Jeremiah 6:22-7:16
“Thus saith the LORD,
Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be
raised from the sides of the earth. They
shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice
roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against
thee, O daughter of Zion.
We have heard the fame
thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a
woman in travail. Go not forth into the
field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every
side. O daughter of my people, gird thee
with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only
son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.”
(Jeremiah 6:22-26)
God had repeatedly warned Judah and Jerusalem that he was
going to bring the Babylonians against them because of their sin. Once again he reminds them that Babylon was a
world power that had even been able to block Assyrian expansion and defeat the
Assyrian army, destroying any resistance without hesitation or concern, and
that they will be coming against Jerusalem.
Jeremiah says the people are aware of the threat and are terrified to
the point of being impotent. They are
afraid to open the gates or go outside for fear they will be destroyed and
spend their days in depression and misery like a mother who just lost her only
son because they are afraid the attack will come.
“I have set thee for a
tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all grievous revolters, walking with
slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed
of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because
the LORD hath rejected them.” (Jeremiah 6:27-30)
God has placed Jeremiah among the people like a tower or
fortress where they can turn for safety, much like a police station in a rough
area today. The captain or chief of that
station soon learns the attitudes of the people around them. Judah was like a ghetto area where everyone
is involved in gangs and criminal activity.
Every effort to make changes was met with opposition and the crime
continues even as they complain how bad things are. They are as stubborn and resistant to change
as a piece of brass or iron, insisting on going their own way even though it is
destroying them like a person who tries to melt lead but the fire gets out of
control and destroys the furnace itself.
The lead is lost into the fire and his work is wasted because he didn’t
take away the trash and other flammable materials.
Because they have allowed the sin to continue unchecked, it
will result in the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah and the results will be
unusable, like silver that has been oxidized as a result of overheating. God will not accept what is left.
“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 ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the
LORD. Thus saith 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 ye not in lying
words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of
the LORD, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your
doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If
ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not
innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then
will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your
fathers, for ever and ever.” (Jeremiah 7:1-7)
Jeremiah was commanded to stand at the entrance to the
Temple and warn the people that they if they would change their way of life,
they would be allowed to stay in their land.
They would have to quit listening to lies about how they should serve
the Lord. They would need to make major
changes, going back to the old standards of justice, being completely fair to
everyone involved. they would need to
quit taking advantage of people who were unable to protect themselves and quit
allowing the killing of innocent people.
They would also have to quit putting other things and people in god’s
place. If they would do so, God would
allow them to continue to live in the land he had given their ancestors.
“Behold, ye trust in
lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye
steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto
Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye 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, saith the LORD. But go ye now
unto 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.” (Jeremiah 7:8-12)
The Jews had trusted false teachings, adopting things that God
had forbidden as being what he had commanded, even though those things were
harmful rather than beneficial. They could
break everyone of God’s commandments and come into the temple, claiming they
were doing what God had put them there to do.
As a result the church had become a refuge for thieves and con
artists. If they would go back to
Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was originally set up when they first
conquered Israel, they could see what God would do to a place that turned their
back on him. Shiloh had lost its influence long before, but
when the Assyrians conquered Israel, the entire population was relocated to
other countries.
“And now, because ye
have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up
early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye
trust, and unto 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. Therefore pray not thou for
this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession
to me: for I will not hear thee.” (Jeremiah 7:13-16)
Because Judah and Jerusalem had refused to pay attention
when God warned them, despite repeated efforts, he is going to do the same
thing to Jerusalem that he did to Shiloh.
He will move them out of his land and destroy Jerusalem as completely as
he removed the descendants of Ephraim out of Israel and destroyed Shiloh. Jeremiah was not to waste his time praying
for their deliverance or protection because God would not be listening.
There comes a point where it is wrong to keep praying that
God would withhold judgment for wickedness.
At that point we can only pray that they will listen to what God has to
say and repent. It is wrong to ask Him
to let them get by with their sin, and He will not honor that prayer.
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