You Turned Your Backs On Me

Jeremiah 32:32-35

This is a real picture of officers turning their backs on a politician.

One of the greatest symbols of disrespect is to turn your back on someone as they are speaking to you. Yes, there are times when people are distracted and turn their back. It is not intended to be disrespectful but the fact that something was more important than what the speaker was saying conveys disrespect. When you turn your back on someone intentionally, the message is read loud and clear. I remember an episode of Blue Bloods where an anti-police mayor made a dumb remark when an officer had been killed. At the funeral, every officer in attendance turned their backs to the mayor as she walked in. She left in shame.

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Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. 34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. 35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Jeremiah 32:32-35

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In our text, God said that Israel and Judah had done just that to him. The difference is that he had done nothing to offend them. He was the offended party. Unlike the mayor, God was not leaving in shame. Rather, he would cause those who had turned their backs on him to leave in shame.

How had Israel and Judah turned their backs on God? They worshiped idols or false golds. They had murdered children in the practice of their beliefs. God told them that such actions were not even conceivable to Him.

America is in the same condition today. Rather than worshiping Baal, we worship ourselves. We serve our own wants and pleasures rather than God. If we do not like something that the Bible says about God, we ignore it or rewrite it. We say that we don't like the "God of the Old Testament" but we like the "Jesus of the New Testament". We misrepresent Matthew 7:1 (Judge not...) so that we do not have to be accountable for our sins when someone calls us out. We have turned our backs on God and just like Judah and Israel, we murder babies because we believe it to be a right. It is part of our humanistic worship in which we believe we are the ultimate authority on morality and can do whatever we want.

The biggest difference in the children of Israel and America is that they had a promise that they would return to their land; we do not! Just prior to this text, God had used Jeremiah as an object lesson of this very promise. This text is sandwiched between God's promise to bring his people back into their land. They would be taken away for their disobedience, but he still loved them. This was punishment not abandonment. The people of Israel are returning and will continue to do so. This will all culminate in the rebuilding of the Temple and in the reign of a new king, Jesus! If America falls because of our sins, we have no reason to believe that we will rise again.

Father, forgive us of our sins. May we as preachers proclaim your word and may we see people saved. Heal our land because we turn around and seek you.