What is the meaning of Jeremiah 7:17? Do you not see God opens with a piercing question to His prophet. It is not because Jeremiah is blind to the nation’s sin, but because the Lord wants him (and us) to feel the weight of it. • The question underscores divine awareness—“The eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth” (2 Chronicles 16:9). • It invites personal responsibility; if Jeremiah can see, then the people should have seen as well, echoing Isaiah 1:3 where the ox knows its owner but Israel does not. • It exposes hardened hearts; they ignored repeated warnings (Jeremiah 7:13), proving that seeing and obeying are inseparable in God’s economy (James 1:22). what they are doing The Lord points to deliberate, ongoing actions rather than momentary lapses. • Idolatry: “You steal and murder… then come and stand before Me… and say, ‘We are delivered!’” (Jeremiah 7:9-10). • Family-wide rebellion: fathers gather wood, children kindle the fire, mothers knead dough “to make cakes to the queen of heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18), illustrating how sin had woven itself into daily routines. • Social injustice: shedding innocent blood (Jeremiah 7:6) and oppressing the sojourner, orphan, and widow mirrors the corrupt days before the exile (Ezekiel 22:6-12). These deeds are calculated offenses, confirming Romans 1:32—people “know God’s righteous decree” yet “continue to do such things.” in the cities of Judah Sin is not limited to a fringe group; it saturates the land. • Every town had its own altar to Baal (Jeremiah 11:13), mirroring earlier northern apostasy (2 Kings 17:9-12). • The spread shows covenant unfaithfulness on a national scale, fulfilling Deuteronomy 29:25-27: “Because they forsook the covenant… and served other gods.” • Judgment, therefore, will also be nationwide—“I will silence the towns of Judah” (Jeremiah 25:10). and in the streets of Jerusalem? The capital, which housed the temple, is no exception; its public squares are stages for rebellion. • Jeremiah 5:1 records God’s challenge to find one righteous person in Jerusalem’s streets—proof of comprehensive corruption. • The very place of worship becomes a den of robbers (Jeremiah 7:11), a condition Jesus later cites in Matthew 21:13, linking first-temple apostasy with His own generation’s hypocrisy. • God’s lament over the city anticipates later sorrow—“When He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it” (Luke 19:41), showing continuity in divine grief over persistent sin. summary Jeremiah 7:17 shows God inviting His prophet to witness the depth and breadth of Judah’s rebellion. The Lord sees everything; the people’s sin is active and willful; it pervades every locale, even Jerusalem’s sacred streets. Recognizing the Lord’s omniscient gaze and the seriousness of covenant violation keeps our own hearts tender, urging us to root out hidden idols and align every public and private act with His righteous standards. |
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