Jeremiah Chapter 20
Jeremiah 20
Jeremiah in the Stocks
Jeremiah 20:1-2, Jeremiah, God’s Spokesman in the Stocks
Jeremiah 20:1-2, “Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.”
Jeremiah 20 follows immediately after Jeremiah’s message at Tophet and the breaking of the potter’s flask. Jeremiah had declared that Jerusalem would be broken like a vessel that could not be made whole again. Pashur, the son of Immer, heard Jeremiah’s words and responded with force. He was not merely an offended listener. He was a priest and chief governor in the house of the LORD, meaning he held religious authority and administrative power in the temple area.
This makes the scene especially tragic. The opposition to Jeremiah does not come from pagans outside Judah. It comes from a priest inside the religious structure of Jerusalem. The man who should have guarded the truth of God’s house instead persecuted the prophet of God.
Pashur smote Jeremiah. This likely involved an official beating, not a minor slap. Jeremiah was then put in the stocks at the high gate of Benjamin, near the house of the LORD. The stocks were designed to twist or confine the body painfully. This was both physical suffering and public humiliation. Jeremiah was displayed in a prominent place as though he were a criminal, a traitor, or a false prophet.
The irony is severe. Jeremiah is punished near the temple for speaking the word of the LORD. The house that should have honored God’s word becomes the place where God’s spokesman is abused. This is what happens when religious office becomes detached from obedience to God. The priestly title remains, but the heart resists the truth.
Jeremiah 20:3-6, Jeremiah’s Message to Pashur upon His Release
Jeremiah 20:3-6, “And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it, and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity, and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.”
When Pashur releases Jeremiah the next day, Jeremiah does not soften his message. The beating and the stocks do not make him more acceptable to the religious establishment. Instead, he speaks directly to Pashur with a prophetic renaming. “The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.” Magor-missabib means terror on every side.
This new name fits the judgment Pashur will experience. He will become a terror to himself and to his friends. The man who tried to terrify Jeremiah will himself be surrounded by terror. His friends will fall by the sword, and his own eyes will see it. This is personal judgment upon a religious leader who opposed the word of the LORD and strengthened others in falsehood.
Jeremiah again declares the central message that Judah refused to hear, “I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon.” The issue is settled. Egypt will not save them. The temple will not shield them while they remain rebellious. Religious officials cannot reverse God’s decree. Babylon will conquer, kill, carry away captives, and plunder the city.
The treasures of Jerusalem and the treasures of the kings of Judah will be delivered into enemy hands. The wealth they trusted will be carried away. Their strength, labor, precious things, and royal treasures will all become spoil.
Pashur himself will go to Babylon and die there. His house will go into captivity. His friends, those to whom he prophesied lies, will share his judgment. This shows the danger of false religious leadership. Pashur did not merely reject Jeremiah privately. He spread lies and gave false assurance to others. Therefore his judgment would include those who trusted his deception.
Jeremiah 20:7-8, Jeremiah Speaks to God of His Own Faithfulness
Jeremiah 20:7-8, “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.”
After speaking boldly to Pashur, Jeremiah turns to the LORD with raw honesty. This is one of the most intense confessions in the book. He says, “O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived.” Jeremiah is not making a calm doctrinal accusation against God. He is pouring out the anguish of a wounded prophet. He feels overwhelmed by the burden of his calling.
“Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed.” Jeremiah did not choose this ministry because it was easy, prestigious, or personally rewarding. God called him, seized him, and compelled him. Jeremiah cannot escape the call because the LORD is stronger than he is.
The result has been daily derision. “Every one mocketh me.” Jeremiah had been placed in the stocks publicly. His enemies mocked him, and his message had made him hated. Every time he spoke, he cried out warnings of violence and spoil. His ministry was not full of pleasant predictions. He had to announce judgment, invasion, plunder, and ruin.
Because of this, the word of the LORD became “a reproach” and “a derision” to him daily. The same word that was true, holy, and necessary also brought him pain. The people did not separate Jeremiah from his message. They hated the word, so they hated the prophet.
Faithful ministry can carry this same burden. A man may love God’s word and still suffer because he speaks it. Truth does not always bring applause. Sometimes it brings reproach.
Jeremiah 20:9-10, Jeremiah Resolves to Stop His Prophetic Work
Jeremiah 20:9-10, “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.”
Jeremiah reaches a breaking point. He says, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” The pain of ministry has become so severe that he considers silence. He does not want to keep preaching the message that brings mockery, danger, and rejection.
But he cannot remain silent. “His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones.” The word of God was not merely in Jeremiah’s mouth. It was in his heart. It burned inside him. Holding it back became more painful than speaking it. He says, “I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Silence was impossible because the word of God pressed upon him from within.
This is the burden of true preaching. Jeremiah was not driven by ambition or entertainment. He was compelled by the word of the LORD. He could not stop because the word was fire in his bones.
The opposition around him was intense. He heard “the defaming of many.” They mocked him with the phrase “fear on every side,” likely turning his own message against him. They watched for his stumbling. Even his familiars, those close to him, waited for him to fall. They hoped he could be enticed, trapped, or discredited so they could prevail against him and take revenge.
Jeremiah’s enemies wanted more than to disagree with him. They wanted to destroy him. They watched his life for any weakness that could be used against him. This is the cost of standing publicly for God’s word in a corrupt generation.
Jeremiah 20:11-12, Jeremiah’s Confidence in God
Jeremiah 20:11-12, “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. 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.”
After the depth of his complaint, Jeremiah rises again to faith. “But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one.” This is the turning point. His enemies are real, his pain is real, his humiliation is real, but the LORD is more real. God is with him, not as a passive observer, but as a mighty warrior.
Because the LORD is with him, Jeremiah knows his persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They may mock, slander, plot, and watch for his halting, but they cannot finally overcome the servant whom God upholds. Their shame will be lasting because they are resisting the LORD’s message.
Jeremiah addresses God as “O LORD of hosts,” the commander of heavenly armies. He also confesses that God tries the righteous and sees the reins and the heart. The LORD knows what is hidden. He sees the inner motives of Jeremiah and his enemies. Jeremiah does not need to manipulate the outcome because God sees perfectly.
He prays, “let me see thy vengeance on them, for unto thee have I opened my cause.” Jeremiah again brings vengeance to God rather than taking it into his own hands. His cause is opened before the LORD. He places the matter before the righteous Judge.
Deuteronomy 32:35, “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence, their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.”
Jeremiah’s prayer is severe, but the principle is right. Vengeance belongs to God.
Jeremiah 20:13, Praising the Mighty God
Jeremiah 20:13, “Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD, for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.”
Jeremiah breaks into praise. “Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD.” This is striking because his outward situation has not yet changed. He has been beaten, mocked, put in the stocks, threatened, and slandered. Yet he praises God because faith sees deliverance in the LORD before circumstances fully change.
“He hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.” Jeremiah identifies with the poor, the afflicted, the weak, and the oppressed. He has no earthly power compared to Pashur and the temple authorities. But the LORD delivers the soul of the poor.
This praise does not erase Jeremiah’s pain. The next verses prove that. But it shows that genuine faith can rise in worship even while sorrow remains. Praise and grief can exist close together in the life of a faithful servant.
Jeremiah 20:14-18, Grief and Depression Again
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?”
The chapter ends with a sudden fall back into anguish. Immediately after praise, Jeremiah curses the day of his birth. This may feel emotionally jarring, but it is honest to the experience of deep suffering. The soul is not always linear. A man may praise God sincerely and still feel crushed moments later.
Jeremiah does not curse God. He curses the day of his birth. He wishes the day he was born had not been blessed. He curses the man who brought joyful news to his father that a son had been born. He wishes that messenger had been like the cities the LORD overthrew, likely recalling Sodom and Gomorrah.
His grief becomes even darker. He wishes he had died in the womb, or that his mother’s womb had become his grave. He asks why he came forth from the womb only to see labor, sorrow, and shame.
This is one of the lowest moments in Jeremiah’s recorded prayers. Yet it must be read in light of Jeremiah 1.
Jeremiah 1:4-5, “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Jeremiah traces his pain back to the womb, but God’s call goes back before the womb. Jeremiah asks why he was born, but God had already answered, he was known, sanctified, and ordained before birth. His suffering is real, but it is not meaningless.
The chapter closes without an immediate answer from God. That silence is important. Sometimes the faithful servant must continue after pouring out grief, holding onto what God has already spoken. Jeremiah survives this dark night because the word of God and the call of God remain true, even when his emotions collapse.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Jeremiah 20 teaches that religious office does not guarantee faithfulness. Pashur was a priest and chief governor in the house of the LORD, yet he persecuted the prophet of the LORD.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that the word of God may bring suffering to the messenger. Jeremiah was beaten, put in the stocks, mocked, and publicly humiliated because he spoke God’s message.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that persecution must not change the message. After his release, Jeremiah did not soften the word. He told Pashur the truth about Babylon, captivity, and judgment.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that false prophets and lying religious leaders will be judged. Pashur and his friends would go to Babylon because they prophesied lies.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that faithful servants may wrestle deeply with God. Jeremiah complained honestly about the pain of his calling, yet he continued to speak to the LORD.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that God’s word can become a fire in the bones. Jeremiah tried to stop speaking, but he could not because the word of God burned within him.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that enemies often watch for the servant’s stumbling. Jeremiah’s acquaintances looked for a way to trap him, discredit him, and take revenge.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that confidence returns when God becomes greater than the opposition. “But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one” is the statement that reorients Jeremiah’s heart.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that praise and sorrow may stand side by side. Jeremiah praises the LORD in verse 13, then laments his birth in verses 14-18. Faith does not always remove emotional anguish immediately.
Jeremiah 20 teaches that God’s call is deeper than the prophet’s despair. Jeremiah wished he had never been born, but God had known and ordained him before the womb.
Summary
Jeremiah 20 begins with Pashur, a priest and chief governor in the house of the LORD, hearing Jeremiah’s prophecy and responding violently. He strikes Jeremiah and puts him in the stocks at the high gate of Benjamin near the house of the LORD. The next day, when Jeremiah is released, he renames Pashur “Magor-missabib,” meaning terror on every side, and declares that Pashur, his friends, and all Judah will face Babylonian conquest, captivity, plunder, and death because Pashur has prophesied lies.
The chapter then records Jeremiah’s painful confession before God. He feels overwhelmed by the prophetic call, mocked daily, and reproached because of the word of the LORD. He considers silence, saying he will no longer speak in God’s name, but God’s word burns in his heart like fire shut up in his bones, and he cannot hold it back.
Jeremiah hears many mocking him, watching for his fall and plotting revenge. Yet he regains confidence, declaring that the LORD is with him as a mighty terrible one. His persecutors will stumble and not prevail. He opens his cause before the LORD of hosts, who sees the reins and the heart. He then praises the LORD for delivering the soul of the poor from evildoers.
The chapter ends with Jeremiah falling again into deep grief, cursing the day of his birth and asking why he came from the womb to see labor, sorrow, and shame. This does not erase his faith. It shows the crushing burden of his calling. Jeremiah’s grief is real, but God’s call from before the womb remains deeper than his despair.
