All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt. All are hardened rebelsThe phrase "hardened rebels" in Hebrew is "סָרָרִים" (sarārîm), which conveys a sense of obstinacy and defiance against authority. In the context of Jeremiah, this rebellion is against God and His covenant. Historically, this reflects the period of Judah's spiritual decline, where the people persistently turned away from God's commandments. The imagery of being "hardened" suggests a deliberate and entrenched resistance, akin to a heart that has become callous and unyielding. This serves as a warning to remain vigilant in our faith, ensuring our hearts remain soft and receptive to God's guidance. walking around as slanderers
The term "slanderers" in Hebrew is "רָכִיל" (rākîl), which refers to those who spread false reports or engage in gossip. This behavior is indicative of a society where truth is compromised, and relationships are fractured by deceit. In the ancient Near Eastern context, slander was not only a personal offense but a communal threat, undermining trust and unity. For believers today, this highlights the importance of integrity in speech and the destructive power of words when used carelessly or maliciously. They are bronze and iron
The metaphor of "bronze and iron" suggests a lack of purity and value. Unlike gold or silver, which are precious and refined, bronze and iron are common and often associated with strength but also with impurity. In the prophetic literature, metals often symbolize the moral and spiritual state of a people. Here, it implies that the people of Judah have become spiritually dull and morally compromised. This serves as a call to self-examination, urging believers to seek refinement and purity in their walk with God. all of them are corrupt
The word "corrupt" in Hebrew is "מַשְׁחִיתִים" (mashḥîtîm), meaning to destroy or ruin. This denotes a state of moral decay and ethical degradation. In Jeremiah's time, this corruption was evident in the widespread idolatry and injustice that plagued the nation. Theologically, it underscores the consequences of turning away from God's law and the inevitable decay that follows. For contemporary Christians, it is a reminder of the need for repentance and the transformative power of God's grace to restore and renew. Persons / Places / Events 1. JeremiahA prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and judgment to the people of Judah. His ministry spanned over 40 years during a tumultuous period in Judah's history. 2. JudahThe southern kingdom of Israel, which was facing imminent judgment due to its persistent sin and rebellion against God. 3. RebelsThe people of Judah, described as hardened in their rebellion against God, refusing to heed the warnings given through Jeremiah. 4. SlanderersThose who speak falsely or maliciously, contributing to the moral and spiritual decay of the society. 5. Bronze and IronMetaphors used to describe the people's stubbornness and resistance to purification, as these metals are less precious and more difficult to refine than gold or silver. Teaching Points The Nature of RebellionRebellion against God is not just an act but a state of being. The people of Judah were described as "hardened rebels," indicating a deep-seated resistance to God's authority. The Power of WordsBeing labeled as "slanderers" highlights the destructive power of words. As believers, we must guard our speech and ensure it aligns with truth and love. The Call to PurityThe imagery of bronze and iron suggests a need for purification. As Christians, we are called to allow God to refine us, removing impurities and making us more like Christ. The Consequences of CorruptionCorruption leads to judgment. The people of Judah faced severe consequences for their actions, reminding us of the importance of living righteously. The Hope of RedemptionDespite the harsh judgment, God's ultimate desire is for repentance and restoration. We must hold onto the hope of redemption through Christ. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the description of the people as "hardened rebels" challenge us to examine our own hearts for areas of resistance to God's will? 2. In what ways can we ensure our speech builds up rather than tears down, avoiding the sin of slander? 3. How can the imagery of bronze and iron in this verse inspire us to seek God's refining work in our lives? 4. What are some modern-day examples of corruption, and how can we, as Christians, stand against them? 5. How does understanding the consequences faced by Judah motivate us to pursue a life of holiness and obedience to God? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 48:4This verse also uses the imagery of iron and bronze to describe the stubbornness of the people, highlighting a consistent theme of resistance to God's will. Ezekiel 22:18-22Similar imagery is used to describe the people as dross, emphasizing their impurity and the need for refining through judgment. Proverbs 6:16-19Lists behaviors that God detests, including slander, which connects to the description of the people as slanderers in Jeremiah 6:28. People Benjamin, JeremiahPlaces Beth-haccherem, Jerusalem, Sheba, Tekoa, ZionTopics Act, Apostates, Aside, Brass, Bronze, Corrupt, Corrupters, Corruptly, Deal, Deceit, Grievous, Iron, Rebellious, Rebels, Revolters, Slander, Slanderously, Slanders, Stories, Stubbornly, Talebearer, Walking, WorkersDictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 6:28 6223 rebellion, of Israel Jeremiah 6:27-29 4336 iron Jeremiah 6:27-30 4351 refining Jeremiah 6:28-30 4324 dross Library Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIIA Blast of the Trumpet against False Peace
The motive with these false prophets is an abominable one. Jeremiah tells us it was an evil covetousness. They preached smooth things because the people would have it so, because they thus brought grist to their own mill, and glory to their own names. Their design was abominable, and without doubt, their end shall be desperate--cast away with the refuse of mankind. These who professed to be the precious sons of God, comparable to fine gold, shall be esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860 Whitefield -- the Method of Grace
George Whitefield, evangelist and leader of Calvinistic Methodists, who has been called the Demosthenes of the pulpit, was born at Gloucester, England, in 1714. He was an impassioned pulpit orator of the popular type, and his power over immense congregations was largely due to his histrionic talent and his exquisitely modulated voice, which has been described as "an organ, a flute, a harp, all in one," and which at times became stentorian. He had a most expressive face, and altho he squinted, in …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3 Reprobation.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What the true doctrine of reprobation is not. 1. It is not that the ultimate end of God in the creation of any was their damnation. Neither reason nor revelation confirms, but both contradict the assumption, that God has created or can create any being for the purpose of rendering him miserable as an ultimate end. God is love, or he is benevolent, and cannot therefore will the misery of any being as an ultimate end, or for its own sake. It is …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology Prefatory Scripture Passages.
To the Law and to the Testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.-- Isa. viii. 20. Thus saith the Lord; Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.--Jer. vi. 16. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church Jesus Raises the Widow's Son.
(at Nain in Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 11-17. ^c 11 And it came to pass soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day], that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Backsliding.
"I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away."--Hosea xiv. 4. There are two kinds of backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, "slid forward." They may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. They need to be treated differently from real back-sliders--those who have been born of the incorruptible …
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It An Obscured vision
(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot Sin Charged Upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. C omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances, only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord says, Behold, I come as a thief (Revelation 16:15) , --common sense will fix the resemblance to a single point, that He will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. So when wandering sinners …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 An Address to the Regenerate, Founded on the Preceding Discourses.
James I. 18. James I. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context. I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning How those who Fear Scourges and those who Contemn them are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 14.) Differently to be admonished are those who fear scourges, and on that account live innocently, and those who have grown so hard in wickedness as not to be corrected even by scourges. For those who fear scourges are to be told by no means to desire temporal goods as being of great account, seeing that bad men also have them, and by no means to shun present evils as intolerable, seeing they are not ignorant how for the most part good men also are touched by them. They are to be admonished …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Christian Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 We are now got to the third step leading in the way to blessedness, Christian meekness. Blessed are the meek'. See how the Spirit of God adorns the hidden man of the heart, with multiplicity of graces! The workmanship of the Holy Ghost is not only curious, but various. It makes the heart meek, pure, peaceable etc. The graces therefore are compared to needlework, which is different and various in its flowers and colours (Psalm 45:14). …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Jeremiah 6:28 NIVJeremiah 6:28 NLTJeremiah 6:28 ESVJeremiah 6:28 NASBJeremiah 6:28 KJV
Jeremiah 6:28 Commentaries
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