Jeremiah 20:1-18. Today’s reading continues the story from yesterday. Jeremiah has just told the people of Jerusalem that trouble is coming; big trouble, it is coming from Yahweh (LORD the one true God) and that they have brought it on themselves. In verse one a guy named Pashur, a chief priest in charge of the temple confronts Jeremiah. He has Jeremiah beaten (the language could be translated that Pashur himself actually beat Jeremiah), then he had Jeremiah “put in the stocks”. The word translated “stocks” is fairly rare in the Hebrew language (the language the Old Testament is written in) and comes from a word that means to “turn”, “turn over”, or “overthrow”. The word also might contain the idea of folding over. The word translated “stocks” occurs 4 times in the Old Testament and twice it is translated stocks and twice it is translated prison. Some experts believe that if it was a prison cell that it was too small to stand or lie in forcing the person to be bent or curled up all the time. Where ever he was he was confined near the temple.
Pashur must have though that a night of punishment would get Jeremiah in line so he released him the next day. Jeremiah was anything but quiet, after being released he confronted Pashur personally and told him that God had given him a new name, Magor-missabib. In the Old Testament names were often related to a persons life, sometime even being prophetic (see “What’s in a Name?”). This new name means “terror all around”. Pashur will not escape the trouble that is coming to Jerusalem but will be right in the middle of it. He will see his friends killed in the siege of the city. Some people would be carried away in exile to Babylon and more would be executed there. The wealth of Jerusalem would fall into the hands of the invaders from Babylon and Pashur and his family would also be taken captive. There Pashur and whatever friends he had left would die in exile. Jeremiah then adds insult to injury when he informs Pashur that Pashur is partly to blame because he has been a false prophet to his friends.
In verse 7 Jeremiah starts a prayer that seems to turn into a pity party with Jeremiah feeling sorry for himself. The prayer actually doesn’t start out very well with Jeremiah telling God that he feels like God tricked him. It is clear from the Bible that we need to be honest with God. According to Psalm 139 God knows our thought before we even think them, but God still want’s us to communicate them to him. The action of sharing our feelings with him tells him that we know he cares and that we think he can help us. Many of the psalms start out with feeling similar to what Jeremiah says in verse 7. Also Job, whom God himself tells us was right with him, spends a good deal of the book complaining about his situation.
Jeremiah tells God that he feels like God has defeated him, every one hates him and makes fun of him, and for what? Because he keeps telling them that God is going to deal harshly with them. In verse 8 he clearly tells God that he is in so much trouble with the people because he is passing on God’s words to them.
In the face of such strong opposition Jeremiah tries to give up; quit preaching to the people. But he can’t resist if he tries to keep God’s word to himself he feels as if he is going to burst into flames. In verse 10 he tells God that the people are not just laughing at him but that they are threatening him too. In verse 10 he tells us that the people are using the very same words that God renamed Pashur with and are applying the idea to Jeremiah. It’s like they are saying, “Your telling me I’m going to see trouble, you don’t even know what trouble is, but we will show you!” Even his friends are beginning to turn on him.
In verse 11 the prayer seems to take a good turn. Jeremiah realizes what side he is on, God is a fierce warrior and he is a winner, and Jeremiah is on his side. As a result the people threatening Jeremiah will fail. In verse 12 Jeremiah asks to see God deal with the people threatening him. He has told God how he feels now he wants to see some action. In verse 13 Jeremiah stops and praises God for protecting him from his enemies. So far this is very much like some of the psalms and like much of the book of Job. Unfortunately Jeremiah doesn’t stop here.
Jeremiah was protected by God but remember he also wanted to see a little pay back. Jeremiah already told Pashur that he and his friends were going down. There were three separate invasions by the Babylonian’s during the time of Jeremiah and none of them have probably happened at the time of this fight between Jeremiah and Pashur (Remember the language that Jeremiah used in the prediction is future language). IN spite of being protected by God, Jeremiah feels let down. In verses 14-18 his prayer falls apart as he curses the day he was born. He goes even further over the edge when he curses the guy who brought he news of his birth to his father. He asks that they guy be destroyed for not destroying him at birth. In verse 18 he demands to know why God allowed him to be born, was it just so he could be troubled and sad and made fun of?
Interestingly we are less than half way through the book and probably less than half way through Jeremiah’s adventure of being God’s messenger. Although Jeremiah’s attitude is way over the edge it is completely understandable; the guy had a sucky life. It’s interesting for that very fact, God keeps using Jeremiah. In tomorrow’s reading Jeremiah’s job as God’s messenger continues just like this complaint never happened. We don’t see any response from God, any threats to show Jeremiah real trouble, God just keeps letting Jeremiah be his representative. That is very cool, I could never deal with that kind of back talking the way God does. It is to Jeremiah’s credit that he keeps on serving God in spite of his complaints, but clearly God is the more impressive one here. I like it that God is so patient with us. I like it that God uses real people with real feelings. I like it that our weakness does not disqualify us as friends and servants of God. I like it that we can be honest with God; even brutally honest. Finally I like it that, in spite of what seem to be like suicidal thoughts, that Jeremiah stuck with God. God had a purpose for Jeremiah’s life, it wasn’t always pretty, but it was for a purpose. God has a purpose for each of our lives and we need to find that purpose and live it, even if it involves trouble. Ending our earthly existence is never the answer. If Jeremiah had died on the day he was born he still would have existed and continued to exist, but he would have missed so much opportunity to affect others for eternity. While in prison waiting for what could have been a death sentence Paul wrote to the church in Philippi telling them that he appreciated their prayers and that they should not be troubled by his imprisonment. Why? Because people around him were hearing about Jesus. Because of that fact he was not ashamed of his situation and was sure that people would be impressed with Jesus whether he was executed or not. He then told them that while alive his life was about Jesus but that if he died that that would be much better. Why? Because then his troubled life would be over and he would be with Jesus forever. He then told them that he was encourage by both ideas not knowing if life or death was better. He conclude though that life was better because it would give him more opportunities to serve them for God; be God’s messenger to them (Philippians 1:18-24). Paul’s situation was very similar to Jeremiah’s and his conclusion should be our too, we should want to live so we can serve others and when faced with death we should be encouraged that we have a place in heaven specially prepared for us9John 14:2-3).
God thank you for your love. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for making me. Thank you for giving my life purpose. Help me hang in there in the tough times. Let me never regret the gift of life you have given me. Thank you that I can be completely honest with you. Thank you for not zapping me when I am. Let my life show the world around me the reality of you and the way to have an eternity with you.