Jeremiah 7:1

(Chapter 7, Verses 1-2) The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim (or read) there this word, and say: Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter in through these gates to worship the Lord. This is not found in the LXX edition, but is added from Theodotion's translation from Hebrew. The Prophet is commanded to stand in the gate of the Lord, through which the multitude of the people enters to worship the Lord, so that they may hear what the Lord commands. By which we understand the hardness of the Jewish people, because they regarded the prophets as liars and madmen, while they were compelled by the opportunity and the fame of the place to hear the words of the Lord; and not because the words were from the Lord.

And thus did He send prophets prior to the transmigration to Babylon, and after that event others again in greater number than the former, to seek the fruits, saying thus to them (the Jews): "Thus saith the Lord, Cleanse your ways and your doings, execute just judgment, and look each one with pity and compassion on his brother: oppress not the widow nor the orphan, the proselyte nor the poor, and let none of you treasure up evil against his brother in your hearts, and love not false swearing.

(3.) When we are going to worship God we have need to be admonished to worship him in the spirit, and to have no confidence in the flesh, Phil. iii. The contents and scope of the sermon itself. It is delivered in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who commands the world, but covenants with his people.

In Jer. 7–10 he addresses the people as they flocked into Jerusalem from the country, to attend the solemn services in the temple upon a fastday. Jehoiakim Jer. 26 had just ascended the throne, and was so incensed at this sermon that he would have put Jeremiah to death but for the influence of Ahikam. With the accession of Jehoiakim all hope of averting the ruin of the country had passed away. He represented the reverse of his father’s policy, and belonged to that faction, who placed their sole hope of deliverance in a close alliance with Pharaoh-Necho.

The word that came to Jeremiah - This prophecy is supposed to have been delivered in the first year of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, who, far from following the example of his pious father, restored idolatry, maintained bad priests and worse prophets, and filled Jerusalem with abominations of all kinds.