Jeremiah Compares the People’s Relationship with God to a Cheating Spouse
The prophet Jeremiah, along with many other writers in the Bible, accuse God’s people of spiritual adultery. They are unfaithful to their Lord. They cheat on him. They run around with other, lesser gods.
Marital Adultery
Cheating on a spouse is a situation most people readily comprehend, having experienced it, witnessed it in others, or faced that temptation themselves.
The result of adultery is a damaged or destroyed marriage, broken hearts, and scars that last a lifetime.
In a marriage relationship, adultery—being unfaithful to your spouse—stands as a critical mistake, a potentially relationship-ruining act of selfishness.
The same is true of God when we cheat on him. How our duplicity must break his heart.
Cheating on God
But how, you ask, do we cheat on God? We are unfaithful to our Creator when we put other pursuits before him, when we no longer allow him to be number one in our life.
Though in the Old Testament this means chasing after other gods, that practice isn’t so widespread today—at least not in a literal sense. But we do serve other gods in a figurative manner.
From a spiritual standpoint this is a potentially relationship-ruining act of selfishness.
Spiritual Adultery Examples
These acts of spiritual adultery may take many forms. This includes pursuing pleasure, recreation, and even idleness.
For many there are other gods that exist too. One is materialism: earning more money, buying more things, and accumulating more wealth.
This unsatiated desire for more becomes the God that we worship because it displaces our Lord from his rightful place as being number one in our life.
Human relationships—though important—also threaten our right relationship with God. Anything that distracts us from him rages as a temptation to be unfaithful.
These adulterous pursuits disrespect God just as adultery disrespects a person’s spouse.
The Bride of Christ
Metaphorically speaking, as Jesus’s followers, we will collectively become his bride—the bride of Christ.
John’s epic vision recorded in the book of Revelation captures this well. In the end of this age we—Jesus’s church—will prepare ourselves for our Savior, made ready and beautifully dressed for our betrothed. (Revelation 19:7 and Revelation 21:2).
Then we will unite with Jesus and live with him forever.
Faithfulness Matters
Even more important than being faithful to our spouse is being faithful to God—both now and forever.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Jeremiah 1-3 and today’s post is on Jeremiah 3:20.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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