Jeremiah 7 Stand in the Gate of Adonai's House

Jeremiah 7–8:3 TLV

The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying: Stand in the gate of Adonai’s house and proclaim there this word and say: “Hear the word of Adonai, all you of Judah that come through these gates to worship Adonai. Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel; mend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say ‘The Temple of Adonai, the Temple of Adonai, the Temple of Adonai!’ “No, if you truly mend your ways and your deeds—if you are doing justice between a man and his neighbor, not oppressing the sojourner, orphan and widow nor shedding innocent blood in this place, nor going after other gods to your own ruin— then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. Look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are empty. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and perjury, and offer incense to Baal and walk after other gods whom you have not known— and then come and stand before Me in this house that bears My Name, saying, ‘We are saved!’—so that you may keep doing all these abominations? Has this House, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Look, even I have seen it!” It is a declaration of Adonai. “Indeed, go now to My place that was in Shiloh, where I first made My Name dwell. Now see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. While you were doing all these things,” declares Adonai, “I spoke to you early and often, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not answer. Therefore I will do to the House that bears My Name—the one in which you trust, the one that I gave to you and to your fathers—as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, just as I cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim. “As for you, do not pray for this people. Do not offer any supplication or petition for them, nor entreat Me, because I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire and the women knead the dough to make sacrificial cakes to the queen of heaven. Moreover, they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me to anger. But am I the One they are provoking?” declares Adonai. “Are they not vexing themselves to their own shame?” Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “My anger and My wrath is about to be poured out on this place—on man and beast, and on the trees of the field and the fruit of the land—and it will burn and not be quenched.” Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat! For on the day that I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt I did not speak to them nor did I command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I explicitly commanded them: ‘Obey My voice and I will be your God to you and you will be My people. Walk in all the ways that I command you that it may go well with you.’ But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead they followed their own counsel, in the stubbornness of their evil heart. They have gone backward and not forward, from the day your fathers left the land of Egypt until today. Although I sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily and persistently, they did not listen to Me or pay attention. Rather, they stiffened their neck, doing more evil than their fathers. “When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you. So you will say to them, ‘This nation has not obeyed the voice of Adonai their God or received correction. Truth has perished and is cut off from their mouth. Cut off your hair and throw it away and take up a lamentation on the barren hills. For Adonai has spurned and cast off the generation of His wrath.” “The children of Judah have done what is evil in My sight”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“They have set their detestable things in the House that bears My Name to defile it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire—which I did not command, nor did it even enter My mind. Therefore, the days are soon coming,” declares Adonai, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, nor the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury in Topheth until there is no room. The carcasses of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth, and no one will frighten them away. Then I will bring an end, from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, to the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land will be desolate.” “At that time”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the kohanim and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves. They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, and after which they have walked and sought, and which they have worshipped. They will not be gathered or buried, but will be like dung on the face of the ground. So death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family that remains in all the places to which I have driven them.” It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.

Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon

We have covered the first section of Jeremiah. Chapters 1-6 serve as an introduction to the entire book. Now with Jer. 7:1 we begin a new series of oracles. This section seems to go from Chapter 7 up until Chapter 26. This Temple sermon given by Jeremiah is usually dated to the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. Part of the reason is that in Jer. 26:1-10 we see the entire sermon repeated but with more surrounding detail.

It is also very fitting for us to cover this section with today being the 9th of Av. Today is the anniversary of the destuction of both the First and the Second Temples. It is a day of great mourning and sorrow, because we remember the judgement that Adonai poured out upon Israel, not once, but twice. Truly, as Isa 40:2 states, “Jerusalem .... received from Adonai’s hand double for all her sins.”

Where to Stand

Adonai commands Jeremiah to stand in the gate of Adonai’s House. This was probably the eastern gate, or the main entrance. Adonai calls this “His House”, and “the House that bears My Name”. The naming is very important because Adonai takes the defilement of the Temple personally.

Hypocritical Worship

The hypocrisy of the people tires and angers Adonai. While the people call out “The Temple of Adonai!”, theft, murder, oppression, lying adultery, and idolatry fill the rest of the month.

In Jer. 7:11 Adonai asks the people, “Has this House, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Look, even I have seen it!”

Does that question sound familiar?

It should, Yeshua quoted this passage in Matt. 21:12-13

Matthew 21:12–13 TLV

Then Yeshua entered the Temple and drove out all those selling and buying in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of thieves’!”

Jeremiah is standing the court of the 1st Temple, and Yeshua is standing in the same place, but in the 2nd Temple. Both prophesying about the sin and wickedness occurring in front of them. Both prophesying about the destruction and desolation of the Temples of their days.

Just Like Shiloh

Unlike the false prophets, who make up their news, and have no facts to back them up, Adonai point to several historical events. What has happened before is about to happen again.

Shiloh was the place of worship, the location of the Tabernacle in the days of Eli and Samuel, the first place where Adonai had caused His Name to dwell. However because of the sin of the priests, the sons of Eli, Adonai declared 1 Sam. 3:11-14

1 Samuel 3:11–14 TLV

Then Adonai said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone that hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity that he knew about, because his sons brought a curse on themselves yet he did not rebuke them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”

The Philistines ended up destroying Shiloh in the 11th Century B.C., and it laid desolate for hundreds of years. Adonai shows that what was done before could be done again.

Just Like Ephraim

Assyria had captured Samaria in 722 B.C. just over 100 years before, and at that time Assyria had threatened to destroy Jerusalem. (Isa. 37:36) But the only reason that Jerusalem had survived then, was that Adonai miraculously delivered Judah. Now Adonai sees Judah’s wickedness and will bring judgement on the land.

Do Not Intercede

Jer. 7:16 is such a potent verse. ““As for you (Jeremiah), do not pray for this people. Do not offer any supplication or petition for them, nor entreat Me, because I will not hear you.”

The point of no return had come. Adonai determined to judge Judah. Adonai’s anger had just boiled over.

For hundreds of years, the anger of Adonai had been simmering, as the wickedness of the people got worse and worse. Now His fury could not be quenched, and His anger would burn people and livestock and would scorch the earth.

Adonai warns Jeremiah that the people will not listen to him.

Worthless Worship

Adonai’s anger and sarcasm continues as He tells the people to keep bringing their sacrifices. What’s interesting is that the Burnt Offering was the one sacrifice that the people were NOT supposed to eat (Lev. 1:9). Adonai is saying,

You might as well add these offerings to the others and have a feast. They are utterly worthless to me! ... One moment [you're] baking cakes for the Queen of Heaven... the next moment offering [your] temple sacrifices to [Me]. [I] want no part of them!

Again Adonai warns Jeremiah that the people will not listen. This we see occurring in Jer. 26:8-9 as soon as Jeremiah had finished speaking.

Jeremiah 26:8–9 TLV

Now when Jeremiah finished speaking all that Adonai had commanded him to speak to all the people, the kohanim and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying: “You will surely die! Why have you prophesied in the Name of Adonai, saying, ‘This House will be like Shiloh, and this city will be an uninhabited ruin?’ ” Then all the people gathered against Jeremiah in the House of Adonai.

The Hinnom Valley

After Jeremiah escaped with his life from the priests, prophets and princes, we see that Adonai tells him to shave his head and lament on the baren hills. On one of the hills just south of Jerusalem, Jeremiah would have been overlooking the Valley of ben-Hinnom. It was here that under King Manasseh, that the people of Judah had burned alive their sons and daughters to the god Molech. And it is here, that Adonai speaks of the coming slaughter of Jerusalem. It will be a time when there will be no one left to bury their dead. Even the bones of the kings and princes will be left exposed.

And Adonai declares that the name of the valley will be changed to the Valley of Slaughter.

Yeshua refers to this place over 10 times for instance: Matt. 5:29

Matthew 5:29 TLV

And if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna.

Or how about, Matt. 10:28

Matthew 10:28 TLV

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

Did you catch it?

Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 33A: Matthew 1–13 Comment

The name Gehenna is from the Aramaic words גֵּי חִנָּם, gê ḥinnām, for the “valley of Hinnom” (cf. Josh 15:8; 18:16), a despised place to the southwest of Jerusalem where at one time human sacrifices were offered to the god Molech (cf. 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 7:31) and where in later times the city’s refuse was burned. The constant burning there made the valley a particularly suitable metaphor for eternal punishment (cf. 4 Ezra 7:36; Sib. Or. 1.103; 2.292; Str-B 4.2:1029–1118).

So not only did this Ben Hinnom Valley become known as the place of slaughter, but it also became synonymous with eternal punishment as it says in Isa. 66:24

Isaiah 66:24 TLV

“As they leave, they will look on the corpses of the people who rebelled against Me. For their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be a horror to all flesh.”

Application

So how do we apply this passage to our lives today?

Tishah B’Av (9th of Av)

Today is the annual fast day that memorialises the tragedies that are said to have occurred on this very day.

Here is a list of events that occurred on this day in years past:

Destruction of the 1st Temple (Babylonians, 586 B.C.)

Destruction of the 2nd Temple (Romans, 70 A.D.)

Defeat at Betar, Jews followed Rabbi Akiba and his false messiah Simon Bar Kochba (Hadrian, 132 A.D.)

Expulsion of Jews from England (1290 A.D.)

Expulsion of Jews from Spain (1492 A.D.)

But there is one other tragedy that traditionally occurred on this day, and that is the day that the 10 Israelite spies refused to go into the Promised Land (Num. 14, Talmud Taanit 26b)

Whereas Yom Kippur is considered the holiest day of the year, Tishah B’Av is truly the most tragic. All that we read today in Jeremiah was fulfilled and the Temple was burned to the ground.

The Apostle Paul tells the congregation in Galatia, Gal. 6:7-8

Galatians 6:7–8 TLV

Do not be deceived—God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also shall reap. For the one who sows in the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh. But the one who sows in the Ruach will reap from the Ruach eternal life.

An Example For Us

The seed of rebellion against Adonai was sown by the 10 spies, leaders of the tribes, who refused to trust Adonai. The harvest of judgement that came from that unbelief led Beni Yisrael to wander the wilderness for 40 years.

The seed of rebellion against Adonai was sown by the priests, prophets and kings in Jeremiah’s day thinking that they could worship other gods, and still expect Adonai to protect them. The harvest of judgement that came from their hypocritical worship led Beni Yisrael to exile in Babylon for 70 years.

The seed of rebellion against Adonai was sown by the religious and political leaders in Yeshua’s day, who refused to trust in Adonai’s Anointed One. The harvest of judgement that came from this unbelief led Beni Yisrael into exile throughout the world for 1,816 years.

Rav. Sha’ul writes 1 Cor. 10:11-12

1 Corinthians 10:11–12 TLV

Now these things happened to them as an example, and it was written down as a warning to us—on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let the one who thinks that he stands watch out that he doesn’t fall.

Do we, here in Australia, think that we will prosper as a nation if we and our leaders refuse to trust in Adonai and His Anointed One? Adonai says to the nations: Ps. 2:6-9

Psalm 2:6–9 TLV

“I have set up My king upon Zion, My holy mountain.” I will declare the decree of Adonai. He said to me: “You are My Son— today I have become Your Father. Ask Me, and I will give the nations as Your inheritance, and the far reaches of the earth as Your possession. You shall break the nations with an iron scepter. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s jar.”

Yeshua Ha Natzari is the Anointed One; He is the Messiah. Will we as a nation humble ourselves before Him, or will we, in pride, resist His ways, and reject Adonai’s offer of repentance?

Forgiveness Through Yeshua

Through Yeshua, there is forgiveness. Acts 2:36-39

Acts 2:36–39 TLV

“Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him—this Yeshua whom you had crucified—both Lord and Messiah!” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the emissaries, “Fellow brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua for the removal of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away—as many as Adonai our God calls to Himself.”