Things became extremely wicked among Gods people. To introduce yourself to conditions in Jerusalem, read Jeremiah 1 and 5. These were the people who were supposed to be Gods people, but they were an extremely wicked people. Through Jeremiah, God expressed His contempt for the horrible lives these people lived. Jeremiah was to make them aware of their utter moral failure. Jeremiahs task was unpleasant and discouraging (read Jeremiah 8:18-22; 15:15-18; 20:7-18).
A significant part of the problem was introduced in Jeremiah 7. The reasoning seemed to be this: (1) The temple contains Gods presence on earth. (2) The city of Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah, contains Gods temple. (3) God will not permit anything bad happen to His temple, therefore God will not let anything bad happen to Jerusalem (and Judah). The people are safe from harm because Jerusalem contains the temple. (4) Thus, it does not matter what any prophet (or anyone else) says against the city and the people because we have Gods temple.
Note that Gods anger with them was not focused on the temple, or HOW they offered sacrifices, or the practices they used in their religious rituals. With all the evil in Jerusalem, the probability was quite high that there were glaring flaws in the temple worship/practices. If people are deeply flawed morally, typically their worship practices are not A-Okay. If their worship was less than what God expected, those flaws were NOT the priority problem with God. The priority problem was the way they lived! Worship is reflected in ones life. Worship is not a substitute for a godly living!
(a) To believe that God would not act against Jerusalem because the city contained Gods temple was to be deceived. To hold that conviction was to trust deceptive words. The moral cure for Gods anger would not be found in reforming temple practices!
(b)The problem would be addressed only if they amended their ways, their deeds, addressed the unjust way they treated neighbors, stopped oppressing those who were not Jews, stopped oppressing powerless Jews who had no social status, stopped shedding innocent blood, and ceased worshipping idols. The foundation problem was to be seen in what they did every day in their lives. How they lived was reflected accurately in how they treated other people.
The end result was they stole, murdered, committed adultery, and engaged in idolatry in the conviction that they made everything alright if they went to the temple and offered the right sacrifices in the right way. Appealing to God had nothing to do with how they lived. Appealing to God only concerned going to the temple. Thus, they caused temple worship to be a fraudulent misrepresentation of God. God Himself saw what they were doing!
(c) God said, Look at Shiloh! It contained My tabernacle before the temple ever existed. Note the wickedness of those people. Note what I did to them even though they had My tabernacle.
I have tried to tell you what the problem was, but you refused to listen. I called you, and you refused to answer Me. Your behavior has left me no choice. I will do to the temple and Jerusalem what I did to the tabernacle and Shiloh. I will have nothing to do with you! I forbid Jeremiah to pray or intercede for you! You will realize you have not hurt Me, but yourselves!
Wow! If you understand fully what God said, the appropriate reaction should be, Wow! Wow! If your impression is that the way they lived genuinely made God quite angry even after all He did for them, you are correct! (The way they acted really ticked God off!) Their behavior was nothing less than an abuse of Gods generations of kindness and trustworthiness!
To delve deeper into the problem, read again 2 Samuel 7:1-7. Then read 1 Kings 9:3. When you read those references with Jeremiah 7:1-11, a reality becomes quite apparent. The temple was King Davids idea! God later accepted a human idea though He never commanded the idea. Thus a human gift was given to God, God accepted the gift, and the people placed their confidence/trust in their gift rather than in the God who lead their forefathers from Egypt and gave them Canaan. The people had more confidence in their gift than they had in God! In fact, they used the gift in an attempt to manipulate God so they could justify ungodly behavior. Do you blame God for being so angry?
That approach sounds so much like us it is scary! We sacrifice for buildings, furnishings, parking lots, and a host of other things that are not wrong of themselves. Then we declare our faithfulness because we gave to things that primarily benefit us. We are spiritually comforted when or if we can say, Look what we did, rather than devoting ourselves to living by Gods values. Often our lives do not reflect God and His values. It is so easy to trust our gifts instead of trusting the God to whom we give our gifts.
Care to look honestly in the mirror with the determination to see yourself accurately? Do you trust what God did for us in Jesus life, death, and resurrection, or do you trust the gifts you have given to God? The message of this lesson is NOT anti-gift to God. It IS anti-trust in the gifts we give to God. It is an examination of our motives when we give to God.
Never forget that God cannot be manipulated. Trust God, not what you do for or give to God. The uniqueness of relationship with God is found in what He gave us, not in what we give Him.
For Thought and Discussion
1. What do Jeremiah 1 and 5 say to you about the inhabitants of Jerusalem?
2. How did God express His contempt?
3. How do Jeremiah 8:18-22, 15:15-18, and 20:7-18 show Jeremiahs task was discouraging?
4. What seems to be the reasoning of Jerusalems inhabitants?
5. God did not focus His anger in what ways?
6. What belief was a deception?
7. How should Gods anger (the problem) be addressed?
8. What was the foundation problem?
9. Why should they look at Shiloh?
10. God tried to get their attention, but they responded how?
11. Discuss this statement: The people had more confidence in their gift to God than their God.
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 5