Judah Must Not Trust In The Presence Of The Temple For Security Because As A Result Of Their Evil Ways YHWH Intends To Do To The Temple What He Did To His House At Shiloh, Destroy It (Jeremiah 7:1-15).
As a result of the amazing deliverance of Jerusalem with its Temple from the Assyrians in the time of Hezekiah, and what had in contrast happened to neighbouring temples, the myth had grown up that the security of Jerusalem was guaranteed by the presence of the Temple among them. Their view had become that YHWH would not allow His Temple to be destroyed so that the Temple was inviolable. In consequence they had gained the false confidence that they too would be secure in Jerusalem, whatever their behaviour. In this passage therefore YHWH calls on Jeremiah to dispel that myth and make clear to all Judah that such dependence was totally false. Indeed the truth was that unless they repented He intended to do to the Temple precisely what He had done to His previous house at Shiloh (something that they had overlooked), allow it to be utterly destroyed.
On the basis of Jeremiah 26:1 it is accepted by many that these words were spoken at the commencement of the reign of Jehoiakim in around 609 BC. They argue that the similarities are too striking to be ignored. Others, however, disagree and argue that the similarities are not such as to demand that the incidents are the same and that Jeremiah might well have given the substance of this message a number of times, even in the time of Josiah. It is then especially pointed out that here there is no indication of a violent response by the priests, something which is very prominent in chapter 26. That is seen as indicating the restraining hand of Josiah. Furthermore, they say, here the message was given in the gate of YHWH's house, while in chapter 26 it was in the court of YHWH's house
‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,'
For the idea behind these words see Jeremiah 1:4, (the word of YHWH came to me saying'); Jeremiah 2:4, (hear you the word of YHWH --); Jeremiah 3:6, (moreover YHWH said to me in the days of Josiah the king'). It was introductory to a new series of prophecies. And it stressed that what Jeremiah was proclaiming was the true word of YHWH.
Judah Are Called On To Change Their Ways.
“Stand in the gate of YHWH's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of YHWH, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship YHWH.' ”
Jeremiah was called on to stand in the gate of YHWH's house. This was probably the gate that led into the inner court, (the court that would later become the court of the priests), and it may well have been seen as a place for the making of proclamations. He was probably looking outwards from the raised gateway towards the crowds gathered in the outer court, presumably during one of the main feasts of Israel.
“Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.' ”
His words commenced with a call from YHWH of hosts, as ‘the God of Israel', addressed to what remained of ‘Israel', requiring them to amend their ways, accompanied by an assurance that if they did so He would enable them to continue dwelling in the land, and in Jerusalem. So even at this point there was hope for them if they truly repented.
‘In this place.' That is, in this land, compare Jeremiah 7:7; Jeremiah 7:20. Alternately in context it might indicate the Temple, repointing the text to read, ‘I will dwell with you in this place'. For this place' compare the stress in Deuteronomy 12 on ‘the place which YHWH your God will choose'.
There Is No Point In Their Relying On The Inviolability Of The Temple.
“Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘The temple of YHWH, the temple of YHWH, the temple of YHWH, are these.' ”
But if they were to continue dwelling in the land it would be necessary for them to cease deceiving themselves into thinking that somehow the presence of the Temple of YHWH made Jerusalem inviolable, and that YHWH would not allow His holy hill to be approached by the enemy. There was no point in their continually saying, “‘The temple of YHWH, the temple of YHWH, the temple of YHWH are these (miscellany of buildings)” as though that could keep the enemy at bay by continual emphasis, unless they also amended their ways, for such thinking was invalid. Compare Micah 3:11 where the heads of Judah, the priests and the prophets also erroneously claimed, ‘Is not YHWH in the midst of us? No evil will come on us.'
The threefold repetition of ‘the Temple of YHWH' possibly indicates Jeremiah's weariness with constantly hearing the false prophets declaring Judah's inviolability because of the presence of the Temple of YHWH in that he is bringing out that they keep on saying it again and again. ‘Are these.' That is, are all these buildings, furniture and courts making up the Temple complex.
Alternately it may be intended as a sardonic comparison with the ‘holy, holy, holy' of the Seraphim as depicted in Isaiah 6:3 (and repeated in Revelation 4:8). Instead of drawing attention to the holiness of YHWH, they were concentrating their hopes on the physical presence of what was virtually a mascot. Indeed the words may have formed part of a self-comforting liturgy by which they assured themselves of their own security.
One of the most remarkable evidences of the corruption of men's hearts is that they can have a high estimate of ‘holy things', and even of a holy God, and yet not recognise the demand that it lays on them to be equally ‘holy. (‘You shall be holy, for I am holy'). They have the ability to appreciate God's holiness and believe that it offers them some kind of protection, especially from people ‘worse' than they are, while at the same time excusing themselves from the need to be equally holy. As long as by their own standards they are not guilty of what they see as major sins (even when in fact they are, but they see it as excusable in their case) they consider that they have done all that can reasonably be expected of them, while at the same time being hard on those who stir up their consciences or do things that they cannot condone. They hate those who make them feel guilty and they ‘condone the sins they are inclined to, by condemning those they have no mind to.' And then they think that all is well. They overlook the fact that at the centre of the Scriptural conception of the holiness of YHWH is the idea morally speaking that He is pure and beyond reproach, (as is revealed by His covenant), and that He requires the same of His people. They forget that, as Psalms 24 makes clear (compare also Psalms 15), only what is truly pure and righteous is acceptable in His presence. It was because of this strange spiritual blindness that they were able in this situation to have a high view of The Temple and its importance to God, without it having any real moral effect on their lives. It was the folly of such thinking that Jeremiah was seeking to bring home to them. On The Other Hand If They Do Amend Their Ways They Will Be Inviolate.
“For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour; if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own hurt, then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.”
What was needed was for them to genuinely amend their ways and doings, by submitting to God's covenant and ensuring that people obtained true justice in the everyday affairs of life, that the more helpless in society were not oppressed or being taken advantage of (something very important to God - see Jeremiah 27:19; Exodus 22:21 ff.; Deuteronomy 24:17 ff.; Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 10:2; Ezekiel 22:7; Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5; Psalms 94:6, etc.), that the blood of innocent people was not being shed (by judicial murder, by attacks on the righteous, including the prophets, and by general violence), and that idolatry, which could only cause them harm, was being put to one side. If they did this, walking in accordance with His covenant, He would then ensure that they were able to continue dwelling in the land continually for ever, the land which He had given to their forefathers from of old. The corollary was that being allowed to live in the land depended on covenant obedience.
‘To your own hurt.' This covered all the failures mentioned, not just the last one, compare Jeremiah 25:7.
‘From of old even for evermore.' This could theoretically be translated ‘from everlasting to everlasting.' It could not be literally true, for the land had not existed from everlasting, nor would it exist for evermore. Thus it includes within it the seed idea of the new heavens and the new earth, where Abraham and his descendants will receive ‘a better country' (Hebrews 11:10-14), thus ensuring that His final promises of the land to them will be fulfilled in a way better than they could ever have dreamed of.
But In Spite Of Their False Confidence This Will Not Apply If They Continue In Their Sins.
“Behold, you trust in lying words, which cannot profit.”
But the problem was that instead they believed in the words of false teachers and false prophets, words which said otherwise, giving them assurances based on false premises. Such words could not possibly be profitable for them, for they would simply hasten their destruction.
“Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered,' that you may do all these abominations?”
The Hebrew text is a little more stark. ‘To steal, to murder and commit adultery, to swear falsely and to burn incense to Baal, and to walk after other gods that you have not known, and then you come and stand before me in this house which is called by My Name, and say “we are delivered” so that you may do all these abominations.' The unspoken comment required is that ‘it is preposterous!'
So the basic question was, did they really think that they could continue stealing, murdering, committing adultery, giving false testimony (for these four compare Hosea 4:2 and Exodus 20:13-16), and burning incense to Baal in the Temple and in their high places, and walking after other gods, (compare Exodus 20:3-5) thus breaking so many of the stipulations in His covenant, and then come and stand before Him in the house which was called by His Name and claim that He would deliver them? If so they had a strange idea of YHWH, for He abominated all these things and would rather bring them into account for them.
‘The house which is called by My Name.' The fact that it was called by His Name made it ‘holy', because it connected it with the very nature of God as revealed in His Name, so that only those who were compatible with God in that way could be welcomed there (Psalms 15; Psalms 24), simply because the behaviour of those who worshipped there reflected on His Name and reputation. To worship in YHWH's house was a serious matter, for the worshippers of any god revealed by their lives the nature of that god. Thus in the house which was called by His Name unrepentant and disobedient sinners were not welcome (compare Isaiah 57:15). It was for the true-hearted only.
‘Burning incense to Baal.' The burning of incense to Baal took place in all the high places and under every green tree. It was the popular expression of Canaanite worship similar to the burning of joss sticks at high places in many Asian countries today. I remember myself often going up the small mountain behind my flat in Hong Kong island, and coming to a natural sanctuary formed by a rock formation where joss sticks were still smouldering, left by local people. It was a ‘high place' well known to all the locals, and indeed for miles around. But in Palestine ‘high places' could also be artificial ones set up in cities, and a number of incense altars where such offerings were made have been discovered there.
The ‘gods that they had not known' were presumably the Assyrian and Babylonian gods (e.g. the queen of heaven in Jeremiah 7:18; compare also Ezekiel 8), and other gods not familiar in the land of Canaan, but introduced into the Temple from outside, partly but not wholly as a political requirement, although the description may also have included the Canaanite pantheon.
It is one of the evidences of the fallen state of man that he does actually think that God does not really mind about his sins, and that he can continue in them blatantly while still retaining a relationship with God, and that in spite of God's declaration that it is not so. They go on about God's active love and forgiveness, and overlook the fact that both are dependent on repentance because of God's antipathy to sin. They forget that by His nature God cannot be fully merciful to the unrepentant. He can give them sun and rain, but He cannot give them forgiveness. What was to happen to Judah was to be a lesson for all time that God really does mind about our sins, sufficiently to allow such an extreme judgment to come on those who, in spite of being supposedly His people, broke His commandments.
The Question Was, Did They Really See His House As A Thieves' Den?
“Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says YHWH.”
He therefore asks them whether in fact they saw the house which was called by His Name as a ‘den of robbers', a den of covenant breakers, a place where those who were planners of mischief were welcome? That was the impression that they were giving. For they gathered there as people who were corrupt and dishonest, as though they had a right to be there in spite of their failings. Did they really think that He, YHWH, could be a companion of thieves and blatant sinners? Was this not very much the opposite of what was revealed in the Psalms, where it says ‘who shall ascend into the hill of YHWH, and who shall stand in His holy place? Even he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to what is vain (any form of idolatry especially included) nor sworn deceitfully in matters related to his neighbour' (Psalms 24:3-5). The truth was that only the pure in heart and the penitent (Isaiah 1:11-18; Isaiah 57:15) could find a welcome in His house, whilst they were the very opposite.
And yet it was that kind of attitude (seeing His house as a gathering place for evil men) that YHWH, in all His holiness, had plainly seen in them. He could see that they really did think that it did not matter how they behaved, or what possessed their hearts, as long as they followed the recognised Temple rituals. They seemingly did think that His house would welcome even those who were violent and dishonest and had no intention of relinquishing those ways, as long as they offered the appropriate sacrifices. Well, they were in for a rude awakening.
Let Them Consider What Had Happened To Shiloh.
Shiloh where YHWH's Tabernacle had been established for a considerable time had been familiar with such behaviour. There too the worship of YHWH had been corrupted (see 1 Samuel 2:12-36). And let them consider what had happened there.
“But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.”
Let them just consider what had happened to His former house at Shiloh where he had caused His Name to dwell. Shiloh was the first major centre at which the Tabernacle had been established for a long time. It had been established there by Joshua once the initial conquest was over and had continued there throughout the period of the Judges up to Samuel (Joshua 18:1; Joshua 18:8-10; Joshua 19:51; Jdg 18:31; 1 Samuel 1:3; etc.). They should recall that the people who had worshipped at Shiloh had had a similar view of things, and see what had happened there. He had caused it to be destroyed because of the wickedness of His people, a precedent which boded ill for the Temple. The destruction of Shiloh is not actually described elsewhere in Scripture, but it is implied by the fact that when Samuel, who had been brought up in the Tabernacle at Shiloh, ministered to the people after the Philistines had been driven back, it was not at Shiloh, but elsewhere, while the Tabernacle furniture itself next turned up at Nob (1 Samuel 21:6). Shiloh simply disappeared from history without mention.
Because They Have Refused To Listen To Him He Will Destroy The Temple And Send Them Into Exile.
“And now, because you have done all these works, says YHWH, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer.”
And now, because they had ‘done all these works' and demonstrated that they were even worse than those who had worshipped at Shiloh, in that they had stolen, murdered, committed adultery, sworn falsely, and burned incense to Baal, walking after other gods that they had not known (Jeremiah 7:9), and refusing to listen to His continual pleading through the prophets, He would now act against them. ‘Rising up early' indicates the great effort that He had made to speak to them (compare Jeremiah 7:25). And He then emphasises how He had repeatedly spoken to them and called them and had had no reply, indicating quite clearly that their unresponsiveness was not because they had had no opportunity.
“Rising up early and ---,” indicating urgency, is a favourite phrase of Jeremiah's and is unique to him (compare Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 11:7; Jeremiah 25:3-4; Jeremiah 26:5; Jeremiah 29:19; Jeremiah 32:33; Jeremiah 35:14-15; Jeremiah 44:4)
“Therefore will I do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.”
And one way in which He would act against them would be by destroying the Temple and the land which He had given them, in the same way as He had destroyed Shiloh. They had made it a den of robbers and He would treat it as such. It is difficult for us to appreciate the enormity in the eyes of the people of Jerusalem of what Jeremiah was saying. Not only was belief in the inviolability of the Temple firmly rooted deep in their hearts, but they also considered that they were special to YHWH (in spite of their continuing disobedience, which they dismissed as unimportant as long as they maintained the Temple ritual) and that He had a special place for them in His purposes. How then could He destroy them as He had destroyed Shiloh? It was unthinkable.
“And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim.”
And YHWH then informed them that not only would He destroy both their Temple and their land as He had Shiloh, but He would also cast the people themselves out of His sight as He had cast ‘the whole seed of Ephraim' (all the people of northern Israel which, especially in its reduced form, had been known as ‘Ephraim, centring on Mount Ephraim and being named after the most influential of the northern tribes) out of His sight. And all knew what that meant. It meant captivity and exile.