Lessons From Jeremiah – Part 29 – Who Is The Queen Of Heaven That Is Worshipped? Series

LESSONS FROM JEREMIAH – PART 29 – WHO IS THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN THAT IS WORSHIPPED?

PART 29 - Jeremiah 7:16-19

CHAPTER 7

[A]. JEREMIAH IS FORBIDDEN TO INTERCEDE FOR THE PEOPLE FOR THEY ARE TOO WICKED.

{{Jeremiah 7:16 As for you, DO NOT PRAY FOR THIS PEOPLE, and do not offer a cry or a prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me, for I do not hear you.

Jeremiah 7:17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and IN THE STREETS of Jerusalem?

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and they pour out libations to other gods IN ORDER TO SPITE ME.

Jeremiah 7:19 DO THEY SPITE ME?” declares the LORD. “Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?”}}

[1]. VERSE 16 – THE MATTER IS SETTLED; DO NOT PLEAD FOR THE PEOPLE – TOO LATE!

God speaks directly to Jeremiah and puts prohibitions on him. The nation is so corrupted that God has closed the book on them and the path ahead is only destruction. Therefore He will not hear any pleading on their behalf. There would be no prayer for them for God’s determination is settled.

In this case most prayer would be for intercession that God would both pardon them and spare them, but most of all, that they might repent and serve God yet again. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet and I am certain he wept over the spiritual position of Judah and that weeping automatically leads to intercession, but he was forbidden even to intercede, and if he did, then God would ignore what was pleaded.

It was too late for them as they had sold themselves into deep satanic evil. They had given themselves into the hands of demonic practices derived from Babylon. Abraham interceded for Sodom, and Moses for the Israelites and God heard them, but not any more. Judah had many chances, many, many chances, with warning from prophet after prophet, but they ignored, persecuted, and killed their prophets.

{{Hebrews 11:36-38 “and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”}}

The time will always come when God says, “Enough!” and His hand of judgement falls. He who persists in sin and shuts out conviction and God’s pleading, will one day find that heaven has been tarred over and God’s voice is no longer heard. People all their lives may reject God and as they get older then it seems they have shut the door to repentance and no longer have the Holy Spirit convicting them. They shut themselves out from God’s kingdom. {{Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”}}

[2]. VERSE 17 – GO AND OBSERVE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE STREETS

The reason for all this is given to the prophet and becomes God’s case against Judah. God appealed to Jeremiah’s sense of sight when walking the streets of Jerusalem, but the prophet would have been aware of this abominable practice God mentions, the worship of the queen of heaven, which he exposes in more detail in a later chapter. God drew attention to what happened in the cities and on the streets in verse 2. The horrible practices associated with the queen of heaven (maybe “the regency of heaven”) were in every city and on public display in the streets, especially in Jerusalem.

[3]. VERSE 18 - THE WHOLE FAMILY IS INVOLVED IN IDOLATROUS WORSHIP

This one verse charges them of the most horrible crime that involves even the children who gathered combustible material for the fires used by the women to make the cakes for the queen of heaven. In addition, they offer and pour out sacrifices and libations (offerings, drinks, sacrifice) to other gods. What is significant is God saying THEY DID THAT TO SPITE HIM. That showed a callous indifference on their behalf to Jehovah and they probably thought they were very clever and able to stand up against God.

In my opinion people who disregard God, including the atheistic deniers, are spiting God. They may not stand on a platform and cry aloud, “I am spiting God,” but it amounts to the same thing. God is not mocked. Those who would do that anyway publicly denouncing the Lord are only given licence and not zapped because of the forbearance of God. Regarding the queen of heaven, shortly I want to write on that.