Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 7

Verses 1-34

Jeremiah 7:11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 7:11 Comments Jesus most likely used the phrase “a den of robbers” from this passage of Scripture in Jeremiah 7:11 when He cleanses the Temple at the end of His earthly ministry (Matthew 21:12-13).

Jeremiah 7:15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

Jeremiah 7:15 “even the whole seed of Ephraim” Comments Ephraim was the younger of Joseph’s two sons. Jacob preferred Ephraim above Manasseh when he blessed them upon his deathbed. We find here, and often in the prophetic writings, that the name of Ephraim is used symbolically to represent Northern Israel. The Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. Jeremiah 7:15 makes a reference to this event, which took place approximately one hundred years before Jeremiah’s prophecy.

Jeremiah 7:16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

Jeremiah 7:16 Comments There is a place of no deliverance which man can bring himself after continued rebellion against God. Proverbs 29:1; Proverbs 6:15 tell us that a person who has often rejected counsel will come to a place where there is no longer a place of repentance to be found.

Proverbs 29:1, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy .”

Proverbs 6:15, “Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy .”

The nation of Judah came to this point because of the hardness of the people’s heart towards the truth. In Jeremiah 7:16, the Lord told Jeremiah not to pray for them. Note a similar verse in 2 Chronicles 36:16, “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy .”

Jeremiah 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

Jeremiah 7:22 “concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices” Comments F. F. Bruce prefers the rendering “for the sake of burnt offerings or sacrifices”. [14] In other words, God did not bring the children of Israel out from bondage for the sake of subjecting them to ritual sacrifices. His purpose was to give them a way of expressing their love and obedience to Him through the system of offering sacrifices.

[14] F. F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1963), 46-47.

Jeremiah 7:27-34 Comments Destruction Upon Jerusalem - I turned to Jeremiah 7:28-34 today and read these words of divine judgment against the nation of Judah. This passage in Jeremiah is referring to a people who have totally abandoned God to the point that they will not repent or turn to God despite rebuke and chastisement (Jeremiah 7:21-28). The only remedy left is destruction. They were so depraved that God told Jeremiah not to even pray for them (Jeremiah 7:16). As a result, God told them through Jeremiah the prophet that they would be utter destroyed.

As I read this passage in Jeremiah 7:28-34 I found it to be so descriptive of the horrible tsunami, or tidal wave, that had just struck Southeast Asia and India last week, Dec. 26 th , 2004. The death toll is now up to 155,000 and climbing. I have just watched news videos of people being washed away by these tidal waves where entire communities were destroyed, where there are still many regions of these nations that the government and military have not been able to reach. I could not have been given a better visual description of this passage in Jeremiah than the news that I had just finished watching on television.

For example, This is a region of the world that has largely forsaken God for other vain religions. The truth has been cut off from their mouths and they do not even know the name of God, just like in the days of Jeremiah’s prophecy to Judah (Jeremiah 7:27-28). The people have move to “high places” in fear of additional floods (Jeremiah 7:29) The cutting off of the hair represents mourning and these people are truly following their traditional methods of mourning, just as the Jews did by shaving their heads and sitting in sackcloth and ashes. There are statues of Buddha sitting submerged in water and their religious houses are houses of idols, rather than houses of worship to the Lord God (Jeremiah 7:30). Parents have been separated from children, and the news is reporting that the airports are not allowing children to be taken out of the country by adults because of the enormous problem of child trafficking, which has plagued this region for years (Jeremiah 7:31). In other words, to the say degree of depravity that Judah found itself in with child sacrifices, so do these Asian cultures today treat their children with acts of inhuman abuse, such as child trafficking. There seems to be no room to bury the dead except in mass graves because of the massive number of dead (Jeremiah 7:32). The word “slaughter” in this verse is intended to describe a massive number of dead people. Many of the dead bodies cannot be reached, so the beasts and birds are left to feed upon them (Jeremiah 7:33). No one is celebrating the Christmas holidays or New Year’s Day; but rather, they are in mourning (Jeremiah 7:34). This verse describes intense mourning in every sector of society because of the utter desolation of this calamity. (5 January 2005)