Jeremiah 7
Don’t worship the Temple worship the LORD verse 1- 7
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD
saying
Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house – and proclaim there this word
and say
Hear the word of the LORD – all you of Judah
that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD
Thus says the LORD of hosts – the God of Israel
Amend your ways and your doings
and I will cause you to dwell in this place
Trust you not in lying words saying
The temple of the LORD
The temple of the LORD
The temple of the LORD – are these
For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings
if you thoroughly execute judgment
between a man and his neighbor
if you oppress not the stranger – fatherless – widow
and shed not innocent blood in this place
neither walk not after other gods to your hurt
THEN will I cause you to dwell in this place
in the land that I gave your fathers for ever and ever
Temple won’t protect you from judgment verse 8- 11
BEHOLD – you trust in lying words – that cannot profit
will you steal – murder – commit adultery – swear falsely
and burn incense unto Baal
and walk after other gods whom you know not
And come and stand before ME in this house
which is called by MY name
and say
We are delivered to do all these abominations?
Is this house which is called by MY name become a
den of robbers in your eyes?
BEHOLD – even I have seen it – says the LORD
Example of Shiloh given verse 12- 15
BUT go you now to MY place which was in Shiloh
where I set MY name at the FIRST
and see what I did to it
for the wickedness of MY
people Israel
AND now
BECAUSE you have done all these works
says the LORD
and I spoke to you – rising up early and speaking
BUT you heard not and I called you
BUT you answered not
THEREFORE will I do unto this house
which is called by MY name
wherein you TRUST and to the place which I gave to you
and to your fathers – as I have done to Shiloh
And I will cast you out of MY sight
as I have cast out all your brethren
even the whole seed of Ephraim
Jeremiah command to not pray for Ephraim verse 16- 19
THEREFORE pray not you for this people
neither lift up cry nor prayer for them
neither make intercession to ME
for I will not hear you
See you not what they do in the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem?
The children gather wood – the fathers kindle the fire
the women knead their dough
to make cakes to the queen of heaven
to pour out drink offerings to other gods
that they may provoke ME to anger
Do they provoke ME to anger? – says the LORD
do they not provoke themselves
to the confusion of their own faces?
LORD has unquenchable angry verse 20
THEREFORE thus says the Lord GOD
BEHOLD – MINE anger and MY fury shall be
poured out upon this place upon man – beast
the trees of the field
upon the fruit of the ground
and it shall burn
and it shall not be quenched
Only obedience satisfies the LORD verse 21- 23
THUS says the LORD of hosts
the God of Israel
Put your burnt offerings to your sacrifice
and eat flesh
For I spoke not to your fathers
nor commanded them in the day that I brought them
out of the land of Egypt
concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices
BUT this thing commanded I them
saying
Obey MY voice and I will be your God
and you shall be MY people
and walk ye in all the ways
that I have commanded you
that it may be well unto you
Worst generation of Israelites verse 24- 26
BUT they hearkened not – nor inclined their ear
BUT walked in the counsels and in the imagination of
their evil heart – and went backward – and not forward
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
unto this day I have even sent unto you all MY servants
the prophets – daily rising up early and sending them
yet they hearkened not unto ME
nor inclined their ear
BUT hardened their neck
they did worse than their fathers
Generation with deaf ears verse 27- 28
THEREFORE you shall speak
all these words to them
BUT they will not hearken to you
you shall also call to them
BUT they will not answer you
BUT you shall say unto them
This is a nation that obeyed not
the voice of the LORD their God
NOR received correction – truth is perished
and is cut off from their mouth
Worship of false gods in valley of Hinnom verse 29- 31
Cut off your hair – O Jerusalem – and cast it away
and take up a lamentation on high places
for the LORD hath rejected
and forsaken the generation of HIS wrath
For the children of Judah have done evil in MY sight
says the LORD
they have set their abominations in the house
which is called by MY name
to pollute it
And they have built the high places of Tophet
which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom
to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire
which I commanded them not
neither came it into MY heart
Valley of Slaughter is the valley of Hinnom verse 32- 34
THEREFORE – BEHOLD the days come – says the LORD
that it shall no more be called Tophet
nor the valley of the son of Hinnom
BUT the valley of slaughter
FOR they shall bury in Tophet
till there be no place
AND the carcasses of this people
shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven
and for the beasts of the earth
and none shall fray them away
THEN will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah
and from the streets of Jerusalem
the voice of mirth – gladness – bridegroom – bride
FOR the land shall be desolate
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. (3190 “amend” [yatab] means do well, do good, make successful, or please.)
DEVOTION: The children of Israel were worshipping the Temple rather than GOD. They were living in a holy city. Therefore, they were holy and could sin as much as they wanted as long as they offered their sacrifices to the LORD.
Jeremiah gave the LORD’S answer to these thoughts. HE said NO!!! HE wanted them to stop thinking that way. HE sent HIS prophets to warn them but they didn’t want to listen. The LORD ordered Jeremiah not to pray for the people because of their attitude toward sin. Even if Jeremiah prayed for them, the LORD would not answer him.
The people of God in the Old Testament are told four times in this book to be content with God’s way of doing things. They are not willing to change. They didn’t want to walk the way HE told them too. They didn’t want their actions to please HIM.
God says that we are either going forward or backwards in our relationship with HIM. There is no neutral in our walk with the LORD. There is no neutral in our actions.
Sometimes it seems that even now people are worshiping the church building rather than God. Some think that as long as they go to church and give their tithe and do some service – they are OK with God.
God always looks at the heart. Sometimes the actions can fool people. Sometimes the speech can fool people. However, it is the LORD that has the final say.
What is HE saying about the church today? What is HE saying about our actions today? Let us not put confidence in a building but in LORD!!! How are we doing on our journey with the LORD?
Some parents seem to think that their children will understand that they want them to worship the LORD when they act like the devil’s servants at home. Attending church doesn’t make you a saint. You are a saint because you act the way the LORD wants you too at home and everywhere else you go, not just in church.
CHALLENGE: Children know whether their parent’s worship is genuine. They watch them at home and at church!!! Consistency is what the LORD wants in our life.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 8 Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: From hit songs to bumper stickers to football eye-black, Jesus is trending high wherever you look. But at the end of the day, many “try Jesus” and come away disappointed in the experience. That’s because the Jesus of popular culture looks much more like us than the God-man who appeared in the flesh two thousand years ago. We’ve developed plenty of imposter Jesus’s that feed into our selfish desires—Prosperity Jesus, Braveheart Jesus, Dr. Phil Jesus, Free-Range Jesus. The problem is, they don’t have the power to save us or transform us into new creations.
The Israelites also began to trust in other gods and incorporate them into the worship of Jehovah. This resulted in compromise and idolatry inside the temple courts. If you had watched their worship, you may have thought that with sincerity they in the temple. Instead in their hearts they were worshipping Baal, Ashtoreth, Chemosh and other gods and goddesses of the heathen nations surrounding them. Judah paid lip service but in reality was giving heart service to idols.
The original Jesus calls us back to the Jesus who demands our worship—the potter who molds us, the clay. Seekers, skeptics, and sojourners in the way of faith will see Jesus for who he really is: God in the flesh, calling us to surrender our very lives that we may truly live. John 14 declares that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no man comes unto the Father except through Him.
God commanded Jeremiah to proclaim this message to the hypocritical people of Jerusalem.
CHALLENGE: In the midst of cultural sensitive church services we need teachers, preachers and evangelists that will unwaveringly expose false worship, false confidence, false prophets and false gods. We people like Jeremiah that will deliver an unpopular message even though it may cost him dearly. (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
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: 13 And now, because you have done all these works, says the LORD, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you heard not: and I called you, but you answered not: (7121 “called” [qara[ means cried, proclaim, invited, utter a loud sound, to summon, invite, call for, call and commission, or appoint)
DEVOTION: The LORD saw the works of the children of Israel and he spoke to them about their actions but they were not willing to listen. HE called them all times of day and night to repent of their sins but they didn’t want to have anything to do with HIM.
They were enjoying their sins more than they enjoyed the fellowship with the Father. They thought they didn’t need God because they were busy worshiping the gods of the land, which seemed to be more fun.
Today we are doing the same as the children of Israel. We are worshiping the gods of our world – to eat, drink and be merry. Some people who claim to know Christ seem to think that it is OK to worship this world and the LORD but they don’t realize that once this world is more important than the worship of the LORD they are headed for judgment.
Some think that the LORD doesn’t mind them enjoying the sins of the world and think that they will still have a place in heaven.
Salvation means that we don’t want to displease the LORD anymore and are willing to give up our personal pleasure or sin to for a place in heaven for eternity. It is what the LORD requires of us all if we are to be genuine followers of HIM.
Does that mean that being a Christian is NO FUN? The answer is NO! The Bible says there is JOY in serving Jesus. The joy is for eternity and not for just our time here on this earth.
Service to the LORD means reaching others with the message of salvation by our words AND actions. If people can’t see Jesus in us then they won’t want Jesus in them.
CHALLENGE: Do people see a Jesus in you that is genuine or just an act? Our actions speak louder than words! Pray that your actions show Jesus to others every day.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 16 Therefore pray not you for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear you. (6293 “intercession” [paga] means reach, entreat, meet, encounter with a request, assail, put pressure on, urge strongly on, plead with, or contact.)
DEVOTION: When the LORD is talking with HIS prophets HE doesn’t hold anything back. HE instructs them exactly what HE is thinking regarding an issue. HE does this throughout the Word of God or the Bible. When HE speaks those who are HIS followers are to listen. If they don’t listen HE is angry with them and sends correction their way.
The people of Judah were not listening to the words of the LORD. HE had sent Jeremiah with a message for them. HE stated that if they were to turn from their present direction and head back toward HIM, HE would stop the invasion of Jerusalem.
They chose not to listen. They thought that they had the Temple in Jerusalem and that God would never send judgment to a place when there was the Temple in place.
Now we come to the difficult part of the message. The LORD tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people. HIS longsuffering is over. HE is going to send judgment. HE is not going to listen to the prayer of the prophet Jeremiah. HIS answer is NO!! Their sin has gone too far without repentance.
Today we think that God will answer any prayer we make for ourselves or others if we say it sincerely. That is false. There is a point of no return with God. HE will send weakness, sickness and pre-mature death to those who are HIS servants to correct them from the sins in their life.
We are commanded not to pray for some people, just as Jeremiah was told. Paul told the church to cast someone out to be delivered to the devil. Why? The sin was too great to allow in the church.
One of our responsibilities is to pray for one another. As we pray we should be helping our fellow believers live a life that is pleasing to the LORD. We are not to be judgmental but encouraging them to walk closer to the LORD.
However, there are some people we have to deliver into the hands of the Holy Spirit to work out their salvation.
CHALLENGE: Is there people in our world that have drifted far from the LORD? What are we doing to bring them back? Have they reached the point of no return? God will instruct you regarding this matter.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Jeremiah told not to pray for people verse 16
Jeremiah told not to make intercession for them verse 16
Jeremiah told that the LORD will not hear verse 16
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Gate of the LORD’S house verse 2
Proclaim this word verse 2
Worship the LORD verse 2
Temple of the LORD verse 4
Come and stand before ME in this house
which is called by MY name verse 10,11, 14
Burnt offerings verse 22
Sacrifices verse 22
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD verse 1, 2
Commands of LORD verse 23
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1- 4, 11, 13, 19, 21, 28- 30, 32
LORD’S house verse 2
Worship the LORD verse 2
LORD of hosts verse 3, 21
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 3, 21, 23
God of Israel verse 3, 21
I will cause you to dwell in this place verse 3
Temple of the LORD verse 4
I have seen it verse 11
MY place which is in Shiloh verse 12
I set MY name at the first verse 12
MY people Israel verse 12
Call by MY name (This house) verse 14
I gave house to your fathers verse 14
I will cast you out of MY sight verse 15
Lord – Adonai (Master, Owner) verse 20
GOD – Jehovah verse 20
Lord GOD verse 20
Anger and fury of LORD that is not quenched verse 20
Command to Israel: Obey MY voice verse 23
I will be your God verse 23
MY servants: the prophets verse 25
Voice of the LORD their God verse 28
LORD has rejected and forsaken the
generation of his wrath verse 29
HIS wrath verse 29
Heart of LORD verse 31
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Neighbor verse 5
Stranger verse 6
Fatherless verse 6
Widow verse 6
Land of Egypt verse 22, 25
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Lying words verse 4, 8
Oppress stranger or fatherless or widow verse 6
Shed innocent blood verse 6
Walk after other gods verse 6, 9, 18, 31
Steal verse 9
Murder verse 9
Commit adultery verse 9
Swear falsely verse 9
Burn incense to Baal verse 9
Abominations verse 10, 30
Den of robbers verse 11
Wickedness verse 12
Trust in place of worship instead of LORD verse 12, 14
Not listened to the LORD verse 13, 24, 26- 28
Worship Queen of heaven verse 18
make cakes to
Pour out drink offerings to other gods verse 18
Provoke LORD to anger verse 18, 19
Confusion verse 19
Hearkened not verse 24
Not inclined their ear to LORD verse 24
Walked in the imagination of their evil heart verse 24
Went backwards verse 24
Evil heart verse 24, 30
Going backward verse 24
Not hearkening to God’s prophets verse 26
Hardened neck verse 26
Did worse than their fathers verse 26
Not hearken to Jeremiah verse 27
Called of LORD but not answer verse 27
Obeyed not verse 28
Not receive correction verse 28
High places verse 29
Done evil in MY sight verse 30
Set their abominations in the house of LORD verse 30
Pollute temple verse 30
High places of Tophet verse 31
Burn sons and daughters to false god verse 31- 33
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Proclaim the Word of God verse 2
Hear the Word of God verse 2
Worship the LORD verse 2
Amend your ways verse 3, 5
Amend your doings verse 3, 5
Trust the LORD verse 4
Execute judgment between man
and his neighbor verse 5
Inheritance verse 7
Come and stand before ME
in this house which is called by
MY name verse 10
Listen to call of God verse 13
Prayer verse 16
Obey the LORD verse 23, 28
Walk in the ways of the LORD verse 23
Well with you verse 23
Going forward verse 23
Servants verse 25
True prophets verse 25
Rising early to serve LORD verse 25
Receive correction verse 28
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jeremiah verse 1, 16, 28
LORD told him not to pray for Israel
Not lift up cry nor prayer
Neither make intercession to ME
for I will not hear
Say to nation that they have not obeyed
the voice of the LORD
Not received correction
Truth is perished- cut off from their mouth
Gate of the LORD’S house verse 2
Judah verse 2, 17, 30, 34
Israel verse 3, 12, 21
Shiloh verse 12, 14
Seed of Ephraim – cast out verse 15
Cities in Judah verse 17
Jerusalem verse 17, 29, 34
Cut off thine hair
God’s people verse 23
Prophets of the LORD to Israel
daily rising early verse 25
Rejected and forsaken verse 29
Children of Judah verse 30
done evil in God’s sight
Valley of Tophet (human sacrifice) verse 31, 32
valley of slaughter
bury till no more places to bury
Carcases of people shall be meat for
fowls of the heaven
beasts of the earth
none shall fray them away verse 33
Cities of Judah verse 34
Streets of Jerusalem verse 34
Mirth and gladness will cease verse 34
Land shall be desolate verse 34
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Land given to Israel forever verse 7
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QUOTES regarding passage
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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Ver. 30. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord, &c.] Meaning not a single action only, but a series, a course of evil actions; and those openly, in a daring manner, not only before men, but in the sight of God, and in contempt of him, like the men of Sodom, Gen. 13:13: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it; that is, set their idols in the temple; here Manasseh set up a graven image of the grove, 2 Kings 21:7 which was done, as if it was done on purpose to defile it.
Ver. 31. And they have built the high places of Tophet, &c.] Where was the idol Moloch; and which place had its name, as Jarchi thinks, from the beating of drums, that the parents of the children that were burnt might not hear the cry of them: which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom; a valley near Jerusalem, and lay to the south of it, Josh. 15:8 and 18:16: to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which was done, as Jarchi says, by putting them into the arms of the brasen image Moloch, heated hot. The account he gives of Tophet is this, “Tophet is Moloch, which was made of brass; and they heated him from his lower parts; and his hands being stretched out, and made hot, they put the child between his hands, and it was burnt; when it vehemently cried out; but the priests beat a drum, that the father might not hear the voice of his son, and his bowels might not be moved:” but in this he is mistaken; for Tophet was not the name of an idol, but of a place, as is clear from this and the following verse. There is some agreement between this account of Jarchi, and that which Diodorus Siculus gives of Saturn, to whom children were sacrificed by the Carthaginians; who had, he says, a brasen image of Saturn, which stretched out his hands, inclining to the earth; so that a child put upon them rolled down, and fell into a chasm full of fire: which I commanded them not; not in my law, as the Targum; nor by any of the prophets, as Jarchi paraphrases it; he commanded them, as Kimchi observes, to burn their beasts, but not their sons and daughters. The instance of Abraham offering up Isaac will not justify it. The case of Jephtha’s daughter, if sacrificed, was not by divine command. The giving of seed to Moloch, and letting any pass through the fire to him, is expressly forbidden, Lev. 18:21 and 20:23: neither came it into my heart; it was not so much as thought of by him, still less desired, and much less commanded by him. Jarchi’s note is, “though I spake to Abraham to slay his son, it did not enter into my heart that he should slay him, but to make known his righteousness.” (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, p. 447). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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7:30–34 The people of Judah did not try to hide their idolatry. They boldly put their idols in the temple itself, perhaps as a result of the earlier influence of King Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5; cf. Ezek 8). It was the same temple that they acknowledged as the place where God dwelt.
Furthermore, for the sake of their own well-being, they were following the most hideous and deplorable practice of idolatry, child sacrifice, a practice clearly forbidden by law (Lev 18:21; 20:2–6) and contrary to the biblical teaching that a child is a gift of God to be treasured (Ps 127:3–4). The Lord is a life-giving, not a life-taking, God. Topheth is from an Aramaic word, “fireplace,” and is perhaps pointed with the vowels of bōšet, “shame,” or tōpet, “spitting” (a gesture of contempt). It was a place where victims offered to Molech were burned (2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6). The practice was abolished by Josiah (2 Kgs 23:10) but apparently was reinstated by Jehoiakim. The Valley of Ben Hinnom, located south of Jerusalem outside the city wall, probably was named for a previous owner. After being a place for human sacrifice, the area may have become a place in later times where garbage was burned. Because of the earlier repugnant associations, by NT times Gehenna (“valley of Hinnom”) had become the name of the place of eternal punishment in Jewish thought (cf. Neh 11:30; Matt 18:9; Mark 9:47–48).
In the place where they had slaughtered their children, they were going to be slaughtered by the Babylonians. The valley would be renamed Valley of Slaughter to match its identification as an immense burial ground. The number killed would be so great that there would not be room to bury all of them. The unburied corpses would become food for birds of prey and wild beasts (anticipated in Deut 28:26, but not to be confused with the feast of birds in Ezek 39:17–18; Rev 19:17–21). Denying the dignity of burial was considered to be an unspeakable horror (and a curse on the corpse, 2 Sam 21:5–10). When that day of judgment came, no joyful sounds, such as were heard at weddings, would be heard in any of the towns of Judah or in Jerusalem itself. The land would be desolate (cf. Ezek 26:13; Isa 16:10; 24:8; Lam 5:15). (Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, pp. 110–111). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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7:30–34. God continued to elaborate on the sin of Judah which brought her judgment. The people had set up … idols in the temple itself so that even the house of God was defiled (cf. Ezek. 8:3–18). Outside the city they had built the high places of Topheth (cf. Jer. 19:6, 11–14) which were located in the Valley of Ben Hinnom (cf. 19:2, 6; 32:35; also called simply the Valley of Hinnom). Here they practiced child sacrifice, burning their sons and daughters in the fire (cf. 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chron. 33:6; Jer. 19:5). The origin of the word “Topheth” (tōp̱eṯ) is uncertain, but possibly it came from a word for “cookstove” or “oven.” The change in vowels was deliberate; the vowels from the word bōšeṯ (“shame”) were transferred to the other word to emphasize the shameful character of the practices there. This “high place of shame” was located in the Valley of Hinnom, immediately south and west of the city. In this valley the refuse from the city was burned. In Greek the Valley of Hinnom (Heb., gê’ehinnōm) became known as Gehenna geenna) to picture the fiery corruption of hell (cf. Matt. 5:22, 29–30; 2 Peter 2:4). God vowed that the name of this place would be changed to the Valley of Slaughter because of the great number of dead bodies that would be burned after the destruction of Jerusalem. The prediction about birds and beasts eating the carcasses affirms the Mosaic Covenant because of the people’s disobedience (Deut. 28:26). Joy will be gone (cf. Jer. 16:9; 25:10) when the city would become desolate. (Dyer, C. H. (1985). Jeremiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1140). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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“My discipline and correction do them no good” (7:27–8:3). “This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction” (Jer. 7:28, NIV). Whom the Lord loves, He chastens (Prov. 3:11–12; Heb. 12:5–13), and if we truly know and love the Lord, His chastening will bring us back to Himself in contrite obedience. But God told Jeremiah to lament for the dead nation, because they would not repent.
Topheth is an Aramaic word meaning “fireplace,” and it sounds much like the Hebrew word meaning “shameful thing.” Topheth was the place in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom where the people sacrificed their children to idols by throwing them into the fire (Isa. 30:33). King Josiah had defiled Topheth and turned it into a garbage dump (2 Kings 23:10), but after his death the gruesome pagan rituals were reinstated. The Greek word gehenna, meaning “hell,” comes from the Hebrew gehinnom, “the valley of Hinnom.” Hell is a garbage dump where Christ-rejecting sinners will suffer forever with the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).
Jeremiah announced that the day would come when the Valley of Hinnom would become a cemetery too small for all the people who would need burial after the Babylonian invasion. The army would plunder the graves and tombs, and the bones of the great leaders and kings would be desecrated on the altars like so many sacrifices to the gods they worshiped. Gehenna would again become a garbage dump, and the corpses of the Jerusalem citizens would be the garbage! “They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground” (Jer. 8:2, NIV). Many of the people surviving the siege would be carried off to Babylon, and the land would become desolate. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Decisive (pp. 44–45). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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7:31 burn their sons. Though God forbade this atrocity (Lv 18:21; 20:2–5; Dt 12:31), Israelites still offered babies as sacrifices at the high places of idol worship (Topheth) in the valley of Hinnom (S end of Jerusalem). They offered them to the fire god Molech, under the delusion that this god would reward them. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Je 7:31). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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Terrible was to be the desolation resulting upon their casting off. Tophet, the high place of the valley of Hinnom, where the children were sacrificed upon the heated brazen arms of Moloch, was to become the valley of slaughter in which they should bury until there was no more place, while fowls and beasts devoured the unburied bodies of the residue. “Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate” (vers. 30–34). Even the very bones of the kings and princes of Judah, as well as of the priests, the prophets, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, would be brought from their tombs and strewed before the heavenly bodies which they had worshiped in life; while for the residue, death will be preferable to the terrors of that evil day. Doubtless this all had a fulfilment in the Chaldean conquest and the later Maccabean times; but as “no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation,” it likewise pictures the direful tribulation yet to come.
It is not because Jehovah delights in judgment (“His strange act”) that His people must be so visited. It was the inevitable result of their own waywardness. Theirs was a “perpetual backsliding;” and though oft pleaded with, they repented not, but “every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into battle” (chap. 8:5, 6). Though they boasted of their wisdom, they had not the discernment of the migratory birds. “Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord” (ver. 7). Of the same character was the Lord’s word to the scribes—“Can ye not discern the signs of the times?” Yet they said, “We are wise, and the the law of the Lord is with us;” but the word of God was practically written in vain for them—not denied, as it is not always denied to be His Word to-day, by many who politely bow it out and profess veneration for it while walking in disobedience to it. “Peace, peace,” such may say, but true peace there is not. Priest and people alike deal falsely with the Sacred Oracles; as a result, the time of visitation cannot be long delayed. (Ironside, H. A. (1906). Notes on the prophecy and Lamentations of Jeremiah (pp. 50–52). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
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6. w. be: put pressure on s.one, urge strongly on s.one (le on behalf of) Gn 23:8; = intercede with, pray to Je 7:16; — 7. pāgaʿ gebûl be the border touches Jos 16:7. (Holladay, W. L., Köhler, L., & Köhler, L. (1971). A concise Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament. (288). Leiden: Brill.)
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FROM MY READING:
Messages from the Messiah’s Life: The Miracle at Cana
“This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” (John 2:11)
Right after His baptism and the time of spiritual intensity in the wilderness, Jesus returned to Galilee and attended a wedding celebration at Cana, some nine miles north of Nazareth, with Mary and some of His disciples.
During the course of the multi-day feast, the host family ran out of wine to provide for their guests. Apparently, Mary was embarrassed for the hosts and expected Jesus to fix the problem.
Within the compound were “six waterpots of stone . . . containing two or three firkins apiece” (John 2:6). A firkin was about 10 gallons. Each stone pot would hold about 25 gallons, therefore the six vessels would contain about 125 gallons total. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim” (John 2:7).
Once that was done, the servants were directed to fill a pitcher and serve the “governor of the feast” (John 2:8). The unsuspecting governor tasted the miraculous beverage and declared, “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10).
What actually happened? The water (H2O), a simple molecular compound, was instantly changed into extremely complex, multifaceted molecular compounds. It was a creation event, overriding the scientific axioms of stasis and entropy. New matter was created—instantly—just by the private thought of the Creator Himself!
This first miracle defies those who would insist that God must use natural processes over long ages to create. (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and tempted by Satan.
INSIGHT
When Satan tempts Jesus, he offers Him things which God has already promised to give to Jesus. The things are not wrong in and of themselves, but they are not in God’s time or in God’s way. Each time Jesus rebuffs Satan, He does so with Scripture. Each time Satan offers Jesus something, Jesus’ reply is, “No, because it is written . . .” To be victorious, we must know Scripture well enough to use it in our spiritual warfare, to see through the tricks of Satan. (Quiet Walk)
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GOD’S PEOPLE
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
John 17:10
Why are Christian people not of the world? It is because they are God’s people. “I have manifested thy name”—to whom?—“unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me” (John 17:6). That is the answer. That is the first and indeed the ultimate explanation, the one that includes all the others.
The importance of this doctrine can be seen at a glance in John17. Whenever our Lord repeats a thing, we can be quite sure that He regards it as absolutely vital. We are familiar with the fact that whenever He introduces a statement by saying, “Verily, verily” we ought to pay unusual attention to it. So if He repeats a statement frequently in a short space, we can be equally certain that it is something that we should lay hold of very firmly.
Now you notice how He repeats this thought in John 17:6-19. We have noted it in verse 6, but we have it again in verse 9: “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” In verse 10 He says, “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them,” and then again in verse 11, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”
Finally, in verse 12 He says, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” Nothing, then, ought to establish in our minds the all-importance of this doctrine and teaching more than that.
A Thought to Ponder: Why are Christian people not of the world? It is because they are God’s people. (From Safe in the World, pp. 33-34, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Idolizing Blue Bell
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:31
I think the human race has a problem with addictions. The well-known addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex and pornography have destroyed lives and families for generations. But there are other addictions, even within the Christian community, that are not as evil but are still addictions.
Like food. Let me illustrate personally. Barbara and I approach food very differently. She eats to live. I love to eat. Food to her is necessary fuel for life. But for me there have been times in my life when I’ve simply idolized food. Specifically ice cream.
For years, I felt a day was not complete unless I had enjoyed a mountainous bowl of Blue Bell Vanilla Nut Bean ice cream swimming in chocolate sauce and sprinkled with savory crushed almonds. Honestly, I think I was addicted. And my waistline showed it.
The natural consequence of my addiction forced me to face reality. I became convicted that I was placing way too much importance on ice cream. I decided that I would use Lent, a 40-day period leading up to Easter that recalls the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, to fast from all desserts. It was fascinating to see how God used this time in my life to create a healthier perspective on food. So much so that for the past three years, I’ve used this annual season to fast from dessert
Let me ask you a question: Is there anything that has a grip on your life? Something that has become an addiction and even an idol that has supplanted God in your allegiance? Perhaps it’s time to talk about it as a couple and come clean. You and your spouse may need to create some accountability and a lifestyle that will bring about a real life change that honors God.
DISCUSS
Talk about addictions in your family. What are they? How could you use Lent to break their power in your lives? (From Moments with You by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)
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Ellen quotes (NY): Worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you cannot change. Prayer is a conversation you have with God about things HE can change.
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