Jeremiah 7 (HCSB)
False Trust in the Temple
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord and there call out this word: Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord.
3 “This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds, and I will allow you to live in this place. 4 Do not trust deceitful words, chanting: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. 5 Instead, if you really change your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another, 6 if you no longer oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves, 7 I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors long ago and forever. 8 But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.
9 “Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known? 10 Then do you come and stand before Me in this house called by My name and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts’? 11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Shiloh As a Warning
12 “But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. 13 Now, because you have done all these things”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and because I have spoken to you time and time again but you wouldn’t listen, and I have called to you, but you wouldn’t answer, 14 what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name—the house in which you trust—the place that I gave you and your ancestors. 15 I will drive you from My presence, just as I drove out all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
Do Not Pray for Judah
16 “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Don’t you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke Me to anger. 19 But are they really provoking Me?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Isn’t it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?”
20 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Look, My anger—My burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched.”
Obedience Over Sacrifice
21 This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves, 22 for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice. 23 However, I did give them this command: Obey Me, and then I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you. 24 Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention but followed their own advice and according to their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward. 25 Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent all My servants the prophets to you time and time again. 26 However, they wouldn’t listen to Me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors.
A Lament for Disobedient Judah
27 “When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you. 28 You must therefore declare to them: This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the Lord their God and would not accept discipline. Truth has perished—it has disappeared from their mouths. 29 Cut off the hair of your sacred vow and throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.
30 “For the Judeans have done what is evil in My sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and defiled it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought.
32 “Therefore, take note! Days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. Topheth will become a cemetery, because there will be no other burial place. 33 The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away. 34 I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride, for the land will become a desolate waste.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 8, 24): You are definitely speaking to me in the book of Jeremiah, Father. In these two verses, You talk about something I have been struggling with in my faith journey with You for a long time and even still do from time-to-time today; although I am doing better. Please forgive me for “trusting in deceitful words that cannot help” be it from friends, family, my own selfish desires, or the world. Forgive me for not listening to You or paying attention to You when You pointed out these deceitful words to me and instead choosing to remain stubborn in my own ways. Thank You for always being there for me, Father, even when I was too stubborn to recognize You and accept Your wisdom, guidance, and counsel.
PROMISE (verse 24): In this verse, Father, You mention how your people at this time were following their “own advice and according to their own stubborn, evil heart.” You continue this by giving us a promise that living this way will only move us backward and not forward. I have experienced this many times throughout my life, but especially since coming to faith, Father. Anytime I’ve done something selfish from my own “stubborn, evil heart” I have found that I move backward in the grand scheme of things and not forward. Although in the moment it may feel like I’m moving forward, but I’m really just getting a false assurance in the moment that I’m doing good, when really I’m not allowing Your will and Your way for my life to truly progress me in the direction You always want me to go—forward. Thank You for this promise, Father, as my life has shown it to be very true that Your ways always move us forward whereas our own selfish desires will always move us backward.
ATTITUDE (verse 24): I keep being led back to this verse pretty consistently in my quiet time with You today, Father. I have had a stubborn attitude for most of my life; always thinking that my way is the only way and the best way. Help me to no longer live in an attitude of stubbornness, Father. Help me to cleanse my stubborn and evil heart so that it is more accepting of Your counsel, Your wisdom, and Your will for my life. Help me to live with a more positive attitude in my heart that accepts things from You that my selfish desires and stubborn ways may not always agree with, but since it is from You then it is definitely better than my own.
COMMAND (verse 3): In this verse, You tell us a couple of things we should be doing in order to truly live a righteous life. You command us to “correct your ways and your deeds.” I love how You broke that into two different things even though it sounds like the same. When You say our “ways” I feel You are talking about internally—thoughts, heart’s desires, defaults, etc. When You say our “deeds” I feel You are talking about externally—actions, our walk, responses, etc. You command us to correct ourselves both internally and externally so that we live a life that is in line with Your ways and not our own. You command us to correct and learn from all the brokenness the world and other sinners has produced in us which has distorted the identity You intended for us, Father. Help me to continue to correct my internal struggles and battles so that my defaults externally become more and more naturally aligned with Your will, Father.
EXAMPLE (verse 19): In this one verse You give us such a big example to learn from, Father. Judah is doing so many things against Your will thinking they are provoking You out of anger, resentment, etc., but You say to us “isn’t it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?” WOW! How amazing is this one statement that You made to us, Father?! You basically tell us that the things we do and often feel anger and resentment afterwards for or even possibly say something like that’s “God’s wrath upon us” is actually our own feeling of disgrace towards ourselves; our own convictions towards ourselves for what we have done. Help me to realize that often when I’m doing things in rebellion against Your will for me, Father, that it isn’t You that is angry towards me; rather it’s my own disgrace and anger towards myself that I’m feeling conviction over. Thank You for giving such an amazing example to me in so few words to give me a better understanding of some of the feelings I have towards myself, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: I struggle often with taking and accepting counsel from this broken world over what You provide to me, Father. I am sorry for my weakness of needing acceptance from this broken world more than what You want from me through many things. Please remind me daily that this world is broken and nothing from the brokenness of this world compares to the pristine counsel and instruction You have to offer to me, Father. Remind me daily to stay in Your word and in Your will for my life so that I do not stray again as I have so often. Remind me and help me to come back to You quickly for anytime I do stray in the future so that I do not get stuck in a downward spiral again, like I have for FAR too long in recent years.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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