Jeremiah 7

21–26 In these verses the Lord again highlights the worthlessness of sacrifices offered by those who are disobedient (see Jeremiah 6:20). There is no point in their offering the sacrificed meat to the Lord; they might as well eat it themselves! (verse 21). The only sacrifice acceptable to the Lord is one that is offered with a repentant and obedient heart (Isaiah 1:10–17).

When God established His covenant with Israel at Sinai, He didn’t only give the people laws about burnt offerings (see Leviticus 1:1–17); before He even gave any laws, He made it clear that the people would need to obey Him fully (Exodus 19:5). If they obeyed Him, then He would be their God and they would be His people (see Genesis 17:7–8; Leviticus 26:11–12). But over the course of their history the Israelites had not obeyed God, in spite of His repeated efforts to warn them; instead, they had become more and more evil (verses 24–26). In verse 26, God calls them stiff–necked, like oxen that resist the yoke and insist on going their own way (see Exodus 32:9; Acts 7:51).

27–29 Here the Lord tells Jeremiah that the people will refuse to listen to him, but let him not lose heart. From the start, the Lord had told Jeremiah he would face opposition (Jeremiah 1:18–19); now it is going to happen. Because the nation has not obeyed the Lord, Jeremiah is to say to the people: “Cut off your hair (in mourning), because the Lord has rejected . . . this generation” (verse 29).

The Valley of Slaughter (7:30–34)

30–34 The Lord says (through Jeremiah) that the people have set up idols right inside the temple—“the house that bears my Name!” (verse 30). This was the greatest insult to God the people could have given (2 Kings 21:5,7). Not only that, says the Lord, they have also set up the high places of Topheth—pagan shrines used for the worship of Molech, the god to whom children were sacrificed by fire⁴² (verse 31). The law strictly forbade child sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21), and King Josiah had tried to put an end to it (2 Kings 23:10); however, the practice began again after Josiah’s death.

Therefore, says the Lord, this place where children have been slaughtered will be the very place the carcasses of Jerusalem’s people will be thrown after the Babylonian invasion; it will be called the Valley of Slaughter (verse 32). There will be no one left to chase the birds and beasts away from the unburied bodies, for the land will be desolate⁴³ (see Leviticus 26:31–33).