I Remain Steadfast To Only Listen to God
Scripture Passage: Jeremiah 20:1-6 (NASB)
1 When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief overseer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord. 3 Then on the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the Lord has called you, but rather Magor-missabib. 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to make you a horror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will take them away as exiles to Babylon and will kill them with the sword. 5 I will also give all the wealth of this city, all its produce and all its valuable things—even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’”
SUMMARY
When Pashhur the priest hears Jeremiah prophesy that Israel’s own corruption and sin will cause its destruction at the hands of its enemies, Pashhur has Jeremiah beaten and put into the stocks (displayed as a captive in public humiliating fashion) at the upper Benjamin Gate. When Jeremiah is released the next day, he tells Pashhur that the Lord will call Pashhur “Magor-missabib,” meaning “horror on every side,” because God will make Pashhur to horror to all and force Passhur to watch while his friends are slaughtered and taken into exile by Babylon. Jeremiah tells Passhur that all of Israel, including Passhur and all who live with him, will go into captivity in Babylon and will die there.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
Jeremiah and the strength of his message is completely unaffected by Passhur’s attempt to silence him. Jeremiah doesn’t care that Passhur has humiliated him or had him beaten. His message is unchanged. But Jeremiah also does not seek Passhur out or target him for vengeance. Even though Jeremiah is brutally and unjustly treated, Jeremiah doesn’t speak his words to Passhur the next day out of a desire to get even. Jeremiah simply speaks God’s word and speaks the truth – that Passhur and all of Israel will be put to the sword and dragged off into captivity by Babylon because of their sin.
Jeremiah can be this steadfast because he has absolute confidence in God’s power, judgment, and righteousness. Jeremiah knows that, no matter what is happening to him, God will exact His vengeance in His time. All Jeremiah needs to do is be continuously faithful to God. For the same reason, Jeremiah is unaffected by public humiliation or Passhur’s attempts to make a spectacle or fool out of him. Jeremiah isn’t prophesying for the Israelites. He is prophesying because God has commanded him to.
APPLICATION
So much of the book of Jeremiah has been heavy, weighing me down with its reminders of my own sinfulness. But this passage is very inspiring to me. Jeremiah is such a model of faith. We need Jeremiahs now more than ever. Our world seems to be spinning off in an uncertain direction. It seems like so many are living their lives however they want, giving full voice to their basest selfishness, anger, even violence. The news is filled with conflicts and horrible tragedies. Maybe being inside because of COVID for 18 months has made us all crazy. But depression, conflict, even rage is everywhere. I know it’s in my own family. I see it in our community, our government, even amongst Christians.
In these times it’s so easy to be shaken. It’s tempting for me to wonder, what is the right direction? But Jeremiah reminds me not to worry about others. He reminds me that I only need to listen to God and follow His direction as best I can. I cannot control the world. I can only do the best I can to listen to Him and model His love and kindness and His truth to my family, my co-workers.
That is comforting to me. God doesn’t ask me to fix the world, or even my own family. I’m not capable of it anyway. He just asks me to listen to Him.
PRAYER
Lord, You tell me to keep it simple. You tell me not to be distracted by the conflicting messages of the world. So many in the world want to tell me what Your Word means. So many in the world tell me that You stand for this position or that position. But You remind me that only You are God, not anyone else. Help me to come back to You. Help me to draw strength and knowledge from You, not from anywhere else. Only then can I truly give Your strength and love to others. Thank you Lord for being the constant Father we can always depend on, even when everything else seems uncertain.
In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
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