Jeremiah 7-9: Cries at the Temple Gates

LINK: Jeremiah 7-9 (Read over the next two days)

These chapters are not in chronological order. Here is the order and historical context:

2 Chronicles 36:2-5
Habakkuk 1-3 (we will cover this after Jeremiah)
8:4-9:15
9:22-10:16
26:1-24
7:1-8:3

BACKGROUND 

The people of Judah had the false notion that God would cause no harm to the temple or the people who lived near it. Jeremiah cleared up that misconception as he proclaimed God's message from the temple gates. 

The building would not save them! They needed to change their ways and not: 

1. Oppress the helpless (Deuteronomy 14:29; 16:11; 24:19; Psalm 94:6)
2. Shed innocent blood (Deuteronomy 19:10-13; 21:1-9)
3. Follow other gods (Exodus 20:3-6)

Idolatry and hypocrisy were rampant in society; practiced by people, prophets, and even priests! They followed religious worship rituals but lived sinful lives. They did not follow God's law (9:13).

This section concludes with the key verses of Jeremiah 9:23-24 that are worth meditating on and memorizing. Wisdom, might, riches, and even physical circumcision (9:25) were of no use. Their circumcision needed to be of the heart (4:4). 

The Scarlet Thread of Redemption

Jesus used the words from Jeremiah 7:11 when he cleared out the temple (Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46). Jesus applied them to evil in the temple just as Jeremiah did in his day. 

Jeremiah mentions Topheth in 7:30-34. This name means "altar" or "fireplace." Child sacrifices were offered to the pagan deity, Molech, there.  This practice had been outlawed by Josiah (2 Kings 23:10) and condemned by God (Jeremiah 7:31).  The Valley of Ben Hinnon would later become the city dump where a fire burned continuously to consume garbage.  

Jesus used the Greek word Gehenna to refer to "hell." Gehenna is of Hebrew origin with gay meaning "valley" and Hinnon being the very place referred to in the Jeremiah passage (Mark 9:47-48). 

Jeremiah 9:1-6 records Jeremiah's conflicting emotions over the message God had given him. He was angered by their sin, but he also had compassion for them much like Jesus did when he wept over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37).

REFLECTION 

It was my first time overseas, and I had been stripped of everything that I could possibly put my security in. I was a lowly nanny for a family, and I was getting depressed and lonely. I did not realize how much I had relied on worldly things to evaluate my worth as an individual.

I took a long walk up into the hills overlooking Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and God spoke to me out of Jeremiah 9:23-24:

Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24, NASB95)

I realized that He was the only thing I could cling to during that hard time, and all I needed to do was to seek to understand and know Him. I did not have anything else (including the internet) to distract me from seeking Him. So, I dove right in. I have made it my goal to just seek to understand and know (not just with my head but with my heart too) Him for the rest of my life and not rely on anything else. 

I look back on that difficult time with such thanksgiving for what I learned about Him through the pain and loneliness. 

2023 Update: Forty years later I walked from those very hills into the square of the Cathedral of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela. It was a healing journey for me since my time there was so traumatic and lonely. God gave me beauty for ashes on that trip surrounded in His presence and companions on the journey.

 I am forever grateful that He is a God who wants me to "understand and know Him," and that He is "not a God far off" (Jeremiah 23:23). 

Click on the picture to see it better. It was from our last day.

APPLICATION/PRAYER 

Meditate on Jeremiah 9:23, 24 and talk to God about what you boast or rely on.  It may be so subtle that you do not even realize that you are doing it. Listen to what He says. 

The Appendix for this handout has many modes of meditation:

Five Meditations for Cultivating the Abiding Life

Lord, Help us to boast only in You, Lord. Amen.