Passage Reading: Jeremiah 6-7
Today’s passage begins with a clear prophetic declaration of the impending destruction of Jerusalem in Jeremiah 6. God says, “I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it” (6:19, ESV). This denouncement of God’s people because of their sin is the result of their hypocrisy and their lack of repentance. God was willing to forgive them if they would’ve turned from their sin and amended their ways. He says so clearly, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place” (7:3) but the people refused. They trusted in the temple, the dwelling place of God’s name (7:4) not realizing that this was no guarantee of security. God points this out so clearly by referring back to the destruction of Shiloh (7:12-15). This was the location where the Tabernacle of Moses was first set up permanently in the promised land back in the days of Eli the priest, right before Samuel comes on the scene. In those days, due to the consistent sin of the people, and especially the priests, God gave them into the hands of the Philistines. The ark of the covenant was lost in battle, and Shiloh was eventually destroyed.
The Lord ends up so upset with the people that Jeremiah is commanded not to intercede for them (7:16). Their destruction will be sure because they were unwilling to amend their ways. Their lives were filled with hypocrisy. They trusted in the temple, and they even brought their burnt offerings, but they weren’t willing to obey God’s laws (7:21-23). God desired their obedience even more than their worship! A similar word was once spoken to King Saul by the prophet Samuel, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22b).
God has always desired obedience more than worship. He truly desires both, but a life that is lived consistently against God’s decrees, with the hope that a time of worship would cover over a life of lawlessness, is an abomination to Him. God wanted Saul’s obedience, not a small offering of worship instead. God looked to the people of Judah in today’s text, and He didn’t want their offerings, He wanted their obedience from the heart! How could the people honestly imagine that despite their idolatry and their myriads of sins that a small sacrifice of worship would cause all of that to be forgotten?
The people needed to obey God from the heart first and then their worship beyond this would be a joy to God. Instead, it was a poorly attempted covering over their otherwise godless lives. It makes me wonder how many people fall prey to this today. Living godless lives from Monday to Saturday and then believing that with one hour of worship on Sunday God would suddenly forget how they’ve been living the rest of the week. God won’t be fooled. He knows the truth. His desire is for us to serve Him from the heart from Monday to Saturday with Sunday worship being the cherry on top of an otherwise God-pleasing life. Not the attempted mask of a life that is otherwise lived without Him.
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