Jeremiah 7:9-15

‘’But I have been watching! Declares the LORD.’’ (11b).

‘’I’ve got eyes in my head. I can see what’s going on.’’ The Message

It can be a comfort to know that God is watching. How good it is to know that He watches over us. ‘’For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous…’’ (Psalm 1:6b); ‘’…he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you…he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.’’ (From Psalm 121:4-8). These, and similar words in Scripture, encourage us as we consider God’s watchfulness. ‘’Thou God seest me.’’ (Genesis 16:13).

But it is also a challenge to know that God is watching. That is the import of the words in today’s passage. God sees everything that goes on in His church (temple). Nothing escapes His notice. Jesus has ‘X-Ray vision’ (Revelation 1:14b) and He inspects everything. Psalm 1:6 concludes: ‘’…but the way of the wicked will perish.’’ God sees and knows what they are up to as well.

  • The Lord sees the sin of His people (9, 10) – and He calls them to repent. He warns them of the consequences if they will not (15. Isn’t this the essence of Hell?) In (9) mention is made of the breaking of 5 of the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:3, 13-16). If we cherish sin in our hearts God will not listen.
  • The Lord sees the complacency of His people (10). No one is ‘’safe’’ who rejects God’s Word and pushes away His Son. It is a tragedy and a travesty that there are many false preachers who tell people they are safe when they are not. The people were no better off than ‘’robbers’’ who hide in caves, but who sooner or later will be caught (11).
  • The Lord sees the misplaced trust of His people (14). As we saw on Friday, their confidence was in the temple itself. They thought (and many of their ‘prophets’ had encouraged them to believe this) that because the temple was in Jerusalem it would protect them. They were so misguided. Unless our trust is in the Lord alone we will never be safe. Salvation is found in Jesus only. We should not look anywhere else. Centuries earlier (before the Jerusalem temple was built), the Lord’s tabernacle had been located at Shiloh (Josh.18:1), and at that time the Lord allowed Shiloh to be destroyed (although the Tabernacle itself wasn’t). But now the temple would be destroyed, and not just the place.

‘’Get smart! Your leaders are handing you a pack of lies, and you’re swallowing them! Use your heads! Do you think you can rob and murder, have sex with the neighbourhood wives, tell lies nonstop, worship the local gods, and buy every novel religious commodity on the market – and then march into this Temple, set apart for my worship, and say, ‘’We’re safe!’’ thinking that the place itself gives you license to go on with all this outrageous sacrilege?’’ The Message.

Pray: Lord God, your grace is amazing, but help me to not take it for granted and become careless about how I live.