Jeremiah 3:6-8 - “The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.”

The Bible is clear in teaching that God is one (Deut. 6:4), there is one faith approved by Him (Eph. 4:5), all saved souls are in one church (Acts 2:47), and He will save only one church (Eph. 5:23). Nobody in the world would know about Jesus and the faith He taught but for the preaching of those who heard Him, and who wrote by inspiration of God the New Testament. But the New Testament teaches one faith. Therefore all faiths that call themselves “Christian” but differ from the New Testament are departures from the inspired source of the only information they have regarding salvation. Judah saw the departure of Israel, and knew the wrath of God against them for it, yet Judah began to copy the ways of Israel. They were rebuked for it - and eventually cast off. So why do some churches of Christ today follow the ways of the apostate churches who know the truth, but refuse to preach and obey it? God preserved the Old Testament for our learning (Rom. 15:4), so let’s learn from it, and return to God through His word (Jer. 22:29).

Jeremiah 7:12 - “But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.”

God told Jerusalem to learn from the history of Shiloh and the northern kingdom (12-15) the lesson that He will not preserve even His chosen people if they sin. The sin He was addressing was their attitude in worship. They lived without God all week - even bowed to the gods of the people around them - then came to the temple on the Sabbath as just another thing to do. They argued that they were in the right place and doing the right things, but God said that those were “lying words” because their heart wasn’t toward Him first. The right actions in the right place at the right time do not in themselves worship God. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Many have a fervent spirit. That isn’t enough. Some among us are satisfied to what is required in the truth. That isn’t enough. Do the right things with the right spirit. Don’t be one of those whom Christ never knew (Matt. 7:21-23). As Jerusalem was told to learn from Shiloh, we can learn from Jerusalem: Love Him with all your heart, and give Him what He requires.

Jeremiah 7:31 - “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.”

“The children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord” (verse 30). Specifically, in the preaching of Jeremiah, God charged Judah with sin of three characters. He had commanded them what to do, but they hadn’t done it (11:8). They had done what He had directly commanded them not to do (1:16; see Deut. 5:7). Sins of commission and sins of omission are commonly considered by those who lead us in prayers of repentance, seeking the forgiveness of God. Do we give as much consideration as we ought, however, to the possibility that we are doing and teaching things for which we have no authority from God? We sometimes hear it said that “sin is sin.” Certainly it is true that God made no difference in Judah between their going beyond the limit, their falling short of the requirement, and their taking it upon themselves to decide what should be their pattern of worship and life. They were guilty in all three. Where is the God-breathed word saying that God is truly worship by the tools and toys, the clowns and circuses that many have adopted in our day? Musical instruments, choirs, praise teams and women leadership are as unauthorized and sinful today as were the idols and human sacrifices in Judah.

Jeremiah 17:22 - “Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.”

That was Jeremiah speaking to Jerusalem and Judah about 600 years before Christ; neither his admonition nor the sabbath are applicable to anyone today. The lesson for us in this verse is in the last phrase. It was a law for them on that day because God had said it to their ancestors about 900 years earlier (Exodus 20:8-11). God, through Jeremiah, told the people to do as He had commanded. His law hadn’t changed, and they had no authority to enlarge it, reduce it, or ignore it. Because they did not follow God’s word as a guide to their daily lives they lost their homes, their freedoms and, in some cases, their families. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is not scripture (George Santayana, 1863-1952), but [1] history confirms it, and [2] the purpose of our studying the Old Testament today is that we might learn the proper response to God’s word (I Cor. 10:11).