Know Peace or No Peace
Devotion in Motion
Jer 7:12-8:2
“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.”
Shiloh is on the West Bank in disputed territory – 18 miles
north of Jerusalem.
But it’s an important biblical site. The Tabernacle was in Shiloh for 350 years – almost as long as the Temple stood in Jerusalem. In the days of the Judges, Shiloh was to Israel what Jerusalem became after the Temple was built. People pilgrimage to Shiloh to worship at the Tabernacle. Yet they made the same
mistake in Shiloh that they would later make in Jerusalem…
The Spirit of God in the Tabernacle rested over the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was a symbol of God’s presence. Yet the Hebrew people trusted in the symbol more than the Spirit. When Israel went into battle with the Philistines they sent the Ark out to lead the charge.
Yet instead of making them invincible, the Ark was captured. When the High Priest Eli heard the news he fell off his stool, broke his neck, and died instantly. In 1050 BC, Shiloh was destroyed and Israel defeated.
Here’s Jeremiah’s point, the Ark didn’t protect Shiloh from God’s judgment – and neither will the Temple save Jerusalem. Holy things don’t make people holy.
Holiness comes from a humble, broken heart.
Verse 13, “And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren – the whole posterity of Ephraim.”
Ephraim was a nickname for the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.”
In other words, there’s no sense praying for the people’s deliverance until they repent.
Hey, if you refuse to come to Christ you’re on your own! There’s no sense praying to God for a new job, or a car, or the rent, until you are a Christian – then
God obligates Himself to meet your needs, but not before.
“Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.”
This was appalling to God!
You offend Him – then you assume He’ll protect you?
All of Jerusalem was worshipping idols. They’d turned Idolatry into a family affair…children gathered woods, dads made the fire, moms made the sacrificial cakes.
And apparently, the “queen of heaven” was a favorite idol among the citizens of Jerusalem… She was Ashtoreth to the Canaanites, Venus to the Romans, Aphrodite to the Greeks, Diana to the Ephesians, Isis to the Egyptians, Ishtar to
the Babylonians.
The Queen of heaven cult was a fixture in the paganism of the ancient world. Traces of this cult have trickled down today. Roman Catholicism assigns Mary the title, “Queen of heaven.” This exalts her far beyond what God intended. Mary was awesome but she wasn’t a queen.
Especially not “queen of heaven,” as if her influence extends to the heights of
heaven. That’s idolatry!
Verse 19, “Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?” Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place – on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.” God’s judgment will be severe.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.” If you offer your sacrifices hypocritically, just eat
them yourself. If they’re not heartfelt, they don’t please God.
“For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.
But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have
commanded you, that it may be well with you.’
The means by which God saved Israel from Egypt was the Passover – which did involve a sacrifice. But that sacrifice was a statement of obedience and trust in God – without which the sacrifice would’ve been meaningless. It was their faith
that mattered to God. God never took pleasure just in a barbecue aroma. Sacrifice and burnt offering were always intended to be expressions of the heart – of trust and commitment.
Each Sabbath in the Jewish synagogue there’s a reading from the Torah (the
Law of Moses) and a corresponding passage from the Psalms or Prophets.
Whenever Leviticus 6-8 is read – the laws concerning burnt offerings – they’re accompanied with this passage from Jeremiah. It keeps the Law of the sacrifices in the proper context of obedience and faith and trust in God.
That was how Israel started their journey. They were to obey God’s voice, be
His people, walk in His ways…
Verse 24, “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels
and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their
neck. They did worse than their fathers.
“Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you. So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God nor
receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.”
In Luke 20 Jesus tells the parable of a man who owned a vineyard and rented it
out to vinedressers.When it came time to collect rent the owner sent his servants. But they beat up the servants and sent them back empty-handed. The owner thought, “Surely they’ll honor and respect my son.” So he sent his son, but he received worse treatment. They murdered the owner’s own heir, hoping to take the vineyard for themselves.
Jesus explained his story… The vinedressers were the Hebrew nation, the servants were God’s prophets, the son was Jesus. That meant the Prophet Jeremiah was one of the prophets who the jews beat up – and you can read of the terrible persecution Jeremiah suffered.
Verse 29, “Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’ In other words, be ashamed. Repent. Mourn over your sin. Shaving the
head was a symbol of grief.
“For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the Lord. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute
it.” The Jews had set up idols in the Temple.They couldn’t have committed a greater blasphemy.
Verse 31, “And they have built the high places of Tophet, 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 heart.”
This too was despicable. The Valley of Hinnom is east of the Old City of Jerusalem. Today it’s a beautiful park with an outdoor stage – a place for
concerts.
But during the days of Jeremiah it wasn’t the sweet sounds of music rising up from this valley, it was the screams and cries of babies in distress. This was the
place where the Jews had set up altars to Molech.
“The high places of Tophet” was the site where the Jews offered child sacrifice
to the Moabite god name Molech. “Tophet” means “fireplace or incinerator.”
Molech had the head of an ox and the body of a human. He was made of brass, with a hollow torso. His arms were outstretched. A fire was stoked inside the idol until it was red-hot, glowing hot. Children were placed in the idol’s arms, while the priests of Molech beat their drums to drown out the baby’s screams.
And there’s little difference to what’s happening in our country today. Since Row V Wade legalized abortion, over 50 million babies have been sacrificed to the gods of pleasure and convenience. Many of them have been literally been burned by saline abortion. All the while pro-choice groups beat the drums and try to drown out the voices that would speak for the unborn. “
Verse 32, “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. The corpses of these people will be food for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.
And no one will frighten them away.”
This is an ominous warning. In the same place the citizens of Jerusalem sacrificed their babies to Molech their corpses will be piled high, and given to the turkey vultures and the wild beasts to be scavenged.
And there’ll be no one to shoo them away!
“Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from 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 be desolate.” In the wake of the Babylonian judgment the city will be void of joy, and happiness, and
celebration. There’ll be no weddings – only funerals. A wake will be held for all Jerusalem.
Chapter 8, “At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and
the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of
their graves.They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.”
How ironic, the kings, princes, priests, prophets, citizens, all sold out their
relationship with God and worshiped at the altars of sun and moon and stars.
God’s people gave themselves over to astrology.
But now their graves will be opened and their bones spread out before the false
gods they once served. How much will the sun and stars do for them then?
The fact of the matter is ,this country and this world will face the same judgment unless they repent and turn from their wicked ways. Unless they bow to the one true God and Savior Jesus Christ they will never know the peace which surpasses all understanding and if they don’t: will have no peace.
Victor Tafoya
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