Jeremiah argues that the men of Judah have bought into the lie that religious ritual is all that God wants from them and that once they bring their sacrifices and buy their plenary indulgence, they can proceed with living their sinful lives. But what God wants is the heart of his people. They don’t want to love God; they want to barter with God. God will have none of that! Jeremiah points his long finger at them and condemns them for the expectation that ritual in the temple will save them. In Jeremiah 7:9-10, He says, “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?”
The Temple itself is not the key to a relationship with God. It represented God’s presence with his people, but it was not the “thing” but what the thing represented. At the time of Isaiah, the nation had exchanged a personal connection with God for the rituals observed at the Temple. Isaiah, says, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?’” He’s more than any building, even the Temple in Israel. In the first two verses of Mark Chapter 13, we read, “And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’” This is precisely what happened in 70 AD when General Titus with his Roman soldiers burnt it to the ground and scattered the rubble so it could not be rebuilt.
All the offenses named in Jeremiah 7:9-10 are violations of the ten commandments. Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery; Thou shall not bear false witness. Thou shall not have other gods before me. Other condemnations by Jeremiah fill out the entire list of the Ten Commandments. It is essential to notice that when Jesus confronted the religious leaders in his day, he confronted their strict adherence to the letter of this law, yet their hearts were far from God. The commandments can become bricks we use to create temples that we mistakenly worship rather than loving God. Jesus addressed these religious leaders by explaining that the laws are deeper than behavior. He told them that lusting in the heart was the same as adultery. He said hatred made one guilty of murder. It is the issue of the heart that God is addressing. Dearman gets this when he writes, “Behavior matters are a powerful indicator that reveals the allegiances of the heart.”[1] Jeremiah will speak of getting a new heart under the new covenant. When Jesus presided over the last supper, he identified the bread as symbolic of his body, which would be offered for the sins of the world. He pointed out that the wine symbolizes the New Covenant in which faith in Him will bring a new heart.
[1] Dearman, J. Andrew. 2002. Jeremiah and Lamentations. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.