False Repentance Is Useless ( Jeremiah 3:1-5)

False Repentance Is Useless ( Jeremiah 3:1-5)

1 “If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? Declares the Lord. 2 Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the wayside you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom. 3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed. 4 Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth- 5 will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.”

Thinking, and understanding

God clearly pointed out the sin of the Israelites by identifying the places where the Israelites had departed from God and worshipped idols. However, the shameless people of Israel, far from repenting, tried to interpret and use God as they wished, according to their convenience. Although they used their lips to say that God was their father and an old friend, through their actions they committed all sorts of wicked deeds. Having turned their backs on the God of righteousness, the Israelites displayed the selfish faith that seeks to gain only God’s mercy and love(vv.1-5)/

하나님은 이스라엘이 하나님을 떠나 우상을 숭배하던 자리들을 가리키시며 분명하게 잘못을 지적하십니다. 그리고 가뭄을 통해 이스라엘이 잘못을 깨달을 기회를 주십니다. 하지만 뻔뻔한 이스라엘은 회개는 커녕, 자신의 편의에 따라 마음대로 하나님을 규정하고, 이용하려고만 합니다. 입술로는 하나님을 아버지요, 오랜 친구라고 말하면서, 행위로는 온갖 악행을 저지릅니다. 그들은 공의의 하나님은 외면한채, 하나님의 자비와 사랑만을 취하려는 이기적인 신앙의 모습만 보여줍니다.(1-5).

Who is God?

vv. 1-2 God does not accept false repentance. Therefore, we must turn back and repent when God gives us the opportunity to realise our sin. What sins is the God of righteousness making us remember? Repent to him sincerely.

하나님은 거짓된 회개를 받아들이지 않으십니다. 따라서 사람은 하나님께서 깨달을 기회를 주실때 돌아보고 회개해야 합니다. 공의의 하나님께서 내게 일깨워주시는 죄는 무엇인가? 하나님께 진실한 회개를 드리십시요.

V.5 God is never fooled by people. Therefore, our repentance is not always accepted by God as repentance. God does not always hear us crying out. We cannot move God’s heart by simply recollecting a time in the past when things were good. God will not heed our prayers until we return to him not only with our lips but also with our hearts, our hands, our feet, in fact, with our whole body.

하나님은 사람에게 속지 않으십니다. 그러니 우리의 회개가 늘 하나님께도 회개가 되는 것은 아닙니다. 우리의 부르짖음이 늘 하나님의 귀에 들리는 것도 아닙니다. 과거 어느 한때의 좋았던 시절을 떠올리는 것으로도 그 분 마음을 움직일 수 없습니다. 주님은 내 입술뿐 아니라 내 마음이, 내 마음뿐 아니라 내 손과 발과 온 몸이 주께 돌아올 때까지는, 내 기도를 믿지 않으실 것입니다.

Prayer:  God, help us to become souls that know how to feel shame when you reveal our sins and rebuke us.

-Daily bible