John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 7:1-4

"The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Stand in the gate of Jehovah`s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these." — Jeremiah 7:1-4 (ASV)

Here the Prophet gives a short account of the sermon in which he severely reproved the people, because his labor had been useless, even though he had sharply and severely reproved them. He says then that he had a command from above to stand at the gate of the Temple. This was indeed usually done by the prophets, but God seems to have intended that this reproof should be heard by all. He says further that he was commanded to address the whole tribe of Judah.

It is therefore probable, and can be easily concluded, that this discourse was delivered on a feast day, when there was the usual assembly of the people. He could not indeed have made this address on other days, for then only the inhabitants of the city frequented the Temple. But on the feast days, they usually came from the neighboring towns and from the whole country to celebrate God’s rightful worship, which had been prescribed in the law. Since Jeremiah then addressed the whole tribe of Judah, we therefore conclude that he spoke not only to the inhabitants of the city but also to the whole tribe, which came together to keep the feast day.

Now the object of his sermon was to exhort them to repent seriously if they wished God to be reconciled to them. So the Prophet shows that God did not regard their sacrifices and external rites, and that this was not the way, as they thought, of appeasing him. For after they had celebrated the feast, everyone returned home, as though they all, after having made an expiation, had God propitious to them. The Prophet shows here that the way of worshipping God was very different: namely, to reform their lives.

Make good, he says, your ways and your doings, then will I dwell in this place. This promise contains an implied contrast, for the Prophet intimates that the people would not long survive unless they sought in another way to pacify God. “I will dwell,” he seems to say, “in this place, when your life is changed.” It then follows, on the other hand, “God will drive you into exile unless you change your life. In vain then do you seek a quiet and happy state through offering your sacrifices. God indeed esteems as nothing this external worship unless it is preceded by inward sincerity, unless integrity of life accompanies your profession.” This is one thing.

Then the Prophet comes closer to them when he says, Trust ye not in words of falsehood. For had this not been expressly said, the Jews might, according to their usual way, have found out some evasion.

They might ask: “Have we then lost all our labor in celebrating our festivals with so much diligence, in leaving our homes and families to present ourselves before God? We have spared no expense; we have brought sacrifices and spent our money. And is all this of no value before God?”

For hypocrites always magnify their worthless displays, as we find in Isaiah chapter 58, where they expostulated with God, as though he were unkind to them: We have from day to day sought the Lord. To this the Lord answered: In vain you seek me from day to day and search for my ways.

Therefore, the Lord disregarded that diligence with which hypocrites sought to render him propitious without real sincerity of heart.

It is for the same purpose that the Prophet now adds, Trust ye not, etc. It is an anticipation to prevent them from making their usual objection: “What then? Has the Temple been built in vain?” But he says, “Is not God worshipped here in vain? They are words of falsehood when religious sincerity is absent.”

We therefore see that external rites are here repudiated when men seek in a false way to gain favor before God and seek to redeem their sins by false compensations, while their hearts yet continue perverse.

This truth might be enlarged upon, but as it often occurs in the prophets, I only notice it briefly. It is enough to regard the main point: that while the Jews were satisfied with the Temple, the ceremonies, and the sacrifices, they were self-deceivers, for their boasting was fallacious.

“The words of falsehood” are to be taken as meaning that false and vain glorying in which the Jews indulged, while they sought to ward off God’s vengeance by external rites and at the same time made no effort to return into favor by improving their life.

Regarding the expressions The Temple, etc., some explain them this way: they were “words of falsehood” when they said that they came to the Temple. And so the supplement is, “when they said that they came,” for the demonstrative pronoun is plural. Therefore, they understand this of the people; not that the Jews called themselves the Temple of God, but that they boasted that they came to the Temple and worshipped God there. But I rather agree with others who explain this of the three parts of the Temple. There was, we know, the court, then the Temple, and lastly, the interior part, the Holy of holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was. The prophets often speak of the Temple only; but when they spoke distinctly of the form of the Temple, they mentioned the court, as I have said, where the people usually offered their sacrifices; then the holy place, into which only the priests entered; and lastly, the secret place, which was more hidden and was called the Holy of holies.

But we must observe the Prophet's design, which interpreters have omitted. The Prophet then made this repetition especially because the Temple was, as it were, a triple defense to hypocrites, like a city which, when surrounded not by one but by three walls, is deemed impregnable. Since, then, the Jews exalted their Temple, consisting of three parts, it was as if they set up a triple wall or a triple rampart against God’s judgments! “We are invincible! How can enemies come to us? How can any calamity reach us? God dwells in the midst of us, and here he has his habitation—and not one single fort, but a triple fort; he has his court, his Temple, and his Holy of holies.” We now then understand why the Prophet made this repetition and also used the plural number.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we so abuse Your forbearance that You are constrained by our depravity to deal sharply with us, O grant that we may not also be hardened against Your chastisements. May we, with a submissive and tractable neck, learn to take Your yoke and be so obedient to Your government that we testify our repentance, not for one day only, and give no false evidence. Instead, may we truly prove through the whole course of our life the sincerity of our conversion to You, by regarding this as our main object: to glorify You in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.