"Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence" (Jeremiah 14:11-12).
Why should Yahweh speak to Jeremiah in this way concerning Israel, His special people that are called after his own Name?
"Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins" (Jeremiah 14:10). They have wandered away from worship of him as their Saviour (Jeremiah 14:8Jeremiah 14:8 8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?) to worship of idols, though not exclusively as they still payed lip service to their God.
However, lip service, half-hearted worship and semi-obedience are not what Yahweh requires of the true disciple. Jeremiah speaking the word of Yahweh to the house of Israel says "But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation" (Jeremiah 10:10). The Hebrew translated "true God" is better rendered "God of truth", and this is born out in other versions and the following passages Deuteronomy 32:4Deuteronomy 32:4 4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he., Psalm 31:5Psalm 31:5 5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth., Psalm 100:5Psalm 100:5 5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations., Psalm 146:6Psalm 146:6 6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:.
Thus the God of truth can only be worshipped acceptably "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24John 4:24 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.). So we should all take heed as to how we worship and to our attitude to understanding the word of Yahweh so that, by God's grace we are not rejected when we stand before our Judge "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18)