Wake Up Call From Jeremiah

What if the place you rely on for spiritual safety has become the very thing hiding your need to change? We walk through Jeremiah’s temple sermon with the urgency it deserves, tracing a straight line from ancient Jerusalem to our modern routines and the quiet assumptions that keep us asleep. The message is sharp but hopeful: worship without ethics is worthless, yet God confronts us to restore us.

We start at the temple gate, where Jeremiah interrupts festival crowds who believe the building guarantees their security. He calls out the contradiction of public devotion and private compromise—stealing, cheating, idolatry—and warns with history: Shiloh fell, and Jerusalem did too when people refused to repent. We connect that to Jesus flipping tables and invoking the same prophetic charge, exposing how sacred spaces can become dens of robbers when we use them as cover rather than catalysts for change.

From there, we turn to what transformation looks like in 2025. Rituals still matter, but they must lead to a changed life: caring for immigrants, orphans, and widows; refusing exploitation; guarding our words; honoring truth in contracts and relationships. Grace cannot be earned, but real faith bears fruit. As the Spirit makes us living temples, the divide between Sunday and Monday collapses—emails, budgets, and conversations become places of worship where justice and mercy take root. We share practical steps for honest self-examination, repentance without shame, and daily practices that rebuild integrity from the inside out.

If you’ve ever felt the uneasy gap between what you sing and how you live, this is a wake-up call and an invitation. Let’s trade false security for real transformation and let the house—our hearts, our homes, our churches—be a house of prayer, justice, and love. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review telling us one habit you’re ready to rethink.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
We don't know this person.
He could be a shovel.
Is it lawful on Sabbath?
To do good or to do harm?
To save life.
Or to kill.
This affliction does notthreaten his life.
It does not even affect hishealth.

(01:40):
Interesting point.

SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
Hey guys, it's B Rob.
It's your host, and it is theFood for Thought Faithcast.
And it is a wonderful day.
Another wonderful day.
And we are going to talk.
We're going to read a little bitout of the book of Jeremiah

(02:07):
today and talk about the book ofJeremiah.
And um, I told you I would talkabout this.
So uh this is gonna be called awake up call from Jeremiah.
So good morning, fam.
Just want you to do this for me,real quick.

(02:28):
Imagine you're heading tochurch.
It's a beautiful Sunday morning.
You're excited to worship, maybeeven feeling a little proud that
you you're here while others arenot.
You park, you walk in, you singthe songs, you drop a little in
the offering plate, and youleave feeling like everything's

(02:51):
okay between you and God.
Now I want you to imagine aprophet standing right at the
door, blocking your way on theway out, shouting, Don't trust
in these lying words, this isthe temple of the Lord.
Don't trust in these lyingwords, this is the temple of the

(03:13):
Lord.
Well, guys, that's exactly whathappened in Jerusalem around 608
BC.
The people thought the templeitself was a magic shield.
God's presence guaranteed theirsafety no matter how they lived
on the outside of the temple.

(03:37):
The prophet Jeremiah was sent toshatter that illusion.
So today, guys, we're going todive into Jeremiah 7, chapter 7,
the famous temple sermon.
It's a tough in-your-facemessage, but it's one we need to
hear.

(03:58):
Because that same temptationJeremiah confronted lives in our
modern day churches, relying onreligion instead of
relationship.
So if we dive in to chapter one,God calls Jeremiah to confront

(04:23):
the crowd.
So the word came to Jeremiah,stand at the gate of the Lord's
house and proclaim this word.
Hear the word of the Lord.
All you of Judah who enter thesegates to worship the Lord.

(04:47):
Jeremiah isn't preaching in someback alley.
I mean, this isn't like um, he'sright at the temple entrance,
and it's probably a majorfestival like Passover, it's
probably a lot of crowds pouringin and out, but God sends

(05:10):
Jeremiah to interrupt theirroutine.
And why?
Because true worship is notabout location, it's about the
heart.
Jesus did the same thingcenturies later when he cleansed
the temple.

(05:32):
Guys, I don't know if you knowthis or not, but church is not a
building.
It's people when two or morecome together.
But we can absolutely fall rightinto the same trap.
That same trap.
I go to church every Sunday, soI'm good.

(05:55):
I I pay my tithes, so I'm good.
I read my Bible, so I'm good.
God says, Don't trust in that.
Examine your life.
He says in chapters 7, 3 through7, he says, Amend your ways and

(06:23):
your deeds, and I will cause youto dwell in this place.
Only if you thoroughly amendyour ways, if you no longer
oppress the alien, the orphan,the widow.
Only then will I let you remainin this place.

(06:44):
God doesn't say just keep comingto the temple, just keep coming
on back, just just you know,stop on by when you can, that
sort of thing.
You're good as long as you keepcoming to the temple.
No, it ain't like that at all.
He demands a total life change,justice, mercy, compassion, stop

(07:06):
oppressing the vulnerable, stopthe adultery, stop the idolatry,
stop shedding innocent blood.
This echoes the heart of thelaw.
Love God and love your neighbor.

(07:29):
Worship without ethics isabsolutely worthless.
I'm gonna say that again.
Worship without ethics isabsolutely worthless.
I mean, come on now.
Imagine a family who goes tochurch every week but cheats on

(07:50):
their taxes, gossips about theirneighbor, or ignores a homeless
person on the corner.
But yet they're in every churchbuilding on Sunday.
But yet their heart is far awayfrom God.

SPEAKER_00 (08:08):
It's a false security.
Temple of the Lord, falsesecurity.

SPEAKER_01 (08:22):
Moving along to verses eight through eleven.
Behold, you trust in lyingwords, saying, This is the
temple of the Lord, the templeof the Lord, the temple of the
Lord.
Has this house become a den ofrobbers in your eyes?

(08:43):
I mean, they committed theft,murder, adultery, perjury,
idolatry, then walk into thetemple like nothing happened.
Like God's house is just a asanctuary city or something like
that, right?
Just a hideout for sinners.

(09:04):
It ain't no place fortransformation, right?
Just just a just a place wherewe can go, we we good.
We good, right?
Yeah.
Well Jesus later quoted theexact same phrase when he
flipped tables in the temple,which is Matthew 21, 13.

SPEAKER_00 (09:28):
Quoted the prophet Jeremiah.

SPEAKER_01 (09:42):
Yep.
And then you've got uh Jeremiah7, 12 through 15, which is uh
the warning.
Go now to my place in Shiloh andsee what I did to it for the
wickedness of my people Israel.
I will do this to the house, asI did to Shiloh.

(10:08):
Shiloh was Israel's first majorworship center.
God's name dwelt there.
But when the people sinned, Godlet it be destroyed.
The same could happen toJerusalem and it did.
Babylon destroyed the temple in586 BC.
Judgment came because theyrefused to do what?

(10:30):
Repent.
They refused to repent.
Judgment came on them becausethey refused to repent.
God's patient, but he won't bemocked.
So if you keep relying onrituals without repentance, we

(10:56):
risk spiritual ruin.
But there's always good news.
God always offers a way back.
God always offers a way backthrough true repentance.
True repentance.

(11:18):
So what does that mean for usnow in modern times in 2025?
Well.
First of all we gotta examineour heart.
Are we trusting in churchattendance, good deeds, or a
Christian label?
Or are we living a realrelationship with Jesus?

(11:44):
Are we caring for thevulnerable?
The immigrant, the orphan, thewidow, your neighbor, other
people, we worship in spirit andwe worship in truth.
John chapter 4, 23 through 24.

(12:07):
It's not about the building,it's about the transformed life.
Because remember how graceworks?
You can't earn God's favor, youcan't work for God's favor, you
can't go to church for God'sfavor or go to a temple for

(12:28):
God's favor.
But true faith produces fruit.
James chapter 2, verse 14 and17.
If you're here today, if you'relistening right now, and your

(12:51):
life really don't match yourworship.
I get it.
I have those days too.
God calls me to repent andreturn to him all the time.
Friends, Jeremiah's sermon wasnot meant to condemn anyone, it
was meant to save.

(13:12):
God loves his people too much tolet them stay in deception.
I truly honestly believe thatour father is a great father.
He truly loves us that much.
Guys, today the temple is in us.

(13:33):
The Holy Spirit dwells inbelievers like you and me.
Keep your guard.
Don't let his house become a denof robbers.
Let it be a house of prayer,justice, and love.

SPEAKER_02 (13:53):
Well, what do you have to say for yourself?
My house should be called ahouse of prayer for only when
you make it a dense.