And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,
God says this to people who felt safe because they had His temple. He answers that false security with a fact they could not deny. He had spoken to them again and again, and they never listened or answered.
The Form Was No Shelter
The chapter builds its case on the ruin of Shiloh, where God's tent, the tabernacle, once stood. One commentator asks what its fate says about any sacred building:
William KellyShiloh was the place where Israel first set up the tabernacle in the land (verse 12). What was Shiloh now? God had profaned it. He would do the very same thing in Jerusalem, where the ark and the sanctuary now stood. It is impossible that God should bind Himself to maintain an empty form. He would no longer sustain what was a beautiful picture of His truth. In His eyes, the state of the people and of the priests was the most offensive evil under the sun.
Rising Up Early
Where the ESV says God spoke "persistently," older translations read "rising up early." That phrase runs through the whole book. One writer counted the repetitions and read them as a window into what God felt:
H. J. VineOne feature of this book shows the intensity of feeling that filled the Lord's heart for His people and city. Strong expressions come over and over again. In His concern for their good He speaks of "rising up early" to speak to them, time after time — eleven times at least! How this speaks of the Lord's intense love for them! No wonder He wept over Jerusalem! "They have forsaken Me!" "They have forgotten Me!" "They have turned their backs on Me!" He says again and again. This shows how He felt their treatment, and the bitter suffering they were bringing on themselves.
Two Kinds Of Early Rising
Zephaniah uses the same phrase, but of the people instead of God:
William Kelly"I said, Surely you will fear Me, you will accept instruction; so that your dwelling would not be cut off, however I punished them. But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds." The LORD rose early to send them messages and warnings. They rose early to indulge in their wickedness.
Speaking Until There Was No Remedy
God kept calling long after Jeremiah. One writer traces that line of renewed testimony to its end:
J. N. DarbyIn His goodness, God has renewed His testimony again and again. In His patience He has sent His prophets, rising up early, as it is said, to send them until there was no remedy (see Jer. 7). Last of all, He sent His own Son. The result, as we have already said, is that all the righteous blood, from Abel to Zechariah, came upon one generation. By rejecting God's last witness, they filled up the measure of their fathers' guilt.
What God Held Back For Later
So much speaking, and no answer. One writer explains why the prophetic word alone could never secure a heart:
J. T. Mawson"I spoke to you," He said to His people, "rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear; and I called you, but you did not answer" (Jer. 7:13)… God never left Himself without a witness on earth. But Israel's sad history of backsliding proved one thing beyond question. To secure men for Himself, God needed something other than the prophetic word, or even the ministry of angels. God knew what was needed from the beginning… He would reveal Himself as Father. That revelation would secure a true and steadfast response in the hearts of men.
A House Called By His Name
The threat falls on the building because it carries His name. The same principle reaches past Jerusalem:
H. J. VineLikewise the apostle Peter tells us, "Judgment must begin at the household of God" (1 Peter 4:17)… God will judge corrupt Christendom no less than He judged corrupt Judaism… When people falsify the truth and true godliness is gone, what can come but judgment from God? This is all the more true if this false thing bears His holy name.
Summary
- He spoke. God's complaint is not silence but disregard. He rose up early to speak, and the repeated phrase shows how much He cared.
- They rose too. He rose early with warnings. They rose early to corrupt their deeds — the same energy, in the opposite direction.
- No shelter. Shiloh proved God will not prop up an empty form. A building with His name on it protects no one whose life insults Him.
- No remedy. The prophets kept coming until only His Son was left to send. Patience has an end, and rejecting the last witness fills up the account.
- Still speaking. The prophetic word never won the heart. So God kept something in reserve — to reveal Himself as Father, and win the answer no warning could.