Why does the Lord say that the people have forsaken him and have “profaned this place by making offerings to other gods”?

The Lord explains further that the reason for the judgment that is coming is because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor the kings of Judah have known. Once again, the blatant unfaithfulness of Judah is highlighted. The valley where Jeremiah speaks is just one of the many places where the nation has worshipped other gods. The Hebrew word nikker, translated as profaned has the sense of making something alien. This is a vivid and highly suggestive term. The pagan worship that took place there was so alien to whom Israel was supposed to be that the site could no longer be recognized as Israelite.¹

Neither the people of Judah, nor their father’s nor kings of Judah have known these gods. Idol worship took place in every generation of Israel’s history, but the Lord is highlighting the fact that all these gods are alien invaders of the covenant relationship the nation has with the Lord (see Jeremiah 7:9). The plural kings is used, possibly because many of Israel’s kings had encouraged the things that had taken place in this valley. But these words are spoken to the whole nation.²