A DIFFICULT TIME FOR PROPHET JEREMIAH

PROPHET JEREMIAH’S PROPHESY

Prophet Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem during the final years of the nation of Judah, beginning in the middle of the reign of King Josiah (2 Kgs. 22:1-23:30). He saw the sin of the nation increasing, and he was appalled. Since he knew God controlled the affairs of the world and would not tolerate sin forever, Jeremiah predicted God’s judgment of his people through the destruction of Jerusalem and the seventy years of exile in Babylon. Such prophecies were obviously unpopular and brought him a tremendous amount of suffering. But Jeremiah also saw beyond the immediate situation, offering a message of hope by predicting a return to the Promised Land after the exile. Jeremiah has important message for us as well as for the nation of Judah (1). The root of sin lies deep within the human heart and that heart needs a radical transformation. (2). God is patient with our sinfulness, but we must be realistically enough to know that eventually His patience will end, resulting in a time of severe judgment. (3). We can escape God’s judgment only if we genuinely repent of our sins and turn to the Lord. (4). God’s last word however, is not one of judgment but one of mercy; in His faithfulness, He offers us a new covenant, a new agreement. No matter how difficult things may seem, we always have hope because of the coming of Jesus Christ. (5).God is in control of everything that happens, and He will work out things for our good. But as always brethren, God is faithful to deliver those who do his will and trust in Him. The psalmist said, “I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for you have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities” (Ps. 31:7).

THE PROPHETS CALL

Prophet Jeremiah was called to preach the Word of God at a very crucial time in the history of Israel. Anyone who has ever spoken out against the sins of his nation and its rulers in the name of the Lord knows that he is in for trouble. Neither the leaders nor the people may like to hear that God will sit in judgment of their nation. Patriotism is an honorable quality which we have been taught in church and school since childhood. However, for the Christian, the will of God always takes precedence over the national will when God’s law is being broken. God’s past blessing of a nation is not a license for disobedience. Jeremiah had to warn the Israel that the nation was about to be destroyed, to a great extent because of the oppression of the poor and needy. Such a message might also provoke persecution of prophets in our own day. In some countries, governments punish these massagers of God’s righteousness. Jeremiah is one of the many who have had to suffer for calling attention to the sins of his nation and predicting its destruction.

THE PROPHETS SUFFERING

And this is what happened to him from his accusers and oppressors, and then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words” (Jer. 18:18). Now Passhur the son of Immer, the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Passhur struck 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” (Jer. 20: 1-2).

THE PROPHESY AGAINST PASSHUR THE SON OF IMMER THE PRIEST

I wonder what kind of priest Passhur was who did not want anything to do with the prophesy of prophet Jeremiah and the destruction of Jerusalem. But I can liken him as; Jesus graphically describes hypocrites as “whitewashed tombs” (more about this brethren, please don’t hesitate to check my blog post on (Holy Hypocrites) “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  (Matt. 23:27).  “And it happened on the next day that Passhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has not called your name Passhur but Magor- Missabib, for thus says the Lord; ‘Behold I will make you a terror and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword. Moreover I will deliver all the wealth of this city, all its produce, and all its precious things; all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them, seize them, and carry them to Babylon. And you Passhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. You shall go to Babylon, and there you shall die, and be buried there, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies” (Jer. 20:3-6).

PROPHET JEREMIAH’S PRAYER AGAINST HIS ENEMIES

“Give heed to me, O Lord, and listen to the voice of those who content with me! Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You to speak well for them, to turn away Your wrath from them. Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; Let their wives become widows and bereaved of their children. Let their men be turned to death, their young men be slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when You bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hidden snares for my feet. Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel which is against me, to slay me. Provide no atonement for their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight; but let them be overthrown before You. Deal thus with them in the time of Your anger” (Jer. 18:19-23).

GOD’S ANSWER TO JEREMIAH’S PRAYER

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle. “Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents (they have also built the high places of Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it came into My mind), therefore behold the days are coming, “ says the Lord, “that this place shall no longer be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of  Slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. I will make this city desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.”’  “Even so I will break  this people and this city , as one breaks a potters vessel , which cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet till there is no place to burry. Thus I will do to this place says the Lord, and to its inhabitant, and make this city like Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and poured out drinks offerings to other gods”’”(Jer. 19:3-13).

COMFORT IN THE MIDST OF PERSECUTION

Jeremiah has been beaten and put in stocks by order of a priest, the chief officer of the temple. He cried out to God and said, O Lord You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.  “I am in derision daily; everyone mocks me.”  For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and plunder!” Because the word of God was made to me a reproach and a derision daily. Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him. Nor speak anymore in His name.”  But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. For I heard many mocking; “Fear on every side!” “Report,” they say, “and we will report it!” All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling saying, “perhaps he can be induced; then we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him” (Jer. 20:7-10). Yet he could say in the midst of all the pain and suffering that the Lord was with him and his persecutors would not prevail, “But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten” (Jer. 20:11). Anyone called by God to serve as a prophet should understand that he is going to suffer persecution. Even his friends may turn against him, and some of his worse enemies may be from within the family of God. They may join the attempt to discredit his message and destroy his ministry. In order to endure the pain and suffering, he needs to be aware of God’s presence, power and approval. Then he too, can say with Jeremiah, in the midst of his suffering, “The Lord is with me.”  Our faithful God will always preserve those who dedicate their lives to Him to serve Him genuinely. “When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, He permitted no one to do them wrong;  Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, and  do My prophets no harm” (Ps. 105:13-15). In spite of all the sufferings and persecutions, God’s prophets remain, “A touch Not!” And God’s assurance word to people through His servant Moses was, “He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed” (Deut. 31:8).

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57).

“Grace to you and Favor from our God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”