I can’t help but feel sorry for Jeremiah. At a young age, God handed him the toughest assignment there is, that of delivering His message to a people who no longer even acknowledges their sin much less see their need to repent before God. In response, they tried to undermine and silence him because all that ever came out of his mouth was about how sinful and rebellious they were and how they would face God’s divine judgement if they continued to ignore God’s warnings. Despite the opposition and persecution he faced, Jeremiah remained faithful to God’s calling.
At the start of Jeremiah 20, things get worse for Jeremiah. Pashur, a priest with considerable influence and power who represents the religious establishment, decides to go one step further. He orders Jeremiah beaten and placed in the stocks, most likely in a very public place, for being a false prophet.
Jeremiah’s trust in God, which has already been stretched and tested, reaches breaking point. The humiliation of being beaten by a fellow priest (Jeremiah too is from a priestly family) and being publicly placed in the stocks was just too much for Jeremiah.
In obedience to God, he had been unwavering in delivering an unpopular message, contrary to what people wanted to hear, who were stiff-necked. You can imagine his disillusionment with God. “Lord, where is your promise to protect me?” In Jeremiah’s final, most bitter and painful personal prayer, he accuses God of tricking (20:7) and bullying him into serving Him. He complains about how he has been an object of continuous scorn and ridicule, contempt and derision, all because he faithfully preached God’s word!
It would have been much easier if he kept his mouth shut but that’s no solution either because God’s word ‘is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; I indeed, I cannot’ (20:9). He is in a no-win situation! He feels in a way trapped by God but he pledges to go on, praising God as an infallible judge and his ability to save him (20:13). Just when you think Jeremiah has turned the corner, we find him back in sorrow, wishing he is never born! It is not his existence that is the source of his despair but his vocation. What honesty!
And again, more shocking than his ‘inappropriate prayer’, just like in chapter 18, is the fact God doesn’t tell him off! His prayer is preserved for us to read as part of God’s Holy Scriptures! Perhaps, it’s because it has something important to teach us about what the prayer of faith looks like.
Robin Payne writes, “We would rather avoid pain. We like to have happy endings, with neat resolutions. However, human life is not always like that. The Scriptures speak of our humanity with absolute honesty. They allow no denial or pretences about how costly commitment to the LORD might be. There is no under-rating of our human experience with God. Issues of faith are not necessarily resolved once and for all. Facing fully the pain of difficult experiences and crying out to God in them does not negate faith. It is not the opposite of trusting God”.
Christ in us the hope of glory!
Mark
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