Christians are told God wants them to pray on every occasion and to come to God with anything on their heart. We can pray anywhere and God will hear us. That is why Jeremiah 7:16 is so jarring.
God tells Jeremiah about the people of Judah:
16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.
Yikes! Why does God tell Jeremiah not to pray for the people of Judah? And does that mean there are times when we should not pray?
Jeremiah’s Historical Setting
In Jeremiah chapter 7, Jeremiah is standing on the temple steps shouting the message that God gave him. Jeremiah tells the people that they have been disobeying God by stealing and committing adultery and worshipping idols among other things. They know about God’s warning that He will have their nation conquered by an enemy because of their sin, but they don’t really think that God is going to do it. They feel like they are safe because, come on, would God really destroy the temple? God had made the temple to be a sacred and holy place. No way would God destroy it! So they are safe in all their sin because of their proximity to what is holy.
But then God reminds them that He didn’t hesitate to let the tabernacle be destroyed and the ark of the covenant be taken by the Philistines when the people treated it like a lucky rabbits foot by taking it with them into battle (1 Samuel 4:1-11). He didn’t hesitate to let Shiloh, the place of the tabernacle, be overcome and He wouldn’t hesitate to have the temple be destroyed either because they were approaching it with the wrong attitude.
Cleaning House
Did you ever feel the urge to clean out a closet or a drawer that has become hopelessly decluttered? Like you knew that you couldn’t do anything else until it was cleaned out! That is how God is feeling in this passage. He has a need to clean out His promised land from the corruption and the wrong attitude towards His holiness. And Jeremiah should not pray for things to stay the same, the way they are, with His people thinking they are protected from the consequences of their sins because of their proximity to sacred things. That is why God tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people. He couldn’t let this sinfulness continue.
During Jeremiah’s lifetime, the Babylonians come and conquer the nation of Judah, destroy the temple, and take God’s people captive. But there is a faithful remnant who returns to the land, rebuilds the temple and worships God in holiness while waiting for the promised Messiah.
Jesus Cleans House
But it doesn’t take long for the people to become lackadaisical about God’s holiness again. In Jesus’ day people still had the same wrong attitude about the temple. When he gets out his whip and cleans out the temple of the money changers in Matthew 21, Jesus quotes Jeremiah 7:11 (a den of robbers) in describing how the people had felt comfortable enough in the temple to turn it into a marketplace. The felt their proximity to holy things gave them freedom to do whatever they wanted in God’s holy place. It was time for Jesus to do a big house cleaning!
Jesus Cleans House in Us
Although we do not have a tabernacle or temple, Christians today still fight the attitude of being comfortable with our holy things and wanting to stay that way.
Here’s how Jeremiah 7:16 can speak to us:
- Do not rely on your close proximity to holy things. If you go to church regularly, if your grandfather was a preacher, if you own a lot of Bibles on your bookshelf, that does not mean you are off the hook for actually spending time walking with the Lord personally.
- Welcome God’s house cleaning urges in our lives. We like things to stay the same. We like to be comfortable in the familiar even if our familiar is sloppy and messy. But sometimes we need God to take things away so we are drawn closer to Him. That’s what happened with the people in Jeremiah’s day. They figured they were fine doing the same old, same old sinning during the week, but paying lip service to the holiness of God in His temple. But it was better for them and their walk with the Lord to have God remove the Promised Land and their cherished temple. Then they would not be distracted from God Himself.
- Don’t be so quick to ask God to take away the consequences of sin in your children or grandchildren’s lives. God knew that Jeremiah loved the people and his compassionate heart would want to pray that God would not destroy the temple and have the nation of Judah taken captive, but God had already determined that these consequences were necessary both in preserving the holiness of God’s name but also so the people would turn their hearts back to God. When your kids and grandkids experience the consequences of their sin, God can use that to turn their hearts back to Him. In our prayers, instead of praying for God to take away the consequences we can pray that the consequences would turn their hearts to Him.
Do you see any other life lessons from Jeremiah 7? How do you feel about God telling Jeremiah not to pray for the people? Comment below!
Tearing Down Ignorance, Building Up Hope: Bible Journaling Guide through the Book of Ezekiel available on Etsy. Includes bonus printable Ezekiel keyword bookmark, key verse printable, timeline, and chart.
Excellent point! Don’t ask God to take away the consequences of the sin, but remove the sin, or repetition thereof, itself. I think children, especially now with social and political climates showing them otherwise, need to understand that there ARE and should be consequences for our actions. Sometimes the consequences are good. Sometimes not. But they do need to learn that.
Absolutely! I read about that in a small way in the newspaper today about kid’s lunch accounts that are overdrawn and the school isn’t allowed to refuse them lunch or give them a lesser lunch. One school district said the students had racked up $30,000 of school lunch debt in one school year!! But they aren’t allowed to give any consequences so they are working to change that.
This reminds me of a point I hear often when talking about the Persecuted Church. Here in North America, we’re so focused on comfort and safety. Yet, the Persecuted Church doesn’t want us to pray for those things. They want strength and endurance, yes, but they know that persecution leads to growth and the spread of the Gospel.
Yes! Good point! I just went to a Wycliffe Associates banquet where we get to hear testimonies from around the world about the persecution of Bible translators. It’s quite convicting to hear how much they sacrifice for the gospel. How much am I willing to sacrifice?
Many times I’ve prayed for someone’s heart to return to God, regardless of what it took. It’s hard to release a loved one’s life into God’s hands, knowing that he might have to bring them to the point of suffering. That prayer is a labor of love!
You are right. That is a hard prayer. but certainly a pray that gives God glory and acknowledges your trust in Him.
Wow! Thank you, Rachel for this explanation. I found it because I’ve been reading Jeremiah, and today was the THIRD time I read “do not pray.” Jeremiah 7:16 “Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.”
Jeremiah 11:14 “Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.”
Jeremiah 14:11 “Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.”
Very sobering words. Thank you!
Thank you for reading and commenting, Cindy! It is a jarring thing to read since we are told to pray about everything.
Thank you for speaking God’s truth. So many have an opinion, but the only thing that will stand us God’s truth. It is the only thing that will make us free.