Don't Get Fooled

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Context: Where does this fit in the overall story of God’s Grace?

Refresh OT Outline
Prob 608 BC, likely as the people abandoned Josiah’s attempts at reform
Jeremiah 7:1–3 CSB
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord and there call out this word: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord. “ ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your actions, and I will allow you to live in this place.

Overview: What is going on here?

Jeremiah 7:4–11 CSB
Do not trust deceitful words, chanting, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” Instead, if you really correct your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another, if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves, I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors long ago and forever. But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help. “ ‘Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known? Then do you come and stand before me in this house that bears my name and say, “We are rescued, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts”? Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it. This is the Lord’s declaration.
Matthew 21:13 CSB
He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!”
Jeremiah 7:12–15 CSB
“ ‘But return to my place that was at Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. Now, because you have done all these things—this is the Lord’s declaration—and because I have spoken to you time and time again but you wouldn’t listen, and I have called to you, but you wouldn’t answer, what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that bears my name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave you and your ancestors. I will banish you from my presence, just as I banished all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.’
(Battle that destroys Shiloh is in 1 Samuel 4)
Jeremiah 7:16–20 CSB
“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg me, for I will not listen to you. Don’t you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke me to anger. But are they really provoking me?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Isn’t it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?” Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Look, my anger—my burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place, on people and animals, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched.”

Reflection: What does it mean?

The people of Jerusalem assumed that, since Jerusalem was special, God was obligated to protect it—no matter their actions.
The people of America, the people of churches, have a bad habit of doing so as well

Expectations: What do we do?

Repent: before you pray, you need to repent
Pray: seek the will of God
Act: what are the right actions being neglected?
Oppression? Care for those in need
Shed innocent blood? Defend life
Follow other gods? Trash your idols, turn fully to God
Steal? Give
Murder? Hatred? Love, compassion, action for others
Adultery? Lust? Purity; commitment to your spouse!
Lying? Make honesty your action
Stop deceiving yourself by thinking God does not notice this!
Choose actions in life that favor righteousness, not wickedness, no matter how profitable
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