Jeremiah 7:2 Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD
A friend who once was a youth pastor told me that as the teens of his youth group came into Sunday School, they would generally fill the back three rows, then they would trickle down until one person was brave or crazy enough to sit on the front row. One Sunday he picked up the podium, walked to the back of the classroom, set the podium down behind the back row, and asked everyone to turn around. Those who were last were first, and those who were first were last. Wouldn’t it be shocking if you walked into church and all of the pews were rearranged to face the door with the pulpit in front of them and you had to pass three hundred people to get to your seat in the very back? Sometimes we are backwards in our thinking and in our life.
In Jeremiah 7:3 God told Jeremiah, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.” What follows is a sermon from God through Jeremiah to Judah. Though it was not a church, the temple was the place of worship, and he had things backwards. He was proclaiming the message at the gate, at the back of the auditorium if you will. Why was he backward in this way? It was because Judah, God’s people, had first things last and last things first. Verse 24 says they “went backward, and not forward.”
Throughout Jeremiah, God chides His people for backsliding. They were turning their backs and not their faces toward God. They had it all backward. Today, put first things first, which means putting the first person first. I don’t mean you; I mean God. You cannot please God with what you do until you please God with what you are. What you do flows from that.
Judah felt entitled. They said, “Hey, this is Jerusalem. The temple of the Lord is here. God has to take care of us.” That was a lie. As to their attitude, in verse 12 God 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 tabernacle was in Shiloh, but Shiloh was gone, wiped off the map so thoroughly that today we don’t even know what happened. The people to whom Jeremiah was speaking knew what happened, and the point was “I had my tabernacle at Shiloh, yet that did not withhold my hand from judging My people. Why do you think you are okay just because you are the right people in the right place?
Sometimes we can substitute doing something for being what we ought to be before God. We are Baptist, Republican, Southern, or whatever, but that is not really what we are. It is an identity on what we are doing, not on what we are before God. Jeremiah 7:22 says, “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people…that it may be well with you.” But they didn’t listen. The refrain of this chapter is, “I spoke, and you did not listen. I spoke, but you would not hear. I spoke, but you would not answer. Therefore, your prayers are not being answered.” I can’t please God with what I am doing if I am not pleasing God with what I am in my heart. What I am in my heart is what I really am. It is not some title or identity. It is what I am before God.
Who accommodates whom in your life? You can either say, “Hey, I’m a Christian. I’m Baptist,” and think therefore that God has to do thus and so. Does God have to accommodate us because of what we say we are, or do we accommodate God because of who He is?
What about our ethics? In verse 9 God says, “Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?” That is not right. It is funny how believers today use crass language, then object to people being sacrilegious; are careless or immodest in portraying their gender, then object to the trans ideology and agenda; or think a little drink is okay, but object to drunkenness. Our ethics are a reflection of who we are in our hearts. Who accommodates whom? Does God accommodate the culture, or are we creating culture in our homes and churches that accommodates God?
What about in our influencers? God says in verse 13, “And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not: and I called you, but ye answered not.” Today we have all kinds of voices in our heads. Many are some brand of conservative and we think that is the same as being godly, but it is not. I’m thankful for people who care about the Constitution, but what about people who honor God? Is God a Republican or a Baptist? I’m not trying to antagonize you if you are neither of these, but I am both of these things because of what I am before God. I am trying to find the best way to live practically what I am before God, but to think that God is a Republican or a Baptist is folly. I may be a Baptist because I’m trying to follow God, but God doesn’t accommodate me because I slap some title on myself. I am to accommodate God as best and honestly as I can. So, who accommodates whom as to the influencers in our lives?
What about our worship? Verse 30 God says, “For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations [idols] in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.” So, they sacrificed to Jehovah and worshipped false Gods in God’s house. Who are we actually worshipping when we go to God’s church on Sunday? If the question is about what people like or what makes me feel good, we are asking the wrong question. We are worshipping self and claiming to worship God. I realize good people differ about how God ought to be worshipped, but our first question should be, “Who is accommodating whom? Is God accommodating me in worship or am I accommodating God?”
It is hard to go in the right direction if you are going backwards. Jeremiah’s message began at the back of the temple at the gate because these people were living backward lives. They were going backward and not forward. Going forward means finding out where God is and charting your course in that direction. Put first things first. You cannot please God with what you do until you please God with what you are.