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"Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see"

Text: Jeremiah 3:2

A CHALLENGE TO BE HONEST

This word to Judah was a call to be absolutely honest. The level of morality of the nation had plunged it to an abysmal level.

“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not lain with men?
By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.”
Jeremiah 3:2

1. “Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see”

a) The worship of idols was widespread.

b) Shrines were found everywhere, including “the desolate heights”.

2. “Where have you not lain with men?”

a) Temple prostitution was part of idolatrous worship in those days.

b) Judah was like a wanton woman sleeping around everywhere.

3. “By the road you have sat for them like an Arabian in the wilderness”

a) Judah was brought up learning about faith in God from the Scriptures.

b) It was now compared to a foreigner (Arabian) who did not know God.

c) The reference to the Arabian, in this context, is that of a foreign prostitute.

d) She is like a common “street walker” plying her trade.

e) She is found, even in the wilderness, sitting around, waiting for a “customer”.

4. “And you have polluted the land with your harlotries and your wickedness”

a) Idolatry and prostitution polluted the land (Judah).

b) Harlotries was both literal and symbolic.

c) Often, the disregard for God, saw the perpetrators involved in wickedness.