Here is a teaching of chapter 20 of the book of Jeremiah. If you want to check out Bible studies of the previous chapters, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the previous chapters. So if you haven't studied them already, you can print out the study guides that are available for you.
Jeremiah Chapter 20
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 the 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.'"
Okay, So I'm just going to stop here for a minute because I just want to talk about a couple of things. So when he says here that the Lord's name for him is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib: that actually means "terror on every side". So he says, "I will make you a terror to yourself and all your friends and with your own eyes, you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies". So, because Pashhur, had the prophet Jeremiah beaten and took him to the stocks at the Upper Gate, and he's been prophesizing all of these lies to these people; the Lord told Jeremiah to say these things to him. He and his family are going to be exiled to Babylon and be buried and die there.
7 O Lord, you deceived (persuaded) me, and I was deceived (persuaded); 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. 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. 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."
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.
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 my 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?
So in these verses here, Jeremiah is complaining because he's being mocked, ridiculed and everyone is going against him, and he is just speaking about all of this disaster and destruction that the Lord is telling him. He's just so frustrated because he's like, "Why am I doing this? Why am I speaking all of these things? It burns like a fire inside of me. I just have to speak whatever the Lord wants me to speak, and it's all about destruction and it's causing me to be mocked and ridiculed and everybody's going against me."
Then Jeremiah says, "but the Lord is with me, like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail and that they will fail and be disgraced." And he says "O Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for I committed my cause to you." So even though Jeremiah is being mocked and ridiculed, and he does not like the fact that he has to speak these words of destruction and disaster upon these people, and he is really battling with this; he still knows that the Lord is with him. He still has hope in the Lord that these people will not overcome him and that the Lord is going to put his vengeance on these people.
Then he's giving praise to the Lord that rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked. Then in the verses after that, you see the grief and depression where he's cursing the day that he was even born and he's wishing that he never came out of his mother's womb to see trouble and sorrow and end his days in shame.
I don't know about you guys, but this complaint that Jeremiah has, all of these verses, speak to me so much because there have been a lot of times where I kind of went through that whirlwind of emotions; feeling like an outcast because I'm speaking the gospel, I'm spreading the gospel to other people and I'm letting them know the truth about God's word and no one is understanding, and they don't really trust in what I'm saying. I have felt this, I mean, not as much as Jeremiah, but these whirlwinds of emotions of knowing that I need to speak the truth of God's word and I need to say the things that the Lord is telling me to say and do what's commanded of me, but there are also times where I'm battling with it. Then, on the other hand, I praise the Lord and I know that I have hope in him and that he's right here with me and he has my best interest at heart. Then I can get depressed and be like, why am I even doing this? I totally get all of this.
Jeremiah Chapter 20 Study Guide
What did Pashhur do when he heard Jeremiah prophesying these things?
What did Jeremiah say was the Lord’s name for Pashhur?
What does that name mean?
In verses 7-17, why is Jeremiah complaining?
Can you relate to the Prophet Jeremiah based on this complaint and everything else that we’ve read so far?
Why or why not?
Whenever I first started studying and teaching you guys about the book of Jeremiah, I had a lot of doubts and I was really battling and talking to the Lord and just asking him "Why Lord, why Jeremiah? I will read, study, and teach any other book of the Bible, please Lord just don't make me read, study, and teach Jeremiah." Because at the time, the pandemic had just started with the coronavirus and there was so much chaos already going on in the world and I didn't want to be that person to talk about how we have to humble ourselves, repent, ask for forgiveness, and truly change our ways. I just wanted to be one of those people saying "peace, peace," but I realized like that's false prophets saying "peace" when there's not any peace.
Now that I've been reading and studying Jeremiah with you guys, and helping you guys understand these chapters while I'm understanding them myself; the book of Jeremiah was exactly what I needed and exactly what this world needs right now. I see so many similarities between myself and Jeremiah; just with my walk with the Lord. I want to tell everyone about the Lord and the truth about God's word, but it's not always going to be sunshine, rainbows, happiness, and all about God's love, mercy, graciousness, righteousness and all of this stuff. Sometimes it's going to be talking about disaster and destruction and how we have to change our ways and we have to repent or the world's just going to get worse. So I can relate to Jeremiah on so many levels. Throughout these chapters, I just see so many similarities in the way that I am and the way Jeremiah is.
I totally get it now; why I'm reading the book of Jeremiah and why I'm teaching you guys the book of Jeremiah. Every day, I'm seeing more and more truth about God's word and why this book is so important to get out to the world. Even though it's uncomfortable to talk about, and even though in our times of need and through the chaos, people don't really want to hear about disaster and destruction that was put on the people of Judah and Jerusalem and Israel, especially because in the world today we're being wicked and we have false idols and false gods. It might not be the Ashera poles and Baal, but we have other false idols and false gods in this world. There are definitely similarities between the world now and the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
So I know I kinda went on a little bit of a spiel. I was just talking about the verses from the complaints of Jeremiah, but all of that needed to be said. So I hope that through this, through these chapters that we've been reading so far, that your eyes and your heart are being open to the truth of God's word. I hope that you're learning new things about the Bible and also things about yourself and that you are really digging deep, figuring out how you can change, and helping other people learn about God and the truth about God's word.
It's so important for all of us to be able to acknowledge our guilt, know our faults and where we're wrong, and be able to repent, to have that relationship with God, really ask for forgiveness, change our ways, obey him and follow him. Even when it's uncomfortable and when we really don't want to do it, and we're like, "Lord, please just give us another way, give us another sign," even though he's clearly telling us, this is what I want you to do, I pray that we just have that strength and that courage to be able to just follow him and do what's commanded of us.
I love you guys so much.
I pray that you step into the calling that God has placed on your heart. I pray that you don't let fear get in the way or the opinions of other people or the fear that people are going to mock you or people are not going to be able to understand you, or you're going to lose friends or any of that. I pray that you just let all of that go and just follow the Lord, trust in him, and know that he has your best interest at heart. And that the most important thing is at the end of this, everyone you know and love is going to be going to heaven and seeing God's glory. I pray that you have courage and strength, and even when you don't, you just lean on the Lord and he will give you that courage and strength to be able to fulfill the purpose he has for you. In Jesus's name, Amen.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Holy Bible. New International Version (NIV)
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