Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 3:20-25

"Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah. A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping [and] the supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God. Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God. Truly in vain is [the help that is looked for] from the hills, the tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel. But the shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God." — Jeremiah 3:20-25 (ASV)

1. Here, the author discusses the fruit of their return.
   1. First, he speaks of the necessity of their being called back regarding their own guilt—lover, not husband: Go, and love a woman loved by a lover, an adulteress (Hosea 3:1). Regarding the punishment, it says, a voice was heard on the roads, and as it says below, a voice was heard on high: lamentation, grief and wailing, Rachel weeping for her children (Jeremiah 31:15).
   2. Second, he discusses the usefulness of conversion. This relates to the call to turn back from your backslidings—the ways you have turned away from God. As Scripture says, Who heals all your infirmities (Psalms 102:3), and, Turn back to me, and you will be saved (Isaiah 45:22).
   3. Third, he addresses their return, which involves three confessions:
      1. First, they acknowledge their obedience: behold, we have come, as You commanded. Come, let us return to the Lord, because he has taken and healed us; he will strike, and will cure us (Hosea 6:1).

      2. Second, they confess the magnificence of God by professing His divinity: for you are the Lord our God. As it is written, This is my God, and I will glorify him (Exodus 15:2).

         They also confess the falsity of their idols: surely the hills were deceitful. This is because the idols they worshiped there did not bring the help for which they hoped, nor did they have the divinity they pretended to have. As Isaiah says, We have set a lie as our hope, and by a lie are we protected (Isaiah 28:15). In contrast, they affirm the benefit of worshiping God: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. For, In God is my salvation, the God of my help, and my hope is in God (Psalms 61:7).

      3. Third, they confess their guilt and punishment, as well as that of their fathers: shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth. As it says elsewhere: O Lord, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who depart from you shall be inscribed in the land, for they have abandoned the Lord, the source of living waters (Jeremiah 17:13).

Note that God is called father (Jeremiah 3:4) for several reasons:

• From His act of creating: I confess to you Father, Lord of heaven and earth (Matthew 11:25).
• By adoption: you have received the spirit of adoption of the sons of God, in whom we cry, Abba Father (Romans 8:15).
• By instruction: the father shall make known to his sons your truth (Isaiah 38:19).
• By correction: for the Lord chastens the one whom He loves, as a father does the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:12).

Note that the inheritance (Jeremiah 3:19) of the heavenly homeland consists of several things:

• The bright splendor of the divine vision: wisdom is bright and never fading, and easily seen by those who love her .
• The sweetness of divine love: my intoxicating cup—how excellent it is (Psalms 23:5).Heb. כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה: my cup overflows.
• The intimacy of divine speech: renown in sharing her words .
• The magnificence of His work: there are great and wondrous works .
• The greatness of exultation: the house of Judah and the house of Israel will be for a blessing (Zechariah 8:13).
• The consolation of fellowship: every tree of pleasure which was in the paradise of God (Ezekiel 31:9).