Jeremiah 7:12-13

Calling yourself a Christian does not make you a Christian. Being a doer of God’s word and not a hearer of His word makes you a follower of Christ and a member of His Body. God will not be mocked.

God’s love for His people does not prevent Him from chastising them for their wickedness.

Shiloh was the site of the tent of meeting and ark of the covenant in the days of the judges. Leaders in the family of Eli had abused their priestly position for personal gain, and idolatry was rampant in the land. When the Israelites attempted to use the ark as a victory-giving talisman, the ark was captured.

Shiloh was a sobering object lesson for Judah. Once the center of Israel’s religious life and the site of the tabernacle, Shiloh lay in ruins in Jeremiah’s day, and its people had been taken captive by the Assyrians. Why? Because the northern kingdom of Israel had turned away from the Lord to idols. Jeremiah warned that the same outcome awaited the people of Jerusalem—and for the same reason.

Jeremiah’s message of judgment must have sounded incredible. Jerusalem was the site of the temple, the magnificent house of worship that David had envisioned and Solomon had built to the glory of God. How could God allow His temple and its city to be destroyed? Yet if anyone doubted Jeremiah’s warning, all they had to do was travel a little more than 20 miles north to Shiloh.

Apparently, few people heeded the prophet’s word, because Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians within a few short years. The temple was burned and most of the people were either killed or deported.

This tragic outcome challenges us to consider whether idols exist in our own lives. We don’t bow down to images of wood and stone, but if we allow anything to take the place of God, then we are practicing idolatry. This can happen in our work, in our relationships, and, like the people of ancient Judah, even in our houses of worship. In that case, God may take away the thing that we hold so dear in order to redirect our attention and affection to where they belong—on Him. The first commandment is still in effect: “You shall have no other gods before Me”.

Jeremiah 7:12-13

¹² “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. ¹³ And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, ¹⁴ therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and 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—the whole posterity of Ephraim.

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 

1 Samuel 4:10

⁶⁰ So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men, 

Psalm 78:60

⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ” 

Jeremiah 26:6

¹⁵  And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 

2 Chronicles 36:15

²⁴ Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, 

Proverbs 1:24

⁴ So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.” 

Isaiah 66:4

¹³ Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, Because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, Yet they have spoken lies against Me. 

Hosea 7:13