Jeremiah 20

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Dave Burnette's Commentary

Jeremiah Chapter 20

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Jeremiah

Date Penned: (627-586 BC)

Overview: To Urge God's People to Turn from Sin to God (c 1-52)

Theme: God's Judgement on Judah (c 1-45)

Message: Jeremiah is Put in Stocks (v 1-18)

Jeremiah 20 Commentary

(20:1) Jeremiah Preaches -This event took place during the reign of Jehoiakim of Judah. Jeremiah preached at the valley of the son of Hinnom, the center of idolatry in the city. He also preached in the temple, which should have been the center of true worship. Both sites attracted many people; both were places of false worship.

(20:1-3) A Coward - Pashur was the official in charge of maintaining order in the temple (see 29:26 for a description of this responsibility). He was also a priest and had pretended to be a prophet. After hearing Jeremiah's words, Pashur had him beaten and locked up instead of taking his message to heart and acting on it. The truth sometimes stings, but our reaction to the truth shows what we are made of. We can deny the charges and destroy evidence of our misdeeds, or we can take the truth humbly to heart and let it change us. Pashur may have thought he was being a strong leader, but he was really a coward.

(20:4-6) A Prophecy of Destruction - This prophecy of destruction came true in three waves of invasion by Babylon. The first wave happened within the year (605 BC). Pashur was probably exiled to Babylon during the second wave in 597 BC when Jehoiachin was taken captive. The third invasion occurred in 586 BC when the temple was destroyed.

(20:7-18) Fire in His Bones Jeremiah cried out in despair mixed with praise, unburdening his heart to God. He had faithfully proclaimed God's word and had received nothing in return but persecution and sorrow. Yet when he withheld God's word for a while, it became like a fire in his bones until he could hold it back no longer. When God's living message of forgiveness and love becomes like a fire in your bones, you also will feel compelled to share it with others, regardless of the results.

(20:14-18) Finding Hope - The self-loathing that Jeremiah expresses in these verses is surprising, since it's a stark contrast to the expressions of confidence found in the previous paragraph. In Jeremiah's honest moments of despair, however, we can find hope. If someone with such intimate awareness of God's presence struggled with insecurity, we ought not to be surprised by our own failures and weaknesses. Jeremiah doesn't give us an excuse, but he does give us an example. No matter how we may feel about ourselves at any moment, God remains unchanged, loving, and present in our lives. We are never beyond his help.

Dave Burnette's Life Application

Rejecting God's Word

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today, we continue in the Book of Jeremiah with chapter 20. In our text today, Jeremiah is put in stocks when he preaches the Word to Pashur, the Governor of Judah. Pashur chose to reject God's Word and remove the Preacher, and as a result, destruction came to Pashur. In making an application, we see that we can reject God's Word and reject God's messenger. Still, we will not escape the consequences of our actions. How about you? Do you reject God's Word? Let us learn from today's text, and the example of Pashur, who rejected God's Word and messenger to have the consequences of judgment come to Him.

Jeremiah 20

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Jeremiah 20

¹Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

²Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

³And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.

⁴For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

⁵Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

⁶And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

⁷O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

⁸For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

⁹Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

¹⁰For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

¹¹But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

¹²But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

¹³Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

¹⁶And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

¹⁷Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

¹⁸Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

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