6 And Jehovah saith unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is going on every high mountain, and unto the place of every green tree, and committeth fornication there. 7 And I say, after her doing all these, Unto Me thou dost turn back, and she hath not turned back, and see 'it' doth her treacherous sister Judah. 8 And I see when (for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery) I have sent her away, and I give the bill of her divorce unto her, that treacherous Judah her sister hath not feared, and goeth and committeth fornication—she also. 9 And it hath come to pass, from the vileness of her fornication, that the land is defiled, and she committeth fornication with stone and with wood. 10 And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned back unto Me with all her heart, but with falsehood, an affirmation of Jehovah.' 11 And Jehovah saith unto me: 'Justified herself hath backsliding Israel, More than treacherous Judah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 3:6-11
Commentary on Jeremiah 3:6-11
(Read Jeremiah 3:6-11)
If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.