Saturday - Jeremiah 20 - The Smiting of the Prophet

J

EREMIAH had said enough. He had stepped on too many toes, condemned too many movers and shakers and annoyed more than his quota of consciences. So, who finally stood up against him with violence and vitriol? The chief governor in the house of Jehovah (who was also the son of a chief priest). Who else would want to silence the mouthpiece of God (all suspected cynicism intended)! He smote Jeremiah and locked him up (vs. 2). He only detained the prophet overnight, but it was one night too many. Not that Jeremiah was so much worse for the wear, although I believe he was indeed, but this governor (named Pashur) earned for himself a very dim future that night (vs. 3-4). Pashur was a prophet as well; a false prophet (vs. 20:6). Smiting the true prophet of God was the smaller of Pashur's crimes. Misrepresenting Jehovah's heart was His gravest infraction.

Now, talk about being smitten: in Jeremiah 20:7-18 we get to see into Jeremiah's heart a little bit. What we find there is that he was a man in a great deal of emotional pain.  What man of God begins a prayer to the Almighty by calling Him a deceiver? But, Jeremiah did just that (vs. 7).  Not that he really considered God to be a liar, he only meant that when he had surrendered to the prophet's call, he had possessed absolutely no idea of how difficult it really would be to fulfill it. He even tried to escape from his spiritual burden; to quit preaching altogether (vs. 9).  But even in this, he found misery and difficulty (vs. 9). He truly felt damned either way. He yet struggled with accepting his own plight.