Jeremiah 7 Study Notes: Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon
Standing at the temple entrance, Jeremiah warns Judah that God’s house will not protect a people who steal, murder, and serve idols, and that it will be ruined as Shiloh was. God forbids him to pray for them, condemns the Queen of Heaven cult, demands obedience over ritual, and judges child sacrifice at Topheth.
General
True or False: In 7:5-7 God says the people may keep living in the land if they deal justly and stop mistreating outsiders, orphans, and widows.
Answer: True
This is true. God lays out what real change would look like: treating one another justly, no longer mistreating the outsider, the orphan, and the widow, no longer shedding innocent blood, and no longer following other gods. If they do these things, He will let them dwell in the land He gave their fathers (7:5-7). Turning back to God shows itself in how people treat the weak. Isaiah gave the same call to seek justice and stand up for orphans and widows (Isaiah 1:17), Moses described God Himself as the one who upholds their cause and loves the outsider (Deuteronomy 10:18), and Zechariah repeated the command after the exile (Zechariah 7:9-10).
- Jeremiah 7:5-7 (BSB)“For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another, if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”God describes the justice and faithfulness that would let Judah remain in the land.
- Isaiah 1:17 (BSB)“Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.””Isaiah gives the same call to justice for the fatherless and the widow.
- Deuteronomy 10:18 (BSB)“He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.”God Himself does justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner.
- Zechariah 7:9-10 (BSB)““This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’”The same command not to oppress the widow, fatherless, and foreigner is repeated after the exile.
Theological
True or False: According to 7:5-7, Judah’s continued dwelling in the land is tied to justice toward one another and an end to oppressing outsiders, orphans, and widows.
Answer: True
This is true. The repentance God requires is concrete: justice between neighbors, an end to oppressing outsiders, orphans, and widows, no more innocent blood shed in Jerusalem, and no more pursuit of other gods; on these terms He will let them dwell in the land given to their fathers (7:5-7). True covenant loyalty shows in the treatment of the vulnerable. Isaiah issued the same summons (Isaiah 1:17), Deuteronomy grounds it in God’s own character as defender of orphans and widows and lover of outsiders (Deuteronomy 10:18), and Zechariah repeats it to the returned community (Zechariah 7:9-10).
- Jeremiah 7:5-7 (BSB)“For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another, if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”God describes the justice and faithfulness that would let Judah remain in the land.
- Isaiah 1:17 (BSB)“Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.””Isaiah gives the same call to justice for the fatherless and the widow.
- Deuteronomy 10:18 (BSB)“He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.”God Himself does justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner.
- Zechariah 7:9-10 (BSB)““This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’”The same command not to oppress the widow, fatherless, and foreigner is repeated after the exile.
General
God asks whether His house has become a hideout for robbers (7:11). When does Jesus repeat this phrase in the Gospels?
Answer: When He drove the sellers and money changers from the temple
God lists the people’s sins: stealing, murder, adultery, lying under oath, burning incense to Baal (a Canaanite false god), and following other gods. Then they come and stand in His house and claim they are safe, as if they could go right on doing these detestable things (7:9-10). God asks whether the house called by His Name has become a hideout for robbers, a place where thieves run to feel secure between crimes, and He says that He has seen it (7:11). When Jesus cleared the temple of those buying and selling, He quoted this very charge, together with Isaiah’s word that God’s house is meant for prayer (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46). Jesus, like Jeremiah, warned that outward worship cannot cover a life of sin.
- Jeremiah 7:9-11 (BSB)“Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’? Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.”God condemns those who break His law and then seek safety in His house, calling it a den of robbers.
- Matthew 21:13 (BSB)“And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’””Jesus quotes the den-of-robbers charge when He drives out those buying and selling in the temple.
- Mark 11:17 (BSB)“Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’””Mark records the same quotation as Jesus teaches during the temple cleansing.
- Luke 19:46 (BSB)“He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’””Luke also records Jesus applying the words of Jeremiah to the temple traders.
- Isaiah 56:7 (BSB)“I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.””Isaiah’s word that God’s house will be called a house of prayer, which Jesus joins to Jeremiah 7:11.
Theological
On what occasion does Jesus take up the den-of-robbers charge of 7:11?
Answer: When He drove the sellers and money changers from the temple
The indictment lists breaches of the covenant law — theft, murder, adultery, false oaths, offerings to Baal, and pursuit of other gods — followed by the presumption of coming to stand in God’s house and declaring themselves delivered so they may go on in these abominations (7:9-10). The sanctuary had become a robbers’ hideout, a refuge between crimes, and the LORD declares that He has seen it (7:11). Jesus cites this verse, joined to Isaiah 56:7, when He drives the traders out of the temple courts (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46), taking up Jeremiah’s charge against worship divorced from obedience and acting with the authority of the Lord of the house.
- Jeremiah 7:9-11 (BSB)“Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’? Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.”God condemns those who break His law and then seek safety in His house, calling it a den of robbers.
- Matthew 21:13 (BSB)“And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’””Jesus quotes the den-of-robbers charge when He drives out those buying and selling in the temple.
- Mark 11:17 (BSB)“Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’””Mark records the same quotation as Jesus teaches during the temple cleansing.
- Luke 19:46 (BSB)“He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’””Luke also records Jesus applying the words of Jeremiah to the temple traders.
- Isaiah 56:7 (BSB)“I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.””Isaiah’s word that God’s house will be called a house of prayer, which Jesus joins to Jeremiah 7:11.
General
True or False: In 7:16 God urges Jeremiah to pray harder for the people so that the coming judgment might be turned away.
Answer: False
This is false. God tells Jeremiah not to pray for this people, not to cry out or plead for them, and not to press Him, because He will not listen (7:16). The command shows how settled the judgment had become after long refusal to listen. God gives Jeremiah the same instruction again later in the book (Jeremiah 11:14; 14:11), and even says that were Moses and Samuel, famous for praying for Israel, to stand before Him, He would not turn toward this people (Jeremiah 15:1).
- Jeremiah 7:16 (BSB)“As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.”God tells Jeremiah not to intercede for the people.
- Jeremiah 11:14 (BSB)“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster.”God repeats the command not to pray for the people, since He will not listen in their disaster.
- Jeremiah 14:11 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.”The same instruction is given a third time.
- Jeremiah 15:1 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!”Even Moses and Samuel could not turn God’s heart toward this people, showing how settled the judgment was.
Theological
True or False: In 7:16 the LORD directs Jeremiah to intensify his intercession so that the disaster might be averted.
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD forbids Jeremiah to pray, cry out, or intercede for the people, and tells him not to urge Him, for He will not hear (7:16). The prohibition signals that the sentence on persistently impenitent Judah is fixed. The command recurs (Jeremiah 11:14; 14:11), and God adds that even Moses and Samuel, Israel’s great intercessors, could not move Him to relent toward this generation (Jeremiah 15:1).
- Jeremiah 7:16 (BSB)“As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.”God tells Jeremiah not to intercede for the people.
- Jeremiah 11:14 (BSB)“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster.”God repeats the command not to pray for the people, since He will not listen in their disaster.
- Jeremiah 14:11 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.”The same instruction is given a third time.
- Jeremiah 15:1 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!”Even Moses and Samuel could not turn God’s heart toward this people, showing how settled the judgment was.
General
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, what does He say His central command to them was (7:21-23)?
Answer: That they listen to His voice and walk in His ways
With biting irony God tells the people they may as well eat the meat of their burnt offerings themselves, since their sacrifices mean nothing to Him (7:21). When He brought their fathers out of Egypt, His command was not merely about offerings; it was that they obey Him, so that He would be their God and they His people, walking in His ways so that it would go well with them (7:22-23). Sacrifices without obedience are empty. Samuel told King Saul that obeying matters more than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), and Hosea said God desires mercy and that His people know Him more than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6). At Sinai God had promised that an obedient Israel would be His treasured possession (Exodus 19:5).
- Jeremiah 7:22-23 (BSB)“For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.”God says His command at the exodus centered on obedience, not merely on sacrifices.
- 1 Samuel 15:22 (BSB)“But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.”Samuel teaches that obeying God is better than sacrifice.
- Hosea 6:6 (BSB)“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”God desires mercy and the knowledge of Himself more than burnt offerings.
- Exodus 19:5 (BSB)“Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.”At Sinai God tied Israel’s place as His treasured people to obeying His voice.
Theological
According to 7:21-23, what lay at the heart of what God commanded Israel at the exodus?
Answer: That they listen to His voice and walk in His ways
God sarcastically invites Judah to pile up burnt offerings with their other offerings and consume the meat themselves (7:21), for at the exodus His command did not center on sacrifice but on obedience: hearing His voice, under the covenant formula that He would be their God and they His people, and walking in all His ways for their good (7:22-23). The point is not that sacrifice was never commanded but that ritual cut off from obedience is worthless. Samuel’s rebuke of Saul (1 Samuel 15:22) and Hosea’s word that God desires mercy and true knowledge of Himself above burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6) make the same point, as does the Sinai covenant promise conditioned on obeying His voice (Exodus 19:5).
- Jeremiah 7:22-23 (BSB)“For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.”God says His command at the exodus centered on obedience, not merely on sacrifices.
- 1 Samuel 15:22 (BSB)“But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.”Samuel teaches that obeying God is better than sacrifice.
- Hosea 6:6 (BSB)“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”God desires mercy and the knowledge of Himself more than burnt offerings.
- Exodus 19:5 (BSB)“Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.”At Sinai God tied Israel’s place as His treasured people to obeying His voice.
General
How did the people respond to the prophets God sent them again and again (7:24-26)?
Answer: They grew stubborn and did worse than their own fathers
From the time their fathers left Egypt, the people did not listen; they went after the stubborn desires of their wicked hearts and went the wrong way rather than ahead (7:24). God sent His servants the prophets day after day, yet the people would not hear, became stiff-necked (stubborn and unwilling to bend), and grew worse than their ancestors (7:25-26). God even tells Jeremiah in advance that his own message will be ignored too (7:27-28), and that he must call the city to shave off her hair and mourn on the bare hilltops, because the LORD has turned away from the generation that stirred His anger (7:29). The trouble lies in the human heart itself, which on its own turns away from God. Chronicles says the LORD kept sending messengers out of pity for His people, but they mocked them (2 Chronicles 36:15-16). Stephen later charged the leaders of his day with always resisting the Spirit as their fathers did (Acts 7:51).
- Jeremiah 7:24-26 (BSB)“Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again. Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.”Israel refused to listen to the prophets and grew worse than their ancestors.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (BSB)“Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.”God repeatedly sent messengers out of compassion, but the people mocked them.
- Acts 7:51 (BSB)“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.”Stephen describes the same stubborn resistance continuing in his own day.
Theological
How does 7:24-26 characterize Israel’s response to the long succession of prophets?
Answer: They grew stubborn and did worse than their own fathers
Israel’s history since the exodus is one of refusal: they would not hear but walked in the stubbornness of their wicked hearts, regressing rather than advancing (7:24). Though God sent His servants the prophets persistently, the people grew stiff-necked and outdid their fathers in evil (7:25-26), and Jeremiah is told beforehand that his own preaching will meet the same refusal (7:27-28); he is to call for shorn hair and mourning on the bare heights, since the LORD has cast off the generation that provoked His wrath (7:29). The root is the heart’s bondage to sin, which never turns to God of itself. The Chronicler likewise records God’s compassionate, repeated sending of messengers and the people’s scorn for them (2 Chronicles 36:15-16), and Stephen indicts his hearers as stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, always resisting the Holy Spirit like their fathers (Acts 7:51).
- Jeremiah 7:24-26 (BSB)“Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again. Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.”Israel refused to listen to the prophets and grew worse than their ancestors.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (BSB)“Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.”God repeatedly sent messengers out of compassion, but the people mocked them.
- Acts 7:51 (BSB)“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.”Stephen describes the same stubborn resistance continuing in his own day.
General
Who takes part in baking cakes for the goddess the people called Queen of Heaven (7:17-18)?
Answer: Whole families, children, fathers, and women alike
God asks Jeremiah if he sees what is going on throughout Judah’s towns and Jerusalem’s streets (7:17). The whole household joins in: the children collect wood, the fathers kindle the flames, and the women prepare dough for cakes offered to a false goddess they called Queen of Heaven, while drink offerings are poured to other gods (7:18). God says that in provoking Him they are really bringing harm and shame on themselves (7:19), so His fury will fall on the land (7:20). Years later, Judeans in Egypt insisted they would keep worshiping this goddess, claiming they had prospered while they did (Jeremiah 44:17-18). Proverbs teaches that whoever turns from God’s wisdom harms himself (Proverbs 8:36).
- Jeremiah 7:17-19 (BSB)“Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?”God describes whole families serving the Queen of Heaven and says they harm themselves.
- Jeremiah 44:17-18 (BSB)“Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.””Judeans in Egypt later vow to keep worshiping the Queen of Heaven, showing how deep the practice ran.
- Proverbs 8:36 (BSB)“But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.””Turning from God’s wisdom is described as harming oneself, as 7:19 says of the idolaters.
Theological
Who is involved in the worship of the goddess called Queen of Heaven in 7:17-18?
Answer: Whole families, children, fathers, and women alike
The idolatry is a family enterprise spread through Judah’s towns and Jerusalem’s streets (7:17): sons collect wood, fathers kindle the flames, and women knead dough for cakes to the goddess called Queen of Heaven, with drink offerings poured to other gods (7:18). God asks whether it is truly Him they injure, or rather themselves, bringing disgrace on their own heads (7:19); His wrath will therefore fall on the land (7:20). The same worship reappears among the refugees in Egypt, who vow to continue it and credit it with their former prosperity (Jeremiah 44:17-18). Proverbs states the principle that rejecting God’s wisdom is self-harm (Proverbs 8:36).
- Jeremiah 7:17-19 (BSB)“Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?”God describes whole families serving the Queen of Heaven and says they harm themselves.
- Jeremiah 44:17-18 (BSB)“Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.””Judeans in Egypt later vow to keep worshiping the Queen of Heaven, showing how deep the practice ran.
- Proverbs 8:36 (BSB)“But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.””Turning from God’s wisdom is described as harming oneself, as 7:19 says of the idolaters.
General
What place does God tell the people to go and look at, to see what He did there (7:12-14)?
Answer: Shiloh, where God first caused His Name to dwell
God tells the people to go to Shiloh, where He first set His Name, and see how He dealt with it on account of Israel’s wickedness (7:12). Since they kept on sinning and would not listen though He spoke to them again and again, He will do to the Jerusalem temple what He did to Shiloh (7:13-14), and He will cast Judah out as He cast out the northern tribes, called Ephraim (7:15). Shiloh was where Israel pitched the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary, after entering the land (Joshua 18:1). Later God abandoned that tent (Psalm 78:60). Having God’s house among them did not protect a people who refused Him. Jeremiah repeated this warning in a later temple sermon (Jeremiah 26:6).
- Jeremiah 7:12-14 (BSB)“But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer, therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.”God points to Shiloh as the pattern for what He will do to the temple in Jerusalem.
- Joshua 18:1 (BSB)“Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,”Israel set up the Tent of Meeting at Shiloh, making it the first central sanctuary.
- Psalm 78:60 (BSB)“He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.”The psalm says God abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh, the judgment Jeremiah recalls.
- Jeremiah 26:6 (BSB)“then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’””Jeremiah repeats the warning that the temple will be made like Shiloh.
Theological
To what earlier sanctuary does God point as the pattern for the coming fate of the temple (7:12-14)?
Answer: Shiloh, where God first caused His Name to dwell
God summons His hearers to visit Shiloh, the first place where He caused His Name to dwell, and to consider what He did to it on account of Israel’s wickedness (7:12). Because Judah has persisted in sin and refused to answer His repeated calls, He will do the same to the house called by His Name in which they trust, and will cast them out as He cast out the offspring of Ephraim (7:13-15). Shiloh had housed the tabernacle from the conquest (Joshua 18:1), yet God forsook it (Psalm 78:60). The presence of the sanctuary was no shield for covenant breakers, and the same Shiloh warning is repeated in 26:6.
- Jeremiah 7:12-14 (BSB)“But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer, therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.”God points to Shiloh as the pattern for what He will do to the temple in Jerusalem.
- Joshua 18:1 (BSB)“Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,”Israel set up the Tent of Meeting at Shiloh, making it the first central sanctuary.
- Psalm 78:60 (BSB)“He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.”The psalm says God abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh, the judgment Jeremiah recalls.
- Jeremiah 26:6 (BSB)“then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’””Jeremiah repeats the warning that the temple will be made like Shiloh.
General
Standing at the temple gate, Jeremiah warns the worshipers against trusting in what (7:1-4)?
Answer: That the temple itself guaranteed their safety
God sends Jeremiah to stand at the entrance of the LORD’s house and speak to the Judeans coming in to worship (7:1-2). They are to change how they live and act, and then God will let them remain in the land (7:3). But they must not rely on the empty slogan that names the LORD’s temple three times over, as if having God’s house in their city made them safe no matter how they lived (7:4). The prophet Micah had exposed the same thinking in leaders who lived corruptly yet said no harm could come because the LORD was among them (Micah 3:11). Generations before, Israel had carried the covenant ark (the sacred chest that stood for God’s presence) into battle as if it were a charm that would save them (1 Samuel 4:3), yet Israel was defeated and the ark was captured (1 Samuel 4:10-11). John the Baptist later warned against a similar confidence in being Abraham’s children (Matthew 3:9).
- Jeremiah 7:2-4 (BSB)““Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD. Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’”Jeremiah is sent to the temple gate to call worshipers to change their ways and not trust a slogan about the temple.
- Micah 3:11 (BSB)“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.””Micah exposes corrupt leaders who assumed the LORD’s presence among them meant no disaster could come.
- 1 Samuel 4:3 (BSB)“When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.””Israel’s elders brought the ark into battle expecting it to save them, the same misplaced trust in a holy object.
- Matthew 3:9 (BSB)“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”John the Baptist warns against relying on a religious privilege, descent from Abraham, instead of repentance.
Theological
What false confidence does the LORD expose in the temple sermon of 7:1-4?
Answer: That the temple itself guaranteed their safety
Jeremiah is commissioned to preach at the entrance of the LORD’s house to the Judeans entering to worship (7:1-2). The call is to amend their ways and deeds, on which their remaining in the land depends (7:3), and the warning is against the hollow slogan repeating the LORD’s temple three times (7:4) — a confidence that treated the sanctuary as an unconditional guarantee of safety irrespective of covenant faithfulness. Micah had already exposed corrupt leaders who leaned on the LORD’s presence among them as proof that no disaster could come (Micah 3:11). Israel had once treated the ark the same way, bringing it from Shiloh as a talisman to save them (1 Samuel 4:3), only to be defeated and lose the ark (1 Samuel 4:10-11). John the Baptist confronts the same presumption in appeals to descent from Abraham (Matthew 3:9).
- Jeremiah 7:2-4 (BSB)““Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD. Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’”Jeremiah is sent to the temple gate to call worshipers to change their ways and not trust a slogan about the temple.
- Micah 3:11 (BSB)“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.””Micah exposes corrupt leaders who assumed the LORD’s presence among them meant no disaster could come.
- 1 Samuel 4:3 (BSB)“When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.””Israel’s elders brought the ark into battle expecting it to save them, the same misplaced trust in a holy object.
- Matthew 3:9 (BSB)“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”John the Baptist warns against relying on a religious privilege, descent from Abraham, instead of repentance.
General
True or False: In 7:31 God says that burning children at Topheth was something He had once commanded.
Answer: False
This is false. The Judeans had set up detestable idols in God’s own house and built high places (hilltop shrines) at Topheth in the Ben-hinnom valley, where they burned their own children as offerings. God says He never commanded this, and it never even entered His mind (7:30-31). God’s law had strictly forbidden giving children as sacrifices to false gods and called it a practice the LORD hates (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31). Later King Josiah defiled Topheth to stop anyone from using it this way again (2 Kings 23:10).
- Jeremiah 7:30-31 (BSB)“For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.”God condemns the high places of Topheth and says He never commanded such sacrifices.
- Leviticus 18:21 (BSB)“You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.”God’s law forbade giving children as sacrifices to Molech.
- Deuteronomy 12:31 (BSB)“You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.”The law named burning sons and daughters among the abominations the LORD hates.
- 2 Kings 23:10 (BSB)“He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.”Josiah defiled Topheth so that no one could sacrifice children there.
Theological
True or False: In 7:31 the LORD acknowledges that He had once commanded the rites performed at Topheth.
Answer: False
This is false. Judah placed detestable idols in the sanctuary called by God’s Name and built shrines at Topheth in the Ben-hinnom valley to burn their children, a practice the LORD says He never commanded and that never entered His mind (7:30-31; compare 19:5). The Law had explicitly prohibited offering children to Molech and named child burning among the abominations the LORD hates (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31). Josiah’s reform desecrated Topheth to end the practice (2 Kings 23:10).
- Jeremiah 7:30-31 (BSB)“For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.”God condemns the high places of Topheth and says He never commanded such sacrifices.
- Leviticus 18:21 (BSB)“You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.”God’s law forbade giving children as sacrifices to Molech.
- Deuteronomy 12:31 (BSB)“You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.”The law named burning sons and daughters among the abominations the LORD hates.
- 2 Kings 23:10 (BSB)“He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.”Josiah defiled Topheth so that no one could sacrifice children there.
General
What new name does God say the Ben-hinnom valley will be given (7:32-34)?
Answer: Valley of Slaughter
God announces that days are coming when the old names Topheth and Ben-hinnom will give way to a new one, Valley of Slaughter, because so many dead will be buried there that there is no space left (7:32). Bodies will lie unburied for birds and beasts, and no one will drive them off (7:33). God will silence the sounds of celebration and of weddings in Judah’s towns and Jerusalem’s streets, because the land will be laid waste (7:34). The place where children were killed would become a place of death for the whole people. God repeats this silencing of joy elsewhere in the book (Jeremiah 16:9; 25:10), but He also promises that one day those glad sounds will return when He restores His people (Jeremiah 33:10-11).
- Jeremiah 7:32 (BSB)“So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.”God announces that the valley will be renamed for the slaughter that will take place there.
- Jeremiah 16:9 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”God again announces that He will remove the sounds of joy and weddings.
- Jeremiah 25:10 (BSB)“Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.”The same silencing of joy is repeated in the prophecy of seventy years of exile.
- Jeremiah 33:10-11 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: In this place you say is a wasteland without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted—inhabited by neither man nor beast—there will be heard again the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.”God promises that the glad sounds silenced in judgment will be heard again in the restoration.
Theological
By what name will Topheth and the Ben-hinnom valley be known in the coming judgment (7:32-34)?
Answer: Valley of Slaughter
The site of the child sacrifices will be renamed Valley of Slaughter, since the dead will be buried there until no room remains (7:32); corpses will lie exposed to birds and beasts with none to drive them away (7:33), and the noise of gladness and wedding celebration will cease from Judah’s towns and Jerusalem’s streets as the land becomes desolate (7:34). The punishment corresponds to the crime: the valley of slaughtered children becomes the valley of a slaughtered people. The silencing of joy is repeated in 16:9 and 25:10, yet God later promises that those same sounds will return when He restores Judah (Jeremiah 33:10-11).
- Jeremiah 7:32 (BSB)“So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.”God announces that the valley will be renamed for the slaughter that will take place there.
- Jeremiah 16:9 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”God again announces that He will remove the sounds of joy and weddings.
- Jeremiah 25:10 (BSB)“Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.”The same silencing of joy is repeated in the prophecy of seventy years of exile.
- Jeremiah 33:10-11 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: In this place you say is a wasteland without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted—inhabited by neither man nor beast—there will be heard again the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.”God promises that the glad sounds silenced in judgment will be heard again in the restoration.