The Lord was unhappy that the people wouldn't listen to Him. He was angry that they had rejected His commandments. He was sad that they were too blind to notice all the beautiful and wondrous marvels of the earth that He had made for them. They hadn't obeyed Him so He couldn't bless them. God was angry about the wealth that some people had been given and the way they used it to hurt other people, not help them. No one remembered God, but He knew on the day of disaster they would call Him.
God warned the people of Benjamin to get out of Jerusalem. Trouble was coming and Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. Jeremiah was angry too. He had told the people everything the Lord had said and they just laughed at Him. He felt so mad he was having a hard time containing it. God told Jeremiah to let His anger sweep everyone away, young and old alike. Everyone was corrupt, even the priests and prophets couldn't be trusted. All they offered the people were lies. Judah was goin' down. The people of Judah rejected God's way of life when they had the chance to choose it. An army from the north would come and destroy them and they should start mourning. Metal could be purified with fire, but the people were so corrupt that they could not be made pure, so God rejected them.
The Lord told Jeremiah to speak to the people at the gate of the temple. He told them that all they had to do was to be fair and honest with each other and stop taking advantage of foreigners, widows and orphans. Not kill innocent people, and stop worshiping other gods. If they did those things God would let them live long in the land. Instead they broke every single commandment. God refused to protect them so they could go on sinning. They were told not to make the mistake of thinking that the temple would protect them. As punishment God was going to sweep them away. God told Jeremiah that the people insulted themselves and God by sinning as they did. The Lord told the people not to offer sacrifices to Him. They had ignored God and become even more stubborn than their ancestors. God told them to change the name of the valley where they killed and burned their children as a sacrifice to their gods (something God would never have even thought of) to Slaughter Valley because it would become the graveyard for them all.
The bones of the kings would be dug up and scattered. Some people would be left alive and taken into slavery in foreign countries. The people kept going down the wrong road but never stopped to ask directions. They thought they had it made because they had the word of the Lord. They missed the part where they actually DO what the Lord asked. Jeremiah mourned for the people. The people couldn't understand why the Lord hadn't rescued them yet.
Tomorrow read Jeremiah 9-12
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