Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Today opens with Jeremiah prophesying to the people of Judah while standing outside the entrance of the temple, which is why chapter 7 is referred to as his temple sermon. The people have come to worship the God who lives inside the temple, but outside the temple walls, they're sacrificing to idols and false gods as though God isn't also outside the temple or can't see through walls.
Apparently, the people were treating the temple like it was some kind of protective icon. Verse 4 shows them repeating a phrase like an incantation. It almost seems like temple worship instead of worshiping the God in the temple. And God rebukes them for it. They seem to think that because the temple is there with them in the south, that's why they were protected against the Assyrian attack that the Israelites in the north experienced. They've turned the temple into an idol.
And in addition to that, God says they're pretty much breaking all the other commandments. Theft, murder, adultery, lies, worship of other gods. He says they're making his house into a house of robbers. You might recognize that passage because Jesus quotes it in Matthew 21 when the people of his day are doing similar things to oppress the poor and steal from the people. God drills down to the heart of things.
He calls them to change the way they treat others and the way they treat him, and promises to bless them if they do. He promises to cast them out if they don't. What will they do? We get a hint based on what God tells Jeremiah after that. He tells him not to pray for the people. Prophets often intercede on behalf of the people, but here God tells him, don't waste your breath. It's too late. Talk to them about me, but don't talk to me about them.
God's assignment to Jeremiah, to rebuke the people, is one that will fail to produce that result, but that will still achieve God's plans. We've seen this before with other prophets. The people have trusted in their own minds, walked in their own counsel, did what their stubborn hearts wanted instead of surrendering to God and His Word, and as a result, they've moved backward in their walks with Him, not forward.
In chapter 8, God continues to speak out against their autonomy. Verse 6 says, Everyone turns to his own course. Autonomy is idolatry. It's looking to ourselves for guidance instead of to God and His Word. But true wisdom and humility come from receiving the Word. And verse 9 points to this. It says, Behold, they have rejected the Word of the Lord. So what wisdom is in them?
Even the scribes and the wise men of that day will be exposed as fools and liars. They had access to the word and disregarded it. The consequences of their sins are so harsh that some will prefer to die instead of live. And while God's methods may seem extreme, they're always righteous. Jeremiah is so heartbroken over all of this. I've heard that when it comes to sin, we should be angry at our own and heartbroken over others.
That's not to say we shouldn't be heartbroken over our own sin. It's more to say we should stay humble. How easy is it to look at the sins others commit and feel disgusted as though we're not sinners too? It's arrogant.
So Jeremiah's response is fitting. He stays humble. He aches over Judah's actions. And God makes it clear that he's heartbroken too, because he continues to point out that he wants their hearts, not their begrudging obedience. Besides, the only kind of obedience that is complete and true is obedience that flows from a heart of love. God says if all they are is circumcised in the flesh, they're no better than the pagan nations who don't even know him.
He wants transformation at a heart level. What was your God shot today? I loved that moment at the end of chapter 9 where he tells us about himself directly. We saw a lot of judgment in these three chapters, and it's easy to just skim over it and determine that he's harsh and unforgiving. But here's what he says about himself in verses 2 through 25.
Let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight. God leads with love, and he delights in love, justice, and righteousness. He's always acting out of his motives to display love, justice, and righteousness on the earth.
God not only does what he loves, but he is what he loves. And I can't think of anything better to be or do. He's where the joy is.
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