I am reading through Jeremiah, getting blown away by some of the stuff God says and does! I want to share some of these ideas with you.

I just read this:

“therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which i gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.” Jeremiah 7:14

This tells me a lot about Who we’re dealing with here.

The basic gist here is: God’s people have a religious system in place, but they treat people like crap and they fool around with other gods. Shiloh was a chosen place of God’s dwelling, and yet He destroyed it because the people turned their hearts away from Him. Wow. Jeremiah is standing in the entryway to the temple, telling the devoted worshipers that the same fate will be theirs unless they turn back to God.

“the house which is called by My name” God acknowledges that His name is attached to this place. If He were a man, He might be afraid of His name being tarnished, or losing reputation. This is, after all, a very important building with much historic value. Humans will keep a building or a system around even when it strays from it’s original purpose. We have legacy to consider. But, God knew that this place was onlycalled by His name, and no longer bore the substance of His name.

“…in which you trust…” this isn’t talking about His name. The people did not trust in His name. That was the problem. They trusted in the house. There is no-thing andno one worthy of our ultimate* trust except for God Himself. God is not a man or a church or a job or a system or a belief or a lifestyle or a place or anything! He is holy. Other than. God is God. We are not to trust in the house of God. It can burn. It is easy to transfer our trust from God to things we associate with God: leaders, buildings, organizations… we mustn’t do this. He’s jealous of our trust. He’ll just go ahead and burn the house down. *(i say “ultimate trust” because there aretrustworthy people and even systems, like the four seasons and the multiplication table, but the confidence of our lives should only be placed in God. All else can fail. He won’t.)

“…and to the place which I gave you and your fathers…” Keepsakes. Do you have any keepsakes? Objects you keep because of their emotional symbolism. You keep it not for it’s usefulness but because of it’s sentimental value. It was a gift. It reminds you of a special person, a time, an event. God gave His house to His people as a gift. What a gift! For a father to buy a house for His kids! So, the kids started running a brothel out of the house; a man probably wouldn’t burn it down. He might evict his own kids and clean the place up; the structure is still sound, isn’t it? God was not willing to keep even His own house as a sentimental treasure. If it is not going to be used for the love of God, He doesn’t want it at all. It’s kindling.

i think this should challenge our thoughts about our systems, our structures and our traditions. God is not so sentimental as we are. We will keep something around, even when it has lost it’s original purpose, for the sentimental value. We’ll convince ourselves, “it’s not SO bad! Sure, it isn’t what it used to be, but maybe it will change someday…”

If it isn’t for the love of God it’ll make good firewood.