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God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah in this chapter, wanted the people of Judah to see their sin in the same light that God saw it -- to be sorry for the way in which they had forsaken God and His commandments, and to fear the judgment that God was about to bring upon them for their disobedience. However, the people were persistent in using various prideful human reasons or earthly resources -- such as their intelligence, their wealth, and their military power (but not faith in God) -- to convince themselves that they were safe from any accountability to Him, despite the fact that they had already seen how the northern ten tribes of Israel had been taken into permanent exile by the Assyrians approximately one hundred years earlier in similar judgment from God (2 Kings 17:6-23). God wanted the people of Judah to see their misplaced priorities. That was why He told them in these verses that the true source of their nation's glory and protection did not come from any resource or action apart from God, but from knowing and understanding Him, which meant taking heed of what He had revealed about Himself in His dealings with Israel; and obeying the laws and commandments that He had given to Israel through Moses.
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