Has
this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 7:11
Jeremiah 7 [1.] The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Stand in the gate of Yahweh’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh.’”
Jeremiah 7 [3.] Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’ For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor; if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt: then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forever more. Behold, you trust in lying words, that can’t profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered;’ that you may do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 7 [12.] “But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. Now, because you have done all these works,” says Yahweh, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn’t hear; and I called you, but you didn’t answer: therefore will I do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole offspring[a] of Ephraim.
Meaning:
This verse comes from Jeremiah’s famous sermon at the temple gate. God told the prophet to stand where the worshippers entered and speak to “all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh” (see the Context above). The people of Judah believed that the temple guaranteed their safety. As long as God’s house stood in Jerusalem, they thought, no enemy could harm them, whatever they did. Jeremiah exposed that false confidence. Six centuries later Jesus quoted this verse when he drove the traders out of the temple (Mark 11:15-17).
- “Has this house, which is called by my name”
The temple was “called by” God’s name. It was the place he had chosen for his name to dwell, and Solomon had prayed that God’s eyes would be open toward it night and day (1 Kings 8:29-30). That was a great privilege. But the people had turned the privilege into a superstition. Earlier in the same sermon Jeremiah warned, “Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’” They repeated the name of the building as if it were a charm.
- “Become a den of robbers in your eyes?”
A den of robbers is the cave or hideout where bandits retreat after their crimes, a place where they feel safe. Jeremiah lists what the people were doing: “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods… and come and stand before me in this house… and say, ‘We are delivered’?” They broke the Ten Commandments all week and then came to the temple to feel secure.
The prophets said the same thing again and again. God says through Hosea, “For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). Amos cries, “But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). Isaiah calls the worshippers to “Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed” (Isaiah 1:17). Worship that leaves injustice untouched is not true worship.
- “Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says Yahweh
The people imagined that their religious activity covered their sin. But God sees everything. “His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men” (Psalm 11:4). The doubled “I, even I” is emphatic: God himself had watched their hypocrisy.
Jeremiah went on to remind them of Shiloh, where the tabernacle had once stood before God allowed it to be destroyed (see the paragraph that follows in the Context). If God did not spare Shiloh, he would not spare Jerusalem’s temple either. In 586 BC the Babylonians burned it to the ground.
- Jesus and the den of robbers
When Jesus overturned the tables in the temple he said, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!” (Mark 11:17; compare Matthew 21:12-13). By quoting Jeremiah he was saying that the same sin had returned: a busy, profitable religion that gave people a false sense of security while justice and true prayer were missing. And like Jeremiah, he warned that the temple would fall.
The Significance of Jeremiah 7:11
- Religion is not a hiding place
Church attendance, religious words or sacred places cannot shelter a life of deliberate sin. God looks for hearts that turn from evil.
- God desires obedience
What God wanted from Israel was not mere ritual: “Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Jeremiah 7:23).
- Worship and justice belong together
True worship shows itself in how we treat others, especially the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, whom Jeremiah names in this same sermon.
Cross-References:
Mark 11:17: "Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!" Jesus quotes Jeremiah.
Hosea 6:6: "For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." What God really wants.
Micah 6:8: "He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Worship joined with justice.
Jeremiah 7:23: "Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you." The heart of the covenant.
Conclusion: In his temple sermon Jeremiah asked whether God’s house had become a den of robbers in the people’s eyes, a safe hideout for those who stole, murdered, committed adultery and worshipped other gods, then came to the temple and said, “We are delivered.” God declared that he had seen it all, and the temple was later destroyed. Jesus quoted these words when he cleansed the temple, warning that religion without righteousness offers no refuge, and calling God’s people to obedience, justice and true prayer.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible