Jeremiah 2:27 describes people who turn their backs on the living God and then cry out to lifeless objects for rescue. The prophet is pointing out that when real trouble comes, the idols they have trusted are powerless to help. The words were spoken by the prophet Jeremiah on God’s behalf to the people of Judah and Israel, who had abandoned the Lord for other gods.
Who tell wood, ‘You are my father;’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me:’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.’
Jeremiah 2:27 (WEB)
What Jeremiah 2:27 Means
The verse begins with a picture of absurdity. People address a block of wood as “father” and a stone as the one who gave them birth. These were carved or shaped objects, things made by human hands, yet the people spoke to them as though they were sources of life. The language is deliberately mocking, showing how far the nation had drifted from reality.
The central problem is named in the middle of the verse: “they have turned their back to me, and not their face.” Turning the back toward someone is a sign of rejection and disregard. The people had turned away from the God who had cared for them, yet when danger arrived they still expected help. The verse ends by revealing that expectation: “in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.'”
The verse does not promise that idols will never be called upon, nor does it describe God’s rescue here. It exposes a pattern of hypocrisy, where faith is treated as a tool to use only when convenient. Its force lies in the contrast between the emptiness of the false gods and the living God who is being ignored.
The Context of Jeremiah 2:27
The book of Jeremiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, who ministered in Jerusalem during the late seventh and early sixth centuries before Christ, a period of political instability and religious decline. The message of chapter two is addressed to Israel and Judah, the covenant people who had been shaped by God’s deliverance from Egypt and his covenant at Sinai. Here God speaks through Jeremiah with a lawsuit-like tone, recounting what the people have done.
Just before the verse, the prophet compares the nation to a thief who is ashamed once caught, and to a wild animal driven by its own appetites. Just after, God asks, “where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?” and notes that Judah has as many gods as it has towns. Read in this setting, Jeremiah 2:27 is part of a sustained indictment. The question God poses in verse 28 turns the people’s cry for help back on them, showing that their chosen gods have never been able to deliver.
Key Phrases in Jeremiah 2:27
Isaiah 44:9
Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.
(WEB)
This passage mocks the maker of idols, showing that those who fashion gods from wood and metal labor for things that cannot profit them. It deepens the point of Jeremiah 2:27 by explaining why these objects are worthless as objects of trust.
Psalm 115:4-8
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see. 6 They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell. 7 They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat. 8 Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
(WEB)
The psalmist describes idols with mouths that cannot speak and eyes that cannot see, and warns that those who make and trust them become like them. This connects closely with Jeremiah’s observation that idol worshippers end up powerless themselves.
A Short Prayer From Jeremiah 2:27
Lord, you have made me and you have never left me without your care. I confess the times I have turned my back on you and looked to things that cannot give me life or safety. Forgive me for placing my hope in what I can see and control, and for calling on you only when I am afraid. Turn my face back toward you and teach me to trust you in every season, not only in trouble. Keep my heart from wandering after empty things, and let me find my security in you alone. Amen.
