JEREMIAH 7

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,

2 Stand in the gate of Yahweh'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Yahweh, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh.

3 Thus saith Yahweh Tz'vaoth, the Elohim of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh, are these.

5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:

7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith Yahweh.

12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Yahweh, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.




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.

The people referred to were in the abandoned state portrayed in the words a few verses earlier...But even these were implored to repent with the assurance of forgiveness.‭ ‬See verse‭ ‬3,‭

‭"‬Amend your ways and your doings,‭ ‬and I will cause you to dwell in this place.‭"

‭The Christadelphian, Oct 1894. p393



25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

When a man is deeply interested in his work, he gets up early. The prophets were early risers; they aimed at making a distinct impression with the people. Therefore they chose the first part of the day. There is a lesson for us here: give divine matters an early part in your daily programme.

Do not wait till your mind is unimpressible through exhaustion. Hear the voice of God in the reading of His word, when the mind, in the freshness of the morning's energy, is more susceptible to impression than after a day's toil and vexation. To have your daily reading in the morning will actually help to make the day less of a toil and a vex. The reading of the word acts like oil on the surface of water, rendering it less liable to disturbance from the passing wind.

Seasons 1.97.


32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.

The Judgment of Gehenna

Jeremiah thus speaks of Gehenna, the place of Judgment for the House of Judah:

The place of Judgment, then, according to this prophet, where Jerusalem was to be judged, was a valley, originally styled Tophet, and afterwards Gehenna, and still later, the Valley of Slaughter, in which fire burned continually, and where frequently multitudes of putrid carcasses of the citizens were rotting and consuming under the undying energies of myriads of loathsome worms.

Truly of this place it might be said, "where their worm ends not, and the fire is inextinguishable;" for the consumption of carcasses should not fail for want of a worm to feed upon them, or a fire to burn their bones into lime.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Aug 1860