A Sermon and an Assault

We are going to look at these two chapters together. They are connected in such a way that it is easier to understand if we do it this way. What we see in these two chapters is a sermon preached by Jeremiah that leads to him being physically assaulted. This event leads to him being severely depressed and ready to give up.

1. The Journey to the Valley (19:1-9).

A. Jeremiah is given specific commands (1-2).

He is to buy a flask, a jar with a skinny top, made of clay. He is to gather some elders of the people and of the priests and take them to the Valley of Hinnom. These men would be witnesses to Jeremiah’s prophetic word. This Valley has already been identified as a place where child sacrifice took place (7:31). It was East of Jerusalem. The Potsherd Gate led out of Jerusalem and to the Valley. Many people think the Potsherd Gate is the same as the Dung Gate in Nehemiah 2:13. The Potsherd Gate was where potters took the waste from their work to be disposed of. The Valley of Hinnom was eventually turned into a dump because of the awful sins that had taken place there. It was a place where garbage continually burned. We get the Greek word for hell “Gehenna” from the word Hinnom.

B. Jeremiah gives a sobering message (3-5).

The message is for everyone. Jeremiah even uses the plural “kings” because the sins that took place in that valley stretched out over the reign of a number of kings. The disaster the Lord would bring upon this area would be so awful it would cause the people who heard of it to be astonished. That’s what the phrase “ears to tingle “ means.

The reason for such a harsh judgment was the terrible sins that took place there. We see them in verse 4:

They forsook God

They made offerings to other gods

They sacrificed the innocent

They built altars to false gods

In reference to the child sacrifice God says something so awful never even entered His mind. They pretended to be faithful Jews but they were involved in religious activity that was not commanded by God but rather condemned by Him.

C. The future of the valley (6-7).

God will change the name of this Valley from the Valley of Hinnom to the Valley of Slaughter. In this valley a terrible battle will be fought that will lead to the death of many Jews. So many will die in the battle that they will not be able to be buried.

D. The shame of Jerusalem (8-9).

The battle will not stay in the valley. It will extend to Jerusalem. As the result of a siege mothers would resort to eating their own children. This happened when the Assyrians took Samaria (2 Kings 6:23-31). It would happen with the Southern Kingdom as well. Cannibalism is a shameful act only committed by people who have no fear of God or love for man. Few things are more shameful than parents who eat their children.

2. The Symbolic Act (19:10-13).

A. Jeremiah breaks the flask (10-12).

What did the shattering of this piece of pottery represent? Notice the phrase in verse 11 “so that it will never be mended” . It symbolizes the complete destruction of the nation. Man will not be able to fix it. If you shatter a piece of pottery on the ground it can’t be put back together. There are too many pieces. Once the damage is done the nation will not be able to fix it.

Jeremiah says, “Men shall bury in Topheth”. What’s the significance of that? That was a shameful place to be buried. It was a cursed place (2 Kings 23:10). Topheth was in the Valley of Hinnom. There will be so many dead people that there will not be room to bury them in a proper place.

This was probably a dramatic event. Jeremiah gathered the elders together and busted this pottery before them and then preached a message to them. He basically said they were like the piece of pottery he just busted.

B. Jeremiah reminds the people of what occurred in the city (13).

The kings and the common people had engaged in idolatry in their own homes. The homes hat flat roofs and they engaged in pagan practices on top of them. The people had made their own homes houses of pagan worship. They worshipped the stars and gods of the pagans. Therefore Jerusalem would be destroyed.

C. Jeremiah returns to Jerusalem and continues preaching (14-15).

He enters the Temple and he preaches a hard message. He says the God of Israel is going to destroy the whole city and the surrounding area because the people refuse to listen to God.

This message greatly angered people as we will see in a moment. It reminds me of when Jesus cleansed the temple. When Jesus cleansed the Temple toward the end of His earthly ministry that was the straw that broke the camels back. His actions so angered the religious leaders that they moved quickly to have Him killed.

3. Jeremiah is physically assaulted (20:1-6).

A. Jeremiah is arrested (1-2).

Pashhur is introduced to us. He was a priest who held a special position in the Temple. He was probably next in power to the High Priest. He was responsible of maintaining order in the temple. He heard Jeremiah’s sermon and was not happy. We see two things he did to Jeremiah:

He beat him. This was probably a public beating. It was for the purpose of punishing and silencing Jeremiah. This is the first mention of any physical assault against Jeremiah.

He put him in stocks. Stocks were a device of torture and humiliation. The hands and feet of a person were fastened in an unnatural way. This was done publicly. Jeremiah was placed by the Upper Benjamin Gate. This was in the Northern part where much traffic was.

Jeremiah stayed in the stocks overnight.

B. Jeremiah gives Pashhur a new name (3-4).

The arrest and abuse of Jeremiah didn’t slow his preaching down. The next day he was released. He speaks directly to the priest responsible. He told him the Lord was giving him a new name. The new name meant “Terror on every side”. His original name meant “Fruitful on every side”. The new one was the opposite of that.

Everyone who believed the false prophecies this man embraced would experience terror. As a priest he would not be a blessing to anyone. He would be a terror.

A terror to himself

A terror to his friends

Everyone one who followed the lies he encouraged would fall in battle as he looked on. He would witness the terror he encouraged. Jeremiah names the nation that would deport Judah. Babylon is coming to kill and steal the people.

C. Pashhur would pay the price for rejecting God’s prophet (5-6).

All the wealth of Judah would be taken by Babylon.

Pashhur’s family would be taken as slaves to Babylon. They would die and be buried there. His friends, probably the fellow priests, would suffer the same fate. Notice the end of verse 6. It says those who embraced his false prophecies would die as well.

4. Jeremiah wrestles with God (7-10).

A. Jeremiah is disappointed with God (7-8).

The language is strong. He says the Lord “deceived “him. This probably means the Lord convinced him to be a prophet when he did not want to be one. In the beginning of the book Jeremiah tried to resist the call (1:6-8). The Lord assured him that he would take care of him. The Lord was also very clear with Jeremiah about how difficult it would be (1:18).

Jeremiah says the Lord was stronger than he was. In other words, the Lord convinced Jeremiah to embrace the role of prophet. As a result, Jeremiah had become a laughingstock with everyone mocking him. There is a probably a reference here to him being in the stocks. People often mocked those who were displayed in stocks. It was part of the punishment.

In verse 8 Jeremiah tells the Lord he has preached His Word. The message was one of violence and destruction, but Jeremiah preached it with passion, crying out. The preaching did not seem to lead to the destruction of the sinners. It seemed to lead to the destruction of himself. He had become a reproach and a derision.

B. Jeremiah cannot escape the call (9).

Jeremiah says if he says he will stop preaching he can’t. the Word of the Lord was like a fire shut up in his bones. It had to be released. How did he know this? Obviously, he had tried to stop. He had tried to run from the call. He could not. These were not Jeremiah’s words. These were God’s words.

We shouldn’t think that Jeremiah was not satisfied with his calling. He loved the Lord. But Jeremiah was a human. He dealt with the weakness of the flesh. Here’s an interesting note. From what I can see, this is the last time we will see Jeremiah complain about his calling. As the book goes on it seems he has matured. He doesn’t get angry with God anymore.

C. Jeremiah is aware of the talk going on behind his back (10).

It seems Jeremiah’s friends gave him a new nickname. They were saying of him “terror on every side.” This was probably mocking the message he gave to Passhur.

Even people who pretended to at one time be Jeremiah’s friends were after him. They wanted him to fall. They probably wanted him to say something they could use to have him imprisoned or put to death. This is a similarity to Jesus.

5. Jeremiah trusts in God (11-13).

A. He believes the Lord will deal with his enemies (11-12).

He says the Lord is a dread warrior. This means He is a Mighty Warrior. Because God fights for him:

His persecutors will stumble

They will be greatly shamed

They will not succeed

They will not overcome him.

Their eternal dishonor will not be forgotten

A prayer for justice (12).

God knows the heart and mind of every man. He knows Jeremiah loves Him and Jeremiah’s enemies hate Him. He trusts that God’s justice will prevail.

B. Jeremiah worships the Lord (13).

It’s interesting how the emotions of Jeremiah change. He has moved from depression to worship. That is not uncommon for the believer. We can be worrying one moment and worshipping the next.

Jeremiah worships the Lord as if his enemies have already been defeated. This is the greatest attack we can make on worry. We are to remember that the Lord will deliver us. We are to worship Him as if He already has.

6. Jeremiah wants to die (14-18).

A. He curses the day he was born (14).

The Jewish people did not celebrate birthdays as we do. However, the day of one’s birth was viewed as a day of blessing. Hebrews placed great value on children and their arrival into the world was seen as a blessing from God. In his emotional state Jeremiah did not see his birth as a day of blessing. He felt much like Job when he said:

Let the day perish wherein I was born,

And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

Let that day be darkness;

Let not God regard it from above,

Neither let the light shine upon it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death ||stain it;

Let a cloud dwell upon it;

Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

(Job 3:3-5)

The truth is it seemed no one was happy Jeremiah had been born. He was hated by virtually everyone, even the people from his own hometown. Jeremiah seems to be joining the crowd, cursing his own existence.

B. He curses the man who announced his birth (15-17).

Messengers were important in a day that did not have telephones. Important messages were delivered in person. It was a privilege to announce good news. Announcing the birth of a son to a father was particularly good news. The father would likely embrace the messenger and thank him for such good news.

We shouldn’t think Jeremiah hated this man. I think Jeremiah is using this language to express his sorrow. He says he wishes that man was overthrown like ungodly cities such as Sodom and Gomorrah. Hearing a cry in the morning and an alarm in the afternoon refers to being present in a city that is being overtaken. He says he is upset the messenger did not kill him while he was in his mother’s womb. He wishes he had never left his mothers womb. The language is poetic and describes a woman who is eternally pregnant, never delivering the child, “forever great”.

There is probably a good reason Jeremiah curses the messenger. It was a sin to curse your parents (Exodus 21:17). In fact, it was a sin that could be punished by death. Instead of breaking the commandment and cursing his parents for bringing him into the world, he curses the messenger. Ironically, this is what the people were doing to Jeremiah. They were cursing him, the messenger. We shouldn’t try to make sense of Jeremiah’s actions. He was a man controlled by his emotions.

C. He questions his existence (18).

Jeremiah labored for the Lord but only experienced sorrow. He spent his days in shame. To his credit, the thoughts he had did not deter him from the work. He continued to labor for the Lord. But he did ask God why he existed at all. It seemed to him his labor was useless. He obeyed God yet would see no fruit. Why did God need him at all? What was he accomplishing in life? These are hard questions. They are even harder when you are the one suffering.

It's important for us to remember that we are living for eternity. On this side of heaven there are many things that will not make sense. We can trust that God is working all things together for our good and His glory. Faith is necessary if we are to endure. You may not know the reason you are hurting, suffering or even existing. There is a reason. If you know Christ, there is reward for all godly suffering. You have to believe that. You have to trust the Word of God. Instead of asking “Why am I here?” you need to confess “I am here”. Because we are here, we have obligations. God expects faithfulness from us.

Jeremiah did not have the life of Christ to look to for encouragement. We do. The life of Christ helps tremendously when we suffer. As we look at all He endured for us it encourages us to keep going. We are more blessed than Jeremiah because we have more revelation than he did. When we want to die, when we wonder why we exist, when we are so angry that we blame people who don’t deserve to be blamed we should go to Christ. He is our sympathetic High Priest. He has seen it all and He endured. He is the One who lives in us and empowers us to keep going even when we want to give up.