RTW 2024

“But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice;  only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie!  Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours,  and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

Jeremiah 7:5-11

Jeremiah and Daniel were both prophets, but their audience and their message looked different, depending on what God wanted to communicate.

• den of robbers:  מְעָרַת פָּרִצִים (m^e·‘ā·RAT pā·ri·TZIM)
• Den=cave, hideout
• Robbers=destroyer, violent people
• God continually highlights care for the vulnerable throughout the text of OT, and Jesus clearly portrayed this in the NT as well.
• God is watching if there is injustice, deception, mistreatment, silencing of victims, financial mishandling, glossing over sin or abuse and mislabeling it “grace.” 
• The outer court, where all the commercial activities were happening, was known as the Court of the Gentiles. It was the only place non-Jewish people could come to pray within the temple area. These were people who were seeking God and a place to worship, but it was not a welcoming place for them.. 
• Jesus’ words were not ultimately about money (that was just part of it). Both Jeremiah and Jesus were talking about defiling the temple by not bearing God’s name–His character, His care, His love. People were being exploited. They weren’t taking care of each other.
• Bearing God's Name by Carmen Imes
• Church should be a safe place for all of us to gather and grow and love and help one another.

Are our churches safe hideouts for those who would harm others, for those who exploit others for their own image or power? Or are our churches safe hideouts for the wounded, the vulnerable, the needy, the lonely, the sick, the injured, the mistreated?