And yet as soon as trouble comes they go running back to YHWH and cry, ‘Arise and save us'.
“But where are your gods that you have made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble,
For according to the number of your cities are your gods,
O Judah.
But YHWH was having none of that. They had made gods for themselves, let those gods arise and save them (the idea is intended to be ludicrous, salvation through home-made gods!! Think how many they could have on their side). That should surely present no problem to them. Look at all the gods they had, one for every city. Surely together they would be sufficient to save them. The Canaanite pantheon included a multiplicity of gods.