Our text for today comes from the Book of Jeremiah:
Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
Jeremiah 6:30
Jeremiah prophesies that the sin of God’s people causes their defeat by a massive army that will surround and conquer them.
Jerusalem faces destruction from a cruel adversary (Jeremiah 6:23) that will show them no mercy. The enemy will attack during daytime and nighttime until they have crushed Jerusalem (Jeremiah 6:4-5).
Reprobate Silver
Ripe for destruction. God’s people had given themselves to oppression, wickedness, and violence. They cause God to grieve.
No hope
Despite Jeremiah’s prophecy, the people cannot benefit from it. They have no hope. God asks,
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Jeremiah 6:10
You can reject God to the point you cannot hear God. Salvation cannot come to you. Destruction comes to those who despise the Word of the Lord and do not delight in it. God withholds His fury for a while (Jeremiah 6:12), but He will eventually bring judgment upon those who reject Him.
Inevitable Destruction
Jerusalem faces inevitable and complete annihilation as the army from the north comes against it:
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time [that] I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 6:15
Again, God’s people had sinned, and they had no shame. They would not repent.
Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
Jeremiah 6:25
A Way Out
God had given His people a way out:
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. But they said, We will not walk therein.
Jeremiah 6:16
God had given the people a way out. Going back to the old ways and old paths was all they needed to do to keep God’s favor. They, however, refused to listen to the Lord. Now, they face the consequences of their decision.
Nowadays, people have found alternative paths for serving God. They feel good about it, but their rebellion against God’s Way (the “old” ways and paths) will inevitably lead to destruction.
No Excuses
God tells the people they have no excuses. He had sent “watchmen” to warn them of their transgression, but Jerusalem ignored them.
I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
Jeremiah 6:17
The Jews not only failed to obey God’s messengers, but they made a conscious decision to reject them.
Too Late to Repent
In desperation, the people too late scramble to offer incense, offerings, and sacrifices. God rejects these last-ditch efforts to save Jerusalem:
To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
Jeremiah 6:20
Once God’s patience runs out on you, you have no way to recover.
A Corrupt People
God describes His people (see Jeremiah 6:2) in a way they can understand.
They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
Jeremiah 6:28
Hardened hearts characterize the people. They corrupt everything good and right.
Burned Bellows
God had worked so hard to purify the people that the bellows that stoked the furnace of affliction had themselves caught fire, but to no avail.
Reprobate Silver
Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
Jeremiah 6:30
No way exists to separate the sillver from the alloy. God cannot separate bad from the good in His people. For this reason, God has rejected the people. Their doom awaits them.
After God gives up on us, He leaves the waste and the silver together. We become worthless.
Isaiah puts it this way:
Thy silver is become dross…
Isaiah 1:22
What is dross? It is “the scum or unwanted material that forms on the surface of molten metal.”
When people reject God, they become useless to God, inviting their destruction.
Reprobate
Gesenius tells us that this word, in this text, refers to God’s rejection of people. God has refused to let them repent. Also, the word “reprobate” appears in Jeremiah 6:30 for the first time in the Bible.
According to the “first mention” principle, “reprobate” here sets the tone for the word in the rest of scripture.
The Reprobate mind
Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Romans 1:28
Look around you. Check the news. You see reprobates everywhere. They have rejected God and now behave in unnatural ways.
Those who reject God have minds full of dross (scum). They have no value to God, and God will ultimately destroy them.
Reprobate Concerning the Faith
As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
2 Timothy 3:8
Like the Israelites in our text, reprobates in New Testament days also resisted God’s messengers. They rejected God’s truth. As the corrupt siver in Jeremiah 6:30, the reprobates in 2 Timothy are corrupt. Their service to God means nothing.
Unto Every Good Work Reprobate
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Titus 1:16
People in the church professed their salvation, but their works didn’t verify their claims. They were reprobates concerning the faith, just as the Israelites in our text.
Respond
God has sent you a message. Repent or become reprobate silver. Rejecting God brings rejection from God in your mind, in your “faith,” and in your works. Once God runs out of patience with you, as He did with His people in Jeremiah Chapter 6), you can only expect complete destruction.
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…
Acts 3:19
Don’t become reprobate silver. Repent of your sinful ways today.
