NOTES for Jer 7:1-34

God cannot reproach the inhabitants of Jerusalem for insufficient religiosity: they offer sacrifices, pray, and even remember the One God among the other gods and believe in Him—yet they have “turned their backs to Him, not their faces.” From God, as from the other gods, they want help, blessing, anything at all except God Himself. They want to speak, but not with Him—only to Him: they want Him to listen to their requests without making them listen in return. They “did not incline their ear,” though He had asked, “Obey My voice.” All of this is an indictment of ordinary religious consciousness everywhere, not only that of ancient Jews. People need the idea of God so that there is someone to whom they can pray; this is natural religiosity. But they do not need a God whom they must listen to—not merely by observing commandments and rituals, but by truly coming to know His will. This is a religiosity that is not natural but genuine: the kind God desires from the human person.