City Life Starter

I. The Word:

Jeremiah 7:23-34

23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets.

26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’

27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.

28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

29 “‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it.

31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.

32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.

33 Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

34 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.

Jeremiah 8: 12

Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
    No, they have no shame at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when they are punished,
says the Lord.

By Stefan Johnsson

We do not always understand the actions of God with only a few verses. The thing we forget and do not realize most of the time is that we have a God that is burning for justice and peace. He has a love for all people and compassion for those who are hurting. This is the case in the Old and New Testament. Most of the time when we read an excerpt, we do not research the background or understand the context.  Jeremiah condemned the people of Israel for their actions and God spoke this through him.

Jeremiah 7 verse 23 speaks about how God said, if you only walked in obedience to my commandments and obeyed me, all would be well!  So easy, right? You would think, but instead, they decided to follow other gods and do vile and detestable acts against a holy God. One of these was, as shown in verse 31, how the Israelites took up the practice of burning and sacrificing their children to other gods. God could not let something like this happen and He had to take action to protect His name(that was proclaimed to the nations through Israel) and also to give justice to those who could not get it. The acts itself should horrify anyone. Would God allow people to think that He, as the God of Israel, be for something like this? If so, He would not be a God I would want to follow.

Why was child sacrifices even taking place? Part of this is to understand how revolutionary God’s law and people were back in that time. The vile acts by pagan religions and people were nothing compared to what we have around us today. A big part of this is that we do not understand the practices of the nations around Israel. God not only set Israel apart, but He expected them to be a light and beacon of justice and peace among the people around the nation. Though, instead of being the example and change, the Israelites took it upon themselves to intermarry and adopt the practices of those nations around them. They had, as Jeremiah 8:12 said, no shame for what they did. God needed to act to protect the future of His people and the lineage of the Messiah, to punish sin and protect the weak. Was God not acting in compassion by providing justice? That is the question we need to ask ourselves.

If we condemn God for his actions. Ask yourself first, what moral foundation do you base it on? God’s moral law or your own?

Always seek first to understand before coming to a conclusion. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is Holy, Holy, Holy.