18 "Therefore hear , O nations , And know , O congregation , what is among them. 19 " Hear , O earth : behold , I am bringing disaster on this people , The fruit of their plans , Because e they have not listened to My words , And as for My law , they have rejected it also. 20 " For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land ? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me." 21 Therefore , thus says the Lord , "Behold , I am laying stumbling blocks before this people . And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together ; Neighbor and friend will perish ." 22 Thus says the Lord , "Behold , a people is coming from the north land , And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth . 23 "They seize bow and spear ; They are cruel and have no mercy ; Their voice roars like the sea , And they ride on horses , Arrayed as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion !" 24 We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp . Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth . 25 Do not go out into the field And do not walk on the road , For the enemy has a sword , Terror is on every side . 26 O daughter of my people , put on sackcloth And roll in ashes ; Mourn as for an only son , A lamentation most bitter . For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us. 27 "I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people , That you may know and assay their way ." 28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious , Going about as a talebearer . They are bronze and iron ; They, all of them, are corrupt . 29 The bellows blow fiercely , The lead is consumed by the fire ; In vain the refining goes on, But the wicked are not separated . 30 They call them rejected silver , Because the Lord has rejected them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 6:18-30
Commentary on Jeremiah 6:18-30
(Read Jeremiah 6:18-30)
God rejects their outward services, as worthless to atone for their sins. Sacrifice and incense were to direct them to a Mediator; but when offered to purchase a license to go on in sin, they provoke God. The sins of God's professing people make them an easy prey to their enemies. They dare not show themselves. Saints may rejoice in hope of God's mercies, though they see them only in the promise: sinners must mourn for fear of God's judgments, though they see them only in the threatenings. They are the worst of revolters, and are all corrupters. Sinners soon become tempters. They are compared to ore supposed to have good metal in it, but which proves all dross. Nothing will prevail to part between them and their sins. Reprobate silver shall they be called, useless and worthless. When warnings, corrections, rebukes, and all means of grace, leave men unrenewed, they will be left, as rejected of God, to everlasting misery. Let us pray, then, that we may be refined by the Lord, as silver is refined.