Read Jeremiah 7 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
7:1-2 {s} Stand in the gate of YHVH’s house, proclaim YHVH’s word to all Judah who enters His house of worship
7:3-15 {p} Amend your ways that you may dwell here forever, but if you do not hear, I will cast you out
7:16-20 {p} Do not intercede for them, for I will not hear: they worship other gods to provoke Me to anger
7:21-28 {s} Did I command sacrifices when I brought you out of Egypt? I commanded ‘Obey My voice’
7:29-31 {p} Lament + I have rejected this generation: they have polluted My house with abominations + burned their children in the fire of Tophet
7:32-8:3 {s} …
The Strong themes:
7:1-15 {s+p} Proclaim in YHVH’s house: Amend your ways and dwell here forever, but if not, I will cast you out
7:21-31 {s+p} I commanded ‘Obey My voice’, therefore I have rejected this generation who has polluted themselves with abominations
The Chiastic structures:
A Repeating phrase in this chapter is “the house upon which My name is called,” (7:10, 11, 14, 30).
The Hebrew grammar is explicit: YHVH’s Name is called upon the house.
Putting someone’s name upon something is like branding. A rancher brands his cattle with his unique brand: the mark identifying that ranch. The cattle then bear the rancher’s name upon them. This same concept has carried over into industrialized society. The Apple brand means something specific, and consumers expect products with the Apple brand–its name and logo–to perform to a certain standard. Its quality products uphold the high reputation of the Apple name. A cheap knock-off company cannot just slap the Apple name and logo onto its cheap knock-off products—that dilutes the value of the Apple name and reputation.
Why This Matters: YHVH’s name has the highest reputation of integrity, graciousness, righteousness, and glory.
Now YHVH descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of YHVH. And YHVH passed before him and proclaimed, “YHVH, YHVH God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Exo 34:5-7
His name reflects the reality of His own nature and character, bearing true witness. Whatever YHVH places His name upon must also reflect the same, or it bears false witness, and His name and reputation are profaned (Eze 36:20-23). Judah’s refusal to “amend your ways and your deeds” required the destruction of the idolatrous house, city, and people as a kingdom to restore the sanctity of YHVH’s name.
If there are questions, this is a good resource:
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