Jump Start # 1468

Jeremiah 20:1-2 When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord.”

Our passage today, taken from some of the dark pages of the Bible, shows the wonderful prophet Jeremiah being arrested, beaten and imprisoned. This would not be the only abuse that Jeremiah endured. He would be closed up in a cistern. There are two powerful lessons for us to see here.

First, God often allowed the abuse of His messengers. God protected the message, but allowed the messenger to suffer. This is hard for many to understand. We can have a idealistic view that since I am a Christian, God won’t allow anything bad to happen to me. “Happily ever after,” is how the fairy tales end, not the reality of the Bible. Remember those dreadful words in Hebrews 11 that tells us that God’s people were scourged, stoned, chained, sawn in two, destitute, ill-treated and afflicted. We remember that the prophet John was beheaded. This was long before Isis started doing that. James was killed with the sword. Stephen was stoned. Paul was beaten with rods. Where was God? Why did God allow this? Why didn’t God stop this? These thoughts trouble us. It is enough for some to quit. They expect God to put an umbrella of protection around His people. The atheistic community cannot deal with the suffering of innocents and too often, Christian’s cannot deal with the suffering of God’s people. It was the message, not the messenger that was protected. Salvation and hope lie in the message, not the messenger. For the messenger, death wasn’t the end. Death wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. Death would open the door to a wonderful welcoming home by the Savior. Yes, God allowed His servants to be chased down, beaten and abused. Why did they go through with this? Because they believed. They loved God more than their own lives. They knew that truth was more important than their lives. They understood that God’s will need to be proclaimed. They were thankful that God chose them to be those mouthpieces.

We must look at things like this and wonder how dedicated and true you and I are to the cause of the Lord. Do we favor the easy way, the high pay, the nice conditions or doing what is right? Are we willing to suffer without complaint or quitting? Are we in it for what we get personally or for the proclamation of truth? Years ago, I used to hold some meetings in a little place in Kentucky and stayed with an old timer named Victor. He has long since passed to the other side. Victor was a special breed. He was outspoken, blunt and called things as he saw them. He often said, “Folks today are soft, way too soft.” I think Victor had leather instead of skin. He was tough. He saw what the “softness” was doing to the church. I believe he was on to something. Putting our comfort first, it’s easy for us to complain about how hard it is to be a Christian today. Then there is Jeremiah. Beaten and in stocks for simply telling the message of God.

Second, Jeremiah suffered at the hands of not the Babylonian king,  but rather, the priest of God. Pashhur wasn’t the priest of Baal. He wasn’t a foreigner. He was supposed to be on Jeremiah’s side. The prophet suffered from his own people. Instead of receiving encouragement from the priest, Jeremiah was beaten. Instead of getting help, he was placed in stocks in the prison. His worst enemy was his own brethren. That certainly happens sometimes.

Sometimes it’s our family that causes us the most turmoil and grief. Sometimes it’s those in the congregation that seem to turn against what is right and doing what is right. Preachers get fired for telling the truth. People are shunned and ignored and talked about because they want to stand for what the Bible teaches. Some would rather stick with family or tradition or the old ways rather than changing and being more Biblically accurate. They will cause trouble if someone tries to change things. Modern Pashhur’s use pressure, intimidation, meanness to chase off those who buck the system. They don’t care if members leave.  Their “good ole’ buddy” way of doing things will not be undone. They are the king of the hill and they will knock down anyone who dares challenge them. This way of thinking dominates many small congregations today. Young preachers, going in with a spirit like Jeremiah, have the heart to do things better and closer to the Bible way. Those young preachers are crushed and driven away.  And those congregations continue on, getting smaller and smaller, but content in staying just the way they are. Shame on us for doing things like this. The loudest voice is not always the wisest voice, nor is it the voice of reason, nor the voice that is right. We must stand with God. We must always point the way back to the Bible. We must have a “come what may” spirit as Jeremiah did. They tried to silence Jeremiah, but his bones burned within him. He couldn’t be quiet. It wasn’t right. He had to speak. It’s that spirit, that takes us back to the word of God that is needed today. This is not a call for riots. We don’t need people sticking their fingers in the face of others. We don’t need people throwing chairs. But we do need someone to draw a line in the sand and declare that I stand with the Lord. Toss me out, fire me, get ugly if you must, but I stand with the Lord!

Abuse from our own people isn’t right. It’s shameful to hear some of the things parents say to their kids in stores. It’s just as shameful to hear what some brethren say about each other. Pompous bullies in the kingdom may believe that they have the upper hand. They may count their victories as another Jeremiah is escorted off to the dungeon. They snicker. They smile. They thrive in their abusive power and control. But God’s message cannot be silenced. Their world will collapse. God is always triumphant. I have written articles that editors refused to publish. I have been threatened with the words, “You cannot preach those things here.” But I did. I have been taken to the verbal woodshed by spiritual bullies who felt threatened by the truth of God’s word. Generations before, some literally received death threats. Some were spit upon. In one story, years ago, dynamite was found inside the pulpit. I guess the plan was to blow the whole place up, especially the preacher. Many have stood in the shadows of Jeremiah. Each generation faces it’s own challenges. The radicals want to forever push the outer limits of what is right and wrong. But those within have caused more damage and more heartache than those on the outside.

May you and I not fear others. May we stand for what is right, always. May we with kindness and boldness proclaim God’s message. May we understand that we are instruments of God and that it is His truth that is valuable.

To God be the glory in all things.

Roger