Rituals and Hypocrisy
Rituals and Hypocrisy
Jeremiah spoke at a critical time. The nation was shocked by Josiah’s death, the removal of Jehoahaz, and the imposition of Jehoiakim as king by Pharaoh Neco. With Jehoiakim a religious reversal took place in the nation. Canaanite rites were reappearing in Judah. The temple address was Jeremiah’s first public sermon and, as has been said above, the source of all his later opposition from various groups in the nation. Through it he made lasting enemies and may have been excluded from the temple because of it (36:5). It was a thoroughgoing denunciation of the worship of the day. The deliverance of Jerusalem in 701 B.C. in Hezekiah’s reign had become almost legendary and led to the idea that Jerusalem was inviolable because of the sanctuary (cf. 2 Kings 18:13–19:37). Jeremiah spoke during a lull in hostile political activity. Doubtless, many were ready to attribute the respite to the glory of the temple.
2–3 The immediate occasion of Jeremiah’s address may have been one of the three pilgrimage festivals (Deut 16:16). The “gate” (v.2) was the one that connected the outer and inner courts. The place suggested is the Eastern Gate; some identify it with the New Gate (cf. 26:10; 36:10). Jeremiah’s position insured him a wide hearing. It was doubly significant that Jeremiah’s attack on the superstitious attitude toward the temple was uttered at that very place. Verse 3 states the theme of the sermon. It was a simple, direct, unmistakable message: Repent if you expect to remain in your native land (v.7; cf. Deut 7:12–15). The people must change their settled habits and way of life.
I The Reliance on Rituals
The temple had become a kind of fetish and object of faith (cf. the use of the ark [1 Sam 4:3]). The basis for this was (1) the promise of an eternal dynasty to David (cf. 2 Sam 7:11–14) and (2) the choice of Zion as God’s earthly abode (cf. Ps 132:13–16). Therefore no harm could come to the temple. The false prophets continually assured the people of the personal intervention of God in case of any danger to the temple and Zion. But Jeremiah thundered that the temple without godliness was a delusion
II The Repentance of Rituals
Jeremiah had called for the people to repent; now he turns to the prescription for their remaining in the land. Profession and conduct must be in accord (v.5), or all their efforts will be unavailing. The way of blessing, then as now, is to give spiritual and moral principles the first place in life. Four things (v.6) are stressed: (1) justice; (2) concern for the alien, fatherless, and widow; (3) avoidance of judicial murders; and (4) abandonment of idolatry. Idolatry, the root of their problems and their first national sin at Mount Sinai, comes last for emphasis. Nothing less than spiritual renewal would insure continuance in the land God had given their fathers in perpetuity (v.7; of Deut 14:29; 24:19–21; chs. 28–30). As always, acceptance with God depends not on ceremonial observances but on true piety.
III The Reality of the Rituals
Judah felt so secure because of the presence of God’s temple that she believed it was safe to do all kinds of detestable things. Her vileness had actually turned the temple into a den of robbers (cf. Matt. 21:12–13). What she failed to realize was that God had been watching and was aware of her deeds.
Jeremiah pointed to Israel’s past to expose the fallacy of believing that the mere presence of God’s temple would avert disaster.
Their true safety lay in thoroughly turning from sin and living righteously. They thought they could get away with their sins as long as they came to the temple and said “We are delivered.” Our Lord Himself, whose views of outward religion were like Jeremiah’s, used the prophet’s words in verse 11 about the temple being “a den of thieves,” when He cleansed His Father’s house (Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46). Because Judah had polluted and desecrated the temple, it would be destroyed just as the sanctuary in Shiloh had been. (The destruction of Shiloh is believed to have taken place during Judges or 1 Samuel.)