This is what we say when We see men giving heed to the plausible statements of gross impostors, and, in consequence, lavishing their time, energy, and wealth in the hope of large recompense; but who, when the time comes that the hoped-for gain should be theirs, find themselves deceived, defrauded, helpless, and utterly ruined men. These are they who are the prey of bubble companies, lying advertisements, and the other ten thousand frauds into which unwary persons are beguiled. But is not this what we may say when we read of those told of in our text? Was there ever more flagrant, piteous, and awful instance of men being made fools of indeed? For -

I. LOOK AT THESE UTTERLY DECEIVED ONES.

1. They were worshippers of the gods of the heathen. The sun, the moon, and all the host of heaven: these were the objects of their worship. Reference is continually made to them and to their worship (2 Kings 23:5; 2 Kings 21:3, etc.).

2. And they were most earnest worshippers. Note the piling up of expressions to indicate this.

(1) They "have loved them. Here is the root of all real worship. The object must be loved, and these people were drawn to and attracted by these false gods.

(2) They served them. This follows as a sure consequence. It is not said they believed in them; but that matters not: it there be that in the object of our worship which makes us like it - love is almost too sacred a word as applied to false gods - we shall serve it readily enough.

(3) And then they walked after them. That which lured them at the first drew them more and more, and so it became the habit of their lives.

(4) And they sought them. When they found the worship of some of these gods was pleasant, they sought out more of them; or it may mean that they got at last to have a real faith in them, and hence consulted them as oracles, appealed to them as judges, implored their favor, and prayed to them as benefactors."

(5) And they "worshipped them. See them at their worship on Mount Carmel, on the day when Elijah challenged their priests to put to the test his God and theirs. None could doubt the sincerity of their worship or the earnestness with which they cried all that morning long, O Baal, hear us!" And those to whom Jeremiah wrote were such thorough worshippers of these gods. They withheld no proof of their devotedness.

3. But yet they were utterly deceived and disappointed. See in text and in immediate context how these gods dealt with them. Ardent votaries as they had been, those whom they worshipped let all the hideous woes come upon them which are told of here: death, desolation, degradation, and despair. That was what their gods did for them. They had spent their all on these pretended physicians, and were nothing bettered, but made worse indeed.

II. ENDEAVOR TO EXPLAIN BOTH THEIR INFATUATION AND THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT.

1. As to their infatuation. It can hardly be possible for any reader of the history of these people to avoid asking the question, "Wherefore was it that they were so given to idolatry?" Their whole national history showed that nothing but sorrow and shame had come from idolatry, and yet here they were forever, not merely falling into it, but deliberately and persistently going after it. What could be the reason?

(1) Partly, no doubt, the example of the great and mighty nations around them. We must remember what an infinitesimally small kingdom that of Judah was - about the size of an ordinary English county, and how insignificant they were; how the influence, therefore, of the great empires which pressed them on either side could not but be felt. And this was all on the side of idolatry. Idolatry had done them no harm; the gods they worshipped had, so it would seem, lifted them up to greatness and power surpassed by none, All seemed to say to the poor, weak, little kingdom of Judah, "You had far better do as we do and trust our gods rather than your own."

(2) The spirituality of the worship God required, and the absence of all such demand on the part of idolatry, was another argument for idolatry and against the worship of God. No graven image, no representation of God, nothing that would help the senses to conceive of God as like to themselves, was granted to the Jews; God was a Spirit, and he was to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. No statue, no image, no painting, no symbol even, was to represent him. It was not allowed that the Jew should be able to place in his house or carry about with him, as other nations did, any material emblem of his God (cf. Deuteronomy 4:15; Isaiah 40:18). But spiritual worship of this kind has ever been found far more difficult to maintain: it demands a condition of heart and mind so purified that to the gross and sensual such worship is impossible, and to the ordinary mind it is far from easy. The anthropomorphisms of the Old Testament, and the Incarnation itself, are condescensions of God to the confessed feebleness and incapacity of man for such pure worship. But, on the other hand, idolatry, abounding with "chambers of imagery," lending itself to all the clamor of the senses, - what wonder that it was preferred?

(3) Add on to this the fact that strict obedience to the Levitical Law involved such isolation from all other people, such scrupulous care, such heavy sacrifices of time, wealth, ease, and the good will of men; in short, was altogether, as St. Peter afterwards said (Acts 15:10), "a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear;" whilst idolatry wooed them with its sensuous, brilliant, luxurious, and easy rites; and again we ask, what wonder that idolatry was preferred?

(4) And present earthly good seemed to be associated with it, and absent from the worship of God (cf. Jeremiah 44:15-19, "For then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off,... we have wanted all things"). And

(5) lastly, the license allowed by the lax moral code of idolatry, and its positive sanction of gross licentiousness; this, contrasted with the stern frown of the true Jewish faith upon all such sin, was more than sufficient to attract in crowds a people so debased as the Jews had now become. Then, as still, the most powerful and the most depraved passions of human nature were not only permitted free indulgence by idolatry, but actually patronized, protected, and prescribed. All ancient history attests this, and the result on the heathen world, not only history but God's providence and his Word alike (Romans 1.) have plainly declared.

2. As to their disappointment. Idolatry, however for the moment it may seem to have brought good along with it (cf. supra), resulted at last in such unparalleled woe as the prophets, one and all, continually declared must come from it. But whilst no idolatrous nation has ever stood permanently in its greatness - let the decayed and perished empires of antiquity witness - there can be little question that sentence against the evil work was executed more speedily, more sternly, and more notoriously against the Jews than against any other idolatrous nation whatsoever. It cost them more than any other people, and they have not paid "the uttermost farthing" even yet. The rabbis say that in every one of the innumerable cups of affliction which Israel in the course of the long ages has had to drink, there has been mingled some of the dust of that golden idol-calf which Moses ground to powder beneath Mount Sinai. We are told how, when he had done this, he cast the powder into the stream from whence the camp drew its water, and made all the people drink of it. Now, wherefore was sorer Judgment meted out to Israel than to others because of their idolatry?

(1) Because they were the beloved of the Lord. A man may see a strange child doing a disgraceful action and may take comparatively little notice; but if it be his own son, whom he loves, will he not feel and resent it then as otherwise he never would?

(2) And "chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God." They were to be the channel along which the truth of revelation was to flow to mankind at large, and if that channel were not kept free from pollution, neither could the living waters which flowed along it. Hence the prompt and stern measures which were ever taken to preserve Israel in the faith of God, or to restore them if they had wandered. It could not be, therefore, that Israel should permanently and entirely lapse into idolatry. The well-being of the world hinged on their handing down pure and uncorrupt the oracles of God and the faith of their forefathers, and because "God so loved the world," the cup of idolatry was ever made bitter and nauseous to his people, so that they might hate to drink of it.

III. THY TO TURN THIS WHOLE SUBJECT TO GOOD ACCOUNT.

1. The votaries of the world may in these verses behold their own portraiture and read their sure reward. For

(1) they do after this manner give themselves to the world. They "love," "serve," "walk after," "seek," and "worship" it.

(2) And their infatuation is explained by like reasons.

(3) And their reward will be to be utterly deceived and disappointed. God will say to each one of them, "Thou fool!" (Luke 12:20).

2. The worshippers of God may profitably contemplate a model which too many of them too seldom follow, of earnest devotedness in their worship. "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." Would that the devotedness of the world to its god were equaled by the devotedness of the Church to theirs!

3. Every one may beheld, in the tremendous and deadly attraction of the world, fresh, urgent, and constant need of being "kept by the power of God" in the love of God. Well may each day begin with this prayer -

"Lord, I my vows to thee renew:
Scatter my sins like morning dew,
Guard my first springs of thought and will,
And with thyself my spirit fill." = - c.

These words, as they stand in the Book of Jeremiah, were probably meant to set forth the sin of Israel. The prophet's heart is very full of sadness; he can hear the cries of the people in the streets of Jerusalem. They are moaning for sorrow, because of the oppression of the Chaldeans — the nation that dwelt afar off; and in the midst of their bitterness they remember the God whom they had forgotten in their prosperity: but this remembrance is not a gracious one; they do not remember Him to humble themselves, but to bring accusations against Him. They inquire, "Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?" As if they felt, "The people of the Lord, the people of the Lord are we, and therefore He is bound to send us a deliverance." They accuse the faithfulness of Jehovah, because He greatly suitors them to be downtrodden for their sins. Then the Lord, speaking by the prophet, tells them the reason why, although present among them, he did not help them: "Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?" If they believed Him to be present, why did they set up false gods?

I. We have in the text A CRY.

1. Observe the word "Behold." The "behold" here is the mark of astonishment. We are to "Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of My people" as an unusual thing. So seldom does Israel cry unto the Lord, she is so negligent of prayer, she is so silent when she ought to be incessant in her petitions, that when at last she does cry, her voice is a wonder in God's ears. And yet it ought not to be a wonder, it ought not to be a strange thing for God's people to be in earnest, or for sinners to feel brokenness of heart. If prayer be the Christian's breath, why then, to see a multitude breathing, should never be a spectacle. If to pray unto God be the Christian's daffy privilege, then to approach the throne of God with prevalent earnestness, should never be looked upon with astonishment.

2. Notice how this prayer is described. It is a cry: "Behold the cry." A cry is the most natural form of utterance. It is a natural expression made up of pain and desire for relief. When a brother merely prays what we call prayer, he stands up and utters very proper words, very edifying, very suitable, no doubt, and then he has done. Another brother comes forward; he wants a blessing, he tells the Lord what he desires; he takes the promises, he wrestles with God, and then he seems to say, "I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me." He cannot be satisfied till, with the cry of "Abba, Father," he has come before the throne and really obtained an audience with the Most High.

3. Note again, for every word of our text is suggestive, it is Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of My people. It is not enough to be earnest, you must know what you are earnest about; the cry must have a voice which is as far as possible understood by yourself, and a voice which has a meaning in it before God. I must direct my prayer unto God, as David says, pull my bow, direct the arrow, take aim at the centre of the target, and then when the arrow flies it is likely to reach its place.

4. Further, study the matter of the voice — it was "for them that dwell in a far country." In what a far country does every sinner dwell! Now, the prayers, I hope, of God's people, have been going up for all the far-off ones, that infinite mercy would make them nigh by the blood of Christ.

5. Remark another word in the text — for "those that dwell in a far country": there are some of you who make a long abode in a far country. The fact is, you have taken up your dwellings; you have made a settlement in one of the parishes of the city of destruction; you are making out a claim to be enrolled in the devil's register; you dwell in the far-off land. If you were uneasy and felt yourselves to be strangers and foreigners in the land of destruction, how would I clap my hands for joy; for you would soon be rid of your old master if you once felt sick of him.

6. The cry is "The cry of the daughter of My people." Oh, it is so sweet to think that our prayers, poor as they are, are the prayers of God's own people, and therefore they must be heard. You are the Lord's children, therefore He will hear you. Would you let your child constantly cry to you and not answer Him?

II. We will now turn to the QUESTION: "Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?" I will answer that question at once in the affirmative. "The Lord is in Zion: her King is in the midst of her." Having answered this question, it suggests many more.

1. If the Lord be indeed in Zion, and the King he in the midst of her, why do we pray as if He were not? He is with you, ready to answer by fire, if, like Elias, you have but faith with which to challenge His promise and His power.

2. Why do you despond because of your own weakness? "We have not a sufficient number of ministers; we have little wealth; we have few places of public worship; we have few gifted members," and so on. So some unbelievingly talk. "Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?" What more do you want? "Oh! we would like to be strong." Why would you be strong? That you must be disqualified to be used by God? Why, any fool can kill the enemy with a cannon, but it takes a Samson to smite them with the jawbone of an ass. And so, when God has the choice of weapons, and He always has, He chooses the weaker weapon, that He may get to Himself the greater renown.

3. If God be with us, why these great fears about the prosperity of the Church? The God of Zion is here, the King of Zion is here. I grant you, we do not sufficiently recognise His presence; we are not, as we should be, obedient to His commands but I charge you, O ye soldiers of the Cross, believe in the presence of your Captain, and press where ye see His helmet amidst the din of war. His Cross is the great emblazoned banner which leads you on to glory. Press forward! to suffer, to deny yourselves, to bear witness for Christ; for the battle is the Lord's, and the King Himself fights in the van.

III. ANOTHER QUESTION. "Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities?"

1. Here is a question for the Lord's people. It becomes a very solemn thing when God is in His Church how that Church behaves herself. Suppose that Church to set up false principles: if her King were not there she might take the kings of the earth to be her head. But dare she do that when her King Himself is there?

2. This text has a particular voice to sinners. You have been saying, "God is in the midst of His people — how is it I have not had a blessing?" I will ask you this question, "Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities?" Do not ask why the Word is not blessed to you; do not ask why you do not enjoy the prayer meeting: answer my question first. Why hast thou provoked Me to anger with thy tricks in trade, with thy Sabbathbreaking, with thy lying, with thy loose songs, with thy miring up with worldly company, with thy profanity?

IV. ANOTHER CRY. I wish I might hear this cry this morning, for then I should not hear it in the world to come, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

( C. H. Spurgeon.)