29-30 Why do you accuse me of doing wrong? You are the ones who have rebelled,” says the Lord. “I have punished your children, but they did not respond to my discipline. You yourselves have killed your prophets as a lion kills its prey. 31 “O my people, listen to the words of the Lord! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘At last we are free from God! We don’t need him anymore!’ 32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me.”

33-34 “How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you! Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor, though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses! 35 And yet you say, ‘I have done nothing wrong. Surely God isn’t angry with me!’ But now I will punish you severely because you claim you have not sinned. 36-37 First here, then there - you flit from one ally to another asking for help. But your new friends in Egypt will let you down, just as Assyria did before. In despair, you will be led into exile with your hands on your heads, for the Lord has rejected the nations you trust. They will not help you at all.” (New Living Translation) Link for English Standard Version.

God put a very simple question to the people through Jeremiah when He asked:“Does a young woman forget her jewellery, or a bride her wedding dress?” What do you think God wanted them to see?

The answer is surely because of what they were saying in vs 31. ‘At last we are free from God! We don’t need him anymore!'‘. They had become so self sufficient in their own eyes, and because they thought the bigger nations would look after them, they no longer needed God! Hasn't that been the belief of so many people over the years, from teenagers to tycoons, from simple folk to scientists? Who needs God! Let's face it, God could have blotted them out there and then, but He reasons with them. What does He point out in vs 31?

The implication is that if God had dealt horribly with them, and dumped them in some desert where life was always miserable, then He would understand their wanting to exchange Him for some other gods. But that wasn't the case. Their own history would show them that God had not done any wrong to them – it was they who were wronging God. So what had happened to the nation since they turned their backs on God? (vs 33-34)

The land had been corrupted with violence and injustice. They'd become skilled in seducing people into evil ways. Worst of all, they were in denial. (vs 35). They refused to accept that a Holy God could not stand the sinful lifestyles they had chosen. So what was the outcome going to be? (vs 35-37)

God was going to call them to account and give them into the hands of enemies. Those they'd hoped would help them would turn against them and destroy them. Verses 29-30 tell how God had been warning them, but they had killed the prophets He had sent.

People today still reject Jesus Christ because they think becoming a Christian will rob them of the fun things they want to do. But that's because they forget the good things God gives us every day. It's just as foolish as a bride forgetting her wedding dress! Should we really turn our backs on a God who loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for the sins we've done so that we can be forgiven and have eternal life? Yet so many still reject the preachers God sends and shut their ears to the gospel message.

The apostle Paul tells us what sadly happens when nations and neighbourhoods keep rejecting God. He says: “God abandons them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they do vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They trade the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve the things God created - instead of the Creator who is worthy of eternal praise!” (Romans 1:24-25) Let us not be among those who forget God! Keep Jesus Christ at the centre of your heart.