What is the meaning of Jeremiah 6:28? All are hardened rebels Jeremiah does not mince words—every layer of Judah’s society had resisted God’s call to repentance. • Spiritual stubbornness: Like the people in Jeremiah 5:23 who “have stubborn and rebellious hearts,” this hardness is deliberate, not accidental. • History of resistance: From the wilderness generation (Numbers 14:22) to the era of the kings (2 Kings 17:13-14), Israel repeatedly ignored clear warnings. • Seriousness of rebellion: Isaiah 63:10 shows that such rebellion “grieved His Holy Spirit,” turning God from defender to disciplined judge. Rebellion is never neutral; it provokes divine response. walking around as slanderers Slander had become a lifestyle, not an occasional slip. • Everyday speech: Psalm 50:20 condemns those who “sit and malign your brother,” echoing Jeremiah’s picture of people constantly circulating lies. • Breakdown of community trust: Proverbs 10:18 warns that “whoever spreads slander is a fool,” yet Judah embraced it widely, eroding social cohesion. • Reflection of heart condition: Jesus later affirmed that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). Persistent slander revealed hearts far from God. They are bronze and iron Metaphor shifts to metals, stressing spiritual composition. • Inferior metal mix: Bronze and iron were useful but lacked the purity and preciousness of silver or gold. Ezekiel 22:18-20 calls Israel “dross” of these very metals, stressing worthlessness when compared to God’s refining standard. • Resistant to refinement: Unlike gold that easily shows impurities under fire, bronze and iron can endure heat without obvious change, picturing a people unresponsive to corrective pressure (Jeremiah 6:29). • Unyielding strength misapplied: Their tough exterior was not courage for righteousness but obstinacy against truth, similar to the vessels “for dishonor” in 2 Timothy 2:20. all of them are corrupt The verdict is total; no exception clauses. • Universal indictment: Genesis 6:12 records a parallel, “all flesh had corrupted their way,” just before judgment fell. • Moral decay: Psalm 14:3 laments, “All have turned away…there is no one who does good,” a diagnosis Paul repeats in Romans 3:10-12, proving the problem is chronic in the human race. • Need for drastic remedy: Such pervasive corruption presses the necessity of new covenant transformation promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where God writes His law on hearts. summary Jeremiah 6:28 delivers a fourfold exposure of Judah’s spiritual state: stubborn rebellion, habitual slander, metal-like resistance, and comprehensive corruption. God’s assessment is blunt because sin was blatant. The verse serves as both mirror and warning—revealing human hardness while underscoring the urgency of true repentance and divine renewal. |
    |