A divine revelation uncovers the deep spiritual decay taking root among the people, exposing the true reason the prophet was commanded to remind them of their ancient covenant [אברבנאל]. This decline took the form of a highly organized rebellion against God. The primary approach among commentators is that this betrayal was not the isolated act of a single person, but a collective, coordinated uprising by a broad segment of the population [מצודת ציון].
The timing of this revolt makes it particularly tragic. The nation had recently gone through a period of sincere repentance during the reign of King Josiah. Yet, soon after, likely during the time of King Jehoiakim, they abandoned this spiritual progress and revolted against God once more [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. The core of this rebellion involved a return to the dark practices of the past. The people embraced the ways of earlier, defiant generations—such as those who lived under the rule of Kings Ahaz, Amon, and Manasseh—who had stubbornly refused to listen to God [אברבנאל]. Another perspective suggests that the people were not merely adopting the sins of their ancestors, but were constantly relapsing into their own repeated failures, ensuring that their coming punishment would be exceptionally harsh [חומת אנך].
What made this specific generation so uniquely guilty was the active nature of their betrayal. They did not simply drift away or passively neglect God's commandments, such as failing to travel for festivals or ignoring their required tithes. Instead, they took aggressive steps to worship other gods. They actively celebrated foreign holidays and even brought their offerings and tithes directly to the priests of these idols. Such actions went far beyond ordinary wrongdoing; they represented a complete and absolute breaking of their covenant with God [מלבי״ם]. Ultimately, this severe spiritual betrayal brought the Kingdom of Judah down to the exact same level of guilt that had previously caused the complete destruction of the Kingdom of Ephraim [אברבנאל].