demotivational poster MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD

demotivational poster MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD

Biblical Exegesis:Jeremiah 20:7

Here is another post inspired by the insipid rhetoric attempting to validate atheism. Thank you, TheGodless. The point he tried to make was that God lies and is trustworthy and he tried to use Jeremiah 20:7 to prove his case. But what does this verse really say:

O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived;
       you overpowered me and prevailed.
       I am ridiculed all day long;
       everyone mocks me.

A lot of people may just look at this in context and agree that it says  God lies...if they have the reading comprehension level of a kindergartner.  However, when putting it in context we have Jeremiah complaining to God and telling us and God what his problem really is. Here is the verse in the context of verses 1 - 18:

¹ When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, ² he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD's temple. ³ The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD's name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.  ⁴ For this is what the LORD says: 'I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. ⁵ I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. ⁶ And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.' "

Look at the context of the passage. Jeremiah does what God wants him to do and pays a price. He is persecuted for telling the truth! He was beaten and put into stocks because the chief priest, Pashhur, someone who should have welcomed the message from God, did not like it and hoped that by punishing Jeremiah, Jeremiah would be forced to shut up.  As soon as Jeremiah is released God gave Pashhur a personal message of doom. I'm sure this made Passhur hate Jeremiah even more!

 ⁷ O LORD, you deceived  me, and I was deceived;
       you overpowered me and prevailed.
       I am ridiculed all day long;
       everyone mocks me.  ⁸ Whenever I speak, I cry out
       proclaiming violence and destruction.
       So the word of the LORD has brought me
       insult and reproach all day long.

Now we can  see why Jeremiah said what he said.in verse 7 and its a great lesson for each one of us especially now. We may be tempted to think that when we obey God everything will turn out the way we want and we will suffer less. Jeremiah is expressing the frustration in finding out that this assumption is merely that...an assumption and one that I have made many times in my own life and finding out that it is the wrong assumption.  If you examine the first 20 chapters of Jeremiah, you  will find that God never promised Jeremiah that he would not suffer. God does not promise anyone in the entire Bible that they will never experience suffering for serving him. This includes us today. The opposite is true. We are guaranteed to suffer persecution when we stand up for God,.

 ⁹ But if I say, "I will not mention him
       or speak any more in his name,"
       his word is in my heart like a fire,
       a fire shut up in my bones.
       I am weary of holding it in;
       indeed, I cannot.

Jeremiah reveals that he has tried to keep his mouth shut but he can't. He is compelled.

 ¹⁰ I hear many whispering,
       "Terror on every side!
       Report him! Let's report him!"
       All my friends
       are waiting for me to slip, saying,
       "Perhaps he will be deceived;
       then we will prevail over him
       and take our revenge on him."

Here we see that Jeremiah's enemies were many and  they plotted against him.

 ¹¹ But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior;
       so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
       They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
       their dishonor will never be forgotten.
 ¹² O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous
       and probe the heart and mind,
       let me see your vengeance upon them,
       for to you I have committed my cause.

Here is the good news...although we may suffer for doing right, God will fight for us and pay back those who come after us. Yes, Jeremiah suffered but he also saw the message he carried from God validated and brought to reality.

 ¹³ Sing to the LORD!
       Give praise to the LORD!
       He rescues the life of the needy
       from the hands of the wicked.
 ¹⁴ Cursed be the day I was born!
       May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
 ¹⁵ Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
       who made him very glad, saying,
       "A child is born to you—a son!"
 ¹⁶ May that man be like the towns
       the LORD overthrew without pity.
       May he hear wailing in the morning,
       a battle cry at noon.
 ¹⁷ For he did not kill me in the womb,
       with my mother as my grave,
       her womb enlarged forever.
 ¹⁸ Why did I ever come out of the womb
       to see trouble and sorrow
       and to end my days in shame?

In the rest of the chapter Jeremiah gives full vent to what he really feels. The man was hurting although he still realized that he had to trust God no matter what. Some Christians have taught that we can't question God or come to Him with our fears and complaints. However, I think we forget that this thing is not about a religion it's about having a relationship with God. Jeremiah freely told God what he thought and how he felt. We can and should do the same.