Now we are beginning to involve Judah. Judah should have learned from what happened to Israel, but they failed to learn. Instead, they learned to do the things that Israel did. Those things must have been rather exciting. It was certainly appealing to the flesh, and they fulfilled their desires by following after Israel. I do not think enough can be said of the horrible paganism into which Israel degenerated, but as evil as Israel was, Judah became worse.
Israel went into captivity in 722 BC. Josiah came on the throne about one hundred years or so later. I believe the historians say it was about 626 BC. Josiah was eight years old when he came on the throne. A lot of water has passed over the dam. A lot of history has gone by.
The Jews now knew what was going on in Israel. They knew that the Assyrians came down and conquered Israel. That was not hidden from them. They knew why Israel went into captivity. They should have learned, but they did not. Even though what Judah did may not have been any worse in terms of the actual acts that they did, yet Judah is more culpable, more responsible, because they had an example to follow, or not to follow. "To whom much is given, from him much is required," and that is why God says Judah was worse.
Brethren, we went through this horrible situation with the type of the bride of Christ, physical Israel, including Judah, that did not hold on to the marriage covenant agreement. They had faithlessly come and they made it in good faith with God. He made it in good faith, but they played the harlot. They were faithless, they divorced Him.
Even though God in His faithfulness, as Paul tells us in Romans 3, has left Judah in place, keeping some of the laws in their hands, they still are a faithless people, and it is only through His faith that we can see where the Sabbath and the holy days and those particular ordinances are still being kept, but it is not because they are still part of the bride of Christ. They are not part of the bride that He had made physical Israel in separating from the world.
This needs to be on our mind as the reality of the bride of Christ is being created and each of those selected few who have made the New Covenant with Him now. This may seem to be something we would rather not consider as we assemble here this week to rejoice and refresh, but it must be carefully considered as we make all those little choices to remain faithful and prepare to be the perfect witness that Christ is preparing us for as His helpmate in spiritual Israel.
Ancient Judah had a problem idolizing the environment, and God condemned them for it because of the religious motivation behind the movement. In order to show the gravity of Judah's spiritual condition, Jeremiah compares it with that of exiled Israel, the faithless, backsliding northern kingdom.
Keep in mind that this is spiritual harlotry, as is seen in religion.
But later Israel committed spiritual adultery. Adultery is idolatry as Jeremiah 3 makes clear.
It is interesting. It says under every green tree and what are we running into is idolatry today. The environmental movement. So very little has changed in the mentality of people since ancient Israel was way she was and still is sadly.
