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Pashhur Arrests Jeremiah
1Pashhur son of Immer was a priest and the chief of temple security. He heard what I had said, 2and so he hit me. Then he had me arrested and put in chains at the Benjamin Gate in the Lord's temple. 3The next day, when Pashhur let me go free, I told him that the Lord had said:
No longer will I call you Pashhur. Instead, I will call you Afraid-of-Everything. 4You will be afraid, and you will bring fear to your friends as well. You will see enemies kill them in battle. Then I will let the king of Babylonia take everyone in Judah prisoner, killing some and dragging the rest away to Babylonia. 5He will clean out the royal treasury and take everything else of value from Jerusalem.
6Pashhur, you are guilty of telling lies and claiming they were messages from me. That's why I will let the Babylonians take you, your family, and your friends as prisoners to Babylonia, where you will all die and be buried.
Jeremiah Complains
7You tricked me, Lord,
and I was really fooled.
You are stronger than I am,
and you have defeated me.
People never stop sneering
and insulting me.
8You have let me announce
only injustice and death.
Your message has brought me
nothing but insults
and trouble.
9Sometimes I tell myself
not to think about you, Lord,
or even mention your name.
But your message burns
in my heart and bones,
and I cannot keep silent.
10I heard the crowds whisper,
“Everyone is afraid.
Now's our chance
to accuse Jeremiah!”
All of my so-called friends
are just waiting
for me to make a mistake.
They say, “Maybe Jeremiah
can be tricked.
Then we can overpower him
and get even at last.”
11But you, Lord,
are a mighty soldier,
standing at my side.
Those troublemakers
will fall down and fail—
terribly embarrassed,
forever ashamed.
12Lord All-Powerful,
you test those who do right,
and you know every heart
and mind.
I have told you my complaints,
so let me watch you
take revenge on my enemies.
13I sing praises to you, Lord.
You rescue the oppressed
from the wicked.
14 Put a curse on the day I was born!
Don't bless that day.
15Put a curse on the man
who told my father, “Good news!
You have a son.”
16May that man be like the towns
you destroyed without pity.
Let him hear shouts of alarm
in the morning
and battle cries at noon.
17He deserves to die
for not killing me
before I was born.
Then my mother's body
would have been my grave.
18Why did I have to be born?
Was it just to suffer
and die in shame?
Reflect
When I entered my final year of studies for my Master of Divinity, I found it hard to keep on reading, researching and writing for those last classes. I was tired and had lost the love of learning that was there in my first year. I did however have something that Jeremiah did not have; I had a clear end in sight, a supportive family and encouraging professors.
Jeremiah had no clear end in sight – God was not judging the people as he had said he would. Preaching judgment when no judgment was evident appeared futile. His so-called friends were waiting for him to falter while his enemies looked for a way that they might trick him and overpower him. And then there were the sneers and insults. It was enough to make him consider quitting – it was simply too much.
Two things kept Jeremiah going: a “burning message” and a steadfast and mighty God. The former was so powerful a conviction that he simply could not keep silent. The second was an understanding that came through consistent and faithful reflection on the God who had revealed himself in times past to the people of Israel and to Jeremiah himself. It is because of this that Jeremiah can say: “I sing praises to you, Lord. You rescue the oppressed from the wicked” (Jeremiah 20:13).
Respond
Lord God, thank you for your continual presence with me. At times I am like Jeremiah and I want to give up, to cry out in self-pity and to shake my fist at my enemies. Help me to keep a good and right perspective about who you are. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Henry Friesen
Henry A. Friesen has lived in Saskatchewan, Canada all of his life. He and his wife Eleanor have three children and three grandchildren. Henry took his post-secondary education at the U of Regina from which he earned his BA (History) and the Canadian Theological Seminary from which he earned his MDiv (Pastoral Studies). He served as an Adult Ministries pastor for 16 years but has recently retired. Among his many interests are Biblical history, adult education and family history.