Jeremiah 3:10

Still, Judah did not return to the Lord with heartfelt repentance, but only superficially. Jeremiah began ministering (in 627 B.C.) one year after King Josiah began his spiritual reforms (in 628 B.C.). This oracle may have come early in Jeremiah’s ministry before the reforms had taken hold. But the rapidity with which Judah declined following Josiah’s death seems to indicate that the reforms produced only a superficial return to the Lord. King Manasseh’s long godless reign (697-642 B.C.) was more than Josiah’s comparatively brief reforms (628-609 B.C.) could counteract. Though Josiah led the nation in a reformation, the people did not experience a heart-changing revival (cf. 2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chronicles 34:22-28).