Jeremiah 20
McGeeCHAPTERS 2022THEME: Jeremiah’s persecution and prophecies during Zedekiah’s reignWhen Jeremiah went down to Tophet and broke the bottle as the Lord had told him to do, the message he gave to the people of Judah was that they were going into captivity. Josiah, the great and good king, is dead, and he has been followed by Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, is now on the throne. He is the worst and the weakest of all the kings who ever ruled Judah. It is during his reign that the Babylonian captivity prophesied by Jeremiah will take place. We will now see a change take place in the life and ministry of Jeremiah. When he gives out the Word of God, he’s adamant, he’s strong, and he’s hard-nosed, but personally, as a man, he has a very tender heart. When his beloved friend Josiah died, Chronicles records that Jeremiah wept for him. The three evil kings who followed Josiah reject the ministry of Jeremiah in a very definite way. He is given a cold shoulder, and his message is absolutely ignored, but he has not been persecuted personally. As we come to chapter 20, we will find Jeremiah being personally and physically persecuted for the first time.
Jeremiah 20:1
Notice with whom the persecution originates: it began in organized religion. Today the Word of God is being hurt and hindered the most by the organized, liberal church which has rejected the Word of God. They will align themselves with some very shady characters boasting of their brotherhood, their love for everyone, and their broad-mindedness. But when it comes to accepting a fundamentalist, someone who stands for the Word of God, I have found that their broad-mindedness and love disappears. There is more opposition to the furtherance of the gospel originating in the organized church than there is in the liquor industry or in any political group that I know of today. This physical persecution of Jeremiah began in the organized religion of his day.
Jeremiah 20:3
“Magor-missabib"that’s quite a name, and it means “terror on every side.” Jeremiah is telling Pashur that there is terror in store for him and for everyone connected with him.
Jeremiah 20:4
This is now the prophecy that Jeremiah will emphasize again and again: the southern kingdom is going into captivity, and nothing can stop it. God has said that it would not help if even Moses or Samuel were alive. It is too late. The people have gone too far in their rejection of God as has been revealed by the actions of the present king and the two who have been on the throne ahead of him. We need to consider what has happened to Jeremiah. He has been ignored and rejected, but up to this point he has not been persecuted physically. But now he is, and because of all thisremember that his message is breaking his own hearthe decides he will turn in his resignation to God. Your heart cannot help but go out to this man. He is not indifferent to what is happening. He feels all this very deeply, and it is sapping his strength. I think he may even have been on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Jeremiah 20:9
What Jeremiah is saying is this: “The message is breaking my heart, and all it has earned for me is the persecution of the religious rulers and the rejection of the people; therefore I’m resigning.” But when he attempted to resign he found that the Word of God was in his bones like a fire. He says, “I had to speak out. I couldn’t forbear.” Such urgency to speak should be the mark of any man who is giving out the Word of God. How do you really feel about it? Is your ministry just a job you have, or is your heart really in it? If you love the Word of God and you really want to give it out, then you would feel pretty bad if you didn’t have that privilege and opportunity. Unless it really means something to you, I don’t believe you should be attempting to give out the Word of God. You can understand the conflict that is going on in the heart of Jeremiah, and he indulges in something that seems to have been a habit with God’s men in the Old Testament. He does something that Jonah did, that Job did, and Elijah did. He begins to sing an old song that won’t do him any good. It’s the blues, the religious blues: “Why was I born?” A lot of folk sing that song. Listen to Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 20:14
Oh boy, does Jeremiah hate himself and wish he had never been born!
Jeremiah 20:18
Behold, it’s the old story: Why was I born? Elijah crawled up under a juniper tree and said, “Let me die!” (see 1Ki_19:4). Job wanted to die and cursed the day he was born. Old Jonah got pretty downhearted about everything, and he also wanted to die. Well, to wish that you had not been born is about as foolish as anything you could wish. My friend, you have already been born, and there is nothing you can do about it. You can sing the blues that you want to die, but you will never die by wishing itno one ever has. Jeremiah is way down, is he not? You wish that you could put your arm around him, pat him on the back, and encourage him somehow. He is so discouraged; yet he wants to give out the Word of God. Chapters 21 through 29 contain the prophecies delivered during the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. This will bring us right down to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity. There is not a harsher message than the one Jeremiah gives here in chapters 21 and 22.