Jeremiah 2

Jehovah, Israel's Husband

Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Jeremiah 2:2

Jehovah speaks of His covenant with Israel as a marriage, remembering her early love when she followed Him in the wilderness. The same Lord later calls Himself the Bridegroom whose bride is His covenant people (see also verse 32).

• the same title in Jeremiah 3:14 — For I am married unto you.
• the same title in Matthew 25:1-13 — Jesus is the Bridegroom in the parable of the ten virgins.

The LORD who led Israel through the wilderness

Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? Jeremiah 2:6

Jehovah reminds Israel that He is the one who delivered them from Egypt and led them through the desert (verse 17 repeats 'he led thee by the way'). Paul teaches that the one who went with Israel in the wilderness was Christ.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4)

• interpreted by 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 — They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Fountain of Living Waters

Fountain of living waters — the source of flowing, life-giving water, as opposed to stagnant stored water

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13

Jehovah calls Himself the fountain of living waters, the only true source of life, which His people traded for leaky man-made cisterns. Jesus claims this role when He offers living water that springs up into everlasting life.

• the same title in Jeremiah 17:13 — They have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
• fulfilled by John 4:10-14 — Jesus offers the woman at the well living water.
• fulfilled by John 7:37-38 — If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
• the same title in 1 Nephi 11:25 — The fountain of living waters is a representation of the love of God.

The Lord who planted the noble vine

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? Jeremiah 2:21

Jehovah pictures Himself as the planter of Israel, a choice vine that went wild. The same image fills Isaiah's song of the vineyard and Zenos's allegory, where the Lord of the vineyard labors to save His trees.

• alludes to Isaiah 5:1-7 — The LORD planted His vineyard with the choicest vine, but it brought forth wild grapes.
• the same title in Jacob 5:3 — The Lord of the vineyard nourishes the tame olive tree, Israel, that has decayed.
• the same title in John 15:1 — Jesus: I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

The only one who can save

Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. Jeremiah 2:27–28

Israel ignores the Lord until trouble comes, then begs Him to save them; He answers that their idols cannot. Jehovah alone is Savior, the role He fulfilled as Jesus Christ.

• the same title in Isaiah 43:11 — I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.