Jeremiah 2:31-37

“O generation, see the word of the LORD! Have I been a wilderness to Israel,Or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are lords; We will come no more to You’? Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number. “Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught The wicked women your ways. Also on your skirts is found The blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, But plainly on all these things. Yet you say, ‘Because I am innocent, Surely His anger shall turn from me.’ Behold, I will plead My case against you, Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ Why do you gad about so much to change your way? Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria. Indeed you will go forth from him With your hands on your head; For the LORD has rejected your trusted allies, And you will not prosper by them.
Jeremiah 2:31-37

God begs Judah to consider the words He is sending them. God asks if He has been a wilderness or if He has been darkness to them. God supplied them with the land of promise. He had given them spiritual as well as physical food. He had given them spiritual light so that they could see His love and His truth. The chosen people had responded with pride in themselves, inflated egos that insisted they did not need the living God of heaven. The Hebrews responded to the constant reminders of God's care for them and His salvation by saying 'We are lords; we will come no more to you'. The Lord compares how they forget Him with the virgin who would never forget her ornaments or the bride who would never forget her wedding dress. Jesus' robe of righteousness has to cover us. We are sinful and cannot become sinless on our on. It is impossible for the sins we commit and have committed in the past to be cleansed by us, only by the life and sacrifice of Jesus can we be saved. We have to accept the robe to cover our sins. If we 'forget' to accept the robe of Jesus' righteousness and think that we are 'lords' in and of ourselves and can save ourselves without Jesus, we will end with destruction just like Judah did.
From the pride in their ability to handle everything on their own the people had gone to the persecution of those that God sent to warn them and beg them to return to a love relationship with their God. The Lord points out that they did not hide what they were doing, in their pride they openly killed and persecuted the prophets. They also felt that they had the right for the more powerful to take what they wanted from the weak. It is pictured that the blood of the innocent was found on the skirts of the woman who was the bride of the Lord. We are the bride of the Lord and the blood of Jesus needs to be on us to cleanse us of our sins. When we do what we want without regard for what God teaches us and we become so wicked and so far from obeying the Lord that we take innocent lives then we have the blood of those we kill on ourselves. This is more than just literal killing. It is symbolic of all the murder which we commit through our hate. Jesus told us that hating our brother was the same as murdering them. When hate rules our lives, we are covered in the blood of those we attack. We need Jesus' blood to cleanse us and we need the forgiveness of God to wash away the blood of the innocents that we have wronged.
Despite all the evil that the people of Judah were doing they seemed to think that they had nothing to worry about. Josiah's reforms led many to an outward display of righteousness. Judah had let Josiah destroy the idols that were openly worshipped before. They had let the land be cleansed outwardly of the groves and high places and the priests of Baal and other false gods. This seemed to them to be enough, they were innocent now. God would not punish them. Yet the Lord said that He would plead His case against them, because they said 'I have not sinned' and continued to sin. I can outwardly keep the Sabbath, pay tithe, say nice things about my parents, and do everything that I think means I keep the commandments, but if I don't have Jesus in my heart and have a love relationship with God and obey Him in love, it is meaningless. For a period Judah had an outward showing of goodness, but in their hearts they refused to let God reign over all aspects of their lives. When trials came they did not have God to rely on, they would try to rely on those whom they always relied on, themselves.
Judah had allied itself with Assyria under king Ahaz and only trouble followed. Assyria had helped for awhile and then attempted to destroy Judah. Now Judah was preparing to rely on Egypt for protection. God warned them through Jeremiah that relying on Egypt would be a grave mistake. Only by trusting in God and relying on Him would save them. Today we are often tempted to trust in men to help us. While God may use men to give us aid and comfort, we cannot rely on man to save us. God is our only hope, we must rely only on Him.

Lord,
Help me today to trust in You and rely on You. Help me to accept Jesus' robe of righteousness. Cleanse me, wash me, fill my heart with Your love. Help me to obey You because I love you. Take away my pride and what I think is my ability to handle the problems of life on my own. Put Your love and Your spirit in me, so that I will allow You to cleanse me and I will be willing to be Your hands and Your feet, to serve You in all that I do.