DBG - August 16 - Jeremiah 7-9

In this chapter the religious practices of Judah are condemned.

vs. 1-15 – The people are warned to not take their position with God for granted.  They felt secure because they had the Temple in Jerusalem.  They thought God would never let it fall or be destroyed.  God reminds them in vs. 12 that the Tabernacle at Shiloh was attacked by the Philistines and at least partially destroyed in I Samuel 4:10.  This is not explicitly stated in the text, but the clues are numerous such as this mention of it. We note also the phrase “den of robbers” in vs. 11 that is also used by Christ in Matthew 21:13.

vs. 16-20 – Jeremiah is instructed to not make intercession for the people because they are too far gone.  They were absorbed so much in idolatry that only judgment would turn their hearts.

vs. 21-28 – God declares that the sacrifices made by the people are no what He desires.  He reminds them that it was faith in Him that brought Israel out of Egypt and the sacrifices came later.  The people need to repent if they would avoid judgment, but they are too proud to bend the knee.

vs. 29-34 – Judah was being called to repent for their idolatrous ways.  Did we not just prior to this see that they were offering sacrifices to Jehovah?  Why are thy now offering them to false gods?  They were doing it the whole time!  Whatever worship they offered toward God was as a polytheist.  Jehovah was just another one of the many gods on their shelf.  But God did not desire to be just a god.  He wanted to be the God of the Jews.  Their infidelity to Him would bring harsh judgment. Tophet (“place of burning”) and Hinnom (“lamentation”) were sites outside Jerusalem dedicated to pagan worship.

In this chapter Jeremiah weeps over the refusal of the people to repent.

vs. 1-3 – The coming judgment is pictured.  The dead kings that led the people to that doom have their graves desecrated.  The gods they had served had not power to save them.

vs. 4-12 – The pride of the people had caused them to forsake God’s truth for their own wisdom.  In doing so, they did not have the sense left to see what was coming.  Judgment was coming. 

vs. 13-17 – The coming judgment is described.

vs. 18-22 – Jeremiah laments the refusal of the people to repent.  Time was running out and so was hope that the judgment would be avoided.  He compares their condition to being sick and refusing the offered medicine in vs. 22.  Gilead was famed for a medicine made from resin obtained from a local shrub.

In this chapter we see the need for, and lack of, repentance.

vs. 1-9 – Jeremiah has had enough of dealing with the rebellious people.  He wants to run away and just give up on them.  God responds with the promise that their sins would be surely judged. 

vs. 10-16 – The scope of the coming judgment is seen and its cause.  The cause is in vs. 13-14.  They had forsaken God and His Law.

vs. 17-22 – Here is an allusion to Jewish funeral customs.  There existed among them what are commonly classified as professional mourners.  These were paid to add to the mourning of a family and community.  It was thought that the greater the number of mourners the greater the status of the deceased.  These types of mourners are told to start preparing for the funerals and laments to come after judgment.  We also note the description of these women in vs. 17 as “cunning”, which likely indicates they were idolators.  It is fitting that these would mourn because it was they who caused the judgment and they who would fall in it.

vs. 23-26 – Judah would not be the only nation to feel the wrath of Babylon.  These all boasted that they could defeat and withstand what was coming.  They were wrong.  The only hope for survival was by trusting in God and not man’s strength.  Note how Israel is lumped in with the foreign, “uncircumcised” nations,  They may have been physically circumcised as sign of their heritage from Abraham, but they were not spiritually circumcised.  God cared not for their physical state, but their spiritual state.

While looking at Jeremiah Chapter 7, we noted that Judah was trying to serve God and idols at the same time.  We often think of this as a situation where you are either serving God or you or not, so finding a mixture of truth and error may surprise some.  It is very difficult for the modern mind to comprehend the ancient polytheist mindset.  In their minds, every god had some use and you sort of worshipped whatever claimed to help with your need.  It was easy, then, for many to embrace God or even Christ, but not exclusively.  This is the importance of the First Commandment in Exodus 20:3.  We are not called to worship God as one of many other deities, but to worship Him exclusively.  Even in the modern world, people will willingly say they accept Christ, but not exclusively.  Some will even claim to accept Christ through multiple traditions.  None of these ideas are Biblical.  The call of God is to trust in Him solely and completely.

Our hymn today by Anne Steele first appeared under the title “Christ the Physician of Souls” in 1760.  It draws on the theme of Jeremiah 8:22 to point us to Christ for our salvation.

Deep are the wounds which sin hath made;
Where shall the sinner find a cure?
In vain, alas, is nature's aid,
The work exceeds all nature's pow'r.

Sin like a raging fever reigns,
With fatal strength in every part;
The dire contagion fills the veins,
And spreads its poison to the heart.

And can no sov'reign balm be found,
And is no kind physician nigh,
To ease the pain, and heal the wound,
Ere life and hope forever fly?

There is a great physician near,
Look up. O fainting soul, and live;
See, in his heav'nly smiles appear
Such ease as nature cannot give!

See, in the Saviour's dying blood
Life, health, and bliss abundant flow!
'Tis only this dear, sacred flood
Can ease thy pain, and heal thy woe.

Sin throws in vain its pointed dart,
For here a sov'reign cure is found;
A cordial for a fainting heart,
A balm for ev'ry painful wound.