Jeremiah 19:1-6: a reflection

1Thus said the LORD, “Go, and buy a potter’s earthen container, and take some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests; 2and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I will tell you. 3Say, ‘Hear the LORD’s word, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears will tingle. 4Because they have forsaken me, and have defiled this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods that they didn’t know—they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah—and have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5and have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I didn’t command, nor speak, which didn’t even enter into my mind. 6Therefore, behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that this place will no more be called ‘Topheth’, nor ‘The Valley of the son of Hinnom’, but ‘The valley of Slaughter’.

God sends Jeremiah with a message of coming judgment on Jerusalem, and the reason he gives is chilling. The people had forsaken God and turned to idols; and worse, in their false worship they had committed atrocities, even sacrificing their own children in the fire to Baal. And God says something striking about this: it was something I did not command, nor speak, nor did it ever enter my mind. What they did in the name of worship was utterly abhorrent to God, something he would never have conceived.

Notice that these terrible things were done in the name of religion, in supposed worship; and yet they were things God never commanded and that never entered his mind. False religion, detached from the true God and his revealed will, had led people to do what God abhorred, even to horrors, all while thinking they were worshiping. Their religion had become something God never asked for and could not bear, a religion of their own devising that led them into evil.

That is a sobering warning about religion detached from God's true character and word. It is possible to do terrible things, or to justify terrible things, in the name of religion, in supposed service to God, that God never commanded and that are utterly contrary to his character. Religion cut loose from God's revealed will can lead people to great evil while they imagine they are serving him. Test your religion against God's actual word and character. Do not assume that whatever is done in God's name is pleasing to him; some of it never entered his mind. Let your worship and your service be shaped by who God truly is, as he has revealed himself, lest, like these people, you do in his name what he abhors.

Lord, you sent Jeremiah with a message of judgment because the people had done terrible things in the name of worship, things you never commanded, that never entered your mind; their false religion, detached from you, had led them into evil while they imagined they were serving you. Give me that sobering warning about religion detached from your true character and word. It is possible to do terrible things, or to justify them, in the name of religion, in supposed service to you, that you never commanded and that are utterly contrary to your character. Religion cut loose from your revealed will can lead people to great evil while they imagine they are serving you. Help me test my religion against your actual word and character. Keep me from assuming that whatever is done in your name is pleasing to you; some of it never entered your mind. Let my worship and my service be shaped by who you truly are, as you have revealed yourself, lest I do in your name what you abhor. Keep my faith true to you.