Jeremiah 7:12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
A Choice, Not an Inheritance
Recently, I was privileged to preach in a church where missionaries to Eastern Europe were presenting their ministry. It was fascinating because the missionary preacher is not American and his wife was not born into a godly home, yet both of them are serving God wonderfully well where God has placed them. It is so easy today, especially if you happen to be an American in a good church, to feel entitled.
In Jeremiah 7, God addressed His people through Jeremiah at the temple, the center of worship for the one true God. Jeremiah told them, essentially, “Don’t think that because the temple of the Lord is here God won’t judge you, or that you can live life however you want just because these buildings belong to God. If you are going to do right and have a relationship with God that is healthy, it must be based on what you do and not on what you have inherited, like being Jewish or religious.”
Verse 12 says, “But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.” There was a time when the worship of Jehovah was centered in the tabernacle in Shiloh instead of in a temple. God’s people thought they had God in a box; they had the Ark of the Covenant.
Later, God allowed the Philistines to take the Ark, and it was said, “The glory has departed.” But the fact was that God had departed long before the box in which Israel thought they had God. With the Ark gone, Shiloh was no longer the vaunted place of worship, and the tabernacle was finished. Now, years later, Israel worshipped God in a temple in Jerusalem, and just like their predecessors, they felt entitled.
Eli, a godly man who was a poor father, had sons who were priests and were enriching themselves off of those who were trying to worship God in sincerity and truth. Like those men in Shiloh, these people now trusted the temple and not the God of the temple. They trusted the gift and not the Giver.
God said, “Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.” In other words, “Your predecessors felt smug because they had the tabernacle in Shiloh. You feel smug because you have the temple in Jerusalem, but both can be taken away.”
The takeaway for us is that your relationship with God is a choice and not an inheritance. You have a choice. You are neither a victim who has no choice, nor are you someone who is entitled and therefore doesn’t need to make a choice. Every day, regardless of your nationality, history, or location, your relationship to God is a choice. All of us can have a relationship with God, and all of us should.