If you read this passage, you know no tables were flipped in Jeremiah 7-9. The flipping of tables did not come until over half a millennia later by a Jewish Rabbi (who happened to be the savior of the world!), named Jesus. It is a common story: Jesus comes running into the temple in Jerusalem, flipping tables and calling it a den of thieves (Matthew 21; Mark 11). This story is a fulfillment of a prophecy in Jeremiah 7:11, saying, “Don’t you [the people of God] admit that this Temple, which bears my name, bas become a den of thieves?”
A lot of us read these passages in Jeremiah and the Gospels wrong. We think God is mad at people for ripping others off at the temple. This is not the case. Rather, the LORD calls the Temple the den of thieves. The Temple has become a place where the thieves feel safe and comforted! Instead of leading God’s people to repentance, the sacrificial system has become a “safety net” for injustice and sin.
So, what does this mean for you and me? It means that God is asking for MORE than a sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:22-23). He is calling us to a life of faithful obedience. If our Christianity consists of replacing a relationship of Jesus with a handful of offering and one morning a week, we have missed the point. God wants it all. This is NOT a fear tactic or “just another way for God to make us feel bad.” This is a call to wholistic discipleship from a God who loves you (John 15:9), cares for you (1 Peter 5:7), and will go to hell and back so that YOU can be with him (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Both Jesus and Jeremiah are telling us that we need to lay down everything in our lives that are LESS than God, so we can live for something infinitely MORE.
Questions for reflection:
- What are those places/things in your life that act as a “safety net,” so it feels comfortable not to fully obey God’s call to discipleship?
- How is God trying to set you free of these smaller idols so that you can live a whole life for him?