Dcn Leah Sandwell-Weiss

Dear friends,

Have you noticed that we’ve started using readings from Jeremiah as the Old Testament office lesson this Lent? I have; I suspect it has something to do with this being a penitential season. I’ve tended to stereotype Jeremiah as a prophet of wrath, calling for repentance, but there’s more than that in this book.

In today’s reading, Jeremiah 7:1-15, Jeremiah proclaims God’s words to him from the gates of the Temple:  “Do not trust in these deceptive words: "This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." …  Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail.” Jer. 7:4, 8. Believing they will be safe since the Lord is in the Temple is no protection from destruction. It is a false sense of security, such as many Christians can have:  I’ve accepted Jesus and therefore that’s all I need to have a good life and go to heaven.

Jeremiah tells them that God says they need to “truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.” Jer. 7: 5-7. This is not only a call to social justice; it’s a reminder not to follow other gods. Today we may not be tempted to follow Baal, but how many of us let other idols prevent us from truly following God:  nationalism, wealth, career success, etc.

Jeremiah then says that if they need proof that God is serious about the need to change, they should go visit Shiloh, where God was worshipped when they first came to Canaan. The ruins of Shiloh might have still existed in Jeremiah’s time—it had been destroyed by the Philistines hundreds of years before. What God did to Shiloh, God could do to their Temple and to them. What has happened before, will happen again.

I noted a few other things from this reading. Jeremiah says, “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight?” Jer. 7:11. These words about the temple are paraphrased in Mark’s story of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple, Mark 11:15-19. This ties into what happens to Jeremiah after he gives this sermon. We know about it because Jeremiah 26:1-24 repeats the gist of this sermon, including the aftermath:  the priests and the prophets rail against Jeremiah and call for his death, saying that he “had prophesied against this city.” Jesus’ comments about the destruction of the Temple appear to have been an important justification for his arrest and trial. Would we call for imprisonment or death of someone who predicts the destruction of a major city in a time of crisis, such as after 9/11?

If you have a chance this Lent, take a look at Jeremiah and see what insights you can find to apply to our lives and world today. You might be surprised.

—Dcn Leah