Jeremiah 7 - Unfounded Confidence

 

Jeremiah 7 – Unfounded Confidence

 

God told Jeremiah to preach a sermon at the gate of the temple and tell the people that their confidence was unfounded because they were trusting the wrong things. The false prophets were saying, “nothing can happen to Jerusalem because the temple is here,” “We are safe because we offer sacrifices to the Lord,” “We have the ark of God’s covenant, the throne of the Lord, “and “we have the law of God.”

 

The temple, the sacrifices, the ark, and the Law were precious things, but they could not be used to please God apart from the sincere devotion of the people to the Lord. The people were hiding their sins behind religion. The so-called revival under King Josiah (2 Kings 22-23) was only a surface reformation. It did not change the hearts of the people.

 

Never be satisfied with surface religion; be sure that God ministers to your heart and that you obey Him from the heart (Eph 6:6). The only way to have confidence is to build on your relationship with Jesus (Matt. 7:21-29), and the only way to build on your relationship with Jesus is to obey what He says.

 

People today think there is great value in going to church and there is if you are going there to build a relationship with Jesus. If you are going to church because you can say you did, or because you want to be seen or heard, then where is the transformation in your life. When we worship God, there should be a transforming in our life.

 

God told Jeremiah not to pray for the people until they turn to Him, because until they do, there is not hope for them. We pray blessings on people that do not know God when we should be praying for them to be saved.

 

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Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary. J. Vernon McGee Through the Bible

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible.