Jeremiah was called as a prophet during a time of spiritual renewal by King Josiah. However, because of the previous kings the people were led into pagan practices and worshiping false gods. God pronounces judgments on His people because they worshiped false gods - a violation of the first and second of the Ten Commandments.

Jeremiah was a Levite, the son of a priest.

 Jeremiah 1:5
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Proof that God knew us even before we were conceived. Since He is omniscient, He can do that!

Jeremiah 1:9
Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth.

What an image that is! The Lord reached out to touch Jeremiah with His hand. This was the hand of God, the Son.  The Lord reaches out to “touch” us. He did that through Jesus! 

We were wondering about the vision of the almond branch and remembered Aaron's staff budding and bearing fruit overnight. Was God expecting Jeremiah to produce much "fruit" in his witness?

Interesting that the prophecies given to Jeremiah were during the times of Josiah's reforms. No wonder the people didn't listen.  Things were going too well. 

Jeremiah reminds us of the spiritual marriage relationship.

Jeremiah 2:2
"Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: "'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.

The Lord asks the question "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me?"

Could the people answer with the same excuses many people use today, things such as "The Bible is too confining, too restrictive, too confusing, not relevant to the customs of today."

Jeremiah 2:13
"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

How often do we try to do things on our own – at great cost and effort? Our way is substandard at best. God gives freely and His way is so much better. 

God reminds the people that they have brought their disasters on themselves. It's not that God punishes so much but that people reap what they sow. Sometimes we suffer as a natural result of our sinful behavior.

Jeremiah 2:19b
Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

God is Holy. We should not worship Him casually!

Psalm 29:2
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

How should it look to worship Him in splendor and with reverence and awe?

Jeremiah 2:25
But you said, It's no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.

This lust after foreign gods, such as the sexual perversion associated with the fertility gods. is an obsession with them.  This lust is difficult to shake, especially when the person doesn't want to stop going after foreign gods because it is so pleasurable to him.  An example of this would be people's obsession with gaming.  They say they love it so much and can't stop.  By making that statement they are in effect saying it is an addiction and a "disease" and they have no control over it.  Habits, obsessions, and addictions can be broken.

Jeremiah 2:30  
“In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.

The people didn't heed the warnings then, people are not heeding the warnings now.  They didn't listen to Jeremiah then, they don't listen to modern day prophets today. (Modern day prophets are those who are God's spokespersons, who speak the truth from God's Word.)

Jeremiah 3 explains just how corrupt Israel had become with prostitution and wickedness, refusing even to blush with shame. They have the nerve to ask God, "Will your wrath continue forever?" as they fail to respond to His punishment. It's as if they want God to bless whatever they do no matter how evil it is.

God is calling His people to humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways.  Only then can we expect God to bless us.