Jeremiah 7:3

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. AMEND YOUR WAYS AND YOUR DOINGS - (; ). CAUSE YOU TO DWELL - permit you still to dwell....

_Make good_, he says, _your ways and your doings, then will I dwell in this place _(189) This promise contains an implied contrast; for the Prophet intimates, that the people would not long survive, unless they sought in another way to pacify God. “I will dwell, “he seems to say, — in this place, when your life is changed.” It then follows on the other hand, “God will drive you into exile, except you change your life: in vain then do you seek a quiet and happy state through offering your sacrifices. God indeed esteems as nothing this external worship, except it be preceded by inward sincerity, unless integrity of life accompanies your profession.” This is one thing....

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....

If the people repented, instead of being led into captivity, God would maintain their national existence. It is a promise of the continuance of an old blessing....

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....

THUS SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL,.... The Lord of armies above and below in general, and the God of Israel in particular; wherefore they ought to hearken to what he was about to say, and to be obedient to him: AMEND YOUR WAYS AND YOUR DOINGS; or, "make them good" l; which shows that they were bad, and were not agreeable to the law and will of God, to which they ought to have been conformed; and the way to amend them was to act according to the rule of the divine word they were favoured with: AND I WILL CAUSE YOU TO DWELL IN THIS PLACE; to continue to dwell in Jerusalem, and in Judea, the land of their nativity, and in the temple, the house of God, and place of religious worship; but, if not, it is suggested that they should not continue here, but be carried captive into a strange land. l היטיבו דרכיכם "bonas facite vias vestras", V. L. Munster, Pagninus, Montanus; "effi...

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 TEMPLE SERMON. The prophet is sent to the gate of the Temple, to rebuke the false confidence of Yahweh's worshippers in the possession of this block of buildings (these, Jeremiah 7:4). Yahweh desires social justice (Jeremiah 7:6), moral conduct (Jeremiah 7:9), and wholehearted worship; otherwise the security inspired by the fact that the Temple belongs to Him (Jeremiah 7:10, note _mg._) is utterly baseless. Yahweh will not permit His Temple to become like some cave which shelters robbers (Jeremiah 7:11; _cf._...

THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL. This title occurs thirty-four times in Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 7:3; Jeremiah 7:21; Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 16:9; Jeremiah 19:3; Jeremiah 19:15; Jeremiah 25:15; Jeremiah 25:27;...