Jeremiah’s Journal

Yet their ear, the means of listening, was not holy. They were filled with the voices of the false prophets, and they could not hear truth—a truth they did not want to hear because their ears were not holy, were not bent toward the things of God. An unholy ear cannot hear and therefore cannot pay attention. Attention to God’s word is given when the spiritual ear is receptive to God. They were circumcised in the flesh but not in the heart.

They could never echo the words of Psalm 119:33-35:

Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statutes,

and I will always keep them.

Help me understand your instruction,

and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.

Help me stay on the path of your commands,

for I take pleasure in it.

See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them—

they find no pleasure in it.

The Hebrew word translated “contemptible” means they loathe it. Yet the word also is used in the Old Testament to describe resentment, something that is a disgrace and is to be shunned. It is hatred with a hint of sass. It is so tragic that the word that protected them from their enemies, that protected them from themselves, that led them out of slavery, is now rejected.

I love my wife’s voice. It is raspy, fun, lively, and a lot of other adjectives. It’s not the perfect voice, whatever that is. She will not do voice-overs for animation or be asked to read audiobooks. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I love her voice because I love her. Her words breathe life into our home. Conversely, the foul odor emanating from Israel is her lost love. She does not love her God; she does not love his voice. What once seemed like a sweet note now sounds off-key; the melody is completely dissonant in their ears.

One cannot help but see in this Jesus’s parable of the soils (Matt 13:10-23). The soil does not even receive the word in some hearts because the hearts are so hard. In other soils it takes root, but after some persecution it becomes distasteful. In a third soil it grows, but it is choked out by distractions that are more attractive than the word. In a final soil it takes root and bears fruit.

The people of Israel are like the second soil. They have heard the word. They received the word at one point, but it is simply too demanding. They dislodge it and get rid of it before they choke on his words.

When someone gets an organ transplant, such as a kidney, there is no guarantee that the body will accept the organ. The body can reject it. The body perceives that the organ is a foreign object, and the immune system triggers a “blood transfusion reaction or transplant rejection” (“Transplant Rejection”). In other words, the immune system confuses a friend for an enemy. It rejects the help. This is Israel in Jeremiah’s day, but one day God will provide the ultimate organ transplant by removing their old heart and giving them a new heart (Ezek 36:26).

So it’s understandable that Jeremiah feels like he is getting mixed signals and that he is in despair. The question is why? The answer is that God is using Jeremiah to test the faithfulness of the people. The one who administers the test is never the favorite person.

Jeremiah 6:27-30

When we are speaking in a hostile environment, we might wonder if God is testing us.

God brought Israel up out of the iron furnace of Egypt (11:4), away from the hot persecution of Pharaoh and, in keeping with his covenant, put them in the promised land. Yet the sick reality is that they did not love God. They wanted him for what they could get from him and not for himself. His blessings were welcome, but his directives were detestable. “God, just leave your favor at the door and kindly walk away, thank you very much.”

None of this makes sense in light of what God has done. Yet any honest God follower can relate to wanting God’s stuff more than God.

Dropped into this hot house of lost love is the prophet. He is going to be used of God to test the love they have for God. Look at the provocative words in 6:27-30. Jeremiah’s responsibility was to be an “assayer.” The word refers to one who tests the purity of metals. This was done in a hot environment where a furnace was heated up to a point of smelting. The metal was purified, and the true quality of the metal was shown. However, God’s people did not pass the test. So God eventually calls them “rejected silver.” They are rubbish. Dross. Refuse. Trash.

This is tragic.

Notice, however, that God is not testing them. No, Jeremiah is the tester. So is every prophet of God. When the prophets stood to re-present God’s word, when the New Testament preachers stood, when any preachers in church history stood, or when a preacher stands today, they are awaiting an assessment, a response. The difference between teaching and preaching is that preaching calls for an assessment, a response. A prophet of God never speaks where there is no response; one is always demanded. All preachers are children of Jeremiah; they are awaiting a response. To press the metaphor, the pulpit is the furnace, and the words are the fire. The word going forth from the pulpit tests the hearts of men. This is why the prophet of God must faithfully re-present God’s Word and be hot in the heart. No man-centered talk ever flamed the coals that would melt a heart toward God. Hard hearts need hot flames.

Back in Jeremiah’s journal, we get a sense of what he is going through. As a tester, he has the unenviable position of exposing people to their own impurities. And so do we. Even those of us who are not preachers live holy lives in an unholy world. If we are doing it right, we will be persecuted. Jesus said it would be so (John 15:18-25). If we are doing it right, we will smell sweet to some and stink to others (2 Cor 2:16). If we are doing it right, we will strive to live peaceably with all men. We will live well in this kingdom while we wait for the next. This means we won’t be obnoxious jerks. But even the most gracious Christian is a Christian, and as people get close to you, they will inevitably feel the heat. They will sense that you have something they do not have. They might, over time, be drawn to the flame. They may allow the hot fire of God’s word to purify them, to save them. However, it is possible that they will fail the test. They will reject God and reject you. Your presence is a test for them.

In one of the most stinging rebukes of God’s prophets, God says,

They have treated my people’s brokenness superficially,

claiming, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. (6:14)

Imagine your child has had an accident and is hospitalized with serious wounds. You go into the hospital room to find that the medicine that was provided was not applied. The doctors look you in the eye and tell you that your child didn’t like the procedures so they stopped. They quit practicing their profession. They were completely negligent. To say you would be angry would be an understatement. These are medical professionals, professionals you hired to care for your child. They were equipped to heal, but they did not do so.

If you can imagine this, you can get a sense of God’s anger. We have, in these false prophets, those who are in charge of the healing of his children. Yet they so fear the approval of the patient that they will not apply the right medicine!

God commissioned Jeremiah to right this wrong. And while the competing voices are confusing, heaven and hell hang in the balance.