Pagans believed a symbol was the same as what it represented. In Jeremiah's time, people thought the temple was God's heavenly house. They found it absurd to think enemies could destroy it. To support this belief, they repeatedly chanted, This is the temple of the LORD. However, the Lord of Hosts did not need an earthly house (2 Samuel 7:6–7; 1 Kings 8:27). The Israelites' security from the Temple came from the Lord himself, and only on his terms (1 Kings 6:12).