3:11
“Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah!” Judah looked down on Israel, but the truth was that she was even worse! In the gospels we encounter the animosity between Israel (which in those days included Judah) and Samaria (which was kind of equivalent to the northern kingdom), this hatred went back to the results of Assyrian conquest. We also see Jesus telling Israel that she was worse than Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt 10:15). Our view of ourselves, and God’s view can be radically different.
3:12
Jeremiah is then told to preach something different from what he has done so far. He is to call Israel (turn to the north) back. Yes she had been faithless, but God is faithful. If she turns back to Him in repentance then He will “not be angry forever”. We should read 2 Tim 2:13 (if we are faithless, He remains faithful) in the light of this verse. So we see yet another example of judgement and mercy going together. God is absolutely clear about our sin and guilt, but at the same time He is equally clear about the offer of new life if we will repent and believe. In so much of our so-called gospel preaching we will ignore the judgement aspect, fools that we are.
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