Jeremiah 8 Study Notes: No Healing for an Unrepentant People
God announces that the bones of Judah’s leaders will be dug up and exposed before the sun and stars they worshiped. The people refuse to turn back, scribes twist God’s law, and priests and prophets promise false peace, so the prophet mourns that no healing has come for his broken nation.
General
True or False: In 8:21-22 the prophet, crushed by his people’s brokenness, asks whether Gilead has no balm and no physician.
Answer: True
This is true. The prophet, most often understood to be Jeremiah, says his grief is beyond healing and his heart is faint (8:18). Because his people are broken, he too is crushed, mourning and gripped by horror (8:21). He asks whether Gilead, a region east of the Jordan known for its balm, has no healing ointment and no doctor; if it does, why has his people’s health not been restored (8:22)? The question expects that a cure was available, which makes the lack of healing all the more painful. Traders carried balm from Gilead down to Egypt (Genesis 37:25), and Jeremiah later tells Egypt to go there for balm in vain (Jeremiah 46:11). Yet God Himself promises that He will one day restore His people’s health and heal their wounds (Jeremiah 30:17).
- Jeremiah 8:21-22 (BSB)“For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?”The prophet, crushed by his people’s brokenness, asks why no healing has come though Gilead has balm.
- Genesis 37:25 (BSB)“And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.”Traders from Gilead carried balm to Egypt, showing the region’s reputation for it.
- Jeremiah 46:11 (BSB)“Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.”Gilead’s balm appears again in Jeremiah as a remedy that cannot heal a judged nation.
- Jeremiah 30:17 (BSB)“But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.””God promises that He Himself will restore His people’s health and heal their wounds.
Theological
True or False: In 8:21-22 the prophet, grieving his people’s ruin, asks whether Gilead has no balm and no physician.
Answer: True
This is true. The prophet’s sorrow (most often taken as Jeremiah’s own) is beyond remedy and his heart faint (8:18); he is crushed by his people’s shattered state, mourning and seized by dismay (8:21). He asks whether Gilead, famed for its healing balm, has none, and whether no physician is there; and if there is, why has his people’s health not been restored (8:22)? The rhetorical question assumes a remedy existed, so the failure lies with the patient’s condition, not the lack of a cure. Caravans carried Gilead’s balm to Egypt (Genesis 37:25), and 46:11 sends Egypt there in vain. The healing Judah would not receive God later promises to give by His own initiative (Jeremiah 30:17).
- Jeremiah 8:21-22 (BSB)“For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?”The prophet, crushed by his people’s brokenness, asks why no healing has come though Gilead has balm.
- Genesis 37:25 (BSB)“And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.”Traders from Gilead carried balm to Egypt, showing the region’s reputation for it.
- Jeremiah 46:11 (BSB)“Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.”Gilead’s balm appears again in Jeremiah as a remedy that cannot heal a judged nation.
- Jeremiah 30:17 (BSB)“But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.””God promises that He Himself will restore His people’s health and heal their wounds.
General
In 8:7, what part of creation does God say knows its proper times, unlike His people who do not know what He requires?
Answer: Migrating birds that keep their seasons
God points to the stork and to several other migrating birds. These birds know their appointed seasons and keep to the times of their migration, but God’s own people are ignorant of what the LORD requires of them (8:7). Birds follow the pattern God built into them, yet Judah, which had God’s word, refused to follow His ways. Isaiah used a similar comparison: even an ox and a donkey recognize the one who owns and feeds them, yet Israel lacks such understanding (Isaiah 1:3). Earlier in the book God also contrasted the sea, which stays within the boundary God set for it, with a people whose hearts were stubborn and rebellious (Jeremiah 5:22-23).
- Jeremiah 8:7 (BSB)“Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.”God contrasts migrating birds that keep their seasons with His people who do not know His requirements.
- Isaiah 1:3 (BSB)“The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.””Isaiah makes a similar comparison between animals that know their owner and Israel that does not.
- Jeremiah 5:22-23 (BSB)“Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.”God contrasts the sea, which keeps the limit God set, with the people’s rebellious hearts, the same contrast as the birds in 8:7.
Theological
What image from nature does God set against His people’s ignorance of His requirements in 8:7?
Answer: Migrating birds that keep their seasons
God sets the stork, turtledove, swift, and thrush, which observe their appointed seasons of migration, against His people, who are ignorant of the LORD’s requirements (8:7). Creatures follow the order their Creator built into them by instinct, while the covenant people, though instructed by revelation, live contrary to the order God gave them. Isaiah’s indictment is parallel: ox and donkey recognize owner and feeding trough, while Israel lacks understanding (Isaiah 1:3). In Jeremiah 5:22-23 God likewise sets the sea, kept within its God-given boundary, against the people’s hardened, defiant hearts.
- Jeremiah 8:7 (BSB)“Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.”God contrasts migrating birds that keep their seasons with His people who do not know His requirements.
- Isaiah 1:3 (BSB)“The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.””Isaiah makes a similar comparison between animals that know their owner and Israel that does not.
- Jeremiah 5:22-23 (BSB)“Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.”God contrasts the sea, which keeps the limit God set, with the people’s rebellious hearts, the same contrast as the birds in 8:7.
General
What does God say will happen to the bones of Judah’s kings, priests, prophets, and people (8:1-2)?
Answer: They will lie spread before the sun, moon, and stars
God says that the bones of Judah’s kings, officials, priests, prophets, and ordinary citizens will be taken out of their tombs (8:1). They will be laid out under the sun, the moon, and the stars, the very heavenly bodies the people had loved, served, sought guidance from, and bowed down to, and no one will gather and rebury them; they will be like refuse on the ground (8:2). The objects of their worship would look down helplessly on their dishonored remains. Those who survive and are scattered will prefer death to life (8:3). Moses had warned Israel not to be drawn into bowing down to the sun, moon, and stars (Deuteronomy 4:19), and King Josiah had removed priests who burned incense to these heavenly bodies (2 Kings 23:5).
- Jeremiah 8:1-2 (BSB)““At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.”God announces that the bones of Judah’s leaders and people will be exposed before the heavenly bodies they worshiped.
- Deuteronomy 4:19 (BSB)“When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.”Moses warned Israel not to worship the sun, moon, and stars, the sin judged here.
- 2 Kings 23:5 (BSB)“Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.”Josiah removed priests who burned incense to the heavenly bodies, showing how common this worship had become.
Theological
What fate does 8:1-2 announce for the bones of Jerusalem’s leaders and people?
Answer: They will lie spread before the sun, moon, and stars
The judgment reaches even the dead: the bones of kings, officials, priests, prophets, and Jerusalem’s inhabitants will be dug out of their tombs (8:1) and spread out before the sun, moon, and stars, the astral powers they had loved, served, pursued, sought counsel from, and bowed to, left ungathered and unburied like refuse on the ground (8:2). The gods they courted prove powerless to protect them, and the surviving remnant in exile will prefer death to life (8:3). Deuteronomy had forbidden worship of the heavenly bodies (Deuteronomy 4:19), and Josiah’s reform had suppressed the priests who served them (2 Kings 23:5).
- Jeremiah 8:1-2 (BSB)““At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.”God announces that the bones of Judah’s leaders and people will be exposed before the heavenly bodies they worshiped.
- Deuteronomy 4:19 (BSB)“When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.”Moses warned Israel not to worship the sun, moon, and stars, the sin judged here.
- 2 Kings 23:5 (BSB)“Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.”Josiah removed priests who burned incense to the heavenly bodies, showing how common this worship had become.
General
A cry rises from a distant land asking if the LORD has left Zion. What does God’s reply point to as the real problem (8:19)?
Answer: That they have provoked Him with their idols
The grieving prophet, usually understood to be Jeremiah himself, hears the cry of his people from a distant land, asking whether the LORD and their King have left Zion (8:19). God breaks in with His own question: why have they stirred Him to wrath with their carved idols and worthless foreign gods (8:19)? The disaster has not come because God is gone, but because His people turned to false gods. The people’s lament continues: the harvest is over and summer is gone, yet they have not been rescued (8:20). Moses had foretold that Israel would anger God with worthless idols (Deuteronomy 32:21), and earlier in Jeremiah God asks where the gods Judah made for itself are now that trouble has come (Jeremiah 2:28).
- Jeremiah 8:19-20 (BSB)“Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?” “The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.””The people ask whether the LORD has left Zion, and God answers by asking why they provoked Him with idols.
- Deuteronomy 32:21 (BSB)“They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.”Moses foretold that Israel would provoke God with worthless idols.
- Jeremiah 2:28 (BSB)“But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.”God asks Judah to call on its homemade gods in its time of trouble, exposing their emptiness.
Theological
In 8:19, how does the LORD answer the complaint, heard from a far country, that He seems absent from Zion?
Answer: That they have provoked Him with their idols
From a far country the prophet’s people cry out (the mourner of 8:18-9:1 is usually taken to be Jeremiah, though some hear God’s own grief in his words), asking whether the LORD, Zion’s King, is no longer present (8:19). God interjects with a counter-question: what moved them to anger Him with their idols and foreign vanities (8:19)? The calamity reflects not God’s absence but His just response to their idolatry. The people’s lament resumes with the harvest past and summer ended and no deliverance (8:20). The Song of Moses had foretold that Israel would provoke God with what is no god (Deuteronomy 32:21), and in 2:28 God taunts Judah to summon its many gods in its hour of trouble.
- Jeremiah 8:19-20 (BSB)“Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?” “The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.””The people ask whether the LORD has left Zion, and God answers by asking why they provoked Him with idols.
- Deuteronomy 32:21 (BSB)“They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.”Moses foretold that Israel would provoke God with worthless idols.
- Jeremiah 2:28 (BSB)“But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.”God asks Judah to call on its homemade gods in its time of trouble, exposing their emptiness.
General
The people claim to be wise and to possess God’s law. What does God say is really true (8:8-9)?
Answer: Scribes have handled God’s law falsely and deceptively
The people boast that they are wise because God’s law is in their hands (8:8). But God says the scribes, the teachers who copied and explained the law, have used their pens to turn it into a lie (8:8). Because they have rejected what the LORD has spoken, their so-called wisdom is worthless, and those who boast of wisdom will be shamed and caught (8:9). Having the Scriptures is not the same as obeying them. Jesus later rebuked religious teachers for making God’s word void by their own traditions (Mark 7:13), and Paul asks where the wise man and the scribe are, since God has shown the world’s wisdom to be foolish (1 Corinthians 1:20). He also asks those who teach the law whether they keep it themselves (Romans 2:21).
- Jeremiah 8:8-9 (BSB)“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?”God rejects the claim to wisdom because the scribes have falsified His law and the people have rejected His word.
- Mark 7:13 (BSB)“Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.””Jesus rebukes teachers who set aside God’s word by their own tradition.
- 1 Corinthians 1:20 (BSB)“Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”Paul says God has made foolish the wisdom of the scribe and the wise man.
- Romans 2:21 (BSB)“you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?”Paul challenges those who teach God’s law but do not keep it themselves.
Theological
How does God answer Judah’s claim to wisdom and possession of the law in 8:8-9?
Answer: Scribes have handled God’s law falsely and deceptively
Judah claims to be wise on the ground that it possesses God’s law (8:8), but God answers that the scribes have handled it falsely, so that their pens have produced deception (8:8). Having rejected what the LORD has spoken, they possess no real wisdom, and their sages will be shamed and ensnared (8:9). Possession of Scripture without submission to it is no safeguard. Jesus condemns the scribes of His day for nullifying God’s word through their tradition (Mark 7:13), Paul asks where the scribe is now that God has shown worldly wisdom to be folly (1 Corinthians 1:20), and he presses the one who teaches the law with his own failure to keep it (Romans 2:21).
- Jeremiah 8:8-9 (BSB)“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?”God rejects the claim to wisdom because the scribes have falsified His law and the people have rejected His word.
- Mark 7:13 (BSB)“Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.””Jesus rebukes teachers who set aside God’s word by their own tradition.
- 1 Corinthians 1:20 (BSB)“Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”Paul says God has made foolish the wisdom of the scribe and the wise man.
- Romans 2:21 (BSB)“you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?”Paul challenges those who teach God’s law but do not keep it themselves.
General
How do the prophets and priests treat the people’s deep wound, according to 8:10-12?
Answer: They say all is well though no peace is coming at all
From the least to the greatest, everyone is greedy for gain, and prophets and priests alike deal falsely (8:10). These leaders treat the serious wound of God’s people as if it were a scratch, promising peace when no peace is coming (8:11). They feel no shame for their detestable deeds and have forgotten how to blush; they will fall along with everyone else when God punishes (8:12). God will strip away their harvest of grapes and figs (8:13), and the people, sensing their doom, urge one another to run to the walled towns as the noise of the enemy’s warhorses sounds from Dan in the north (8:14-16). God had spoken the rebuke of verses 11-12 in nearly the same words earlier (Jeremiah 6:14-15). Ezekiel faced prophets who misled the people the same way (Ezekiel 13:10), and Paul warns that sudden destruction comes on those who say there is peace and security (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
- Jeremiah 8:10-12 (BSB)“Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.”Greedy prophets and priests treat the people’s wound lightly and promise a peace that will not come.
- Jeremiah 6:14-15 (BSB)“They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.”God had already given almost the same rebuke of the false healers earlier in the book.
- Ezekiel 13:10 (BSB)“Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,”Ezekiel condemns prophets who mislead the people by promising peace.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (BSB)“While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”Paul warns that destruction comes suddenly on those who announce peace and security.
Theological
What false message do the prophets and priests give in 8:10-12?
Answer: They say all is well though no peace is coming at all
Greed runs through every rank, and prophets and priests alike traffic in deceit (8:10). The religious leaders treat the grievous wound of God’s people superficially, announcing peace where there is none (8:11); they are past shame, unable even to blush, and will fall with the fallen when God punishes them (8:12). God will take away vine, fig, and harvest (8:13), and the people, recognizing that the LORD has doomed them, call one another to the walled towns while the enemy’s horses are heard from Dan and God warns that He will send venomous snakes no charmer can control (8:14-17). Verses 11-12 repeat almost word for word the indictment of 6:14-15. Ezekiel denounces the same false prophets who cry peace and whitewash a flimsy wall (Ezekiel 13:10), and Paul warns that those proclaiming peace and security will meet sudden destruction (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
- Jeremiah 8:10-12 (BSB)“Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.”Greedy prophets and priests treat the people’s wound lightly and promise a peace that will not come.
- Jeremiah 6:14-15 (BSB)“They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.”God had already given almost the same rebuke of the false healers earlier in the book.
- Ezekiel 13:10 (BSB)“Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,”Ezekiel condemns prophets who mislead the people by promising peace.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (BSB)“While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”Paul warns that destruction comes suddenly on those who announce peace and security.
General
True or False: In 8:4-6 God says that the people quickly turned back to Him after they fell, each asking what wrong he had done.
Answer: False
This is false. God points out that when people fall, they normally get back up, and when someone wanders off, he comes back (8:4). Yet Jerusalem keeps on turning away; the people hold tightly to deceit and will not return (8:5). God has listened closely, and not one of them is sorry for his evil or stops to ask what he has done; each rushes on his own way like a warhorse plunging into the fight (8:6). Jeremiah says the same earlier: though God struck them, they refused correction and set their faces like rock (Jeremiah 5:3). Paul warns that a hardened, impenitent heart stores up wrath, while God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance (Romans 2:4-5).
- Jeremiah 8:4-6 (BSB)“So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle.”God contrasts the normal pattern of getting up after a fall with Jerusalem’s refusal to turn back.
- Jeremiah 5:3 (BSB)“O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.”The people had already refused correction and hardened themselves against repentance.
- Romans 2:4-5 (BSB)“Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”Paul warns that an unrepentant heart stores up wrath, despising God’s kindness.
Theological
True or False: According to 8:4-6, the people readily repented after falling, each one examining his own wrongdoing.
Answer: False
This is false. God appeals to ordinary experience: those who fall rise again, and those who stray come back (8:4). Jerusalem, however, keeps turning away again and again, holding fast to deceit and refusing to return (8:5). He has listened attentively, yet no one repents or so much as asks what he has done; each plunges ahead on his chosen path like a warhorse into the fray (8:6). The same impenitence appears in 5:3, where discipline only hardened their faces like stone. Paul describes the hard, impenitent heart as treasuring up wrath, despising the kindness that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4-5).
- Jeremiah 8:4-6 (BSB)“So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle.”God contrasts the normal pattern of getting up after a fall with Jerusalem’s refusal to turn back.
- Jeremiah 5:3 (BSB)“O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.”The people had already refused correction and hardened themselves against repentance.
- Romans 2:4-5 (BSB)“Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”Paul warns that an unrepentant heart stores up wrath, despising God’s kindness.