Jeremiah 7:17

The Lord said to the children of Israel in Jeremiah 7:17-19, “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 their 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 the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?” Of course, verse 18 is talking about false religion. The point that is being made is that the entire society was involved in the false worship: not just the parents, but the children also. The children are mentioned first in verse 18, maybe because the Lord is most interested in them. Jesus loved the little children. Jesus said in Mark 10:4, “But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”

Of course, the parents always have the greatest responsibility in regards to the raising and the teaching of children. One of the reasons that bad things can happen so easily in day-care situations is because God has given the responsibility of children to the parents. It cannot be a good idea to give your little children up to strangers for eight or ten hours every single day. Parents are responsible to love, to protect, and to teach their children. Concerning the responsibility to teach their own children, the Bible says in Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Timothy learned important truths about serving God from his Mother when he was a child. Paul wrote in Second Timothy 3:15, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

This is what should happen in life: parents teach their children both by words and by example the truth about how to live life, and the child receive those teachings and put them into practice in their own lives when they are old enough to make their own decisions. There are two different problems that can arise to keep this from happening. The first problem that can arise is that the parents do not teach or do not give a good example to the children, and the children go astray because of following the bad example of the parents. The second problem that can arise is that even though the parents teach good things and give a good example, the children go astray anyway and reject their parents and what the parents taught. Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-39, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” Not many people serve Christ. If you do, then there is a good chance that your own children will not.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 7:20-23, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury 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. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. 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: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” We cannot ignore the total destruction that the Lord is talking about in verses 20 and 21. This will always be the final result of rebelling against God and ignoring the Holy Spirit’s working to reveal Jesus Christ. It happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. It happened to Israel. And it will happen to the entire world eventually. One reason that these other destructions have taken place is for a warning. Learn from the history of how the Holy God and Judge of the earth has dealt with the nations, or be doomed to be a part of the next judgment. Notice the warning given after God destroyed the world by a flood. It says in Genesis 6:13, “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 9:11 says, “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” It says in Second Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Also, notice what is coming to the earth as declared in Revelation 8:7-8, “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;” The last use of the word “fire” in the Bible says in Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Notice carefully that the Lord said in Jeremiah 7:23, “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” God wants us to obey Him and to keep His commandments. Jesus wants us to put into practice what we read in the New Testament for Christians. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:19, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Yes, we are saved by faith and by faith alone, but you do not want to stop at believing the truth. You also need to put into practice what you claim to believe. When you read the Bible, you not only want to ask yourself, “What does god want me to believe,” but also, “What does God want me to do?”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 7:24, “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.” There are only two directions in which anyone can go spiritually speaking: forward or backward. This is true concerning the final destination of your soul, and it’s also true concerning the general direction of your life on this earth. Concerning your soul, you are either on a path by faith in Jesus that ends in heaven, or you are on a path without faith in Jesus that ends in hell. If you are on the wrong path, then turn to Jesus and get on the right path. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Concerning your life on this earth, you are either heading forward or backward. You are either heading towards a better place in life in regards to your circumstances, your moral character, and your relationship with the Lord, or you are heading towards a worse place. You had better be careful which direction you are headed in regards to who and what you are as a person, because where you end up will be determined by what path you are on now. It says in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 7:25-31, “Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.” God wants everyone in the world to know the truth, and God is actively involved in giving everyone the opportunity to know Him. One of the things that God does to bring this to pass is that He calls certain individuals to be preachers and teachers, and then God uses those individuals to spread the truth.

Sometimes God calls such individuals knowing that no one will respond to the truth that they preach. That is exactly what happened to many of the prophets who came before Jeremiah because the Lord said in Jeremiah 7:25-26, “I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.” Then the Lord told Jeremiah that the same thing would happen to them when they preached. The Lord said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 7:27, “Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.” It seems that the Lord has at least two great desires for all people. The first desire is that everyone would hear the gospel, then believe and be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus, and then live forever with Him in heaven. The second desire that God seems to have is that even though some people do not believe the gospel, He still wants them to have the opportunity. Once they have heard and choose not to believe, then you have fulfilled your responsibility, so go onto the next person that God sends your way. That is what Jesus was indicating when He said in Mark 6:11, “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.” When people reject the gospel, it will all be brought back up at the judgment. It will be shown at the judgment that God was justified in all that He did. It will be shown when their lives are replayed that not only did Jesus die for them, but He also sent the message to them by means of His servants.

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