While I am driving, I hear radio advertisers talking about the value of investing in silver. No matter what day it is, it is the best time to invest because “silver may double in value this year!” There is no doubt that pure silver has value once it has been refined. But what if the impurities could not be removed from the metal? It would be rejected as unusable.

Jeremiah 6:29 (NKJV)

The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
People will call them rejected silver,
Because the LORD has rejected them.”

During Jeremiah’s ministry, the Jewish people who lived in Jerusalem were known for their impure lives. God described Jerusalem as a place of oppression (6), a well full of wickedness (7), people who could not heed or delight in God’s words (10), covetous (13), unable to blush (15), unwilling to listen (17), and stubborn rebels (28).

Despite God’s great patience and warnings from prophets, the people of Jerusalem would not turn from their sins and obey the God who loved them. Because of their habitual sin-filled lifestyle, they got to a place where they were too wicked to change their ways. Every attempt to refine them was unsuccessful because they were not interested.

There comes a time when even God gives up on certain people. Just as a metal worker rejects impure silver after multiple attempts, so God rejected the wicked people of Jerusalem. It is a sober warning that God’s warnings must be taken seriously because his mercy will last for only so long. Judgment came to Jerusalem in the form of a violent defeat by another nation. For those who reject God’s ways today the final judgment will be even worse (Rev. 20:11-15). Take heed to God’s warnings and turn to Him before it is too late.