Jeremiah 7
7
Jeremiah Preaches in the Temple
1This is the message that Yahweh gave to Jeremiah. 2“Go stand at the gate of Yahweh’s house and proclaim this word: ‘Hear this word from Yahweh, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship him. 3Here’s what the God of Israel, Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, says: # 7:3 Jeremiah was a bold, obedient prophet. There he stood, at the gateway of the temple, telling the masses that they had embraced a phony form of worship and must repent or perish. Jeremiah’s first message was The Sin of the Nation (see 2:1–3:5), and his second was The Coming Devastation from the North (see 3:6–6:30). Now, Jeremiah confronted worshipers going into the temple with his third message: The Threat of Exile (see 7:1–10:25). Change your ways and start living right, and I will let you dwell # 7:3 Some early versions read “I will dwell with you in this land.” in this land. 4Don’t fool yourselves by trusting the deceptive words, saying: “The temple of Yahweh is here, the temple of Yahweh is here, the temple of Yahweh is here, # 7:4 The three-fold repetition of the words “the temple of Yahweh” suggests that it was used in Jeremiah’s day for temple liturgy. so we are safe.” 5For if you truly change your ways and start living right, if you deal justly with one another, 6if you don’t mistreat the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, # 7:6 The role of the prophets was to decry injustice and insist that the people reform their ways. God always starts with the heart of his people to bring reformation to a nation. if you don’t shed innocent blood in this land, if you stop your self-destructive ways of chasing after other gods, 7then I will let you dwell in this place, here in the land that I gave to your forefathers for all time.
8“ ‘Look, you keep putting your trust in worthless lies. # 7:8 Or “in the words of The Lie [Baal].” 9You think you can steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10and then come and stand in my presence? You think you can come into this house called by my name and say, “We are safe!”—only to keep doing all these disgusting things? 11Do you really consider this house that bears my name to be a robbers’ den? # 7:11 Or “robbers’ cave.” See Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46. I know everything that you have been doing! I, Yahweh, have spoken.
12“ ‘Just go to the place where my sanctuary once stood in Shiloh, # 7:12 Shiloh was a town about eighteen miles (twenty-nine kilometers) north of Jerusalem and was the pre-Jerusalem capital of Israel throughout the period of the judges. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Philistines destroyed it around 1050 BC, following the battle mentioned in 1 Sam. 4:1–11. Most scholars conclude that the ruins of Shiloh were still visible in Jeremiah’s time. Yahweh was telling his people that if they think they are safe because they have a temple in Jerusalem, they should just go and check out what happened to Shiloh. where I first made a dwelling place for my name. And when you see its rubble, understand what I did in response to the wickedness of the people of Israel. 13Even while you were doing these things, I, Yahweh, spoke to you over and over and called to you, but you would neither listen nor answer me. 14So I will do to this temple what I did before in Shiloh. You have put your trust in this temple, which bears my name, but I will destroy this very sanctuary that I gave to you and your ancestors. 15And I will cast you away from my presence as I cast away all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.’ ” # 7:15 Ephraim is a reference to the Northern Kingdom of Israel that was taken into exile in 722 BC.
Israel Continues to Disobey God
16“Jeremiah, do not pray for these people, do not lift up a cry or a prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, # 7:16 The Hebrew word for “intercede” is pagaʿ and can also be translated “to fall upon,” “to encounter,” “to strike,” or “to confront.” for I will not hear you. 17Don’t you see what they’re doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the wives knead dough to make ritual cakes # 7:18 The cakes are thought to have been star-shaped or rectangular and were stamped with the image of the goddess (see 44:19). for the goddess Ishtar, known as the Queen of Heaven. # 7:18 The Queen of Heaven, the most famous of Mesopotamian goddesses, was the Canaanite fertility goddess “Ishtar” (also known as Astarte, Ashtoreth, or Asherah). She was recognized as the goddess of sexuality and war. The Targum identifies her as Venus. They also pour out drink offerings to other gods to defy me. 19Yet, I am not the one they are hurting, says Yahweh; they are hurting themselves to their own shame. 20Therefore, listen to the words of the Lord Yahweh: ‘My anger and my wrath will be poured out in this place, # 7:20 That is, the land of Israel and the temple. on the people and the animals, on the trees and on the crops; my anger will burn as a fire that no one can put out.’
21“This is what Yahweh, God of Israel, Commander of Angel Armies says: ‘You might as well eat all your burnt offerings yourselves. # 7:21 Or “Add your whole burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh.” 22For when I led your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not command them to bring me burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23Rather, I commanded them: “Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Live your lives according to what I command you that all may go well with you.” 24But they did not listen or obey. # 7:24 Or “or bend the ear.” They followed their own stubborn plans of their evil hearts. They disrespected me and went backward, not forward. 25From the day that I led your ancestors out of Egypt until now, I have persistently sent you my servants the prophets, 26but my people did not listen to me or obey; rather, they stubbornly did more evil than their fathers.’
27“And when you tell them all this, they will not hear you. You will call to them, but they won’t respond to you. 28Then you will say to them: ‘You are the nation that refused to listen to the voice of your God, Yahweh. Truth # 7:28 Or “Faithfulness.” has perished and disappeared from their lips, for they did not accept Yahweh’s correction.’ ”
Sinful Acts in the Hinnom Valley
29“People of Jerusalem, cut off your long hair # 7:29 This long hair was characteristic of those who had taken the Nazirite vow of dedication to Yahweh (see Num. 6:5). The people had broken their vow to Yahweh, so they were told to cut off their hair as a symbol of mourning over what they had done. and throw it away, and raise your song of mourning on the hilltops, for Yahweh has rejected and abandoned the generation of his fury. 30For Yahweh says: ‘The people of Judah have done what is evil before my eyes. They have defiled the house that bears my name by placing their detestable idols inside it. 31And in the Hinnom Valley, # 7:31 The Hinnom Valley, or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, is south of Jerusalem. One section of the valley was called Topheth (also spelled Tophet), where children were offered as sacrifices to the god Molech and burned in the fire (see 2 Kings 23:10). The name Topheth is likely derived from the Hebrew word top (or toph), meaning “a drum,” because the cries of children being sacrificed were masked by the sounds of beating on drums or tambourines (see Rashi on Jer. 7:31). However, some scholars believe Topheth derives from an Aramaic word meaning “fire-stove,” “fireplace,” or “roaster.” This valley, because of its evil history, became a symbol of the abode of the wicked after death. The Greek contraction of “Ben Hinnom” is Gehenna and came to signify hell as the abode of the wicked. Jesus used this word for “hell” eleven times in his discourses. they have built shrines of Topheth to sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it ever enter my thoughts. 32Therefore, the time is coming, says Yahweh, when it will not be known as Topheth or the Hinnom Valley but the Valley of Slaughter, for people will bury their dead in Topheth until no room is left. 33Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals with no one to frighten them away. 34I will silence the sounds of mirth and gladness from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the happy sounds of wedding feasts—the voice of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.’ ”
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Jeremiah 7: TPT
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