A chronic problem people who seek to follow God have in each age is found in the temptation to reduce their concept of obedience to "correct" places and "correct" human acts of worship. It is as if humans in every age decide we can obligate God to save us if we perform the correct acts of worship in the correct places. In this view, eternal salvation seems to be as simple as "if we do this God has to do that."
He or she who reaches such conclusions yields to a flawed concept of obedience. (1) He or she seeks to destroy his or her fear of death by placing confidence in human deeds instead of placing faith in the God Who sent us Jesus as our Savior. (2) He or she concludes obeying God can be reduced to a series of necessary acts regardless of the personal motives. (3) He or she believes obedience is 100% physical and does not involve one's lifestyle, moral values, and ethical conduct. Salvation is merely a formula, an equation, and never a relationship with God that expresses itself in the way we treat people. Humans merely plug in the right acts, and God is bound by the formula or equation [if the formula or equation is correct]. Thus people spend more time in debating the correctness of the formula or equation than they spend in seeking a relationship with God.
Jeremiah's prophetic ministry likely spanned about forty years. He was sent by God with messages to God's people in Judah. He was sent to a people who were hostile to him and to his messages. Had they not escaped [by God's care and blessing] the powerful forces that destroyed their brothers who composed the northern kingdom? Through the mercy of God, had they not survived in a world of chaos when powerful militaries opposed each other? How dare Jeremiah declare God was upset with them!
One of his messages focused on Judah's confidence in the physical existence of the temple in Jerusalem. Jeremiah's message was stated in the first part of Jeremiah 7. Judah and Jerusalem's prevailing reasoning followed this line of thought: "God's temple is in Jerusalem. God's presence is in that temple. God would not let anything happen to the city that contains God's temple! God would not let anything happen to the people who support the sacrificial work of that temple! As long as that temple stands in Jerusalem, we are safe! Declarations about our wickedness are meaningless! We will exist in peace because we have God's temple here, and we support the temple's continued [commanded] sacrificial worship system."
The cry of these deluded people was, "This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." God through Jeremiah said, "Those were deceiving words. Do not trust those words!" They were to trust God, not the fact of the temple's existence. To place faith in the temple was to trust something humans built. To place faith in God was to trust in Him Who is eternal.
Was the temple "an evil thing"? No! Had Israel's worship in the temple been a source of blessing to individuals and the nation? Yes! Because the temple stood? No! Because God acted? Yes! The temple merely represented God's presence. The temple was never to be their object of faith! Only God is deserving of people's faith!
God accepted the temple, but God Himself is to be the focus of human faith. The sacrifices offered in the temple were commanded by God. Yet, only God is to be the focus of human faith. The music in the temple was ordained by God (2 Chronicles 29:25). However, only God is to be the focus of human faith. God's acceptance of the temple, the correct sacrifices being offered on the temple's altar, nor the appropriate music in the temple were collectively or individually a substitute for placing faith in God.
Acts of public worship are never a substitute for a godly lifestyle! If worship acts performed are not motivated by the desire to glorify God, God is not honored by the performance of those worship acts. Public worship is not some divine insurance policy against bad things happening to a person (1) in this life or (2) after this physical life when the person dies! Public worship is never a substitute for godly living! Public worship is to be combined with godly living, not substituted for godly living. The matter of appropriate public worship runs much deeper than the performance of correct acts! It must also include motives!
Note in Jeremiah's message in chapter 7 the condemnation of ungodly ways and deeds (verse 5); injustice to people (verse 5); oppression of people who were not a part of them (verse 6); oppression of the widows and orphans [the disadvantaged who were easily exploited] (verse 6); the destruction of the innocent (verse 6); the pursuit of "other divine forces" [idolatry] (verse 6); and the abandonment of God's moral values expressed by stealing, murder, adultery, deceit, and idolatry (verse 9). Ungodly living would throw them out of their land (verse 7). Thinking an appearance in the temple would excuse their deliberate ungodly living deceived only them--never God! (verse 10)
They had changed the purpose of the temple (verse 11). Had they forgotten the destruction of Shiloh, a community of priests that housed the ark? [Read 1 Samuel 4 an 7:1, 2.] As God had abandoned Shiloh, the home of the ark of the covenant, because of their wicked living so would He abandon the temple and Judah because of their wicked living (verses 12-15).
The other texts of this lesson emphasize (1) the importance of godly living to God and (2) the deceitfulness of the powerful in God's community condemning the innocent in God's community.
Two lessons to be learned from trusting the existence of the temple: (1) The folly of placing faith in the name over a building and a system of acts of public worship; (2) the importance of combining public worship and godly living rather than substituting public worship for godly living.
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 11