_The Temple of the Lord._
Nebuchadrezzar had taken up his headquarters where Pharaoh-Necho had
encamped at Riblah, and there received the homage of the little Syrian
and Palestinian states that he had wrested from Egypt.
To Jeremiah's great surprise, Jehoiakim sent a secret embassy to
Nebuchadrezzar vowing allegiance to Babylon.
Jehoiakim's submission pleased Jeremiah. He saw in it a splendid
opportunity for Judah. All that was needed now was to keep the people
in the path of right. Their future, he felt, could be worked out well
enough as long as the country was at peace, free from the ravages of
war.
But here Jeremiah was met by a new difficulty. Josiah's reformation,
followed by his death and the quick changes in the country's political
fortunes, had not worked out very satisfactorily. People began to
doubt the wisdom of the whole proceeding.
In the first place, some said that God was displeased at Josiah's
overriding the traditional forms of worship. The opportunity for God
to show that displeasure was at Megiddo, and, therefore, Josiah lost
his life there. All the people, it was plain, had not yet arrived at
the conception of God held by a Jeremiah or Josiah.
Again, there were others who fell back into the old reasoning that the
gods of the other nations were mightier than Judah's God, and,
therefore, they fell back into the old idolatrous ways. They were
merely awaiting the opportunity to worship the other gods publicly as
some of them were already doing privately.
Then, again, there were many who believed that the new Book of the Law
and the new order of things prohibiting sacrifices in any place except
the Temple in Jerusalem, did not permit of enough sacrificing to God,
and, therefore, was He again visiting the land with the rod of Egypt
and Babylonia.
And, opposing all these, Jeremiah and his followers were positive in
their hearts and souls that sacrifices were by no means the all-important
feature of the worship of God, but, as Jeremiah had reminded the
people on the day of the Great Passover, God asked them only to obey
His voice and to live in accordance with the moral law that He had
commanded them.
"So shall ye be my people, and I will be your God; that I
may establish the oath which I sware unto your fathers, to
give them a land flowing with milk and honey."
King Jehoiakim had no interest whatever in these differing religious
opinions among the people.
As long as he could pay his tribute to Nebuchadrezzar and live
luxuriously and voluptuously in his newly built palace, he cared not
further. Religiously and morally he permitted things to take their own
course, as if morals and religion had no part to play in the strength
and safety of his people and in their national welfare.
Jeremiah was now convinced that it was his duty once more to take up
the brave fight for God and His law. The opportunity came during the
Feast of the Ingathering, in the year 604.
Many thousands had come from all parts of the country to Jerusalem to
celebrate the festival. All brought with them many heads of cattle and
bags of grain and flour for the prescribed sacrifices.
They were a happy company. When the Temple came into view, rising
majestically in the distance, they shouted to each other, "The Temple
of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord!" out of sheer joy in beholding
the sacred structure that meant so much to them.
"The Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord!" they cried, and
pointed to the magnificent edifice which some of them had never
seen before.
Jeremiah listened to these joyous shouts and observed sorrowfully the
self-satisfaction of those who had come to offer their sacrifices. He
was much alone these days. His parents had been dead some years and a
new Priest was in charge of the Temple. Shaphan and all Josiah's old
counsellors were either gone to their reward or had been dismissed
from service by Jehoiakim. Shaphan's two sons, Ahikam and Gemariah,
were indeed high in the counsels of the king, but they bothered little
about Jeremiah and his teachings.
So Jeremiah stood alone, on the first day of the festival, at the
Temple gates. A multitude of people passed him, taking their turn at
bringing their offerings. From within the Temple he heard the sounds
of cattle being slaughtered and smelt the odor of burning flesh. The
noise deafened him; the odors choked him. Here were king, priest and
people leading unrighteous lives and believing that this wholesale
slaughtering and burning was what God demanded of them! Here were
elaborate form and ritual, but no justice and love!
Jeremiah fairly gasped for breath when the full meaning of this came
to him. Turning upon a great crowd that was jammed at the gates,
waiting their turn to enter the Temple, he cried:
"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel:
"'Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye
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 I commanded them, saying: Hearken unto my
voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people;
and walk ye in all the way that I command you that it may
be well with you.
"'Yet they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked
in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil
heart. This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the
voice of the Lord their God, nor received instruction. Truth
is perished and is cut off from their mouth.'"
What an amazing outburst! God did not command them concerning
burnt-offerings and sacrifices! The man is ridiculous!
Religious discussions and controversies had often taken place in the
Temple courts. Here was the Forum of the People, in fact, and several
men who had often proclaimed themselves as prophets, speaking the word
of God, joined issue with Jeremiah, whom they now recognized.
"Here is the Temple--the Temple of the Lord," they exclaimed. "What
was it built for, if not for sacrifices?" they wanted to know. "What
other way is there for men to worship God than to bring their
offerings to him?"
Jeremiah replied that sacrifices were instituted by men, by the
priesthood, not by God, and continued, making plain once for all his
understanding of the way God wanted men to show their religion:
"Thus saith the Lord 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
the Lord! The Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord!
"'For, if you really amend your ways and your deeds, if ye
faithfully execute justice between a man and his neighbor,
if ye oppress not the resident alien, the fatherless and
the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and
do not go after other gods to your hurt; then I will cause
you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your
fathers, forever and ever.'"
Here was a very amazing accusation! What does he mean by saying that
the people are trusting in "lying words?" Jeremiah insisted:
"But now ye _are_ trusting in lying words that cannot profit."
Then he hastened to explain fully and without reserve:
"Will ye steal, murder and commit adultery; swear falsely
and offer sacrifices to Baal, and go after other gods whom
ye have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this
House which is called after My name and say 'We are free to
do all these abominations?'
"Is this, My house, which is called by my name, a den of
robbers in your eyes?
"Behold: I, indeed, have seen it, saith the Lord."
The crowds stood there, mouths agape. They had never heard anything so
outspoken and fearless before. Several so-called prophets were
prepared to go on with the argument, but a number of assistant
priests, who were marshalling the people with their sacrificial
offerings into the Temple in proper order and to their appointed
places, put a halt to the debate.
Word had come from the interior of the Temple that the chief priests
were waiting for the sacrifices. The assistants wanted the people to
move on. So it was arranged that, on the day following, Jeremiah
should meet a chosen few of the Jerusalem prophets to discuss their
differences of opinion publicly, in the Temple courts.
Jeremiah's acceptance of this challenge nearly cost him his life.