Sefer Yirmiyahu is taught by Rabbi Harold Sutton, Rabbi of Congregation Hochma U'Mussar; Rosh Yeshivat Magen David Yeshivah; Rabbi at the Sephardic Rabbinical College.
God told Yirmiyahu to position himself in front of the main entrance to the Temple. Yirmiyahu was to proclaim to those who came to the Temple that they should heed God’s word. If they would improve themselves, God would allow them to continue to inhabit the land and have the Temple. The people were encouraged to ignore the false prophets who say that God would never allow His Temple to be destroyed. They must improve themselves by being proactive in misvot like judging righteously and aiding the weak and needy. Bloodshed and idolatry must stop. If they do this, God will let them live in the land forever.
Listening to the false prophets does no good. Do you think people can steal, kill, commit adultery and worship idols, and just go to the Temple and everything will be overlooked? Not so! Don’t expect to treat the House of God like a cave where wild people gather.
If you think Jerusalem is impenetrable because of the Temple, remember Shiloh, where the Mishkan stood. God allowed it to be destroyed because of the people’s sins. And now, since the people didn’t learn their lesson from the destruction that took place there, God will allow Jerusalem and the Temple to be destroyed as well. God will allow the people to be exiled as He did with the Ten Tribes of the Northern King- dom.
God tells Yirmiyahu not to pray for the people, because He won’t listen. God says that His anger will come upon people, animals, trees and crops - it will burn and not be extinguished. God tells the people that they might as well take their burnt offerings (which are given up completely to God) and turn them into peace offerings (which are eaten by their owners). People weren’t commanded to give sacrifices, they were commanded to obey God. The former without the latter is meaningless. Since the people refused to listen to God, they were moving backwards, not forwards.
Ever since they left Egypt, God continuously sent the people prophets with His message, but they didn’t listen and they became increasingly more obstinate. It’s reached the point that God tells Yirmiyahu up front that the people simply won’t listen to him. Yirmiyahu is to tell the people that they are the nation that wouldn’t listen to God or allow themselves to be corrected. They don’t have truth in their mouths, and certainly not in their hearts! Tear out your hair in grief because God has rejected this generation! The people of Judah have polluted the Temple with idolatry and they built altars to pass their children through fire - this is the service of the idol Moleh; God hates the practice!
Days are coming, God says, when the Valley of Tofet will be called “The Valley of Slaughter” because of all the people who will be killed there; they will also be buried there because they will run out of grave space in the usual places. The carcasses of the fallen will be food for the animals and birds, with no one to scare the scavengers away. The sound of rejoicing will cease to be heard in Judah and Jerusalem - neither bride nor groom - because the land will be desolate.
TanachStudy.com
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