Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 7:16-20

"Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger? saith Jehovah; [do they] not [provoke] themselves, to the confusion of their own faces? Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched." — Jeremiah 7:16-20 (ASV)

1. Here, he excludes the remedy of prayer.

   First, he presents the decree: neither take up, even when asked by them, and do not stand against, because the prayer of the saints, in a certain sense, delays and hinders the decree of God. For example, For a man without blame made haste to pray for the people, bringing forth the shield of his service, prayer, and by incense making supplication, withstood the wrath and put an end to the calamity, showing that he was your servant .A reference to Aaron in Numbers 16:46, who stopped a plague by offering incense. Also, There is none who invokes your name, who may arise and take hold of you (Isaiah 64:7).

   On the contrary, one might point to the passage, God, whose wrath no one can oppose (Job 9:13). However, the answer is that this is true regarding the strength of human virtue, but not the strength of prayer and humility.

   The decree continues: Because I will not hear. This is like a lord of the court who does not want the sight of a pleading servant to sway him, as in the command, Pretend that you are in mourning; put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil (2 Kings 14:2).

   Second, he addresses the matter from the perspective of their guilt.

   First, he notes their guilt is obvious, since it was done publicly: do you not see? This is like the command, Son of man, make Jerusalem to know her abominations (Ezekiel 16:2). Furthermore, the sin is common to both sexes and all ages: the sons gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women sprinkle the fat, to make cakes to the queen of heaven—that is, to the moonAstarte/Ashtoreth, a Canaanite deity venerated as the goddess of the moon. or to the host of heaven and all the stars. As it says elsewhere: what of it if we sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink offerings to her; did we make cakes to worship her without our husbands? (Jeremiah 44:19).

   Second, he shows the folly of those who sin, because they did not injure God, but themselves: do they provoke me to anger? As Job asks, If you sin will you do him harm? (Job 35:6). And as the Psalm says, His sorrow shall be turned on his own head, and his iniquity shall descend upon his own crown (Psalms 7:17).

   Third, he threatens punishment: therefore, thus says the Lord. This echoes a previous warning: lest my indignation should blaze forth like fire, and burn, and there be none to extinguish it, because of the wickedness of your thoughts (Jeremiah 4:4).