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"This is what I commanded them"

Text: Jeremiah 7:23a

THE ORIGINAL FOCUS

The original focus was not the giving of sacrifices and burnt offerings. What God desired was obedience to Him!

“But this is what I commanded them, saying,
‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.
And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you,
that it may be well with you.’
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear,
but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts,
and went backward and not forward.”
Jeremiah 7:23-24

1. “But this is what I commanded them”

a) The original focus must be recalled.

b) It was examined afresh in this text.

2. “Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people”

a) God’s express command was to obey Him.

b) Obedience:

i) It is right.

ii) It is logical.

iii) It is wise.

iv) It is well within the Covenant given to Israel.

c) The Consequence of Obedience

i) The LORD would be God to Israel.

ii) Israel would be His people.

3. “And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.”

a) Walking in God’s ways as commanded:

i) This would be true obedience.

ii) Obedience is not just expressed in words or even worship.

b) “Well with you”

i) God would then bless.

ii) He would bless an obedient nation.

4. “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.”

a) The reality as noted in history.

i) Israel did not obey.

ii) The nation did not incline its ear.

b) Instead, on the contrary

i) It followed its own human counsels.

ii) Israel obeyed the evil human heart.

c) The Results

i) Israel did not go forward.

ii) The nation went backward.

iii) Without God’s blessing, Israel blundered terribly.

iv) The nation was now in danger of being overrun by the Babylonians.