#1055 Jeremiah 7 Part 2 Reina Del Cielo

 

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

16 “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 19 Is it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? 20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”

21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. 25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

27 “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

29 “‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;

raise a lamentation on the bare heights,

for the Lord has rejected and forsaken

the generation of his wrath.’

The Valley of Slaughter

30 “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33 And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. 34 And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste. Jeremiah 7 ESV

Jeremiah 7: 16-20

…14And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him. 16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin. There is a sin that leads to death; I am not saying he should ask regarding that sin.… 1 John 5: 14-16

16-17. As for you, do not pray for this people - In the first part of this chapter God has Jeremiah address the people as they come to the temple to worship. He is to tell them to amend their ways, much like John the Baptist calls to the religious of his day, repent and be saved. Keep in mind, they are coming to the temple to worship God, but God is unimpressed. They want His blessing, and a form of godliness, but they deny His power and right to be worshiped solely and in truth. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, as in the vein of all great intercessors, like Moses, who prayed for a rebellious people, including his brother Aaron and sister Miriam, is probably well aware of their unrepentant nature and so on his way to intercede. God says, "don't bother, I won't hear it." Remember Abraham, what if there are 50 righteous, ok what if there are 10? These people are hardened and determined to continue in their apostasy, "do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah?" 

“They have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and they must become examples of my justice. How terrible must the state of that place be, where God refuses to pour out the spirit of supplication on his ministers and people in its behalf!” (Clarke)

18. The children gather wood - What are they doing? Look, Jeremiah, at the thing they are doing in Jerusalem, openly and without shame. Not only do they do this, but they have violated the law of God to parents, in that they teach their children in this false way also. They have brought them in to this sin, as well as their friends and neighbors.

…5Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul stays far from them. 6Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22: 5-6

The fathers kindle fire - Those that should be leading toward righteousness have sent the children out to gather wood to make strange fire. The priest of the home has failed, the spiritual leader is absent.

…10For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.… 1 Corinthians 8: 10-12

…2“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.” 4Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.… Ephesians 6: 2-4

…11My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; 12for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3: 11-12

And the women knead dough - I'm sure this is not directed against baking just like God's judgment on Aaron's sons was not against the art of making fire or having a fire, but this is rather about obedience and apostasy. They are making cakes to worship an idol, a pagan goddess, and all the family is involved. The children are encouraged in this, the father has not stood up against, is not exercising discernment and shepherding away from this disaster. The mother is fully employed in this, baking cakes to a deity which is no deity.  

…26She opens her mouth with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well:… Proverbs 31: 26-28

3I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.… 2 Timothy 1: 3-5

…14But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. 15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,… 2 Timothy 3: 14-16

To make cakes for the queen of heaven - Wow, goddess worship, now this will open quite a can of worms, and it is a very old can, probably going back so far as the tower of Babel. This form of idolatry persist in our day, and most commonly within groups that are associated with Christianity. There is really a lot to unwrap with this, and it is going to come up again in later chapters, so I want to start small here, and give you some things to ponder. 

1. Jeremiah is speaking to people who have the word of God, live in the city that has the temple of the true God, and consider themselves Jews, circumcised, set apart as children of Abraham.
2. In the word of God they have been warned over and over again not to worship idols or created things, this would include human beings. 
3. These are a people who have preferred ritualism, titles, praise of men, and sacrifices over truth and obedience.
4. Their preference for ritual over reality, for filthy gain over mercy and compassion, has led to delusion about their spiritual state and a hankering for superstition. In all this they have come to put hope in the approval of men rather than the word of God. 
5. They have also added to the word of God and removed the weightier matters of the law. Jeremiah, along with the other prophets, continues to condemn their treatment of the poor, widows, fatherless and sojourners.

This can happen in the so called Christian church as well, when people want the benefits that they think God can give, but without the repentance that He demands. It can happen when people think that doctrine is not important or that the traditions of men trump the word of God. The Pharisees were quick to add things to the law that made them appear spiritual to others, like sages or gurus, but they also forsook God's command to take care of widows, to the extent of taking their property, and they forsook His command about being a light to the other nations. Instead, they blended the idolatries and rituals of their pagan neighbors into their Judaism. God said, "thou shalt not have any other gods,' and He also said, 'thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images."  Rather than go with what God says, people tend to dabble in what appears to work for the world. I offered up cakes to the goddess of heaven yesterday and today my boss gave me a raise and a promotion. I buried an idol of a saint in my yard and the property sold, so now, regardless of what God says, they stand convinced that they have found a better way, based on superstition and materialism. God has declared that He has put His word up with His name, and that His word won't return to Him void. So I am going to show preference to what He says over what I feel, over what men would like to be true, over mishandling of His name, and over human traditions. Here is a great link that I hope you will use for your study and to equip you to be that light that helps someone else see the truth, and I am going to keep probing deeper into this probably around chapter 44. Idolatry of Mary worship Link

“The ‘queen of heaven’ was the Babylonian Ishtar, identified with the planet Venus, whose worship, similar to the cults of the Canaanite goddesses, Asherah, Ashtaroth and Anath, was probably introduced into Judah by the apostate king, Manasseh (2 Kings 21:3ff).” (Cundall)

“There is goddess worship in the Roman Catholic religion, where Mary is sometimes given the title ‘The Queen of Heaven.’ This title sets off alarm bells for anyone who knows the book of Jeremiah.” (Ryken)

iv. “Family worship is a most amiable and becoming thing when performed according to truth. What a pity that so few families show such zeal for the worship of God as those apostate Israelites did for that of their idols!” (Clarke)

And they pour out drink offerings to other gods - Just in case, wouldn't want to miss one that might give me a new car or better love life.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

2 Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

3 Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases.

4 Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

5 They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

6 They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

7 They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

8 Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them. Psalm 115 ESV

Is it not themselves to their own shame - You trusted in things that couldn't save you, and you rejected the Creator of the universe. Now, the people to whom God has made Himself the most known, will be destroyed by the people who know Him least. You wanted to worship their gods so now see if they can deliver you. You wanted your sin, see what it has to offer you in regards to eternity. What does it profit you?