Why did Jeremiah the prophet warn the people against saying: “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these”?

In His love for humanity, God humbled Himself and allowed us to build a house for Him and open His gates to embrace those who come to Him in the spirit of repentance. He forgives their trespasses, makes them into a one holy Church, and considers them to be His daughter, bride, and queen that sits at His right hand. Our understanding of the Church does not stop at the building, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Hence, Jeremiah the prophet warned the priests, the Levites, the people, the king, and the leaders against their

1043 Cf. The Liturgy of St. Gregory.

dependence on the physical presence of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, without any regard for the life of holiness, the obedience of the divine commandment, and the love for God and the neighbor by just repeating the empty words, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these” (Jer. 7:4).

While Hilkiah the high priest cooperated with Shaphan, the king’s counsel and scribe, in collecting donations and offerings for the temple’s maintenance, Jeremiah the prophet, in contrast, emphasized the need for offering the heart rather than money to God. While the builders, the carpenters, and all the workers were enjoying hearing words of compliment from everyone, Jeremiah the prophet kept blaming and rebuking. While the majority spoke about the progress of the building and repair with pride, Jeremiah the prophet sought true repentance, wailing, and crying, lest they be driven out of the place of which they were not worthy. He said, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place” (Jer. 7:3). They assumed that they had brought pleasure to the Lord by repairing the temple as though they held the Lord in their debt by such a great achievement that had not been done by any previous generation. Jeremiah, on the other hand, was threatening them of being expelled from the temple and even from the entire Holy Land, being unworthy to dwell there because of their wickedness. He was calling them to inner repair, by turning the praise of uttered words to a praise exemplified in life and behavior and an inner life of joy, by savoring the divine commandment.

The temple represents the presence of God amidst His people. Yet, if they hold fast to this concept without sanctifying their own lives, the house will lose its purpose and will even turn into “a den of thieves” (Jer. 7:11) — the same expression used by Christ when He drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who sold doves (Matt. 21:13).

St. Jerome speaks about the inner temple of the Lord, that the believer bears wherever he is, while many of those who dwell in Jerusalem and in the Holy Land are denied thereof, saying, “‘You are the living temple of God’ (2 Cor. 6:16); and ‘The Holy Spirit dwells in you’ (Rom 8:11). Hence, the access to the heavenly Court from anywhere is easy, because ‘The kingdom of God is within you’ (Luke 17:21). St. Anthony and all the monks in Egypt, and everywhere else in the world did not see Jerusalem; yet the gate of paradise was opened before them. The blessed Hilarion, though a native of and a dweller in Palestine, only set eyes on Jerusalem for a single day, not wishing on the one hand when he was so near to neglect the holy places, nor yet on the other to appear to confine God within local limits.”¹⁰⁴⁴

The prophet made it clear that in order for the people to enjoy the blessings of the house of the Lord, they must be committed to “amend the way they walk … to thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor” (Jer. 7:5), not to oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and not to shed innocent blood (Jer. 7:6), and finally not to waiver

1044 St. Jerome, Epistle 58.3 (NPNF II/6:120).

between two ways, saying: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, falsely swear, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods, whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My Name, and say ‘we are delivered’?” (Jer. 7:9– 10).

God’s house is the royal palace, the center of God’s kingdom — the refuge of the widows, the fatherless, and the strangers and a refuge for every soul in need and discarded. If the people practice violence and cruelty, they are counted as being outside the temple, even if they enter into it in the flesh, and offered gifts, offerings, and sacrifices.

St. John Chrysostom says, “This Temple, thus beautiful and marvelous and sacred, when those who used it were corrupted, was so dishonored, despised, and profaned, that even before the captivity it was called, ‘a den of robbers’ (Jer. 7:11) and afterwards it was delivered over to hands that were barbarous, polluted, and profane!”¹⁰⁴⁵

The Lord emphasized to His people: “I, even I, am the Lord, and beside Me, there is no Savior” (Isa. 43:11; 45:21; Hos 13:4). Hence, the goal of the house of the Lord is for the people to meet God, their Savior. This is the main and only mission of the Church. Every worship and activity, done in the Church, must have the salvation of humanity as its main goal.

On the other hand, anyone who separates himself from the Church denies himself the Savior’s bosom. This is what drove the psalmist to say, “One thing I have desired of the Lord; that I will seek; that I will dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Ps. 27:4; 23:6).

According to Origen , “Rahab means “breadth.”42 What is breadth, therefore, if not this Church of Christ,… No other sign would have been accepted, except the scarlet-colored one that carried the sign of blood. For she knew there was no salvation for anyone except in the blood of Christ … Let him come to this house in which the blood of Christ is the sign of redemption … Let no one persuade himself, let no one deceive himself. Outside this house, that is, outside the Church, no one is saved”¹⁰⁴⁶

According to St. Cyprian , “We also see this expressed concerning Rahab, who herself also signified a type of the Church, to whom it was entrusted and said: ‘Gather your father and your mother and your brothers and all the house of your father to yourself into your house. And whosoever shall go out of the door of your house, he will be responsible for himself.’ In this mystery it is declared that in one house alone, that is, in the Church, there ought to be assembled together those who will live and escape from the destruction of the world. But whoever will go out from the elect gathered together, that is, if anyone whoever, having found grace in the Church, has withdrawn and departed from the Church, he will be

1045 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Statues 17.11 (NPNF I/9:456).

1046 Origen, Homilies on Joshua 3 (FOTC 105:47–50).

responsible, that is, the fact that he may perish will be imputed to him. The Apostle Paul explains this, teaching and instructing that a heretic must be avoided…”¹⁰⁴⁷

He also says, “how can he who is not with the Spouse of Christ and in His Church be with Christ?.”¹⁰⁴⁸ “He who is not in the Church of Christ is not a Christian.”¹⁰⁴⁹ “How can someone be with Christ, if he is not inside His Church?”¹⁰⁵⁰

So also says St. Ignatius the Theophorus : “Let no one be deceived. Anyone who is not inside the sanctuary lacks the bread of God… Therefore the one who does not join the entire congregation is already haughty and passes judgement on himself.”¹⁰⁵¹ “The one inside the sanctuary is pure but the one outside the sanctuary s not pure.”¹⁰⁵²