The Folly of a Runaway Son Text: Jeremiah 2:14-17
Introduction: God's Covenant Lawsuit
The book of Jeremiah opens with God Almighty filing a lawsuit against His people. This is not a petty squabble; it is a formal, covenantal indictment. In the ancient world, when a great king, a suzerain, made a treaty with a lesser king, a vassal, the terms were clear. The great king promised protection and provision. The vassal king promised exclusive loyalty. If the vassal broke the treaty, the suzerain would bring a lawsuit, outlining the charges before bringing the promised sanctions, the curses of the covenant.
This is exactly what is happening here. God, through His prophet Jeremiah, is the prosecuting attorney. Judah is in the dock. The charge is breach of contract, spiritual adultery, high treason against the King of heaven. God begins by reminding them of their honeymoon days, the devotion of their youth when they followed Him through the wilderness. But that was then. Now, they have committed two fundamental evils: they have forsaken Him, the fountain of living waters, and have dug for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. They have traded the artesian spring for a mud puddle.
The passage before us is a series of blistering, rhetorical questions. God is cross-examining His people, forcing them to confront the sheer absurdity of their situation. They were His chosen son, His treasured possession, and yet they are living like abandoned slaves. God is asking, "How did this happen? Who did this to you?" And the answer, as we will see, is a devastating self-indictment. They have no one to blame but themselves. This is a timeless lesson. When a people blessed by God find themselves desolate, plundered, and humiliated, the first place to look is not at their enemies, but in the mirror.
The Text
"Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn slave? Why has he become plunder? The young lions have roared at him; They have given forth their voice. And they have made his land a desolation; His cities have been turned into ruin, without inhabitant. Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes Have shaved the top of your head. Have you not done this to yourself By your forsaking Yahweh your God When He led you in the way?"
(Jeremiah 2:14-17 LSB)
An Astonishing Question (v. 14)
God begins his cross-examination with a question designed to shock the conscience.
"Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn slave? Why has he become plunder?" (Jeremiah 2:14)
The answer to the first two questions is a resounding "No!" Israel was God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). God did not deliver them from bondage in Egypt only to have them become slaves to someone else. He redeemed them, set them apart, made them His treasured possession. A "homeborn slave" was one born into servitude, who had never known anything else. But Israel's national birth was freedom. Their identity was rooted in the Exodus, in the mighty act of God who broke their chains.
So the third question hangs in the air, thick with accusation: "Why then has he become plunder?" If you are a king's son, why are you being sold in the marketplace? If you are an heir, why are your pockets empty? The question exposes the stark contradiction between their covenant identity and their lived reality. They were meant to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. Instead, they are prey. They have been captured, looted, and carried off.
This is a picture of the Christian who lives in defeat. You have been adopted into the household of God, made a joint-heir with Christ. You are seated with Him in the heavenly places. Why then are you enslaved to bitterness? Why are you plundered by lust? Why is your spiritual life a desolation? The question is meant to jolt us. This is not what you were made for. This is not who you are. The disconnect between your calling and your condition is a scandal.
The Roaring Lions and Ruined Cities (v. 15-16)
The prosecution now brings forth the evidence of this plundering. The consequences of their sin are not abstract; they are brutally tangible.
"The young lions have roared at him; They have given forth their voice. And they have made his land a desolation; His cities have been turned into ruin, without inhabitant. Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes Have shaved the top of your head." (Jeremiah 2:15-16 LSB)
The "young lions" are the ravenous empires, Assyria and Babylon, who have come and devoured the nation. The land that was promised to be flowing with milk and honey is now a wasteland. The cities that were meant to be beacons of God's law and peace are now rubble heaps, ghost towns.
But then Jeremiah points the finger in a very specific direction. It is not just the Babylonians. He says, "Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes Have shaved the top of your head." Memphis and Tahpanhes were major cities in Egypt. And this is the central point of the indictment. Egypt was supposed to be their ally. Judah had been playing footsie with Egypt for years, making political alliances, trusting in their chariots and horsemen instead of in Yahweh. They ran to Egypt for protection from the lions of Babylon.
And what did their trusted ally do? They "shaved the top of your head." This was an act of ultimate humiliation and disgrace. It was a sign of mourning, but also of being conquered and shamed. The very ones they trusted for deliverance became the agents of their disgrace. This is always how it works when you forsake the fountain of living waters. The broken cisterns you dig for yourself will not only fail to hold water; the broken shards will cut you. The idols you run to for comfort will turn on you and enslave you. The political saviors you trust will inevitably humiliate you. Seeking security in the arm of the flesh is like asking the fox to guard the henhouse. The result is predictable: feathers everywhere.
The Verdict is In (v. 17)
After laying out the evidence, God delivers the verdict. And the verdict is a mirror.
"Have you not done this to yourself By your forsaking Yahweh your God When He led you in the way?" (Jeremiah 2:17 LSB)
This is the climax of the argument. The question is rhetorical, and the answer is a terrible "Yes." Who is to blame for the lions and the desolation and the national disgrace? You are. You have brought this upon yourselves. The Hebrew is emphatic: "Have you not done this to yourself?" It was a self-inflicted wound.
God's people are never plundered unless they first abandon their post. The enemy cannot breach the walls until there is a traitor inside to open the gate. The problem was not the strength of Babylon or the treachery of Egypt. The problem was Judah's own heart. They forsook Yahweh their God.
And notice the heartbreaking final clause: "When He led you in the way." This was not a sin of ignorance. God had not abandoned them in the dark. He was actively leading them, guiding them, shepherding them in the right path. Like a father holding his son's hand, God was leading them. And in the middle of that tender guidance, they wrenched their hand away and ran off to play in traffic. They chose the mud puddles of Egypt and the roaring lions of Babylon over the safe path of their loving Father. This is the essence of sin. It is not just breaking a rule; it is spurning a relationship. It is an act of cosmic ingratitude.
Conclusion: The Self-Inflicted Wound and the Only Cure
The principle here is inescapable. The vast majority of our miseries are homemade. We are the authors of our own calamities. When our lives are in ruins, when our families are a desolation, when we feel plundered and humiliated, the first question must always be the one God asks here: "Have you not done this to yourself?"
Did you forsake the clear path of God's Word for a clever-looking shortcut? Did you forsake the fountain of fellowship with Christ for the broken cistern of worldly entertainment or political idolatry? Did you forsake your covenant vows to your spouse for a fleeting affair that has now left your home in ruins? The world wants to tell you that you are a victim. The Bible tells you that you are, first and foremost, a sinner. And until you own your own sin, you cannot receive grace.
But this is the glory of the gospel. This covenant lawsuit, this devastating indictment, is not God's final word. Jeremiah's whole ministry is one of judgment and restoration. God breaks down in order to build up. He wounds in order to heal. He reveals the depth of our self-inflicted misery so that we will finally stop trusting in ourselves and turn to the only one who can save us.
Israel, the firstborn son, ran away from the Father and sold himself into slavery. But God sent His only begotten Son, the true Israel, into the world. Jesus did not forsake the Father. He did not wrench His hand away. He walked the path His Father laid for Him perfectly, all the way to the cross. And on that cross, He took upon Himself the plunder, the desolation, and the humiliation that we deserved for our covenant-breaking. He allowed His head to be crowned with thorns, the ultimate sign of the curse, so that our shaved heads might once again be anointed with the oil of gladness. He became a slave to death so that we, the runaway slaves, might be brought home as sons.
Therefore, when you look at the ruins in your life, do not despair. Own it. Confess it. "Yes, Lord, I have done this to myself." But do not stop there. Look to the cross and see what He has done for you. He is the fountain of living waters, and He invites all who are thirsty to come and drink freely. Forsake your broken cisterns and return to Him. That is the only way out of the wasteland.