Jeremiah 7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
E.M. Bounds was a pastor in a number of places including Franklin, Tennessee, just down the road from where I live. E.M. Bounds authored a number of books, particularly on prayer, and he is fairly well known for that. Because of this rich heritage from E.M. Bounds, I went to go see the church that he once pastored. It is on the very road that I live on now. To my surprise the secretaries at the church had not heard of E.M. Bounds. I can understand how that could happen, but I was surprised.
It has been my experience that it can be disappointing when you visit some great place you have heard of, maybe a place in American history or where God has worked through someone in the past. When you go to this great place, you find a parking lot or you find people who have no recognition of what makes that place special to you. That is a danger all of us face, the danger of putting our trust in a place and not in the God of the place.
Jeremiah 7 is addressing God’s people at the very gates of the temple in Jerusalem. He says in verse 3, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.” He is saying, “If you will turn back to Me, I will not turn from this place.” Then in verse 4 He says, “Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD are these.” The people thought, “The temple of the Lord is in Jerusalem, so God has to take care of us.” They were careless and felt entitled to God’s blessings even though they were rejecting God’s work and authority. They were committing adultery, oppressing their countrymen, and committing abomination when they turned from God to high places of false gods, but they somehow thought they were okay. They were not okay. The reason is that you cannot know God’s best if you do not know how God works.
In the first place, God works in people and not places. I thank God for places that He has used in my life, like the Bill Rice Ranch. But, God is not beholden to a place. God is God. In verse 14 God says, “Therefore will I do unto this house [the temple], which is called by my name, wherein ye trust.” So, they were trusting God’s house and not God. It continues, “And unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.” Shiloh in the long past had been the location of the tabernacle, but that had changed. God was not beholden to Shiloh, and there is a sense in which God’s relationship with these people was much more than just a place, Jerusalem. God works in people and not places. We can thank God for places that have been used by God, but a place is just a place.
Secondly, God works directly and not by extension. Maybe you have known a name dropper who tries to elevate their position by drawing a connection between themselves and some important person. These people were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and they knew that. The temple was in Jerusalem. They had the law. They were offering sacrifices. Yet, God works directly and not by extension. God wants to work in your life, not just by people that you think are important. You are important and God wants to work directly in your life.
Finally, God works in the present and not in the past. God works through the past and we can learn from the past, but God is working in the present. God is not some God Who was relegated to Shiloh or Jerusalem. God is the God of the universe. God wants to work right now. Sometimes we have an affinity to old-fashioned things. Well, God’s Word is not just old, it is ancient. It is not just ancient, it is timeless. God is literally already ahead of you. You can even see that is true in the Old Testament.
So, we should thank God for what He has done in the past, but how careful we should be to realize that God works in people, He works directly, and He works in the present. You cannot know God’s best if you don’t know how He works.