Nov. 5, 2012

Jeremiah 20
 Pashhur - libreration, son of Immer, chief officer in the house of the Lord, had Jeremiah beaten and put into stocks because of his prophecies.  Jeremiah  tells him something that Pashhur doesn't know, God has another name for you Pashhur, not liberation, but terror Magor-missabib - terror on every side.  Jeremiah 6:25 - terror on every side is coming from Babylon - in the field, on the road.... 20;10 - the whisper of many are blaming this on Jeremiah.  But God puts the blame on Pashhur - he will be a terror, he will see terror, he will experience terror personally.  He will watch as his friends are killed by the sword, he will be taken into captivity, he will never return from Babylon.   Why?  Because Pashhur spoke lies.  he falsely prophesied.  "Liberation" is taken captive because he refused to listen to the Word of God. 
Jeremiah has been beaten and stuck into stocks.   He is in pain and he has been mocked and laughed at.  He feels as if God has deceived him. To speak God's Words should be a blessing, a happy thing .  But instead, Jeremiah has been ridiculed, derided, and made to feel like everyone is against him, even the Lord.  Yet, God speaks to him and he can't stop speaking what God wants him to say.   His heart burns, he can't hold it in.  So it finally just bursts out.  " O Lord of hosts, thou who dost test the righteous, Who seest the mind and the heart; Let me see Thy vengeance on them. For to Thee I have set forth my cause. Sing to the LORD;  praise the LORD! For He  has delivered the soul of the needy one from the hand of the evildoers. "  Jeremiah goes on to rue the day he was born.  He wonders if life is worth the pain and anguish he is feeling.

What God does and allows in our lives doesn't always feel good to us.  We do feel deceived. We feel the anguish of unanswered prayer and the shame of being mocked and ridiculed by others.  Especially when that comes from someone in the "church".  But like Jeremiah, we must speak the Word of God and we must recognize that it is He Who sees our hearts and minds, who will deliver us, and Who deserves our songs and our praise. Trouble, sorrow, shame... the storms of life, are not what we necessarily want our lives to be full of.... but what God allows for His purposes.

Jeremiah 21-22
 King Zedekiah makes Pashhur come to Jeremiah and request a word from the Lord.  They are now looking into the face of Nebuchadnezzar and the terror is on every side.   Jeremiah speaks all that God has been pouring into him.  All the wrath that is going to be poured out on Judah because they refused to obey His Word.  Justice and righteousness and deliverance of the oppressed.   That was the king's job - and he failed miserably.

The way of life and death ( 21:8)  is clearly set out by God.  Fight it or surrender to it.
The way of life is surrender.  Do justice and righteousness, deliver the one who had been robbed by his oppressor,  don't mistreat foreigners, widows, or orphans,  don't shed innocent blood. Plead the cause of the afflicted and needy. "Is not this what it means to know Me? declares the LORD"
The way of death is stubbornly fighting the will of God, the inevitable, forsaking Him and bowing to other gods, intent on your own dishonest gain, shedding innocent blood, practicing oppression and extortion. Evil deeds will be punished accordingly. 
II Chron. 36 records the fulfillment of the words of Jeremiah. Down to the last word.