Devotionals
LESSONS FROM SHILOH
“Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.” (Jeremiah 7:12, NIV)
I wouldn’t have wanted Jeremiah’s job. In Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah had to deliver a message chastising those who were “religious” right in front of the temple doors on the Sabbath. Not exactly a cushy gig.
At the time of Jeremiah’s message, Israel was feeling pretty good about itself. They were in the land of promise. The city of Jerusalem was fortified with 150 foot walls and the place of God’s temple, the very place where God dwelled. What could possibly go wrong? They were a blessed people. Unfortunately, they weren’t exactly an obedient people.
Israel was suffering from a bad case of all-talk-and-no-action. They could come to the temple on the Sabbath and say all the right words, but the on other six days they acted as they pleased. They were involved in treachery, adultery and idolatry. They acted as though things were just fine, but God had another opinion.
Israel had placed their confidence in buildings, but it wasn’t architecture that made Israel great. It was God’s blessing. The temple was just another building without God. The Israelites believed that God would never allow Jerusalem to be taken. God had another message.
Before David moved the capital to Jerusalem, the center of Israel’s spiritual life was Shiloh. Sacrifices, celebrations and pilgrimages were all centered at Shiloh. However, in I Samuel 4, because Israel thought taking the Ark of the Covenant into battle without asking God was a good idea, Shiloh was defeated by the Philistines, the Ark of the Covenant was taken, and 40,000 men died. According to the message from Jeremiah, history was about to repeat itself.
This story reflects a very vital truth. God is more interested in our inner lives than he is in our church affiliation. Being on the church mailing list doesn’t make us Christians. The apostle James exhorts us to “not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Religion and ritual are not enough. What changes our lives is not a building or a meeting or a certain group of people. It is a relationship with the living God who accepts us just as we are, but who loves us too much to allow us to stay that way. If we talk one way and live another, just as the Lord allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and take the Israelites captive, so God will destroy the false temples and idols that we have erected in our lives.
At the end of Jeremiah’s message, instead of receiving and repenting, the people run Jeremiah out on a rail, nearly killing him. What will our response be?
© Sandra Perry 2004
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