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"An assayer and a fortress"

Text: Jeremiah 6:27

MULTIPLE MINISTRIES OF THE PROPHET

The LORD called Jeremiah to be a prophet (Jeremiah 1:5). God also personally equipped Jeremiah so that he could adequately fulfil his role as a prophet. Along the way, God added other roles and ministries to Jeremiah.

“I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people,
That you may know and test their way.
They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers.
They are bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
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.”
Jeremiah 6:27-30

1. “I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, that you may know and test their way.”

a) An assayer

i) This is an expert in testing the quality of a metal.

ii) This term was symbolically applied to Jeremiah’s ministry.

iii) He would learn how to become discerning as he ministered for the Lord.

iv) He cannot afford to be naive in ministry.

v) He must know and test the way of the people in the nation.

b) A fortress

i) There would be some who would repent after they hear God’s messages.

ii) They would have to find a place of refuge.

iii) Jeremiah would be like a fortress for all the remnant who turned to God.

2. “They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, they are all corrupters”

a) God’s analysis of the people was given to Jeremiah.

b) Jeremiah must see beyond what is on the surface.

c) He must not be shocked by what he will see as he tests them.

d) A brief description:

i) “All stubborn rebels”

ii) “Walking as slanderers”

iii) “Bronze and iron”

Meaning: They had become hard like these metals.

iv) “All corrupters”

3. “The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; the smelter refines in vain, for the wicked are not drawn off.”

a) All metals are refined by using intense fire. In this instance, silver is the metal in question.

i) The bellows are fiercely blown to make the fire as hot as possible.

ii) The lead is consumed.

iii) The task of the smelter is to produce pure silver.

b) This process was applied to the nation.

i) The wicked should have been drawn off.

ii) But they are not and they remain evil.

iii) The work of the smelter is in vain here.

4. “People will call them rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”

a) The nation was to be refined by fire (trials and tribulations).

b) But the end result for the nation was “rejected silver”.

i) It was still silver.

ii) But not high-quality silver.

iii) The LORD had rejected the people who continue to choose to do evil