[4] Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
[5] Thus says Yahweh: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?
[6] They did not say, "Where is Yahweh who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?"
[7] I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
[8] The priests did not say, "Where is Yahweh?"
Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.
[9] Therefore once more I accuse you, says Yahweh, and I accuse your children's children.
[10] Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing.
[11] Has a nation changed elohim, even though they are no elohim? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.
[12] Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says Yahweh,
[13] for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
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Not read today is verse two, which includes the words that translate to say, “the love of your betrothal, when you followed me into the wilderness”. This spoke of the “youth” of the children of Jacob, who had become true children of “Israel,” due to the love in their hearts and souls that led them to be married spiritually to Yahweh. This is Yahweh singing through His prophet Jeremiah about how that marriage has turned sour, due to the neglect of the children of that most divine union not following the ways of their prior descendants. This reading selection is, therefore, a divorce decree; and, it should be read as such, with all in history (including now) who parade around saying, “I am a child of God,” when they do nothing directed by Yahweh or His Law (the marriage Covenant). There is no marriage, nor any protection by Yahweh’s Spirit.
In verse four there are two proper names: Jacob and Israel. These should be read as the meaning behind the names, where “Jacob” means “Supplanter” and “Israel” means “Who Retains an el” of Yahweh – the soul of the Son. When this meaning is translated, the verse says, “hear word of Yahweh human supplanters ; and all the clans of human who retain the el of Yahweh .” The key word in this sequence is ”hear.” For all “who retain the el” of Yahweh, they will be prophets like Jeremiah (a name that can mean “Elevated Of Yah”) and be in direct communication with the God they profess to serve. If they depend of a select few to tell them what Yahweh wants (none of those being true prophets of Yahweh, but false shepherds and hired hands), then they cannot “hear the voice of Yahweh.” Those who maintain a marriage with Yahweh’s Spirit will know the meaning of the Law by hearing what to do Spiritually; and, they will do what Yahweh tells them (not what someone human says, attempting to “supplant” Yahweh as their lord.
In verse five, the key Hebrew word is “ha·he·ḇel,” which the NRSV has translated above as “worthless things.” The root word “habel” means “breath, vapor,” where the “worthless things” are reflective of “emptiness, futility, idols, uselessness, vanities and/or worthlessness.” This becomes the souls of those who are not divinely wed to Yahweh, in receipt of His Spirit and the resurrection of His Son’s soul within theirs; as a soul alone in a body of flesh becomes an “idol” of Yahweh, when it has connection whatsoever to the divine. Thus, to go “after worthless things idols, and became worthless vanities themselves” is the failures of the past, where Judge after Judge was sent to bring the wayward back onto the path of righteousness. When David became the answer to their prayer for a “king, to be like other nations,” no more Judges would be sent by Yahweh. Instead, He would send messengers (angelic prophets, like Jeremiah) to speak the Word of Yahweh to them. Nothing new would be said; as the Law never changes. Without the Law written on the walls of one’s heart (i.e.: in one’s soul by the presence of the Spirit and the Son), then one is always bound to find the failures of the past as the failures of the present.
In verse six is the proper name “Egypt,” which means “Married To Tragedy.” Seeing this, the verse says (viable translation into English), “Yahweh brought us up out of the flesh married to tragedy.” The “tragedy” all souls born into bodies of “flesh” (or “earth”) is death (being trapped within mortal bodies). To be “brought up out of” this “marriage to tragedy,” Yahweh offered those souls whose “love betrothed” them to Yahweh as His wives (bridesmaids proved worthy) the marriage to eternal life.
When the Hebrew word “eretz” – meaning “land, earth” – is read as metaphor for “flesh” – a soul breathed into a body of dust and clay – then the rest of verse six places focus on the “flesh of deserts, pits, droughts and the shadow of death.” That is the definition of a “marriage to tragedy.” When Jeremiah wrote “wə·lō- yā·šaḇ ’ā·ḏām šām,” the NRSV has translated this as “where no one lives,” the literal reality shows these words to say, “and none dwell Adam where.” The place where “Adam dwelt” was Eden, which is the spiritual realm of immortality, where only souls can live. Thus, the question posed is why would eternal souls trapped in bodies of dryness, sunk in the pit of the earthly realm (a body of flesh), and under the shadow of death ever seek to remain bound to repeat that future “life,” rather than choose to submit to Yahweh, receive his Son Adam’s soul and return to “dwell” eternally in Eden?
Verse seven then states the breaking of the marriage Covenant, which returns souls from the promise of eternal life, to the reality of a soul trapped in bodies in “the shadow of death.” The grounds for spiritual divorce are then said to be, “you defiled the flesh that was possessed by Yahweh in divine marriage. The “inheritance” of a promise for eternal life in Eden was turned into an “abomination.” One chose to serve self-ego rather than Yahweh, even while claiming His most Holy Name in marriage (as the children of Israel), when they spat upon that “possession” and yielded to the influences of the worldly realm and its governor Satan.
Verse eight then says the priests did not know Yahweh. Neither did the rulers over the people. The false prophets worshiped Baal and offered sacrifices of souls to a lesser god (a dead god, stripped of all power by Yahweh). Their false prophecies led the people to sin against Yahweh. This is spiritual adultery, punishable by death. Since all souls are eternal, a death sentence means the soul released from its flesh in death will be sent back into new flesh (a newborn, at some time in the future), to die again … and again … and again. This is the endless cycle of reincarnation, always ending in death.
In verse nine, Yahweh repeated through the true prophet Jeremiah, “I will bring charges.” The “charges” (from “’ā·rîḇ,” meaning “strive, contend”) are the grounds for divorce. When this is repeated as “against you” as also against “your children’s children,” this speaks of a permanent casting out of sinner souls forever. It will be their own souls condemned to death that will come back as their own “children” and then again as the “children’s children.” This is the permanence of the divorce “charges.”
In verse ten are the proper names “Cyprus” and “Kedar.” The word “Cyprus” means “Redeemed,” while the word “Kedar” reflects “Arabia,” as descendants of Ishmael. This becomes metaphor for the two types of souls in bodies of flesh. All have sinned, but only those of “Cyprus” have reached the coast of the sea of souls, to be replenished with everlasting waters. The opposite are those rejected as descendants of Abraham, sent into the wilderness to find eternal death in the dryness, pit, and shadow of death that is the worldly realm. This states the option is up to the individual soul. Yahweh invites all souls to submit to Him and serve Him as a wife-soul. However, some will be “redeemed,” but more will try to defile those true descendants of Abraham and be cast out.
In verse eleven Yahweh asked through Jeremiah about the inner “elohim” that possess the “people.” The NRSV has this ask, “Has a nation changed gods, even though they are no gods?” In posing that question that way, the NRSV recognizes the plural number of “elohim” and does not attempt to change it as a capitalized, singular “God.” The truth of the word “elohim” is it is an eternal spirit-soul-angel-demon that is not always the “Yahweh elohim” of Genesis 2 – the soul of Adam (a.k.a. Jesus). Thus, the repetition of “elohim” makes this question ask, “has changed people elohim . and they not gods ?” This asks how a “people” can reject an inner divine soul possession and decide to reject the Yahweh elohim that is the Son’s soul one with their souls, as their Lord, to instead accept a lesser elohim as their lord (a demon spirit possession)? The only way such a rejection could ever take place (sins divine possession last for eternity) is for the souls of the “people” to see themselves as “gods.” They then never submit to a divine union with Yahweh, choosing instead to be “gods” over their bodies of flesh; but that foolishness only leads those souls to be demonically possessed. Therefore, “it does not profit” any such souls.
Verse twelve then states of this loss of profit will be quite a shock, most especially when death and Judgment comes. The Hebrew word “shamayim” translates as “heavens,” but this should be read as metaphor for “spirits” or “souls.” It will then be those “souls astonished” by Judgment for their sins and rejecting marriage to Yahweh. They will find that Judgment to be quite “desolate” and a soul found full of “fears.” This is not the opinion of Jeremiah, but the truth stated by “Yahweh,” in Judgement.
Verse thirteen then sings that the divorced wives of Yahweh have committed two evils.” The first is they have “forsaken the fountain,” which is the everlasting waters that replenish the soul and keep it true to Yahweh as His servant. The ever-living waters” that flow from this “fountain” come from the soul of Jesus – the Son Adam resurrected, without end. The second evil is to have made themselves out to be “cisterns” that retain the “fountain” of eternal youth – the quest that Ponce de Leon sought when he landed a ship in Florida. To pretend to be a container of everlasting waters is the evil of lying. Those “cisterns are broken and cannot hold water” that gives everlasting life. Only the soul of Yahweh’s Son can be that cistern that joins with one’s soul to keep one’s soul from ever having to draw water from a well to stay alive. Eternal life is promised through divine marriage of a soul to Yahweh and being reborn as His Son, whose divine soul becomes one with a host soul, elevating it as its lord.