All the messages in this section deal with departure from the Lord in religious practices, either in pagan rites or in the perversion of the proper worship of Yahweh that the Mosaic Law specified. All the material in this section fits conditions in Judah after 609 B.C., when Jehoiakim began allowing a return to pagan practices after the end of Josiah's reforms. Another feature of this section is the large amount of prose material it contains, much more than the preceding section (chs. 2-6). The common theme is worship, and the key word is "place,"though this word refers to different things in different verses (vv. 7:3, 7, 12, 14, 20, 32; 8:3).162From their contents we may surmise that these messages were undoubtedly responsible for much of the antagonism that Jeremiah received from the Judahites (cf. 26:7-24).
This message demonstrates a structure that is quite typical of many others in the Book of Jeremiah (cf. 11:1-17; 17:19-27; 34:8-22). First there is an explanation of Yahweh's will (word, law; vv. 1-7), then a description of Israel's departure from it (vv. 8-12), and then an announcement of divine judgment (vv. 13-15). A similar message, or the same message in abbreviated form, appears later in the book (26:1-6).163
7:1-2 Jeremiah received another message from the Lord. He was to go to the gate of the temple in Jerusalem and deliver a prophecy in Yahweh's name to the Judahites who entered to worship. This was probably the New or Eastern temple gate (cf. 26:10; 36:10).
". . . during the pilgrimage festivals in the temple, the pilgrims were greeted at the temple gates by a servant of the institution, who asked them to examine their moral lives prior to passing through the gates and participating in the worship (see Pss 15, 24 . . .). If Jeremiah assumed his role of preacher at the gate' in an unofficial capacity, then it is possible that the custom had lapsed at that time (as seems entirely probable from the substance of the sermon) and was consciously resumed by the prophet to his own moral and spiritual ends."164
7:3 The prophet was to announce that sovereign Yahweh, the God of Israel, promised that if His people would repent (change their way of life and their actions) He would allow them to continue to dwell in their land.
7:4 The people were not to assume that just because they had the temple the Lord would keep them safe. Many of the Judahites believed that the existence of the temple guaranteed Jerusalem's inviolability. God's supernatural deliverance of Jerusalem in Hezekiah's reign probably accounts for some of this feeling (2 Kings 18:13-19:37). Furthermore, Josiah had glorified the temple during his reforms.
"They [these Judeans] would argue that God had chosen Zion as his earthly dwelling place (cf. Ps. 132:13-14) and had promised to David and his descendants a kingdom for ever (2 Sam. 7:12-13). In the light of such promises it seemed to be a natural conclusion that God would not allow either his dwelling place (the temple) or his chosen ruler to come to any harm."165
"The temple building itself had become the people's object of worship, replacing the Personof the building."166
7:5-6 Jeremiah proceeded to explain God's promise (v. 3). He listed three examples to illustrate what God wanted, two related to actions toward fellow Israelites and one related to actions toward God. True repentance meant dealing justly with one another, namely, refraining from oppressing the vulnerable such as strangers, orphans, and widows. It also meant not putting people to death without proper justification.167Godward, repenting meant not worshipping other gods, which the people were doing to their own ruin.
7:7 If the people did these things, then Yahweh would allow them to remain in the land that He had given their forefathers as a permanent possession (cf. v. 3; Gen. 12:7).
7:8 The prophet also explained what the Lord meant by trusting in deceptive words (v. 4), which they had been trusting in but to no profit.
7:9 The people were committing robbery, murder, adultery, perjury, offering sacrifices to Baal, and following other foreign idols. These were all violations of Israel's law (Exod. 20:3-5, 13-16).
7:10 The Judahites would commit these sins and then come to the temple, stand before Yahweh, and conclude that He had forgiven them. They would go through this ritual only so they could go out and sin again. They apparently felt that they had an indulgence that permitted them to go on sinning (cf. Eccles. 8:11).168
"They flee to the temple for protection, thinking to be safe there, believing that participation in the formal rituals of the cult would somehow deliver them from the Judge. But the temple was no sheltering place for covenant-breakers."169
The house that was called by Yahweh's name is a description of the temple that stresses that it was the building with which He associated His personal presence uniquely.
7:11 By treating the temple this way the people had turned it into a den of robbers, a gathering place for those who stole from others and God, and violated God's word with impunity (cf. Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).
"They have profaned God's house by making it a place of retreat between acts of crime . . ."170
The Lord assured the people that He Himself had seen what they were doing; they had not deceived Him.
7:12 Yahweh told the people to go to Shiloh to see what He had done to another town where He had met with the Israelites in former years (cf. Josh. 18:1; Judg. 18:31; 1 Sam. 1-4). In Jeremiah's day it lay in ruins.171Yahweh had allowed Shiloh to be destroyed because of the wickedness of the Israelites. Therefore Jeremiah's hearers should not think that He would preserve the temple from destruction in spite of their sins. The temple was not a talisman that guaranteed their safety.172
7:13 The people had been sinning in the ways just enumerated for a long time. The Lord had sent them prophets and leaders who had warned them from the earliest days of their departure from Him, but they had refused to respond.173
7:14 Consequently, the Lord promised to destroy the temple and Jerusalem as He had destroyed Shiloh. He would do this even though the temple bore His name, His people trusted in it, and He had given it to them and their fathers.
7:15 Furthermore, the Lord would drive the Judahites from His sight in the land as He had driven their brethren in the Northern Kingdom from His sight, by sending them into captivity.
This pericope continues Yahweh's instructions to Jeremiah preparing him to deliver the Temple Sermon (cf. vv. 1-2). Jeremiah may have received this message from the Lord at the same time or at some other time.
7:16 The Lord told His prophet not to waste his time praying for Him to be merciful to the people, even with earnest prayers, because they would not cause Him to relent (cf. 11:14; 14:11). The only thing that would prevent invasion, destruction, and captivity would be His people's repentance (cf. vv. 3, 5-7).
7:17 Yahweh reminded Jeremiah how far His people had departed from His ways.
7:18 Whole families were involved in making offering cakes for the Queen of Heaven. They also poured out drink offerings to other gods to hurt, humiliate, and annoy the Lord.
The "Queen of Heaven"was most likely a title of the Assyrian-Babylonian goddess Astarte (or Ishtar; cf. 44:17), though some scholars believe the name applied to several pagan goddesses.174Worship of the queen of heaven had been popular in Judah during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kings 21; 23:4-14), though it began earlier in Israel's history (Amos 5:26). This "queen"was an astral deity that appealed particularly to women (cf. 19:13; 32:29; Zeph. 1:5). Her worship involved offering cakes made in the shape of the deity or the moon, or stamped with her image, and drink offerings (cf. 44:19). Other symbols of this goddess were the planet Venus, a moon, and a star. This cult had evidently survived Josiah's reforms, probably because people could worship Astarte in their homes. Worship of the Queen of Heaven and all other idols constituted a rejection of Yahweh's sole sovereignty as lord of Israel's covenant.
7:19 By provoking the Lord, the people were really hurting and humiliating themselves. Their flagrant disobedience would come back on them, and they would suffer for their sins.
7:20 The Lord promised to pour out His anger and wrath on the whole land of Judah because the people were doing these things. His judgment would affect people, animals, trees, and crops; in other words, it would affect everything in the land. Nothing would put out the fires of His anger--except genuine repentance(cf. vv. 3, 5-7).
This seems to be a new message from the Lord. It is a good example of prophetic indictments of Israel's sacrificial institutions (cf. 6:20; 1 Sam. 15:22; Ps. 51:16-17; Isa. 1:4-15; Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:21-24; Mic. 6:6-8).
7:21 Yahweh, the sovereign God of Israel, commanded His people to eat their whole burnt offerings (Heb. oloth), which should have been burned up completely on the altar, as well as the sacrifices (Heb. zebah) that they only ate part of (cf. Lev. 3; 7:11-18; 22:18-23, 27-30). It mattered little to Him how carefully they observed His instructions about offering animal sacrifices to Him.
". . . to affirm that the prophets rejected the whole sacrificial system is to go beyond the evidence. It was not the system as such that was rejected but the operation of the system, which divorced sacrifices from obedience and took them out of the covenantal setting in which they found their whole rationale."175
7:22 God could say this because burnt offerings and sacrifices were not His primary concern. This should have been clear to the people as they remembered what He had commanded them when He redeemed them as a nation. He had given them the Decalog, which called for righteous conduct, before He gave them the cultic legislation, which specified the ritual of worship (cf. Exod. 20:1-17; 24:1-8).
7:23 Obedience to His words is what He commanded them then. It was more important that they obey Him than that they follow the procedures involved in presenting sacrifices that only symbolized their obedience. His ancient command to obey also contained promises of blessing if they would obey. Yahweh had promised to adopt Israel into a uniquely intimate relationship with Himself that would be beneficial for the Israelites (Exod. 19:5-6).
7:24 In spite of these promised blessings, the Israelites had not obeyed or even listened to the Lord's voice. They had followed their own advice, and their evil hearts had stubbornly refused to yield to His will. Instead of progressing toward blessing, they regressed into cursing.
7:25 Ever since the Exodus God had graciously arisen early to send His servants the prophets to urge the Israelites to follow Him (cf. v. 13). The image of God getting up early in the morning stresses the priority He gave to instructing His people.
7:26 In spite of these instructions, each succeeding generation of Israelites did not listen or pay attention. Instead they became obstinate in their disobedience and did even more evil than their fathers had done.
7:27 The Lord told Jeremiah that he was to pass along all these words to his contemporaries, but they would not listen to him any more than they had listened to the former prophets. He should call to them to respond to his message from the Lord, but they would not even answer him.
7:28 Jeremiah was to tell the people that they were a disobedient nation. They refused to accept correction from their Lord. They were not faithful (Heb. emuna, cf. 5:1, 3; Hab. 2:4) to Him and His covenant.
7:29 The people were to cut off their hair as a sign of grief.
"The command to cut off the hair' (lit., crown' . . .) is in the feminine in Hebrew, showing that the city (cf. 6:23--'O Daughter of Zion') is meant. The charge stems from the fact that the Nazirite's hair was the mark of his separation to God (Num 6:5). When he was ceremonially defiled, he had to shave his head. So Jerusalem because of her corruption must do likewise. Her mourning is because the Lord has cast her off. Because of her sin, the chief mark of her beauty must be cast away as polluted and no longer consecrated to the Lord."176
They were to go up to a bare hilltop and lament their fate because the Lord had rejected and forsaken the generation of the Judahites on whom He would pour out His wrath (cf. v. 20).
7:30 The reason for this strange behavior was that the Judeans had done evil in the Lord's sight. Specifically, they had brought things into the temple that were detestable to the Lord and that defiled it. These were idols and other objects associated with idolatry (cf. 2 Kings 21:5; 23:4-7; Ezek. 8).
7:31 The people had also built a shrine at a site called "Topheth"in the Valley of Hinnom just south of Jerusalem.177They had offered their children as human sacrifices at this shrine during the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6), something that Yahweh never commanded nor even entertained in His thinking (cf. Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; 2 Kings 23:10; Mic. 6:7). King Josiah had attempted to wipe out this horrible practice (2 Kings 23:10), but the people revived it after he died in 609 B.C. (Ezek. 20:25-26).178What the Judahites were doing in the Valley of Hinnom was not fundamentally different from some of the forms of abortion that characterize modern life.
7:32 Because of this gross sin, the Lord promised that in the future the site would have a new name: the Valley of Slaughter.179This would be appropriate because so many of the idolatrous Israelites would die there in the coming siege. The enemy would fill this valley with Israelite bodies because it would be an easy way to dispose of their corpses. In ancient Near Eastern culture, to die and remain unburied was an insult as well as a tragedy (14:16; Deut. 28:26; Ps. 79:3; Isa. 18:6). The law prescribed that even criminals should be buried (Deut. 21:23).
"All too appropriately, the place where parents tried to buy their own safety at their children's terrible expense, would become an open grave for their own remains (32-33)."180
7:33 This future mass grave would become a feeding ground for birds and beasts. No one would frighten the animals away because the Israelites who remained alive would be taken away as captives. Being left unburied was a terrible curse.181
7:34 At that future time the Lord would remove all the joy and gladness from Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The land would become a ruin due to the invader from the north.
"The joy of a wedding carries the happy anticipation of the birth of children, but a nation that sacrificed its children forfeited all right for such cheerful occasions."182
"The sermon ends (if these verses, still in prose, should be taken with ch. 7) on a note which takes away the last shreds of comfort for those whose hopes or memories are bound up with Jerusalem."183
8:1 When the invasion from the north came (cf. vv. 32-34), the Lord declared, the enemy soldiers would dig up the bodies of kings, princes, priests, prophets, and ordinary citizens (cf. Amos 2:1). Thus they would add insult to injury. The ancients believed that the spirits of unburied people would have no rest in the nether world.184Some of the reason for exhuming these corpses may have been to plunder the graves of the dead, a practice common in the ancient Near East.185
"Even in modern times, the opening up of graves and the throwing about of the bones of the departed is practiced as a mark of extreme contempt. In recent wars in the Middle East such desecrations and insult were perpetrated."186
8:2 The enemy soldiers would expose these bones to the sun, moon, and stars, which the Judahites had loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshipped.
". . . as if in fulfillment of the desires of the dead, their bones are laid out upon the earth, exposed to the very astral powers' whom once the dead had worshiped [sic]. And in the humiliation of the dead, their former heavenly masters were uncaring, complacently shining in the heavens, unconcerned about human fate on the face of the earth. Although in life the citizens of Judah had served these astral deities, offering them affection, soliciting their advice and counsel (much as their modern counterparts might read an astrological chart), in human death the futility of their actions was at last made plain."187
Worship of astral deities was popular in the days of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:3; 23:4) and later revived after Josiah's reforms (Ezek. 8:16). The land would resemble a bone yard because there would be few if any survivors from Judah to gather up the bones for burial (cf. ch. 37). Human bones would serve as fertilizer for the land instead of animal bones, which were often used for this purpose (cf. 16:4).
8:3 The scattered remnant who survived the invasion would consider death a more desirable alternative than life as displaced persons. They would feel this way because the lot of the living would be more miserable than that of the dead (cf. Lev. 26:36-39; Deut. 28:65-67; 2 Kings 25:5-7; Ps. 137; Rev. 9:6).
Some scholars believe that Jeremiah delivered this entire collection of speeches (7:1-8:3) at the temple (cf. 7:1-2). That may or may not be true. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to trace the origin of many of Jeremiah's undated prophecies, when and where he gave them originally.
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