Jeremiah preaches at the front of the Temple proclaiming the moral failure of Judah and the judgement that was coming on them as a result.
Jeremiah 7: Evil in the Land
1 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.
Things to think about…
1. Imagine getting the sermon before you entered the church. This is exactly what Jeremiah is doing here in Jer 7. There were no good sermons going on inside the temple anyway. The Priests were corrupt. Jeremiah is saying not to trust in ‘the Temple of the Lord’, Jer 7:4. Just because the LORD had established God’s people with a temple does not mean He will tolerate their rebellion and moral corruption. The Jewish people were corrupt. Jer 7:9 lists out this corrupt behaviour. They will not be delivered from this corruption. We know the same can happen within churches where the word of God is not believed, preached, or lived out. Keep praying for those that preach in our pulpit that they speak only the Lord’s words and counsel.
2. Jeremiah reminds the people of Shiloh, the place where the tabernacle rested when they first entered the land. Was it still a place of worship now, Jer 7:12? No, because they also had rebelled against the Lord. As such, the ark was removed, Ps 78:60. The same happens within a church. The church’s influence and growth stop where there is in fighting and the Word of God is not preached or lived out.
3. God tells Jeremiah not to even pray for the rebellious people, Jer 7:16. They have not listened to the word of the Lord therefore prayer will not be answered. What about praying for those who reject godly counsel within the church. The Lord asks us to hand them over – reject a divisive person on the first or second admonition, Titus 3:10, then hand them over to Satan, 1Cor 5:5.
4. Just as they burned their children to foreign gods in the Valley of Hinnom, Jer 7:31, these inhabitants of Judah will have their bodies eaten by birds in the in the same place, vss 32, 33. Not a pretty picture. This of course would happen when the Babylonians came in 586BC. Praise God our Saviour Jesus has taken our rebellion and nailed it to the cross, because at the heart of it, we are no different to these ancient Israelis.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon and reading topic for this week – Sermon “Proclaiming Christ”
Reading – 1 Corinthians 12, 14
1. We all love receiving gifts. Especially if they have been well considered with who we really are and what we like. What is the most thoughtful gift you have ever received?
2. As Christians we all have a spiritual gift/s. What is yours? Are you using it to build up the body of Christ?
3. Paul says not to be ignorant of spiritual gifts, 1Cor 12:1. But there is a lot of confusion regarding the spiritual gifts of especially surrounding tongues and prophecy. Tongues as described in these 2 chapters (1Cor 12, 14) speak of known languages in the world, 1Cor 14:10, 11. Discuss how this gift is abused in some church contexts. How should it be used as outlined by Paul?
4. The gift of prophecy is also not well understood in the modern church. The 1st century Christians did not have the entire bible and needed revelation. We have the complete revelation in scripture and hence saying “Thus says the Lord” as the OT prophets declared is not the role of prophecy as described in 1 Cor 12&14. How do we discern the difference between a genuine prophetic word for someone or the church and a false prophecy?
5. Pray for the use of all the spiritual gifts in the church with a right discernment in their use.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for testimonies that people will be doing every second week. Please consider when you would like to do yours when the pastor asks you to share yours 😉
2. Pray for those on holidays and travelling.
3. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof and solar.
4. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
5. Church finances to meet our new staff and to put a roof over our café.
6. Sunday’s message from Jer 1 - “Not the calling I’m after” – Pastor Jay.
Praise Points.
1. More visitors on Sunday.
2. New cell groups.
3. Praise and worship – thanks Rod, Rin, Molley, Riley, Zac, great job.
Announcements
1. Masks to be worn on Sunday during worship. Can be taken off when eating in the café with social distancing.
2. New Cell groups starting up. Find one near you.
3. PlayPatch starting up next term for toddlers at church. See Maddison for details.
4. Men’s brekky TBA. But will be down at Colleges Crossing within the next month or so on a Saturday morning.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
