Israel's Day in Court

By Dan & Brenda Cathcart

The video version of this teaching is at: https://youtu.be/6Wl-FQnzIhE

The scripture reading is Jeremiah 2:4-28; 3:4; 4:1-2

The Torah portion this week, Mattot-Massei, picks up as Israel is on the cusp of entering the Promised Land. They defeat the last foe that is standing in the way of entering the Promised Land and turn their eyes toward possessing the land. This haftarah, on the other hand, shows Israel on the cusp of losing everything they had gained. In line with this, the New Testament readings recommended by First Fruits of Zion are about the judgment soon to fall on Jerusalem.

On the Torah reading calendar, these portions of scripture fall in the period of time called the Dire Straits. The Dire Straits begins on the seventeenth of Tammuz, the day the children of Israel built and worshiped the golden calf. It ends on the ninth of Av, the day the temple was destroyed both in 586 BCE and 70 AD. This is a period of mourning for all that the children of Israel have lost due to idolatry and iniquity. This haftarah warns of the judgment coming as a result of Israel’s practice of idolatry and iniquity. How did Israel go from triumphant possessors of the Promised Land to captives of Assyria, Babylon and Rome, and outcasts from the Promised Land?

Our haftarah reading begins with a courtroom scene as opening arguments are being presented. Jeremiah rises to present the case of the LORD against Israel.

Jeremiah 2:4-6 NKJV 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD: "What injustice have your fathers found in Me, That they have gone far from Me, Have followed idols, And have become idolaters? 6 Neither did they say, 'Where is the LORD, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and pits, Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no one dwelt?'

The words “idols” and “idolaters” in verse five are related to each other both coming from the Hebrew word “habal,” Number 1891 in Strong’s Concordance meaning vain. The word “vain” has two primary meanings both of which apply in this context. The first meaning is to have an excessively high opinion of oneself. The second is to be useless, producing no results, futile, or worthless. Jeremiah is saying that idolatry is really an expression of excessive pride in one’s own accomplishments and is ultimately worthless, empty and futile! God’s case against Israel is that in their vanity, the children of Israel forgot how God delivered them from Egypt, took them through the wilderness and gave them the Promised Land. Instead of making the land of Israel a land that displayed God’s justice and righteousness, they made it an abomination profaning God’s name.

Jeremiah, then, turns to list the four specific defendants in the case. Four is the number of completeness and sufficiency especially as it relates to creation. With these charges, the case against Israel is complete and sufficient for judgment.

Jeremiah 2:8 MKJV 8 The priests did not say, Where is the LORD? And they who handle the law did not know Me; the shepherds also rebelled against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things not profitable.

The priests did not seek the LORD. They forgot who He was and didn’t notice His absence. The teachers of the Torah did not know the one they were teaching about. The shepherds are the leaders of the people who were to guide Israel in following the LORD. By using the word shepherd, Jeremiah emphasizes the spiritual responsibilities that the rulers had neglected. Far from guiding the people into God’s righteousness, they actively led them away. Finally, the prophets who were to keep Israel going in the right direction didn’t bring the words of God; they brought their own words or even the words of demonic forces represented by Baal.

To emphasize the severity of the charges, God compares His people, His nation, to the nations around them stating that they are far worse than the other nations.

Jeremiah 2:10-11 MKJV 10 For pass over the coasts of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and carefully consider, and see if there is such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed their gods who are yet no gods? But My people have changed their Glory for that which does not profit.

From Kittim in the west to Kedar in the east, no other nation has abandoned their false gods trading them for other false gods, but Israel had abandoned the true God trading him for false gods! They had exchanged the truth for a lie! The reaction of the heavens to this news reveals the enormity of Israel’s offense against God.

Jeremiah 2:12 NKJV 12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate," says the LORD.

The heavens are first astonished, stunned, and stupefied. It is as if the heavens are momentarily frozen. This is followed by great fear. The phrase “horribly afraid” is number 8175 in Strong’s Concordance meaning to storm, be afraid, tempestuous or come like a whirlwind. Following the momentary silence and stillness when first hearing the charges against Israel, the heavens break into furious motion. The fear of the heavens is like that of a whirlwind culminating in total devastation. Not just devastation, but great devastation. The Hebrew language rarely uses superlatives for emphasis. The usual practice is to emphasize by repeating the word. In this case the superlative “ma-od” number 3966 in Strong’s Concordance is used. Ma-od means vehemence or vehemently. The word “desolate” is “charab” number 2717 meaning to parch through drought. The drought that strikes does so vehemently!

God, then, gives a summary of the charges against Israel tying into the idea of being parched through drought.

Jeremiah 2:13 NKJV 13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns-broken cisterns that can hold no water.

The imagery is strong. Picture a spring flowing up out of the Earth with everything around it being green. Contrast that with a broken, empty cistern with everything around it being dry and dead. Israel traded life for death. God goes on to state that they traded their position as the firstborn of God to become servants, slaves and plunder!

Jeremiah 2:14-16 NKJV 14 "Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered? 15 The young lions roared at him, and growled; They made his land waste; His cities are burned, without inhabitant. 16 Also the people of Noph and Tahpanhes Have broken the crown of your head.

Jeremiah places the beginning of Israel facing the results of their trade of life for death and sonship for slavery with the death of King Josiah. When Josiah became king, he took over from his father Amon and his grandfather Manasseh who did more evil than the Amorites who inhabited the land before the children of Israel. Josiah did what was right before the LORD, but the damage had already been done and judgment set. However, God promised Josiah that judgment would be deferred in his lifetime.

2 Kings 22:19-20 NKJV 19 "because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD. 20 "Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place."'" So they brought back word to the king.

The NKJV Study Bible writes about Jeremiah’s reference to Josiah’s death:

“Egypt forced Judah into a vassal relationship. The Egyptians had broken the crown of Israel’s head by killing Josiah. Noph is Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt. Tahpanhes was in the eastern Nile delta.”[i]

Instead of drinking the living water provided by God to His chosen people, Israel ended up drinking the water of servitude and death found in Assyria and Egypt. Jeremiah describes these waters as the waters of the Nile and Euphrates Rivers.

Jeremiah 2:17-18 NKJV 17 Have you not brought this on yourself, In that you have forsaken the LORD your God When He led you in the way? 18 And now why take the road to Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, To drink the waters of the River?

The word “Sihor” is number 7883 “Shee-khore meaning dark, metaphorically a stream of Egypt. The phrase “The River” almost always refers to the Euphrates River.

The case against Israel continues as God contrasts what He has done for Israel and their response to his blessings.

Jeremiah 2:20-21 NKJV 20 "For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, 'I will not transgress,' When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot. 21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?

Although Israel’s response to God’s charges against them is not recorded, we can infer that they attempted to hide their guilt from God and assert that they were not guilty. God tells them that their attempt to hide their sins by washing with two different kinds of soap was totally fruitless and inadequate.

Jeremiah 2:22-24 NKJV 22 For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me," says the Lord GOD. 23 "How can you say, 'I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals'? See your way in the valley; Know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways, 24 A wild donkey used to the wilderness, That sniffs at the wind in her desire; In her time of mating, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves; In her month they will find her.

Their soap did not serve to wipe out their stains, nor did they change their ways. Far from turning back to serve god, they continued to go after their idols like a donkey in heat! When confronted with their idolatry, Israel is ashamed, not that they sinned but that they were found out.

Jeremiah 2:26-28 NKJV 26 "As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, So is the house of Israel ashamed; They and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their prophets, 27 Saying to a tree, 'You are my father,' And to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.' 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.' 28 But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? 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.

God’s response was how could they be so stupid as to think a rock or a tree could be their creator. First Fruits of Zion in Torah Club Volume Three: the Haftarah comments:

“God reprimands Israel for their spiritual stupidity. Who would ever think of calling a tree or a stone his creator? Yet this is, in essence, what Israel did in their idolatry because that is the nature of idolatry.”[ii]

The New Testament readings in Luke thirteen and Mark eleven follow this same pattern of rebuke. When Yeshua received word of the deaths of some Galileans at the hand of Pilate and the deaths of others when the tower of Siloam fell on them, Yeshua explained that unless they repented, death was coming to everyone in Jerusalem! Yeshua followed this up with a parable about a fig tree in a vineyard.

Luke 13:6-8 NKJV 6 He also spoke this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 "Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' 8 "But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.

On the surface, this parable seems easy to understand. The fig tree seems to represent Israel. Because it hasn’t produced fruit, the tree would be dug up and discarded. Quite an argument for the church replacing Israel! However, we need to understand the parable in the culture in which it was written. First Fruits of Zion in Chronicles of the Messiah explains that in biblical and rabbinic literature, the pairing of the vine and the fig tree symbolizes the promised peace and prosperity of the messianic age as indicated by the prophets Micah and Zechariah. Micah writes in Micah 4:4:

Micah 4:4 NKJV 4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

However, in this parable, the fig tree is not producing fruit! The hoped for messianic age has been stymied! As the time of Yeshua’s ministry on Earth was getting ready to begin, John the Baptist warned that repentance was required to bring in the messianic age.

Luke 3:7-9 NKJV 7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Yeshua’s parable indicates that the time of repentance for that generation was coming to a close. The third year had ended and the fourth was in sight. It is probably no coincidence that Yeshua spoke this parable in the fourth year of His ministry just months before He would go up to Jerusalem for the Passover and give His life as a Passover sacrifice for us!

First Fruits of Zion explains the meaning of this parable in terms of Yeshua’s generation.

The vineyard in which the fig tree is planted is the nation and land of Israel. The fig tree itself represents the generation of the Master—the generation that had the potential to bring in the Messianic Era. The owner of the vineyard and the fig tree represents God. He comes to the fig tree seeking the fruit of repentance. The parable likens Yeshua to the vineyard’s husbandman. The work of digging about the roots and fertilizing the tree refers to His message and His work (and perhaps the work of John the Immerser).[iii]

About three months later, Yeshua entered Jerusalem to seeming acclamation of Him as King. However, as he came over the Mount of Olives and looked down on Jerusalem, He pronounced judgment on that generation; the Messianic age would not begin at that time.

Luke 19:41-44 NKJV 41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 "and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

The apostle Mark records that the next day when Yeshua entered Jerusalem, He cursed a fig tree for not producing fruit.

Mark 11:12-14 NKJV 12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it.

Yeshua was hungry to see repentance among His people; but He didn’t see any! Instead, as He proceeded into Jerusalem, He saw the merchants and money changers who made God’s temple into a den of thieves. Just like in the time of Jeremiah, the people did not believe judgment was coming on them! They thought their sins were hidden away and no one would judge them!

After the courtroom scene in which God presents His case against Israel, God breaks off His words of judgment and opens His heart. If Israel would just repent, He would turn away from His righteous judgment of them.

Jeremiah 4:1-2 NKJV 1 "If you will return, O Israel," says the LORD, "Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved. 2 And you shall swear, 'The LORD lives,' In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory."

The promise of the Messianic age is yet to come! The disciples thought it would come after Yeshua’s resurrection at the Feast of Shavuot. Instead, they received the power of God through the anointing of the Holy Spirit to preach the good news of the gospel of salvation in preparation for Yeshua’s return. Yeshua’s words to His disciples at His ascension into heaven bestow the mission on the disciples gathered on the Mount of Olives at that time and on His disciples throughout the age as we wait for His return.

Acts 1:7-8 NKJV 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Israel went from triumphant possessors of the Promised Land to exiles and slaves, first to Assyria and Babylon, and, later, to Rome and all the corners of the Earth. In their hearts and deeds, they turned away from God to worship idols, the work of their own hands instead of the creator who brings life. When the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples on the Feast of Shavuot, many people were convicted of their sins and asked what they should do. Peter told them to repent. During this time of the Dire Straits between the time of worshiping the Golden Calf and the destruction of the temple, we need to repent of our idolatries before judgment comes on us. Instead, with true repentance comes restoration.

Israel will come to repentance and God will completely restore the land to Israel. Messiah will reign and true righteousness will go out from Jerusalem and all the nations will be blessed in God’s glory.

Study Questions:

1. Discuss the connection of this teaching to the Torah Portion Naso, Numbers 4:21-7:89.

2. How does the concept of God as the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13) show up in Yeshua’s ministry?

3. The vine and the fig tree represent the peace and prosperity of the Messianic Age (1 king 4:25, Mic. 4:4, Zec 3:10) How is this represented in Yeshua’s teachings?

4. Compare Josiah’s generation with Yeshua’s generation.

5. First Fruits of Zion describes the nature of idolatry: “Who would ever think of calling a tree or a stone his creator? Yet this is, in essence, what Israel did in their idolatry because that is the nature of idolatry.”[iv] What is the nature of idolatry?

6. What new insight did you gain from this teaching? How do you respond to this new insight? How will you realign your life based on this new understanding?

Bonus: What is the messianic significance of King Ahaz killing Naboth to obtain his vineyard?

© 2019 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.

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[i] The NKJV Study Bible. Earl D. Radmacher, Th.D. Thomas Nelson, Inc ©1997, 2007. Page1150.

[ii] Torah Club Volume 3: The Haftarah. First Fruits of Zion. ©1999. Page 663.

[iii] Chronicles of the Messiah. First Fruits of Zion. ©2014 D. T. Lancaster. Page 1025.

[iv] Torah Club Volume 3: The Haftarah. First Fruits of Zion. ©1999. Page 663.