The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged. The bellows blow fiercelyThe imagery of "the bellows" refers to the tool used by a blacksmith to intensify the heat of a fire. In the Hebrew context, this phrase evokes the process of refining metals, a common practice in ancient times. The bellows, by blowing fiercely, symbolize the intense efforts God is making to purify His people. Historically, this reflects the period of Jeremiah's ministry, where God was using the Babylonian threat as a means to refine and test the Israelites. The fierce blowing indicates the severity and urgency of God's corrective measures. to consume the lead with fire
Lead, in the refining process, is a metal that would be separated from precious metals like silver or gold. The phrase "to consume the lead with fire" suggests a purification process intended to remove impurities. In a spiritual sense, this represents God's desire to remove sin and corruption from His people. The fire is symbolic of judgment and purification, a theme consistent throughout the Bible, where fire often represents God's holy presence and His purifying work (e.g., Malachi 3:2-3). The refining is in vain
Despite the intense efforts to purify, the phrase "the refining is in vain" indicates a failure in the process. This reflects the stubbornness and unrepentant nature of the people of Judah. In the Hebrew context, the word for "vain" can also mean empty or futile, emphasizing the fruitlessness of the efforts due to the people's unwillingness to change. This serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of hard-heartedness and resistance to God's corrective discipline. for the wicked are not purged
The term "wicked" refers to those who are morally corrupt and rebellious against God. The phrase "are not purged" highlights the failure of the refining process to achieve its intended purpose. In the scriptural context, purging is often associated with cleansing and sanctification. The lack of purging signifies the people's persistent sinfulness and their refusal to turn back to God. This underscores the theme of judgment that runs throughout the book of Jeremiah, where the prophet warns of the impending consequences of continued disobedience. Persons / Places / Events 1. JeremiahA prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and judgment to the people of Judah. His ministry was marked by themes of repentance and the consequences of disobedience. 2. JudahThe southern kingdom of Israel, which was facing impending judgment due to its persistent sin and rebellion against God. 3. The RefinerSymbolically represents God or His appointed agents who attempt to purify the people through trials and judgment. 4. The WickedRefers to the people of Judah who have turned away from God and are resistant to His attempts at purification. 5. The Refining ProcessA metaphor for God's efforts to purify His people, using the imagery of a metalworker attempting to remove impurities from metal. Teaching Points The Purpose of RefiningGod uses trials and challenges to purify and strengthen His people, much like a refiner purifies metal. Resistance to PurificationWhen people resist God's refining process, it becomes ineffective, as seen in the stubbornness of Judah. The Cost of DisobediencePersistent sin and rebellion lead to judgment and missed opportunities for spiritual growth and renewal. The Call to RepentanceTrue repentance is necessary for God's refining work to be effective in our lives. God's Relentless PursuitDespite resistance, God continues to pursue His people, desiring their purification and return to Him. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the imagery of refining in Jeremiah 6:29 help us understand God's process of purification in our lives? 2. In what ways can we identify areas of resistance to God's refining work in our own hearts? 3. How do the additional scriptures (Malachi 3:2-3, Isaiah 48:10, 1 Peter 1:6-7) deepen our understanding of the refining process? 4. What practical steps can we take to ensure we are responsive to God's refining efforts? 5. How can we encourage others in our community to embrace God's refining work, especially during times of trial? Connections to Other Scriptures Malachi 3:2-3This passage also uses the metaphor of refining to describe God's purifying work among His people, emphasizing the need for purification and holiness. Isaiah 48:10Speaks of God refining His people in the furnace of affliction, highlighting the purpose of trials in bringing about spiritual purity. 1 Peter 1:6-7Discusses the refining of faith through trials, drawing a parallel between physical refining and spiritual growth. People Benjamin, JeremiahPlaces Beth-haccherem, Jerusalem, Sheba, Tekoa, ZionTopics Bad, Bellows, Blow, Blower, Blowing, Burn, Burned, Burnt, Consumed, Drawn, Evil-doers, Fiercely, Fire, Founder, Goes, Heating, Lead, Melted, Melteth, Metal, Plucked, Purged, Purpose, Refine, Refined, Refiner, Refining, Removed, Separated, Strongly, Vain, WickedDictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 6:29 4303 metals 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 6:29 NIVJeremiah 6:29 NLTJeremiah 6:29 ESVJeremiah 6:29 NASBJeremiah 6:29 KJV
Jeremiah 6:29 Commentaries
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