Jer 7:1-15 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Jer 7:1-15: 7:1-15 Jeremiah disabused the people of their belief that God’s Temple would guarantee their safety (cp. 26:1-6 ). Summary for Jer 7:1-2: 7:1-2 The people were probably at the entrance of the Lord ’s Temple for one of the annual festivals (see also 17:19 ; 26:2 ).

Summary for Jer 7:1-15: 7:1-15 ^a Jeremiah disabused the people of their belief that God’s Temple would guarantee their safety (cp. 26:1-6 ^b).
Summary for Jer 7:1-2: 7:1-2 ^c The people were probably at the entrance of the Lord’s Temple for one of the annual festivals (see also 17:19 ^d; 26:2 ^e).
Summary for Jer 7:3-4: 7:3-4 ^f Pagans believed that a symbol was identical with what it represented, so in the paganized worship of Jeremiah’s day, the Temple was God’s heavenly house. It would be ridiculous to think that enemies could destroy it. To reinforce that idea, the people vigorously repeated a chant, The Lord’s Temple is here. However, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies needed no earthly house (2 Sam 7:6-7 ^g; 1 Kgs 8:27 ^h); whatever security the Israelites obtained from the Temple came from the Lord himself, and only on his terms (1 Kgs 6:12 ⁱ).
Summary for Jer 7:5-7: 7:5-7 ^j Idol worship had harmed the people—spiritually, because idols were delusions; socially, because their behavior destroyed fellowship; and politically, because they did not think foreign armies could conquer them. Unless the people changed, they had no future in the Promised Land (Exod 22:21-24 ^k; Deut 4:40 ^l; 6:14-15 ^m).
Summary for Jer 7:8-10: 7:8-10 ⁿ steal, murder, commit adultery, lie: The people’s behavior violated most of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:3-7 ^o, 13-17 ^p).

• burn incense ... chant: Israel’s relationship with God did not depend on any magical, ritual connection with him. It depended on their keeping the terms of his covenant. The things they were doing violated the terms of that relationship and denied the Lord’s holy character.
7:11 ^q a den of thieves: See 5:29-31 ^r; Matt 21:13 ^s; Mark 11:17 ^t; Luke 19:46 ^u.
Summary for Jer 7:12-15: 7:12-15 ^v God had allowed the Philistines to capture the Ark of the Covenant and destroy the Tabernacle at Shiloh when the people tried to use the Ark as a magical talisman (1 Sam 4:1-11 ^w). In the same way, he would allow the Babylonians to destroy the Temple. 7:12 ^x Shiloh was a hill located halfway between Shechem and Jerusalem. The Tabernacle had been set up there after the conquest of Canaan led by Joshua (Josh 18:1 ^y, 6-19 ^z; Judg 18:31 ^aa). It remained the center of worship for the tribes of Israel until Shiloh was destroyed about 1045 BC by the Philistine army (see Jer 26:6 ^ab; Ps 78:60 ^ac).
Summary for Jer 7:13-15: 7:13-15 ^ad The people of the northern kingdom had previously done what Judah was now doing. God had sent many prophets who spoke and called out to them (2 Kgs 17:22-23 ^ae; 2 Chr 36:15-16 ^af), but they would not listen and refused to answer. The Lord had spared Jerusalem and the Temple when the northern tribes were taken into exile by the Assyrians in 722 BC; this time, the Temple would be destroyed.