The temple officer has Jeremiah beaten
20
📚Now Pashur the son of Immer, the priest, who was also the chief official in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 2 📚Then Pashur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten, and put him in the stocks that were at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.20:1-2 The first of Jeremiah’s enemies whose name is given. He was a false prophet (v 6). He was second to the high priest in authority. His job was to keep order in the temple and to expel or punish troublemakers. He evidently considered Jeremiah one such (see Jer 38:4 and 1 Kings 18:16-17). The truth is troubling to those who do not want it, and those who proclaim it are often regarded as troublemakers (Luke 23:4-5; Acts 16:19-24; 17:5-7; 21:28; 24:5).⚜
3 📚And it came about the next day that Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD has not called your name Pashur, but Magor-Missabib. 4 📚For thus says the LORD: ‘See, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. And I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive into Babylon, and will kill them with the sword. 5 📚Moreover, I will deliver up all the wealth of this city, and all its products, and all its costly things; and all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hands of their enemies, who will plunder them, and capture them and carry them to Babylon. 6 📚And you, Pashur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity. And you will come to Babylon, and there you will die and there be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies.’ ”
20:3-6 Unjust punishment did not keep God’s prophets from speaking (v 9; Acts 4:3, 18-20; 7:52; Heb 11:32-38). Magor-Missabib means “terror on every side”.⚜
Jeremiah’s complaint
7 📚O LORD, you persuaded me,
and I was persuaded.
You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.
I am ridiculed daily, everyone mocks me.
8 📚For when I speak, I cry out,
proclaiming violence and plunder,
because the word of the LORD has resulted
in reproach and ridicule to me, daily.
9 📚Then I said, “I will not make mention
of him, or speak any more in his name”.
But his word was in my heart
like a burning fire shut up in my bones,
and I was weary of holding it in,
and I was not able to do so.
20:9 Sometimes speaking for God seemed to him too much to bear. He was tempted to give up such ministry. It brought him nothing but sorrow. But God had put in his heart a fire, an inner compulsion that would not let him escape. Compare Acts 4:20; 1 Cor 9:16; 2 Cor 5:14; 2 Pet 1:21. God’s compulsion, God’s fire in the heart make His spokesmen willing to face any insult, any persecution, any danger. They must ease themselves of the Word of God forcing its way out of their hearts.⚜
10 📚For I heard the whispering of many:
“Fear on every side!” “Report”,
they said, “and we will report it”.
All my acquaintances watched for
my stumbling, saying,
“Perhaps he will be enticed,
and we will prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him”.
20:10 His enemies were mocking him for the name he gave Pashhur (v 3). His friends were friends in name only, for he had offended them with his message of God’s judgment. Compare Gal 4:16. Betrayal by friends is harder to bear than oppression by enemies.⚜
11 📚But the LORD is with me 📖
like a mighty, awe-inspiring one;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and will not prevail.
They will be greatly ashamed,
for they will not prosper.
Their everlasting disgrace
will never be forgotten.
12 📚But, O LORD of hosts 📖, who tests the righteous,
and sees the inner being
and the heart,
let me see your vengeance
on them,
for to you I have presented my cause.
13 📚Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the soul of the poor
from the hands of evildoers.
20:13 The weeping prophet does not experience much joy in his own heart, but knows God’s deliverance and knows, too, that God should be praised for it.⚜
14 📚Cursed be the day on
which I was born.
Do not let the day on which my mother
gave me birth be blessed.
15 📚Cursed be the man who
brought news to my father,
saying, “A male child is born to you”,
making him very glad.
16 📚And let that man be like the cities
which the LORD overthrew,
without relenting;
and let him hear the cry in the morning,
and the shouting at noon,
17 📚Because he did not kill me
from the womb that my mother might
have been my grave,
and her womb have been always
enlarged with me.
18 📚Why did I come out of the womb
to see labour and sorrow,
that my days should be consumed
with shame?
20:7-18 Jeremiah’s prayer and complaint. God’s spokesmen may be bold as lions when speaking to the people, but know their own fears, weakness, and depression when in secret with God. Jeremiah lays bare his soul before the Lord. He did not try to hide anything. Compare Job 10:1-2; Ps 62:8. He did not want to be a prophet (Jer 1:6). God compelled him, and Jeremiah is not happy with the result. “Persuaded” (v 7) – the KJV has “deceived” here. The Hebrew word means both things, but surely we should not translate this “deceived” when there is an alternative which is also accurate. Can we really think that Jeremiah accused God of deceiving him? He probably meant “I was a simple young man and so you were able to persuade me or entice me to be a prophet”.⚜
20:14-18 Jeremiah gives in to feelings of pain, sorrow, and despair as Job once did (Job 3; Eccl 4:1-3). But he does not abandon his faith in God or his responsibility as a prophet. It is a great thing to go on trusting and serving God even when one’s thoughts bring torture like this.⚜