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Jeremiah 7:26
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

Jeremiah 11:7,8
For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the daythat I brought them up out of the land of Egypt,even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice…

Exodus 32:7,8
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corruptedthemselves: …

walked.

Jeremiah 23:17
They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

Deuteronomy 29:19
And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

imagination.

Jeremiah 3:17
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

went.

Jeremiah 7:26
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

Jeremiah 2:27
Saying to a stock, Thouart my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turnedtheir back unto me, and nottheir face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

Jeremiah 8:5
Whythen is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts
The "stubborn inclinations" refer to the Israelites' persistent rebellion against God. The heart, in biblical terms, is the center of will and decision-making. Jeremiah often speaks of the deceitfulness and wickedness of the human heart (Jeremiah 17:9). This phrase underscores the inherent sinfulness and tendency of humanity to choose its own path over God's. The stubbornness is akin to the hardening of Pharaoh's heart in Exodus, illustrating a deliberate choice to resist God's will.

They went backward and not forward
This imagery of moving backward rather than forward signifies regression in spiritual and moral terms. Instead of progressing in their relationship with God and growing in righteousness, the Israelites were reverting to their sinful ways. This backward movement is symbolic of a return to idolatry and disobedience, reminiscent of the Israelites' frequent lapses into idol worship (Judges 2:11-19). The call to move forward is a call to spiritual growth and maturity, as seen in the New Testament exhortations to press on toward the goal (Philippians 3:13-14). This regression is a stark contrast to the forward movement God desires for His people, which is ultimately fulfilled in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, who leads believers into a new covenant relationship with God.

Jeremiah reports Israel’s flat refusal to heed God’s clear word. The Lord had sent prophets “again and again” (Jeremiah 25:4), but the people tuned them out.

• God equates listening with obedience (Deuteronomy 6:4-5;James 1:22).

• The same pattern reappears when Stephen tells the Sanhedrin, “You always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51).

• Ignoring God’s voice is never neutral; it is active rejection (Zechariah 7:11-12).

Not only did they fail to hear, they refused even to lean in. “They would not listen or turn their ear to Me” (Jeremiah 17:23).

• Inclining the ear pictures humble attention (Proverbs 2:2-5).

• Repentance begins with willingness to be taught (2 Chron 7:14).

• Closing the ear hardens the heart, as seen in Isaiah’s warning, “Make the heart of this people calloused” (Isaiah 6:10).

When God’s guidance is rejected, something else must direct the life—usually our own stubbornness. “Each one follows the stubbornness of his evil heart” (Jeremiah 16:12).

• Stubbornness is idolatry of self (1 Samuel 15:23).

• It blinds the mind (Ephesians 4:18-19) and silences conscience (Romans 1:21-24).

• Freedom in Scripture is submission to God; stubbornness is slavery to sin (John 8:34-36).

Scripture diagnoses the heart as “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).

• Before the flood: “Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5).

• Jesus repeats the verdict: “Out of men’s hearts come evil thoughts” (Mark 7:21-23).

• Because the heart is sick, it cannot be trusted without renewal (Ezekiel 36:26;2 Corinthians 5:17).

Instead of progressing in covenant faithfulness, Judah regressed. “They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces” (Jeremiah 2:27).

• Backsliding is pictured as a stubborn heifer pulling away (Hosea 4:16).

• Spiritual retreat often looks like maintaining tradition while losing relationship (Revelation 2:4).

• God’s call is always forward—“Walk in obedience to all I command” (Jeremiah 7:23).

God had a future of blessing, but disobedience stalled it. “They did worse than their fathers” (Jeremiah 7:26).

• Israel’s wilderness wanderings show the cost of refusing to move ahead in faith (Numbers 14:29-34).

• By contrast, Paul presses “toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14), modeling the forward motion God desires.

• The remedy for going backward is repentance and renewed trust in God’s promises (Hosea 14:1-2).

Jeremiah 7:24 paints a tragic progression: refusal to listen leads to hardened hearts, stubborn self-direction, moral decline, and spiritual regression. God’s people were designed to advance in obedience and blessing, but rejecting His voice reversed that trajectory. The verse stands as a sober warning and an invitation—bend the ear, soften the heart, follow the Lord, and move forward in the life He intends.

Went backward and not forward.--The whole sacrificial system, even at its best, to say nothing of its idolatrous corruptions, was accordingly, from Jeremiah's point of view, a retrograde movement. The apostasy of the people in the worship of the golden calf involved a like deflection, necessary and inevitable though it might be as a process of education, from the first ideal polity, based upon the covenant made with Abraham,i.e.,upon a pure and spiritual theism, the emblems and ordinances of which, though "shadows of good things to come," were in themselves "weak and beggarly elements" (Hebrews 10:1;Galatians 4:9).