The Lord describes why his judgment is coming. It is coming because of the unfaithfulness of Judah’s people. Jeremiah has been proclaiming this unfaithfulness clearly throughout the book. The fire of war that will burn the city down is in response to the fires that were made on the houses of Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to Baal and other gods. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth.
From the moment that the Lord rescued them from Egypt and made his covenant with them at Mt Sinai, the whole nation of Israel has failed in every way to be faithful to the Lord. They have only provoked him to anger and now finally that anger is coming to Judah and Jerusalem, just as it had already come to the northern tribes. They have turned their back and not their face
to the Lord. They have defied him and disobeyed him. The Lord has persistently
taught them by sending his prophets, but they have not listened to receive instruction.
They have even set up idol worship in the temple, the house that is called by my name,
says the Lord. They have built the high place of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom
where they offered their children as sacrifices (see Jeremiah 19:1–15). All of this Jeremiah has spoken of in his many sermons and all of it is an abomination
to the Lord.
The Lord’s description of Judah’s behaviour surround the reader with smoke, blood, and fire’s heat, which force him or her to face the horrors of sin
and increases the contradiction Jeremiah is feeling between the inevitability of judgment and the promise of restoration1.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.