The Sting of Betrayal
Good morning, I hope fate has been smiling upon you and today finds you in good spirits. We will read Jeremiah chapters 7-9.

There is nothing worse than feeling betrayed. I have suffered the loss of loved ones, and with that I could find solace knowing they were with the Lord. I still miss them, even after decades. But the sting of that loss doesn’t compare with the heart-wrenching feeling I have gotten when someone close to me betrayed me. I have caught an ex-wife in bed with another man. I didn’t leave her at that point. But later she told me she was pregnant and that it wasn’t my child. I still didn’t leave her. She claimed to have gone to Denver to abort the child. That is when I moved on. That feeling of betrayal does not leave you.

God had provided everything the people of Israel needed. He was their shepherd and their provider. He protected them, led them by a pillar of fire and cloud, yet they continued to go after idols. We will never deserve the favor God continues to show us.
Trusting in Idols
Today I want to focus on the verse Jeremiah 7:4. “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!’” (NIV) The Jewish people felt that since God had promised to dwell in the temple forever, He would not be anywhere else. Because it was the Temple of the Lord, they had made it an idol. We devote ourselves more to our church than we do to the Lord. Matthew Poole calls out, “they flattered themselves that he could dwell no where else, and would not depart, and certainly would not suffer the Chaldeans to destroy this, and therefore that no evil could befall them, as they promised themselves,” (1).
God’s Standards
We do this more often than you may realize. We presume upon God our opinion of what He should do. As Christians, we know we have salvation, so we feel we can sin and He will forgive those sins. As Jamieson-Fausset-Brown point out: “Men think that ceremonial observances will supersede the need of holiness.”(2) In Romans 6:1-2, the Apostle Paul asks if we should sin more so that grace may abound, but then he points out this is false thinking.

The people in Jeremiah’s time thought the Temple would guarantee their safety, even when they were chasing after idols and sinning. Matthew Henry writes, “They thought that the temple they profaned would be their protection. But all who continue in sin because grace has abounded, or that grace may abound, make Christ the minister of sin.”(3) God let them know this would not be the truth. His prophet tells them that even though they went to the temple three times a year and claimed God, He was done with them. Benson points out: “The Targum intimates that the reason of the three-fold repetition of the words, The temple of the Lord, was, because every Jew was obliged to visit the temple thrice a year. “(4)

We are no better. Even those of us who are in church every Sunday and Wednesday, serving in every way we can, still let our hearts fixate on things of this world and forsake God. We pretend we can call Him Lord, but live as we desire, making our own rules. The Bible is clear that Jesus must have lordship in our lives. To believe otherwise is at our peril. Benson also states, “Do not flatter yourselves with an opinion that you can be safe and happy on any other terms than those which God points out. “(5)
Cheap Grace
The takeaway from all this discourse on this one verse is that cheap grace can’t mislead us. This is the modern church lie that we have embraced. We can say a few words, splash around in the water and live however we want. If the Lord has not changed our hearts, we need to continue to call out to him to make us repent. Plead with Him to save you from the sin that has you in its grip. Free you to turn from it and give yourself to Him.
Tomorrow, we will read Jeremiah 10-13.
Sources (Chicago Style)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton: Crossway, 2001.

Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994.

Benson, Joseph. Benson Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983.

Poole, Matthew. A Commentary on the Holy Bible. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1981.

Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, A.R.; Brown, David. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990.

Romans 6:1–2; Matthew 7:13–14; Titus 2:11–12; Jeremiah 6:16.