Jeremiah 20:7
These next verses in the book of
Jeremiah reveals to us one of the reactions that Jeremiah had to the
persecutions that he was suffering for speaking forth the Word of God. The Bible
says in Jeremiah 20:7-10, “O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was
deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily,
every one mocketh me. For since I spake,
I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made
a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. Then I said,
I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word
was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with
forbearing, and I could not stay. For I heard the defaming of
many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All
my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed,
and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.”
The problem that Jeremiah was experiencing is stated very clearly in the last
phrase of verse 7. He said, “every one mocketh me.” Jeremiah was feeling the sting of the persecutions. Notice also that in this passage Jeremiah used the words “derision,” “reproach,”
and “defaming” to describe how he was being
treated by the people around him.
Some people make the mistake of
thinking that there will always be great success as a result of serving the
Lord and doing things His way. There can be great success, but there will not
always be. Some people are called to suffer for his sake. As a matter of fact
it says in Second Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all
that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
We see that Jeremiah had become depressed or discouraged. He was even blaming
God. Jeremiah said to God in verse 7, “O
LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived.”
Perhaps Jeremiah thought that at least some people would welcome his message,
and that some people would be helped by the truth, and that some would thank
him for delivering God’s Word. But it did not happen that way. What happened to
Jeremiah is that he became too self-centered, thinking about himself instead of
the Lord. Jeremiah used the word “I” or “me” more than twelve times in these verses.
Jeremiah tried to stop speaking the Word of God.
Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 20:9, “I will not make
mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” But Jeremiah could not
stop. He had the truth in him, and the Spirit of God in him. He could not stop.
Jeremiah also said in verse 9, “But his word was in
mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with
forbearing, and I could not stay.” Someone who believes in the Lord will
speak about the Lord. Someone who knows the Lord Jesus as his or her own
personal Savior will speak about the Lord in a personal way. If someone talks
about church, or talks about religion, or talks about the Bible, but never
talks about the Lord in a personal way; there will be some question as to if
such a person has ever been born-again.
The point is that someone who knows the Lord will
speak about the Lord. It will happen almost automatically. It has to do with
the spiritual principle that Jesus gave in John 4:14. Jesus said, “But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The key phrase in regards to this principle is made of the words “springing up.” That which springs up cannot be
kept down. It says in Psalms 107:2, “Let the
redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”
Notice what the enemy was trying to do to Jeremiah. It says in Jeremiah 20:10,
“All my familiars watched for my halting, saying,
Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall
take our revenge on him.” They were trying to get him to shut up
basically. Jeremiah was giving out the Word of God, and these people did not
want to hear the Word. To these people, what Jeremiah was saying was the
problem. If only he would stop speaking. This situation will be repeated for
everyone who is called to speak God’s Word. The way to overcome all of the
opposition and failures of man around you: just keep preaching the Word. That
is why Paul wrote to Timothy in Second Timothy 4:2, “Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine.”
The Bible says in Jeremiah 20:11, “But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one:
therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall
be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion
shall never be forgotten.” This verse paints a picture of life as being
a great conflict. We have not been called by Jesus to a bed of roses, but to a
war: a spiritual war. One important part of that war is love verses hate. It is
the war of good against evil and of faith against unbelief. It says in Ephesians
6:10-12, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour
of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The Bible says in Jeremiah 20:12-13, “But, O LORD of hosts, that triest
the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let
me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause. Sing unto
the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered
the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.” These few verses of
scripture show us the attitude of those who are close to the Lord, and who are
thinking the right thoughts. In verse 12 Jeremiah is expressing his confidence
that the Lord is the Judge of the whole earth, and that He will take care of
His children. With such confidence in his heart and on his mind, we are not
surprised that Jeremiah says in verse 13 to “sing
unto the Lord” and “praise ye the Lord.” No one on this earth can be happier
than the believer who trusts in the Lord Jesus, knowing that Jesus loves him,
that Jesus is with him, and that Jesus will protect him through all the dangers
of life and from any enemy.
Seeing that Jeremiah had such a positive attitude
of faith and was so happy in the Lord, we might be surprised to see what
Jeremiah says in the next several verses. Basically, what Jeremiah is saying in
these next verses is that he wishes that he had never been born. This is a good
lesson for us to remember. We might be close to the Lord one day, thinking the
thoughts of faith that we ought to be thinking, but it is very easy to take our
minds off the Lord, and start thinking without the principles of faith: looking
at our troubles instead of looking at the Lord.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 20:14-18, “Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day
wherein my mother bare me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to
my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee;
making him very glad. And let that man be as the cities which the LORD
overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the
shouting at noontide; Because he slew me not from the
womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always
great with me. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb
to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be
consumed with shame?” Do you want to be a happy person or a miserable
person? Look to the Lord Jesus to find joy. The Bible says in Psalms 35:9, “And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice
in his salvation.” It also says in Psalms 100:1-5, “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve
the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the
LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his
people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For
the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth
to all generations.”
The Bible says in Jeremiah 21:1-7, “The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when
king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah
the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh
war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his
wondrous works, that he may go up from us. Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus
shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands,
wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans,
which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of
this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and
with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will
smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a
great pestilence. And afterward, saith the LORD, I
will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such
as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the
famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that
seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall
not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.”
What we are seeing in the above passage in
Jeremiah chapter twenty-one is that just as the Lord had warned, the
Babylonians had come against
The people of Jerusalem were smart enough
to know that God decides such things as who is the victor of a war, but they
were not smart enough to know what they really should have prayed about, or
perhaps we should say that they were not willing to pray what they should have
prayed about. They needed to confess their sins. The most important prayer of
all is the prayer of the confession of sins because our greatest problem is the
sin problem. We are not rightly related to God until we repent and ask for
forgiveness. That is why Jesus said in Luke 13:3, “I tell you, Nay:
but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” This truth is one of the last things
that Jesus said to His disciples after He rose from the dead and before He
ascended to heaven. It is vitally important. It is much more important than
anything that happens in regards to the affairs of nations and their actions of
war or peace toward each other. Nothing is more important than the destiny of
your soul. Jesus said in Luke 24:46-47, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third
day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name
among all nations, beginning at
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Copyright; 2012 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved