Rev. Jason M. Kaspar, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in La Grange, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 7:1-20.
The LORD sends Jeremiah to the temple to preach against deceptive words of false comfort. False prophets are repeating their mantra that everything will be fine for Judah and Jerusalem because the temple of the LORD is there. Jeremiah calls the people out of this false hope apart from the LORD and His Word. The building of the temple itself is not salvific; rather, faith in the LORD who has made His promise receives the LORD’s gifts. Jeremiah therefore calls the people to return to the Law of the LORD in their actions. If they think the LORD will spare them just because of a building, Jeremiah says they can go look at what the LORD did to Shiloh, the former home of the tabernacle.
“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he preached survive because of hope that is found in the righteous Branch from the line of David, Jesus Christ.
