Scripture Text (NRSV)
Jeremiah 20:7-13
20:7 O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you
have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
20:8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, "Violence and
destruction!" For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all
day long.
20:9 If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," then
within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with
holding it in, and I cannot.
20:10 For I hear many whispering: "Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us
denounce him!" All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. "Perhaps he
can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him."
20:11 But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will
stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not
succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
20:12 O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me
see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
20:13 Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.
Comments:
Desperate times require deperate measures. More often than not God has to use inticements and set ups of sorts to get His would be prophets into the place where he can place His burden on them and use them to speak to a backward people.
Looking at Jeremiahs heart cry to God, we can be assured that when the Lord sets us up and puts us in an impossible situation with a burdening message of impending doom, we can know that inspite of the oppostion, the reproaches, the threats of death, and even brutal attacks, that God is with us, even being our dread warrior.
Once all the deals are done and the trials are past, it's the Lord who has the final say. He upholds those who stand for Him, giving an inheritence in the land and brings fierce retrobution to the wicked.
In these last days the Lord is raising up Jeremiahs, men, women and children, showing them the abominable deeds that men do in the secret chambers of their dark world, giving them a powerful message of rebuke and calling them to repentance and faith in Christ, with great signs and wonders.
Those of us who are part of the body who may not see or fully understand these burdens must not be so judgemental and critical, rather must uphold and pray for these oracles, because Lord knows they need it.
So praise the Lord you who carry these burning fires in your bones, be bold and speak the words of the Almighty, khowing that the Lord upholds you.
El Gallo in So cal
In my translaton of this passage, the word "terror" jumps out at me. I love Jeremiah's passionate involvement in God's will for him, that continues even though he is reviled. But I hate the terror words and the terror acts, by Jeremiah's enemies and by God in retribution. They are too close a parallel to today's international terror. If Jeremiah can talk back to God in his desperation, can we? bpa,N.Y.State
It seems to me that Jeremiah feels like he's stuck in a no win situation. On the one hand, if he's obedient and speaks God's word to the people, the people, including his friends, think he's an idiot and make fun of him. On the other hand, if he doesn't speak out in obedience he feels as if there's a fire in his bones. He's miserable in either case.
To speak or not to speak, that is the question. What is the answer? Look at verse 11. Jeremiah looks to God to take care of those that are treating him bad. It seems to me that he's come to peace with the fact that God will deal with those who ridicule him. They will get theirs. His concern is to be faithful to the One who is unwaveringly faithful to him.
eb in KY
"It seems to me that Jeremiah feels like he's stuck in a no win situation."
Do you suppose he was in parish ministry?
the word translated here as "enticed" is a misnomer. In the original texts, it is translated from the original word for "fooled" or "decieved" Indeed this is how it is translated in most biblical versions. This would indicated Lord Yahweh's role as the great deceiver - who Jesus had tried to warn the people about.
