# Jeremiah 07 đ: The Temple Sermon
[[đ Explore the Bible Books]]
[[-Jeremiah Overview]] | [[Jeremiah 06]] | [[Jeremiah 08]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đ Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#đ§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#âď¸ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#đ Key Principles / đ Life Application]]
> [[#đŹ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#âď¸ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đ Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#đ Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đ Internal Notes]]
## đ Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment
[[#Verse 01.]] The Lord said to Jeremiah:Â
[[#Verse 02.]] âStand in the gate of the Lordâs temple and proclaim this message: âListen to the Lordâs message, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the Lord.Â
[[#Verse 03.]] The Lord of Heavenâs Armies, the God of Israel, says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.Â
[[#Verse 04.]] Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, âWe are safe! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!âÂ
[[#Verse 05.]] You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.Â
[[#Verse 06.]] Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.Â
[[#Verse 07.]] If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land that I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.
[[#Verse 08.]] ââBut just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known.Â
[[#Verse 10.]] Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say, âWe are safe!â You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins!Â
[[#Verse 11.]] Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.Â
[[#Verse 12.]] So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped in the early days. See what I did to it because of the wicked things my people Israel did.Â
[[#Verse 13.]] You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again. But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent!Â
[[#Verse 14.]] So I will destroy this temple that I have claimed as my own, this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors, just like I destroyed Shiloh.Â
[[#Verse 15.]]Â And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.â
[[#Verse 16.]] âBut as for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not raise a cry of prayer for them! Do not plead with me to save them, because I will not listen to you.Â
[[#Verse 17.]] Do you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?Â
[[#Verse 18.]] Children are gathering firewood, fathers are building fires with it, and women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this just to trouble me.Â
[[#Verse 19.]] But I am not really the one being troubled! says the Lord. Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame!Â
[[#Verse 20.]] So, the Sovereign Lord says, my raging fury will be poured out on this land. It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops. And it will burn like a fire that cannot be extinguished.
[[#Verse 21.]] âThe Lord of Heavenâs Armies, the God of Israel, says to the people of Judah: âYou might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!Â
[[#Verse 22.]]Â Consider this:Â When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.Â
[[#Verse 23.]] I also explicitly commanded them: âObey me. If you do, I will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you and things will go well with you.âÂ
[[#Verse 24.]]Â But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better.Â
[[#Verse 25.]] From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now, I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again, day after day.
[[#Verse 26.]] But your ancestors did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.ââ
[[#Verse 27.]] Then the Lord said to me, âWhen you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you.Â
[[#Verse 28.]] So tell them: âThis is a nation that has not obeyed the Lord their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore.Â
[[#Verse 29.]] So mourn, you people of this nation. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!ââ
[[#Verse 30.]] The Lord says, âI have rejected them because the people of Judah have done what I consider evil. They have set up their disgusting idols in the temple that I have claimed for my own and have defiled it.Â
[[#Verse 31.]] They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!Â
[[#Verse 32.]] So, watch out!â says the Lord. âThe time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley the Valley of Slaughter, and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room.Â
[[#Verse 33.]] Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat. There will not be any survivors to scare them away.Â
[[#Verse 34.]]Â I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness or the glad celebration of brides and grooms throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For the whole land will become a desolate wasteland.â
## đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
###### Verse 31.
###### Verse 32.
###### Verse 33.
###### Verse 34.
## đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Jeremiah preached this "temple sermon" standing at the gate of the Lord's house (7:2). Chapter 26 tells the same event and the reaction that nearly cost him his life.
2. The phrase "the temple of the Lord" is repeated three times in 7:4, like a magic formula.
3. Jesus quoted 7:11, calling the temple "a den of robbers," when He drove out the merchants (Mark 11:17).
4. A "den of robbers" was a cave where thieves hid between raids. The people sinned and then ran to the temple to feel safe.
5. Shiloh (7:12) was where the tabernacle stood in the days of Eli and Samuel. Psalm 78:60 says God abandoned it.
6. The "queen of heaven" (7:18) was a goddess, likely Ishtar or Astarte. Whole families baked cakes for her.
7. God tells Jeremiah not to pray for this people (7:16), one of the most sobering commands in the book.
8. Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom (7:31) was where children were sacrificed by fire.
9. The Valley of Hinnom (*Ge Hinnom*) gave its name to "Gehenna," the word Jesus used for hell.
10. God says the valley will be renamed "the Valley of Slaughter" (7:32).
## đ§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## âď¸ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the true Temple who cleansed the temple that had become "a den of robbers" (7:11; Mark 11:17). He replaced trust in a building with Himself, the place where God meets us (John 2:19-21).
## đ Key Principles / đ Life Application
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đŹ Discussion Questions
1. The people kept saying, "This is the temple of the Lord" (7:4). What "religious slogans" can we hide behind while our hearts drift from God?
2. God lists the sins of the people and then says they stand in His house and say "We are safe" (7:9-10). Why is it dangerous to separate worship from daily obedience?
3. God sent them to Shiloh to see what He had done there (7:12). What does the history of God's people teach us about presuming on His grace?
## âď¸ Key Verses to Remember
- đ verse 4: Do not trust deceptive words, saying, "This is the temple of the Lord."
- đ verse 11: Has this house that bears My name become a den of robbers?
- đ verse 23: God's command was: Obey Me, and I will be your God and you will be My people.
## đ Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đ [[Mark 11#Verse 15.|Mark 11:15-17]] - Jesus calls the temple a den of robbers.
- đ [[John 02#Verse 19.|John 2:19-21]] - Jesus speaks of the temple of His body.
- đ [[1 Samuel 15#Verse 22.|1 Samuel 15:22]] - To obey is better than sacrifice.
- đ [[Psalm 78#Verse 60.|Psalm 78:60]] - God abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh.
- đ [[Matthew 07#Verse 21.|Matthew 7:21-23]] - Not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom.
## đ Devotional Reflection
đ SOAP: [[Jeremiah 07 - SOAP|Being Around Is Not the Same as Being With]]
## đ Internal Notes