This is a severe warning against false religion. It had all
the trappings of religion, they worshipped at the temple built following God's
instructions, but their ways were far from God. Notice that Jeremiah starts
with a positive message, if they truly turned to The Lord they would live.
Instead they chose to trust in false religion. They trusted in empty words.
True religion shows itself by justice and mercy. Instead there was bloodshed and worship of
false gods.
See how worship of idols goes together with adultery,
murder, theft and lying. And yet they thought they were safe in the temple. The
terrible truth was that the temple was the most dangerous place for them, for
their first sin was against The Lord Himself. Verse 11 was quoted by Jesus when
He cleared the temple (Mark 11:17). So Judah would suffer the same fate as
Israel.
Jeremiah is told not to pray for the people for their whole
lives were devoted to the worship of false gods. The people were bringing pain
upon themselves to their own shame. We can see the same sort of thing happening
in our own society. Society rejoices in rejecting God's standards of sexual
morality in all sorts of ways, thinking it is somehow more sophisticated. In
truth all society is doing, and has been doing for many years, is bring harm
and shame upon itself.
So God's wrath would be unleashed upon Jerusalem, and all
the land would suffer.
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