What does "they did not listen or incline their ear" reveal about Israel's heart? Setting the Scene Jeremiah 7:24 captures the refrain: “Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubbornness of their own evil hearts. So they went backward and not forward.” The same wording echoes throughout Jeremiah 11:8; 17:23; 25:4; 34:14, underscoring a chronic problem in Israel. Two Simple Verbs, One Serious Diagnosis • “Listen” – to hear with the intent to obey. • “Incline the ear” – to lean in, giving undivided attention. Refusing both actions points straight to the inner life. Scripture links ears and heart because genuine hearing is a heart-level response (Deuteronomy 6:4–6). What Israel’s Heart Looked Like • Stubborn (Jeremiah 7:24) – an entrenched resistance to God’s direction. • Hard (Jeremiah 17:23) – unwilling to be shaped or corrected. • Self-willed (Jeremiah 11:8) – each person “walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart.” • Untrusting – scorning the very voice that delivered them from Egypt (Exodus 19:4–5). • Spiritually dull – ears present, sensitivity absent (Isaiah 6:9–10). Visible Symptoms of an Unresponsive Heart • Ritual without relationship: sacrificing while ignoring obedience (Jeremiah 7:21–23). • Moral decline: “They went backward and not forward” (Jeremiah 7:24). • Idolatry: turning to other gods that “cannot profit” (Jeremiah 2:11). • Social injustice: oppressing the vulnerable (Jeremiah 7:5–6). • Presumption: “The temple of the LORD!” became a hollow slogan (Jeremiah 7:4). Consequences God Allowed • Loss of covenant blessings (Deuteronomy 28:15–68). • National ruin and exile (Jeremiah 25:11). • Silence of divine guidance—prophets came “again and again,” yet nothing changed (Jeremiah 25:4). • Spiritual darkness spreading to the next generation (Jeremiah 16:11–12). What God Longed For Instead • Softened hearts: “I will give them a heart to know Me” (Jeremiah 24:7). • Teachability: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). • Wholehearted obedience: “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear Me and keep all My commandments always” (Deuteronomy 5:29). • Forward movement: walking in His ways leads to well-being (Jeremiah 7:23). In Summary “They did not listen or incline their ear” exposes a heart that was proud, hardened, and settled in its own way. The outward refusal to hear mirrored an inward refusal to trust and obey, reversing Israel’s progress and inviting judgment. God’s repeated call shows His patience, yet His unchanging standard: true listening begins in a heart willing to yield to His word. |
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