God’s Refining Fire

Transcript

GR 453
7/18/1928
God’s Refining Fire
Jeremiah 6:17-30
Gil Rugh

In our last study, the people of Judah were exhorted to “stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you shall find rest for your souls” Jeremiah 6:16. They were to consider again the message of life by faith in the Savior. That statement, “You shall find rest for your souls,” is quoted by Christ in Matthew 11:29, in the context of the invitation to come to Him. When we come to Him or believe in Him, we experience the forgiveness, cleansing, peace and rest that God provides. But there can be no peace or rest until the issue of sin is dealt with; sin can only be dealt with according to God’s plan. That is always by faith in His Savior.

Notice the response of the people at the end of verse 16: “But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” God says in verse 17, “I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’” Verses 16 and 17 ties together very closely. God has exhorted them to listen, to learn, to turn back to the ancient ways. He has provided watchmen. This is a familiar analogy in the prophets. Earlier in our study we learned that the watchman is to be watching for danger and warning the people. The prophets were the watchmen of God who came to proclaim His message of sin, judgment and salvation. This is a testimony of God’s grace-- ‘I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’” verse 17. When the sound is given, the people are to turn to the Savior. “But they said, ‘We will not listen’” verse 17. They have rejected God’s gracious invitation. They simply demonstrate how committed to their sinful conduct they really are. They are not willing to turn to the ancient paths, to look to Him as their Savior and believe. They are not willing to listen to the message of the prophets as they sound the trumpet that judgment is coming.

Since they will not believe, a message of judgment is given. “Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their plans,” verses 18-19. This proclamation is made to everyone in a very striking way. God is going to bring disaster on the people. As soon as that is stated, the people question if God could do this. But note the full statement: “I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their plans,” This judgment is the consequence of their actions. This is reaping what they have sown. This is not an arbitrary, spiteful God dealing with people in an unkind way. But rather, it is the fruition of their own doings.

We have noted that the Old Testament, in effect, is a picture book of the New Testament. You look there and see the examples lived out. The Apostle James wrote, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” James 1:14. The context is that God is never the cause or originator of sin. It is always a personal responsibility. James continues in verse 15, “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” James 1:15 That pattern is pointed out by God through Jeremiah. It is “the fruit of their plans,” which is destruction. It is the result of the course they have set. It is the same idea that James is talking about. Lust conceives, it gives birth to sin; and sin results in death. The pattern of sin is always the same, yet we fail to get it rooted in our minds. Sin is always, always destructive. And yet, when we confront a sin that we enjoy, we look for a way to rationalize it. We say this one will be the exception; it will be different. But the pattern is always the same.

The disaster is the result of what they have done. God brings the judgment, but it is the fruit of their doing. God tells why it is coming: “Because they have not listened to My words, and as for My law, they have rejected it also.” Jeremiah 6:19. Here you see the heart of sin--rebellion against God and rejection of His Word. They are not open to the truth of God; they have rejected it. That says multitudes about religious people, and that is where we come next in the context--how religious these people are who will not listen to the Word of God. Keep in mind that people who are meticulous in their religious activity may well be the very people who have rejected the Word of God. They have replaced the Word of God with their own religious activity.

Look at Psalm 19 just to see the contrast. You see something of their sinful character. They have rejected the Law of God. It is another way of saying they have rejected the Word of God. “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7. The Law of the Lord is perfect; there is no fault in God’s Word. It is what He has provided for our salvation, and it is this perfect Word of God that they have rejected. In effect they have replaced the perfect Law of the Lord with their own ideas and concepts, with their own message. You see how sinful they are. A great section on the Word of the Lord, Psalm 19 goes on, “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.” verses 8-10. This description is just the opposite of these people’s response. We saw earlier in chapter 6 that they had no openness to the Word. They did not desire it. But to the believer it is like honey, sweet and satisfying. It also provides warning for the child of God.

The heart of the problem in Jeremiah 6 is rebellion against the Word of God. That is why our attitude toward the Scriptures is crucial and foundational. We do not venerate this book by simply giving it a prominent place on a shelf or coffee table although there is nothing wrong with that. But the attitude of submission to the message of this book is the issue here. It is obedience to the Word of God as He has presented it.

Note the contrast given in Jeremiah 6:20. These same people have not listened to the Word of God and have rejected its message. “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.” Jeremiah 6:20. This section really stood out to me as I studied chapter 6. Verse 19 said they have rejected the Word of God but verse 20 speaks of how meticulous and fastidious they are in their religious activity. They spare no expense to carry out the details of their religious observance. God asks, “For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba?” Jeremiah 6:20. Frankincense was an ingredient in the holy incense that was only allowed to be used in the temple. Instructions regarding its use are given in Exodus 30:34. It was imported from Sheba, southern Arabia, some 1500 miles from Jerusalem. Think about going back to biblical times, 500 years before Christ, and importing an incense from 1500 miles away. These people are willing to pay any expense to get the best ingredients to carry on the offering of incense to God.

Then God mentions “the sweet cane from a distant land” Jeremiah 6:20. The first thing you might think of when you read this is sugar cane, but that is not what He is talking about. Sweet cane was an ingredient used in the holy anointing oil. It was presented in Exodus 30:23 as an ingredient for that anointing oil. It is said to come “from a distant land.” It too was imported, many suggested perhaps from India. The point is that they have gone to great expense and difficulty to carry out the minutest detail involved in their ceremonial worship of God, and yet He says it is unacceptable. He will have nothing to do with it. Today we would say, “Look at how earnest and sincere they are. They are willing to go to the extent of importing things from that great distance so they can worship God so carefully.” Yet in the next statement God has asked what the purpose is for all of this.

“Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me,” God declared in Jeremiah 6:20. What is the use of a sacrifice that is unacceptable to God? What use is an offering that does not please Him? It serves no purpose. Do you know what they did? They wasted their time and money. They could have just stayed in their tents and watched television! It was a waste of money. God said it was unacceptable. It was not pleasing to Him. So, what is the purpose of it? He looks down and says, “Fools, what are you doing wasting your time and money importing these expensive ingredients to make offerings and sacrifices to Me that are unacceptable? They serve no purpose.”

God is not condemning the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. You can read Exodus 30 and see that the ingredients specified were directed by God. But the point is that ceremony and ritual cannot take the place of faith in God’s salvation! They continued the ritual and the ceremony, but they did not have faith in the Savior. Without that the whole thing is repulsive and rejected. This message continues to permeate the prophets through the Old Testament.

God addresses His people through Isaiah: “Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah.” Isaiah 1:10. Sodom and Gomorrah had been destroyed centuries earlier for their sinfulness. He is telling the Jews they are of the same character and kind as populated Sodom and Gomorrah. Just as He had to deal in judgment with Sodom and Gomorrah, so He also has to deal in judgment with the Israelites.

“‘What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts?’” Isaiah 1:11-12. God views it as trampling of His courts. It is defiling! “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies--I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.” Isaiah 1:13-15.

The religious ceremony and ritual of sinful people who have not experienced the redemption of God is repulsive to Him. It is better to have no religion than to have a false religion. It is better to go play golf or stay home and watch television than it is to go through religious activity that is not based upon a faith relationship with God. Ritual without faith is a trampling of His courts. He says it is an abomination; He cannot bear it, and it necessitates judgment. That is a strong statement. That says that it would be better to close down all the places of religious activity where the Word of God is not believed and taught than it would be to allow them to continue. We often think, Well, at least the church is providing a good influence. God says that is not always the case. He sees it as an abomination, something hateful, something He cannot bear any longer. Why the prayers? He is not listening. He hides His eyes from them. He is not paying any attention.

What about all these prayers that are offered up in all these services? In Isaiah 1:15 God says, “I will not listen.” What does He demand? “‘Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool’” Isaiah 1:16-18. That is what God invites them for--cleansing, forgiveness! That is what He wants. The ritual and the sacrificial system in and of itself was not wrong. What made it wrong is that it was offered by people who were defiled by sin, who had not experienced cleansing and forgiveness. God’s appointment for the ceremonial activities of the Old Testament was that those people who had believed in Him and His salvation should now worship Him according to His instructions. But it is not an option that those people who have not believed in Him as Savior now come and worship Him. That, incidentally, is the whole argument of the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament; namely, that you cannot come and worship God apart from God’s appointed Savior and High Priest, Jesus Christ. So anyone anywhere who offers worship to God apart from faith in the death and resurrection of the Son of God is doing something that is repulsive to God, something He cannot stand and finds totally unacceptable.

Through the prophet Amos, the herdsman from Tekoa, God says the same thing: “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offering of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:21-24. That is what God demands--justice and righteousness. Worship of Him must flow out of righteousness and justice or it is unacceptable.

People today continue to perpetuate the same error. They come to worship God, ignoring the basic issue of righteousness and justice because they have not confronted their sin and their need for salvation. But they go through the routine of worship, a religious activity, the liturgy or whatever. For what purpose? God says He hates it. We had better have God’s perspective on these issues. He says, “I hate it, it is repulsive. Take it away. Put an end to it.”

Micah also describes what God demands. “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” Micah 6:6-7. What greater sacrifice could a person make for sin than to offer his first-born child? Micah continues in verse 8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” That is what God demands--a right relationship with Himself. People want to emphasize the number of animals they have sacrificed or how much oil they have offered. God says, “What I want is a right relationship with me.” Man says, “I want ceremony.”

The account of Saul’s rebellion by offering a sacrifice to God in the absence of Samuel and Saul’s disobedience and failure to annihilate the Amalekites is recorded in 1 Samuel 15. “And Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.’” verse 22 You cannot replace obedience or submission to God with sacrifices and offerings. “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” verse 23. In verse 24 Saul tells what motivated his activity: “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.” Instead of heeding what God said, he was afraid of the people and listened to what they said. For that, God said he was unfit to be king.

Jeremiah is emphasizing that no matter how costly in material things, in time, in energy or in effort, religious activity without true faith is unacceptable before God. “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.’” Jeremiah 6:21. Note that God now becomes their enemy. He lays stumbling blocks before them. He is talking about the judgment that is going to bring their ruin. In verse 16 they have refused the ancient paths and the good way in order to pursue their own way. And God now covers their way with stumbling blocks. The Babylonians will come, and Judah will perish. Just as Solomon said, “There is a way which seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12.

In verses 22 and 23 of chapter 6 Jeremiah continues, “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. 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!” This is a picture of the awesome enemy arrayed now against Israel. The Babylonians are in view. They come from the east, but they descend into Israel from the north. So they are pictured as the enemy from the north.

Verse 24 describes Jeremiah’s feelings, “We have heard the report of it; our hands are limp. Anguish has seized us, pain as of a woman in childbirth.” There are those like Jeremiah, few though they be, who are described here. You see what happens when the sound really comes--” Anguish has seized us, pain as of a woman in childbirth.”

Then Jeremiah gives them instructions about what to do in light of the invasion. “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.” Jeremiah 6:25. Where can they go? It is a frightening picture. Sometimes we have the privilege, so to speak, of being carried by the news media to where battles and wars are being fought. We can see the hopelessness and futility of people looking for hiding places when there really are not any. That is the panic that is described here. They are not to go out into the field or the open road. There is no place to go.

“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.” (v. 26). The judgment is set. There is no turning back. The sinful stubbornness of the people necessitates judgment. So all Jeremiah can say is to dress yourself in mourning, like you would for an only son. The death of an only son in the Old Testament was pictured as the greatest sorrow. It is used as an example on several occasions by the prophets. This is the most bitter sorrow for a Jew to face--His only son, his heir, to be taken. It is described as “a lamentation most bitter” verse 26.

This chapter closes with a description of what Jeremiah’s message and position of responsibility is to be. It is an important section because it has to do with that oft-quoted statement, “Judge not that you be not judged.” Matthew 7:1. But God says the prophets are to judge.

God tells Jeremiah in verses 27-30, “‘I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people, that you may know and assay their way.’ All of them are stubbornly rebellious, going about as a talebearer. They are bronze and iron; they, all of them, are corrupt. The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, but the wicked are not separated. They call them rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them.”

Jeremiah is an assayer, a tester. He is to do a refining process in searching for fine silver. He is to sort out the silver from the dross, but he finds no fine silver. All of them are stubbornly rebellious. “They are bronze and iron” verse 28, which pictures their stubborn, hard corruptness. “The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, but the wicked are not separated.” verse 29. There is no refined silver to be found. As the heat is applied and the bellows blow, the dross is carried off and the silver remains. But Jeremiah says it is bronze and iron. He cannot find any silver. The lead gets consumed, but the refining process goes on in vain. All that is left is the wicked, which depicts the utter sinfulness of the people. They are called “rejected silver” verse 30.

Isaiah describes the same situation. “How the faithful city has become a harlot, she who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your drink diluted with water.” Isaiah 1:21-22. Your silver has become dross--as Jeremiah states it, “rejected silver,” worthless. The refining process did not serve the purpose of bringing out pure silver. So, what is left is only fit to be discarded, to be ruined.

The message of judgment and judgment itself were to refine the people. Jeremiah is to proclaim the message of judgment, and as a result of this message and the invitation to salvation, there should have been the refining process. From out of this should have come the silver, but the people are so totally corrupted that there is no response to the message. They are demonstrated to be rejected silver.

Ezekiel wrote, “And the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver.’” Ezekiel 22:17-18. These are the things to be refined out, but all God finds among His people is the dross. Where is the silver? “Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I shall gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I shall lay you there and melt you. And I shall gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath on you.’” Ezekiel 22:19-22.

This is an awesome picture of judgment. God is looking for the silver, so He says, “I am going to apply the heat and turn up the fire. I am going to fan it to heat.” And that is the judgment. The ultimate realization and outcome of this for Israel will be the seven years Tribulation which is yet future. This is where God will apply the heat of persecution to the greatest temperature that Israel has ever experienced. The result of that is going to be silver. The fire has to get hotter. As it comes to the nation, the nation is destroyed. What is God looking for? Silver. Jeremiah is to be a man of discernment looking for silver.

Every time you speak about some people going to hell and some going to heaven, somebody says, “Judge not that you be not judged.” Matthew 7:1. It is as though they had discovered some profound nugget of truth, but they are running around with a lump of coal. In Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself” (Romans 2:1). And here is the catch: “For you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.” verses 1-8. Then verse 11 says, “For there is no partiality with God.”

Do you see the context? It is the unbeliever, such as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, speaking of condemnation upon the people when they themselves were every bit as great a sinner and every bit as unforgiven. That is the context of Romans 2. The Pharisees, Sadduccees and the religious leaders thought they delivered themselves because they condemned the people. That is what He is talking about in Romans 2. He is saying they had better stop judging others and worry about their own salvation, but He is not speaking to those who have salvation. First Corinthians 2 says that those who have the Spirit discern all things. So we need to put that in its proper context.

As believers, we do have the ability to discern, the ability to know. That does not mean that I can pass final judgment on who will be in heaven and who will be in hell, because I do not see the heart. I am sure I have met some people that I thought were on their way to heaven who were on their way to hell; and I have probably met some people I thought were on their way to hell who were on their way to heaven. But the basic dividing line is clear. I know what I am looking for, and I know that when I confront a person who does not believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation, I am meeting a person on his way to hell. He is copper, iron or tin, not silver. I believe that part of the responsibility of being an assayer is to discern. Jeremiah is to know the difference. He is to proclaim a message which divides.

As you share this message of truth, it will be a refining, purifying message. And out of the proclamation will come some silver; a result of that proclamation will be much dross. Believers are those who have the discernment as a result of the Word of God. This is not some supernatural ability to sit in a room and play guessing games about what is in someone’s mind. We are talking about the message of God being blown upon the people, the proclamation of sin and judgment; and out of that comes some silver who respond in faith to the gracious invitation to salvation. What a glorious opportunity to be an assayer. Not that we run around as judges, but we run around with a refining message, one that brings to light the true character.

Jeremiah has said that judgment is coming and there is no stopping it. Israel has rejected the Word of God. Jeremiah says, “Get ready for judgment.” The only thing they can do now is to put on sackcloth and mourn. Why? Because they are a people unwilling to turn to the ancient paths, unwilling to listen to the Word of God.

So, what are your alternatives? You can either believe the message of God’s salvation provided in the death and resurrection of His Son, or you can get ready for hell. It is that simple. There are no other alternatives. In the midst of it all, you must realize that religious activity or formal worship does not bring you into a right relationship with God. In fact, formal worship apart from a right relationship with God is repulsive. There is a place for formal worship, but only for those who have a right relationship with God. That is the message we proclaim.

May God give us boldness as we go out this week to share this message. It is a message of refining and judgment. But praise God, with this message of judgment we can tell them there is salvation if they will heed the message.