It is now not just “faithless Israel," but the faithless children
who are called to return to the Lord.1 The second person masculine plural is now also used to refer to the people all the way to the end of Jeremiah 3:18. 2 This seems to be a deliberate expansion of the call to repentance beyond just faithless Israel
in the north. Included now is treacherous Judah
resulting in a reunited Israel (Jeremiah 3:15–18) and ultimately the blessings of the nations (Jeremiah 3:18). The bigger picture is coming into view. What is at stake is not just Israel, but the Lord’s purposes to restore his blessings to the world through his covenant people.
The people are called to return to the Lord because he is their master
(ba‘al). The verb is here used with the pronoun I
in an emphatic position. I myself am your master.
The one calling Israel to return to him is the Lord of the covenant, their true master. The Lord is their ba‘al, not the false god Baal
.3
14 Return, O faithless children,declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.