The contrast implied by the questions in Jeremiah 18:13–14 is now made explicit. Judah should have been the Lord’s faithful covenant people, but instead they have forgotten him and his covenant. They make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway.
Instead of being faithful to the Lord they have turned to false gods which have caused them to lose their way. They no longer walked according to the original terms of the covenant that described the way the Lord wanted them to live as his people. This pictures a society that is unable to function properly because it has rejected the moral and spiritual norms set out by the Lord of the covenant.
1 Even pagan nations could understand what Judah had done. Each nation had its own gods and to turn to another god is to follow a different path and was seen as waywardness.2 This comparison does not suggest that the pagan gods are legitimate, but rather highlights Judah’s foolishness.
15 But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway,