Jeremiah 7:16

Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. THEREFORE PRAY NOT THOU FOR THIS PEOPLE ... When people are given up to judicial hardness of heart, intercessory prayer for them is unavailing (, "Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry and prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble;" ; , "Now therefore, let me alone" (Chaldaic version, leave off praying); )....

God, in order to exonerate his servant from every ill-will, forbids him to pray for the people. This might have been done for the sake of the Prophet, as well as of the whole people; for no doubt Jeremiah regarded the ruin of his own nation with great grief and sorrow: as we shall see elsewhere, he had not divested himself of all human feelings. He was doubtless anxious for the safety of his brethren, and he condoled with the miserable, when he saw that they were already given up to destruction. But God strengthens him, that he might courageously discharge his office; for pity has often melted the hearts of men so as not to be able, as they ought, to perform their office. Jeremiah might have been more tardy or more temperate in denouncing God’s vengeance, had not all impediments, which checked his alacrity, been removed. Hence then he is bidden to divest himself of sympathy, so that he m...

1-16 No observances, professions, or supposed revelations, will profit, if men do not amend their ways and their doings. None can claim an interest in free salvation, who allow themselves in the practice of known sin, or live in the neglect of known duty. 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; and the cross of Christ, rightly understood, forms the most effectual remedy to such poisonous sentiments. The Son of God gave himself for our transgressions, to show the excellence of the Divine law, and the evil of sin. Never let us think we may do wickedness without suffering for it....

Verse Jeremiah 7:16. _THEREFORE PRAY NOT THOU FOR THIS PEOPLE_] They have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and they must become examples of my justice. How terrible must the state of that place be, where God refuses to pour out the spirit of supplication on his ministers and people in its behalf!...

They had reached that stage in which men sin without any sense of guilt (see 1 John 5:16). NEITHER MAKE INTERCESSION TO ME - In Jeremiah 14:7 we have an intercessory prayer offered by Jeremiah, but not heard. The intercession of Moses prevailed with God Numbers 11:2; Numbers 14:13; Numbers 16:22, because the progress of the people then wins upward; the progress now was from bad to worse, and therefore in...

EXPOSITION Ch. 7-10.—Severe rebukes of idolatry alternating with announcements of the impending judgment. The circumstances connected with this discourse, or part thereof, appear to be detailed in Jeremiah 26:1. Among the parallelisms between the two sections, notice especially the reference to the fate of the temple of Shiloh (comp. Jeremiah 26:14 with Jeremiah 26:6). The date of the original utterance of the prophecy is thus fixed for one of the early years of the reign of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 10:1, however, requires separate consideration....

THEREFORE PRAY NOT THOU FOR THIS PEOPLE,.... These are the words of the Lord to the Prophet Jeremiah, forbidding him to pray for the people of the Jews; which he either was doing, or about to do, and which, from the great affection he had for them, he was inclined unto; wherefore, to show how much the Lord was displeased with them, and how determined he was to punish them with captivity, he orders the prophet not to make any supplication for them: NEITHER LIFT UP CRY NOR PRAYER FOR THEM; referring to the gestures of lifting up the eyes and hands in prayer, and also to the frame of the heart, in the exercise of faith and holy confidence: "cry" and "prayer" are put together, because prayer is sometimes made, especially when persons are in great distress, with strong cryings and tears; see Hebrews 5:7: NEITHER MAKE INTERCESSION TO ME; or, "meet me" o; or come

Jeremiah 7:1. _The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. 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._ Many of them thought that, if they went up to the temple, it was all right with them, if they did but go through the outward ritual, they would certainly be accepted. They must have been astonished when Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, met them at the temple door, and told them that the best worship of God was holiness, not the mere outward ceremony but the renewal of the life, the cleansing of the heart before him. Jeremiah 7:

THE PROPHET'S TEMPLE ADDRESS (7-9) CHAPTER 7 _ 1. Amend your ways and your doings (Jeremiah 7:1) _ 2. No prayer-answer to be expected (Jeremiah 7:16) 3. Sacrifices rejected; Obedience demanded (Jeremiah 7:21) 4. Jerusalem's rejection (Jeremiah 7:29) Jeremiah 7:1. We call this next address of the prophet “the temple address,” because he was commanded to stand in the gate of the LORD's house. There he stood, a solitary figure, and said: “Hear the Word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in a

THE WORSHIP OF ASTARTE. The prophet is forbidden to intercede for a people who are even now worshipping other gods, to their own deserved ruin. The cult (p. 99) described in Jeremiah 7:18 (and more fully in Jeremiah 44:15) is that of Ashtoreth (Astarte), the queen of heaven, _i.e._ the planet Venus, who was worshipped under the name of Ishtar by the Babylonians (1 Kings 11:5 *). A similar offering of cakes (p. 99) by women to the Virgin Mary, practised by an Arabian sect, is the continuation of this (EBi. col. 3993). Jeremiah 7:18. _Cf._ the drink-offering in the worship of Yahweh ...