Jeremiah 20: Terror All Around

In Jeremiah 20, we see the personal tolls of ministry adding up for the prophet.

Chapter 19 ended with Jeremiah in the court of the temple, prophesying destruction against Jerusalem.  The religious establishment swiftly responds with punishment.  Pashhur, the chief temple officer, hears what Jeremiah is preaching, strikes him, and has him locked up in the stocks overnight.


When he is released, Jeremiah proclaims that Pashhur now has been given a new name by the Lord.  He will be called "Magor-Missabib" which means "terror all around."  The prophet foresees that Pashhur will see terror all around him as his friends are struck down, and he and his family are carted off in exile to Babylon.

Then Jeremiah gets personal with God in a prayer where he shares his feelings and vents his frustration.  I prefer the NIV's translation of verse 7: "O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed.  I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me."  We do not expect to hear such blunt, accusatory language of God in the Bible, but I find this sincerity refreshing.  This can be an accurate description (on some days) of how it feels to accept a call into ministry.  You go into it expecting to unleash the Spirit and change the world; however, you more frequently face rejection and wonder why God's plan is taking so long.

And yet, not preaching is not an option.  It isn't as if Jeremiah could just choose to not proclaim the words that God has given him and go do something else instead.  He knows.  He's tried.  "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" (vs. 9).  If you are called to preach, woe to you if you do not preach the gospel (I Corinthians 9:16).  God can compel people to serve Him, as He did with Moses and Jonah.  Jeremiah feels he has no choice but to prophesy.

And this prophesying has landed him in hot water.  "Terror all around" applies to Jeremiah just as much as to Pashhur.  "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'" (vs. 10).  So-called friends are really just watching for him to preach something controversial so that they can have him arrested.  The Weeping Prophet must feel really alone and rejected, in addition to being depressed about the content of his messages.

In the next few verses, however, we see that God remains his champion.  Jeremiah looks to God as a mighty warrior.  He commits his cause to the Lord and calls for a new song to be sung to God.  Being a prophet can be a costly calling, even leading to terror all around, but serving the Lord is worth it!