Jeremiah 2:23
How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
Judah denied being defiled by idolatry, but was told to look at its worship in the Valley of Hinnom to see proof of its guilt, roaming eagerly and restlessly after false gods like an untamed dromedary running to and fro. The defilement denied was willful departure from the Lord, for the people once joined to Him as a pure bride had turned away to commit spiritual adultery. That adultery was seeking lovers and strength among the nations, leaning on Egypt and turning to Assyria, and every union of the church with the world or with the state is the same unfaithfulness and brings confusion and ruin. Even while exposing this guilt, God calls His backsliding people to come back and promises to heal them, but the return requires facing what was done instead of excusing or glossing over the sin. The warning still applies to the professed church today in its unlawful union with the world, and the wayward nature pictured is changed by meekness that brings the soul under godly direction.
Words and Historical Setting
The valley to be inspected is the Valley of Hinnom, a place tied to idolatrous worship and child sacrifice. The swift dromedary traversing her ways pictures eager, restless roaming in pursuit of idolatry, the conduct itself exposing unfaithfulness while pollution is denied. It is an image of an untamed, wayward nature, roaming its paths instead of staying under godly direction.
Going after Baalim is turning from the Lord to pagan practices and to the worship of false gods. Those gods include Baal and Milcom and Chemosh and Ashtoreth and a multitude of gods. Looking to the hills and mountains for help was looking to false worship and hoping for help from false gods. That seeking help went by steps, from first building altars to Jehovah upon the high places, to association with false worship and leniency toward it, then to fellowship with it, then to building altars to false gods, till at last altars to false gods stood in the very house of Jehovah.
The verse belongs to chapters 2-11, which some hold to be prophecies written after Jehoiakim burned the first scroll. It is part of declarations about Judah's awful backsliding before the Babylonian captivity, portraying Judah as rebellious and unfaithful to God. It stands in a book rich in symbols and figures of speech.
Denial and Spiritual Adultery
The verse meets a claim of innocence with a demand to look at the evidence, for the people insist they are undefiled and have not chased after false gods, yet they are told to consider their course in the valley and to acknowledge what has been done. Their denial is contradicted by their conduct, which lays bare guilt and disloyalty to God. The restless roaming like a swift dromedary on its tracks portrays eager pursuit of idolatry and unfaithful alliance with other powers. That figure of adultery describes the church's union with the world.
The defilement that is denied is deliberate and evil turning away from God. It is grave wickedness and rebellion, the behavior of a harlot who has gone looking for other lovers.
The Jewish church had once been pledged to the Lord as His pure and untainted bride. She belonged in marriage to God alone. She broke faith by turning away from the teaching of her divine Husband.
That breach of faith is spiritual fornication and adultery. It consists in leaving God to pursue other lovers among earthly powers and nations. It is leaning on Egypt and turning to Assyria, seeking friendship with the world rather than trusting God. It is looking to the world for counsel, shelter, help and strength instead of relying on Him.
Every joining of the church with the world or with the state is that same fornication and departure from God. Such reliance adds sin to sin. It brings confusion, failure, plundering and ruin.
Call to Return Today
The exposure of willing and wicked departure and grave unfaithfulness does not end the appeal, for God still calls His backsliding people to return to Him and promises to heal them. The denial is met with evidence and with invitation, since the people are told to recognize what they have done even as they are welcomed back. That welcome does not excuse the wrong, and return does not make it right to gloss over the sin.
God deals with His people in their pollution and going after Baalim as a pure wife deals with a husband who breaks the marriage covenant and proves untrue. Such a wife is justified in separating from a husband living in violation of his vow rather than continuing with him while he lives with a harlot and becoming a partaker with such deeds. Yet she can take him back without violating the seventh commandment if he repents.
The warnings and appeals belong to a book rich in symbols and figures of speech, and they are applicable to the present day. The unfaithfulness once shown by the Jewish church espoused to the Lord, in turning from God to seek friendship with the world, is the same adultery now applied to the professed church's unlawful union with the world. The contradiction of claiming purity while pursuing false gods, roaming like a swift dromedary traversing her ways, thus exposes the church's union with the world. That untamed, wayward nature is changed by meekness, which brings the soul under godly direction and lays aside enmity and the impulse to harm or destroy.