Defense, Praise and Woe

Today's reading came from Jeremiah 20-22. In this passage we find that Pashtur has had Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks. Jeremiah was in the stocks overnight. Pashtur was a priest "the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD". So his dad was not unimportant. My guess this is why he thought he could get away with treating a prophet of God so poorly.

He found out differently.

When Jeremiah was released he told Pashtur the following:

"The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror On Every Side. 4For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely."

Can you imagine? Here you are, a priest in the temple. You are supposed to be there to serve God and to help his people hear God's word and to know how to best follow him. This guy comes along, who you know is a prophet and you don't like what he has to say (from God) so you administer what you think is suitable punishment. And then you find out the next day that oops... you made a HUGE mistake. Pashtur really should have known better. The Old Testament is riddled with the punishments that happen to people who mistreat God's spokesmen. It makes me think that events had gone so downhill in Judah and Israel that he thought he could get away with such ill-treatment of Jeremiah. Otherwise...why bother?

In the next few verses, Jeremiah not only bemoans his fate, he also sees the hand of God on his life. I find it interesting how Jeremiah thinks that God has deceived him, and yet at the same time, sees God's hand at work in his life. He's at the point where he doesn't want to tell the people what God is saying, but if he tries to keep quiet... it's the like message just burns a hole through him, he CAN NOT keep silent. He MUST preach the word of God.

7O LORD, you have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
you are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, "Violence and destruction!"
For the word of the LORD has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
9If I say, "I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,"
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.

Even Jeremiah's friends are wanting to denounce him. Everyone is tired of the message that Jeremiah is proclaiming. The message that God is coming and will punish them. That the Babylonians are coming and many will die and/or be sent into captivity.

10For I hear many whispering.
Terror is on every side!
"Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"
say all my close friends,
watching for my fall.
"Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we can overcome him
and take our revenge on him."

But still the Lord is with Jeremiah. He watches over and protects him. Those who want to attack Jeremiah cannot.

11But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.

Jeremiah ends this lament with praise to God. For God is the deliverer of the needy.

13Sing to the LORD;
praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.

We know that Jeremiah still struggles with the task that God has laid on him for he cries out to God.

14Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
"A son is born to you,"
making him very glad.
16Let that man be like the cities
that the LORD overthrew without pity;
let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18Why did I come out from the womb
to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?

Hmm... makes me think of those days when it's like GOD! Why did you order my life this way? I'm tired of it. I want to do something else. Why did you have to make me? yes, I will admit... I have days like that. Days when I'm just tired and fed up and feel like nothing is okay with what I do so why did God put me here to do them. I don't know... does anyone else have days like that?

Duh..obviously. Jeremiah did. And if he did, I know that others did and do. And I know that nothing I struggle with is unique or different. Everyone living struggles with things that are common to others. It's part of being sinful, fallen people.

And yet, at the end of it all, I can cry out in Praise to God because I do know that he knows best. And I do know that he cares for me and watches out for me. I know this. I feel it within. :) God is good, even though sometimes the tasks he lays for us challenge us deeply. Praise him anyways eh? :)