Jer 7:8-11 | KingComments | STEP | The sharpness of Jeremiah’s words increases. With a powerful “behold” to emphatically draw their attention to it, the LORD’s rebuke is heard once again that the words the people rely on in view of their position are deceitful and therefore it is useless to rely on them ( ; ). They are of no use, they have no basis and do not in any way justify their actions or protect them from God’s judgment. Their actions reveal the true condition of their heart ( ). Nothing is present with them of the conditions the LORD had set for them to live in the land forever. They are guilty of violating several of the ten commandments and yet, while living this way, they also dare to express their trust in the temple. They are even so audacious that they dare to come into God’s house in the presence of God and say there that they are delivered ( ). The LORD emphatically points out to them that they are in fact saying that they are using their deliverance as an occasion to commit all kinds of abominations. They are misusing what they have received from the LORD by grace as an opportunity to satisfy their carnal lusts ( ; ). But grace is not a license to sin. By their conduct they make the house of the LORD a den of robbers, where they carry on their criminal business. They think that there they are safe from other robbers who want to take the spoils from them ( ). They have made God’s house a den of robbers, as the Lord Jesus also reproaches them ( ; ; cf. ). They rob the LORD of what is His due and they do the same to their neighbors. The LORD has seen all the abominations His people commit, He says emphatically ( ). Nothing escapes Him.

‏ Jeremiah 7:8-11

Indifferent to Live God-Fearing Lives

The sharpness of Jeremiah’s words increases. With a powerful “behold” to emphatically draw their attention to it, the LORD’s rebuke is heard once again that the words the people rely on in view of their position are deceitful and therefore it is useless to rely on them (Jer 7:8; Jer 7:4). They are of no use, they have no basis and do not in any way justify their actions or protect them from God’s judgment.

Their actions reveal the true condition of their heart (Jer 7:9). Nothing is present with them of the conditions the LORD had set for them to live in the land forever. They are guilty of violating several of the ten commandments and yet, while living this way, they also dare to express their trust in the temple.

They are even so audacious that they dare to come into God’s house in the presence of God and say there that they are delivered (Jer 7:10). The LORD emphatically points out to them that they are in fact saying that they are using their deliverance as an occasion to commit all kinds of abominations. They are misusing what they have received from the LORD by grace as an opportunity to satisfy their carnal lusts (Gal 5:13; Jude 1:4). But grace is not a license to sin.

By their conduct they make the house of the LORD a den of robbers, where they carry on their criminal business. They think that there they are safe from other robbers who want to take the spoils from them (Jer 7:11a). They have made God’s house a den of robbers, as the Lord Jesus also reproaches them (Mt 21:12-13; Jn 2:13-17; cf. Isa 56:7). They rob the LORD of what is His due and they do the same to their neighbors. The LORD has seen all the abominations His people commit, He says emphatically (Jer 7:11b). Nothing escapes Him.