Jeremiah chapter 20: Prophet in jail and his prayer

 

Truth and Consequences: 

A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah

Chapter 20

By Bob Mendelsohn

Given 13 May 2022

 

Lesson Twenty: Persecution and a “prayer”

 

INTRODUCTION

Thank you, friends, for joining us today here in the Zoom room, as we unpack chapter 20 of Jeremiah. Let’s dig into it and find out what God has to say to us as 21^st Century people wherever you live and for those on YouTube, from wherever and whenever you are watching. 

            If you on YouTube haven’t yet read the chapter, please pause your playback, read Jeremiah 20, and then re-join us. Thanks.

            

            Today we visit Jeremiah in jail and in a moment of prayer. His actions and those around him will help us understand the scene in which Jeremiah lived and worked. And we will understand him a bit more also. And many of us will wonder how he got such a high position of prominence in the Jewish religion after this chapter. Let’s dig in.

Verse 1, we meet a man named Pashchur   פַשְׁח֗וּר  who was like Jeremiah, a priest and son of a priest. He was a prominent person in the Temple, and Pashchur had been listening to Jeremiah’s preaching and prophesying. What should have been the result? Remember last week, in chapter 19, Jeremiah took senior leadership along to the potter’s house to buy a pot and to serve as an object lesson. The eldership should have recognized their own sin and should have both repented and then turned to teach the people of Judah to join them in repentance. Instead, Pashchur brings a charge, and it sounds like he is a ranking policeman in the Temple area. He puts Jeremiah in stocks for an entire day and night, after having had him beaten. That could be the 39 lashes, the maximum penalty judgment of the day. Those lashes and stocks would have stayed with Jeremiah all day and for a long, long time afterwards.

Some Christians today would say, Jeremiah shouldn’t have to endure such harshness. After all, he’s God’s elect and he’s doing God’s work. I’ve heard so many believers announce usually with strong volume that ‘no harm will come to you’ and ‘no weapon formed against you will prosper.’  But the reality we see is that “all those who desire to live godly in Messiah Yeshua will suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3.12) None of us will escape troubles, as that’s part of the reality of life on this darkened planet.

Pashchur  פַשְׁח֗וּר   is one of three men whom we meet with this name. They are here in chapter 20, then next week in 21 is another one, and another later. The name is a double noun composite, as well as rooted in Egyptian probably.  The name itself probably derives from the Egyptian meaning “son or portion of Horus.” Here the priest and overseer-leader  פָקִ֥יד strikes and puts in stocks the prophet who in his call had been appointed Yahweh’s overseer (from same root as Pashchur’s job description-- (הפקדתיך, 1:10). Who is really in charge here? That’s probably not only a subtheme of this book, but of this entire Book, the Bible. 

Remember we will ask about that question later in this talk.

Pashchur is a compound name from two Hebrew words: Pash  (Fruitful) and Sachur (round about)

Verse two. The stocks. Comes from the word ‘to twist’ so it’s likely that an uncomfortable rack is in view, with a desire but no chance to accomplish a twisting out of it. Interestingly, the three times this word occurs in biblical Hebrew, it is used of action against a prophet/seer because of displeasure at the prophet’s words. 

The upper Benjamin gate is the gate up by the Temple; the lower Benjamin gate (or simply as the Benjamin Gate in 37:13 and 38:7 ) was the city gate. 

Verse three, the name change: 

Magor-missabib.  מָג֥וֹר מִסָּבִֽיב   Strangely this is the only time it’s not translated. It means “Terror on all sides,” or round about. See Jeremiah 6:25. Jeremiah uses this phrase no less than five times, having probably adopted it as his watchword from Psalm 31:13.

If you take Pashchur’s name as Fruitful round about and compare it to Magor-Missabiv, terror round about, the play on words is clearer yet.

Verse 4, “terror to yourself” but it doesn’t look so terrorible. Pashchur is going to be taken captive, and he’s going to die, perhaps peaceably in Babylon. How is that a terror to self? It has to do with conscience. He’s been instructed by Jeremiah to repent and to teach repentance, and yet, he fails. He then will watch as Jehoiakim is killed and the people are still in ruin. Albert Barnes calls this the “milder fate” as Pashchur would have to watch the land go to ruin, and his conscience would be ruined as he was the cause of the catastrophes. 

Verse 4 we see the first reference to “The King of Babylon” although it’s been hinted before, and since we know history, we have read that back into the first 19 chapters, but this is the first reference of the exact location of our exile and captivity.

 Verse 7: The prayer of Jeremiah sounds harsh, and that’s ok if you remember the Fiddler on the Roof reflection from earlier chapters. Prayer is honest conversation with the Almighty; it’s not about sanctimonious religious verbiage. God is not impressed with King James English or fluidity in our prayers. He’s longing for a relationship with us that highlights our real feelings and our real convictions that He is the Sovereign over our lives. No matter what.

So we hear it in various versions “You have deceived me, and I was deceived.” Others use the term “persuaded” but I’m ok with the emotional ‘deceived’ word. Jeremiah is upset and tells God about it. I like that. Don’t you? 

He says he’s a laughing stock. The word ( לִשְׂחוֹק    sechok) is the same as laughter (Psalm 126, which the returning captives used to highlight their own joy in coming back to Zion). Sometimes laughter is with us; sometimes at us, and that means context helps define words more than any other means. 

His prayer continues in verse 8: You told me to preach; I’m preaching and now everyone hates me. Verse 9, but if I don’t preach, then my own conscience is unclear and I’m not in good nick. This is a terrible situation you’ve put me in. And I’m not happy about any of it.  Even my trusted (men of peace) friends (Heb: enosh sh’lomi) resist my words. This stinks!

Do you hear the prophet’s voice? 

Do you hear your own voice?

How would his prayer end, you wonder? Angry. Devastated. Listen, that’s coming to be sure, but first, he calls us to sing with him!

The voice in verse 11 is like a worship leader in church. God is awesome, he’s Gibor; to me. He will triumph over my enemies. Hallelujah! Hey, sing with me. Sing praises to the Lord. 

Now, that’s a good ending. That’s a great place for Jeremiah to land. Acknowledging the King, the dominant one, that should be the end of his prophecy, you know?

But, buckle your seatbelt, that’s not the ending. Verse 14 we hear the echo of the bothered one, once again. Jeremiah curses the day he was born, wishes that the day had never come, that the unnamed announcer to his father had not made such a birth announcement. Like Jeremiah himself for whom judgment is the apparent only discourse, so judgment began in his earliest hours. And let that announcer be like the cities (Sodom and Gomorrah) which God overthrew (same Heb word: הָפַ֥ךְ   hafach) and without   נִחם      nicham (relenting/ repenting/ changing his mind) also without comfort!

Verse 17 sounds an abortion theme, if we force it. Jeremiah is wishing that God would have had someone kill him Meirachem (from the womb) but many think it should be B’rachem (inside the womb) which makes more sense as an apologetic for his mother ever being pregnant with a dead child (not understanding miscarriages and their exit from the mother’s body), and her being his graveyard. I won’t battle with anyone about the preposition, but I agree there is probably textual error here.

Verse 18 clarifies that it’s ‘from the womb’, and his regret is showing. He has no more words to share with the people. His regret and his disdain, his story is concluded… you guys win. I am walking away. I cannot convince you otherwise. Next stop for you? Babylon. 

Conclusion

OK, we’ve studied this chapter and wondered why this is included in Holy Writ. What is going on in the heart and the mouth of the Prophet of Doom. He knows what’s coming; why is he being so upset with the people today? And why the curse on the one who brought news to his father?

What’s really going on is that this last section is not so much a self-curse or God-curse as a lament. A classic lament. Remember the English word jeremiad, well-derived from this prophet, means lamentable. There is despair to be sure, the despair of trouble and sorrow, personal and national. But closure comes with an unanswered question, unanswered but addressed to God. Still Jeremiah has a glimmer of hope and trust, didn’t he?

Dear friends, I want you to ponder this today. When you think of Vladimir Putin, will you pray for or against him? Will you lament his ending? One youngster in Ukraine asked God either to change his heart or to stop it suddenly. That sounds like Jeremiah in a way. 

Invitation

But I want to ask you a question I mentioned earlier. I asked you ‘who’s really in charge?’ Is it Jeremiah who was appointed as such in chapter 1 or is it Pashchur who is announced as such here in chapter 20. Or is it someone else? 

That’s a decision you have to ponder and which, honestly, you have to make, today. Who is going to be in charge of your life? Will the God of Jeremiah rule in your life? Will you submit to his lordship, follow his messiah Yeshua, and repent and be saved from despair and the doom Jeremiah predicted? If so, Jimmy will lead you in a prayer in a moment so you can be found in God and not opposed to God. How long will you linger and wonder? Our days, our times are in his hands. 

Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house--- we will serve the Lord.

CONCLUSION

God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life. 

PRAYER

Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up. 

We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 18. Until then, Shabbat shalom!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnes, Albert, Albert Barnes’ Commentary on the Old Testament, 

Craigie, Peter; Kelley, Page; Drinkard, Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah.  1991. 

Henry, Matthew, Commentary.

Weirsbe, Warren. Be Decisive. David Cook Publishers, Colorado Springs 1991.

Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.

 

For other links:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/jewsforjesusau

The videos, especially the Bible teachings are always free. However, if you are enjoying and learning from them, and would like to share in the costs $ of putting them together, to donate use this link:  https://www.jewsforjesus.org.au/giving 

T: http://www.twitter.com/jewsforjesusau

I: https://www.instagram.com/jewsforjesusau

If you haven’t yet done so, please click the red box to the right which says ‘SUBSCRIBE’ and you will be notified of any new content on our channel. Thanks!

 

ACTUAL TEXT

 

Jer. 20:1   When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, ² 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. ³ Then it came about on the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, that Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the LORD has called you, but rather Magor-missabib. ⁴ “For thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I shall  give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword. ⁵ ‘I shall also give over all the wealth of this city, all its produce, and all its costly things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I shall give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. ⁶ ‘And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’”

 

Jer. 20:7          O LORD, Thou hast deceived me and I was deceived;

            Thou hast overcome me and prevailed.

            I have become a laughingstock all day long;

            Everyone mocks me.

⁸           For each time I speak, I cry aloud;

            I proclaim violence and destruction,

            Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted

            In reproach and derision all day long.

⁹           But if I say, “I will not remember Him

            Or speak anymore in His name,”

            Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire

            Shut up in my bones;

            And I am weary of holding it in,

            And I cannot endure it.

¹⁰         For I have heard the whispering of many,

            “Terror on every side!

            Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!”

            All my trusted friends,

            Watching for my fall, say:

            “Perhaps he will be ²deceived, so that we may prevail against him

            And take our revenge on him.”

¹¹         But the LORD is with me like a dread champion;

            Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

            They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed,

            With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

¹²         Yet, O LORD of hosts, Thou who dost test the righteous,

            Who sees the mind and the heart;

            Let me see Thy vengeance on them;

            For to Thee I have set forth my cause.

¹³         Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD!

            For He has delivered the soul of the needy one

            From the hand of evildoers.

 

Jer. 20:14        Cursed be the day when I was born;

            Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!

¹⁵         Cursed be the man who brought the news

            To my father, saying,

            “A baby boy has been born to you!”

            And made him very happy.

¹⁶         But let that man be like the cities

            Which the LORD overthrew without relenting,

            And let him hear an outcry in the morning

            And a shout of alarm at noon;

¹⁷         Because he did not kill me before birth,

            So that my mother would have been my grave,

            And her womb ever pregnant.

¹⁸         Why did I ever come forth from the womb

            To look on trouble and sorrow,

            So that my days have been spent in shame?

 

 

Potter's wheel and a prayer of sorts (Jeremiah 18)

 

Truth and Consequences: 

A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah

Chapter 18

By Bob Mendelsohn

Given 22 April 2022

 

Lesson Eighteen (of 52): Potter’s wheels and “prayer”

 

INTRODUCTION

Thank you, friends, for joining us today here in the Zoom room, as we unpack chapter 18 of Jeremiah. Let’s dig into it and find out what God has to say to us as 21^st Century people wherever you live and for those on YouTube, from wherever and whenever you are watching. 

Today we learn about a potter’s wheel and about imprecatory prayer. That phrase may be new to you, but the driving spirit is not new to you. We’ll talk about it in detail through the reading of this chapter and we will listen, deeply listen, to the heart of the prophet.

Let’s dig in. 

1.     Judah on the potter’s wheel (18.1-17)

Verse one. God sends Jeremiah on a show-and-tell mission, to visit a home and watch a workman work. The object lesson which follows concerns a potter who is working on the wheel. You might already know how this occurs. A potter takes a lump of clay and kneads it with his hands while his feet are pumping and the wheel is turning. Actually at least one wheel, probably two parallel stone wheels. They would have been joined by a single shaft. 

The story is that the clay, in a way, resisted the moulding by the potter, and the product, the vessel that the potter was making, was ruined. If that happens, the potter simply adds more water to the lump and strongly remoulds the vessel, remoulds the lump actually, into a new product. Do you remember working with play-dough? It’s the same process although more particular and much more skilful. 

Apparently, this was a lesson to Jeremiah about God being the potter and Israel being the clay. He wanted to mould us into an object for public use or for representation of his character or his person to the rest of the world. And the takeaway for Jeremiah is that God was disappointed with Judah and had to refashion us. 

This seems a regular theme in the Scriptures. Moses and God had a discussion about Israel being resistant to the Lord and God wanted to wipe them out and restart a new community using Moses, not Abraham, as the father of the new people. Moses rejected that one.  (Exodus 32, Numbers 14)

Isaiah certainly had much to say in comparing Israel with a lump of potter’s creations. (29.16, 30.14, 41.25, 64.8), and Jeremiah will again address this in next week’s episode and in the book of Lamentations (19.1, .11, Lam. 4.2). Daniel and Zechariah also add to the metaphorical usage in the OT. 

The Newer Testament makes mention of this scene in Revelation (2.27) but is most famously used by Rabbi Saul (the Apostle Paul) in his letter to the Romans in chapter 9. Let’s visit that one in a few moments. 

First, let me highlight a couple of Hebrew words at the opening of the chapter. Verse 2. There I will ‘announce’ my words to you. But the Hebrew is from Sh’ma, meaning to hear. In God’s announcement, he both hears and invites the listener, Jeremiah, to hear, what God has to say. I take this on board every time I open the Bible to teach others. I want to learn as well. 

Another phrase is the one in verse 4 about the pleasure of the potter. The word is ‘yashar’ that usually means ‘smooth’ but has by extension come to mean ‘pleased’ and that makes sense in light of the artisan making a new product and it turns out very well. As a bonus, not related to our study today, look at Psalm 17. The Hebrew word is not the same, but I ponder this one a lot.

“As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; 

            I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake. (Psalm 17.15)

Turn those phrases a bit, will you? “I will be satisfied when I awake with your likeness.” Today, I’m content (1 Tim. 6.6), now, but not yet satisfied. I will be satisfied one day. That day? When I awake to look like Yeshua. When will that be? See 1 John 3.

^“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3.2)

That’s just a bonus for those who are learning this chapter with us today.

Back to the potter’s wheel. One more Hebrew word. Verse 4. The word ‘spoiled’ Shachat in Hebrew. The same verb is used about the linen waistcloth or skirt in chapter 13 that Jeremiah was told to buy and bury in the dirt. The same despoilment that happened to the skirt is happening to the pot, and God is showing Jeremiah the ruin in the Jewish people and it is complete. It is irreparable as is. A new thing has to be produced. Something maybe similar but different. 

Now on the Pauline comment in Romans 9.

It stems from this notion of the sovereignty of God. Found in verse 18

^“So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”

Paul uses Pharaoh as an example and the stumbling stone (Heb: even; same as in the potter’s ‘wheel’= even) will trip up the Jewish people who do not seek God by faith. The issue in Romans 9 is that God will do whatever he wants to do and that he CAN do so because he is the potter. There are people who submit to his moulding and they succeed. There are people who resist the moulding and they fail. 

Paul says that those who resist cannot say to the potter, ‘why did you make me like this?”(9.20) The issue is always the same throughout the Scriptures: we are sinful and choose our own way. And when that happens, the potter has the right, and dare we say, the obligation to start over and reboot. He can and we sometimes think he SHOULD wipe out the resistant clay. 

But here’s the glory of God. He saves some. He expresses his kindness again and again, even 

“God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” (9.22-24)

The glory of God is manifest in the salvation of people, all people, who were destined for a sad and hopeless ending, and yet, in his mercy, God saved us. What an awesome God we have. What hope everyone who TODAY puts their trust in him can experience!

Back to our Jeremiah text. Verses 5 and following, God says I can do what I want. If I have promised penalty to the disobedient AND THEY REPENT, then I can have mercy. (as he also said in Romans 9 and Hosea!) And similarly if I have promised good and the people live wrongly, I can pour out judgment on that people. 

Weirsbe says of this, “God neither changes in character nor needs to repent of his actions, but he has the sovereign freedom to alter his actions depending on the responses of the people.” (page 99)

Similarly Chris Wright concludes this section with a comparison with Isaiah’s use of the metaphor. 

“We should not jump to equate it with what Isaiah has to say using the same imagery. Isaiah’s point is that it is ludicrous to imagine clay questioning or criticizing a potter’s work, so Israel has no right to disagree with God’s plan to use Cyrus as his agent of redemption; God is sovereign. Jeremiah’s point is different. He is not so much focusing on the sovereign will of the potter, as on the responsibility of the clay and on God’s freedom to change his plans according to what the clay does.” (page 212)

The conclusion of this story is in verse 11. What is nationally true of Judah on the potter’s wheel now becomes personal in each individual Israelite. The application has to be one by one. We already know that Judah is going into captivity. That’s been clear all along. But what about Mrs Goldberg or Shimon bar Yoseph or any individual Jewish person? What will YOU do in light of the reboot of the Jewish people?

וְחֹשֵׁ֥ב עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם מַֽחֲשָׁבָ֑ה שׁ֣וּבוּ נָ֗א אִ֚ישׁ מִדַּרְכּ֣וֹ הָֽרָעָ֔ה וְהֵיטִ֥יבוּ דַרְכֵיכֶ֖ם

I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan (thinking a thought) against you. Oh turn back, each (ISH) of you from his evil way, and reform your ways

The word ISH stands out. The rabbis use trope marks (ta’amim) to help us cantillate and learn more about the readings. And here the Y’tiv trop is used. It’s like a single yelp of a dog. It’s like a YO in Philadelphia. It’s a ‘don’t miss this one.’ And as such it stands out to me. ONE MAN. It’s a call to individual responsibility to live for God, to honour God in your own life. And to ‘make good’ (reform) your ways. From one bad way to the good way. 

Let me be very clear how one goes from the bad way to the good way. 

It’s NOT in behaviour. It’s not in mitzvot. It’s not in fasting or in prayer. It’s not in religion, not at all! 

The answer is the potter’s wheel. The ‘bad way’ is the way of resistance. Think of Satan who opposes the good way. He resists it. To resist is to ‘stand against’ something. The clay that resists is the clay that refuses to be moulded. The clay that succeeds is the clay that allows. That is a picture of the biblical use of ‘faith’ and ‘trust’ in God. 

The clay doesn’t perform until much later. When it becomes an object for ordinary or spectacular usage. The key in this passage and dare I say in the entire biblical narrative is that the faith-filled clay is the one who allows and does not resist the potter. Give yourself to the Lord, allow him to shape and re-shape you to his purposes. Then when you awake in his likeness you will be satisfied. Amen?

Wright uses the term “responsive sovereignty” to explain this God / potter/ wheel/ clay reality.  (page 213)

Five times in this section (18.11, .12, .18, 23, 19.7) the use of the word Machsh’vot (thoughts/ plans) make this one unit of Jeremiah’s thoughts. The book of Proverbs says, “ as a man thinks within himself, so he is.” (23.7) That was used 100 years ago by a British self-help writer (James Allen), but I’m using it here to highlight Jeremiah saying this to Judah: “Come on folks, get this right. Think right. Believe right. Work with me here. This can change for you!” But the people of the prophet turn on him. 

As a result, he turns on them. 

2. Imprecatory prayer (the curse) 18.18-23

The second part of our chapter today is actually the 5^th of Jeremiah’s personal laments so far in the book. There is more to come. (11.18-23, 12.105, 15.10-18, 17.14-18, 20.7-18) Imprecatory prayer seems out-of-bounds to us in the New Covenant, but reality bites, you know. There is a cause that goes too far. In the same way that God is long-suffering, so is Jeremiah. But long-suffering is not eternally suffering. There comes an end to the suffering. The patience of anyone runs out in due course. And thus, here again, Jeremiah is at the end of his tether, the end of his patience, end of hope for Judah. 

Look at the triple plot against our prophet. First they wanted to devise plans (machsh’vot) against him. A whispering campaign of propaganda, in order to create public rejection of what he is teaching. (verse 18) Second, they are going to take him to the court system and accuse (Oppose in verse 19) him legally. That takes it from gossip to a legal failing and thus ridicule religiously. Third and finally in verse 23, assassination is the final remedy of removing him from the scene. 

Of note are two things. One the power structure they reference. The religion folks, the academics and the government. All are sources of confidence and assurance, even though Jeremiah says they are all wrong. To this day, we still gain our insights about life from wrong sources. God alone is to be trusted and we regularly have to adjust our minds and hearts to that. 

The imprecatory prayer of verses 19 and following seems out of character with the Weeping Prophet, but it is not. His emotion is real. Be angry and yet do not sin, we read in Psalm 4 and again in Ephesians 4. There comes a time when you have had enough. You explode a bit or a lot, and then, please, the writers would say, don’t stay angry. Don’t remain in that emotion overnight. Don’t live there. James would caution. 

The psalmists cry out with this unfair pain. (35, 58, 109) It’s as if he’s saying, “I worked so hard to be your kind of person, among them, and look how they treat me.” If Jeremiah didn’t care so much, he would have just walked away without incident, but his love and passion for Judah is evident and it caused even more pain. 

The end: bring it on, God. Smash them. Ruin them. They deserve it. I’m done.

But dear friends on this Zoom call, and those who will watch this on YouTube later, this is not ‘the end.’ Our model is not Jeremiah who exploded in vile imprecation. Our new model is the gentle and lowly Messiah, Yeshua, who on being met with assassination attempts and emotional blackmail, of being dobbed in for punishment by those closest to him, turned and said, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing.” Last week across the world we began Passover and it was also Good Friday. On that day Yeshua, our beloved one died on a Roman cross instead of bringing out the troops to self-defend. He could have called own myriads of angels and bring his enemies to despair. Instead, he died for our sins and took our punishment on himself. He heard gossip and ridicule, even legal dismissals, and yet, he loved us enough to go to the cross and die. For us. No imprecatory prayer by Yeshua. No rejection of his own. Hallelujah; what a Saviour!

CONCLUSION

God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life. 

PRAYER

Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up. 

We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 19. Until then, Shabbat shalom!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnes, Albert, Albert Barnes’ Commentary on the Old Testament, 

Craigie, Peter; Kelley, Page; Drinkard, Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah.  1991. 

Henry, Matthew, Commentary.

Weirsbe, Warren. Be Decisive. David Cook Publishers, Colorado Springs 1991.

Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.

 

 

 

 

For other links:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/jewsforjesusau

The videos, especially the Bible teachings are always free. However, if you are enjoying and learning from them, and would like to share in the costs $ of putting them together, to donate use this link:  https://www.jewsforjesus.org.au/giving 

T: http://www.twitter.com/jewsforjesusau

I: https://www.instagram.com/jewsforjesusau

If you haven’t yet done so, please click the red box to the right which says ‘SUBSCRIBE’ and you will be notified of any new content on our channel. Thanks!

 

ACTUAL TEXT

 

Jer. 18:1   The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, ² “Arise and ^ago down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” ³ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the ¹wheel. ⁴ But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

 

Jer. 18:5   Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ⁶ “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the ^aclay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^auproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; ^{8 a}if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will ^1brelent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. ⁹ “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^abuild up or to plant it; ¹⁰ if it does ^aevil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will ^1bthink better of the good with which I had promised to ²bless it. ¹¹ “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am ^afashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh ^bturn back, each of you from his evil way, and ¹reform your ways and your deeds.”’ ¹² “But ^athey will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the ^bstubbornness of his evil heart.’

 

Jer. 18:13    “Therefore thus says the LORD, 

            ‘^aAsk now among the nations, 

            Who ever heard the like of ¹this? 

            The ^bvirgin of Israel 

            Has done a most ^cappalling thing.

¹⁴         ‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country? 

            Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away?

¹⁵         ‘For ^aMy people have forgotten Me, 

            ^bThey burn incense ¹to worthless gods 

            And they ²have stumbled ³from their ways, 

            ³From the ^cancient paths, 

            To walk in bypaths, 

            Not on a ^dhighway,

¹⁶         To make their land a ^adesolation, 

            An object of perpetual ^bhissing; 

            Everyone who passes by it will be astonished 

            And ^cshake his head.

¹⁷         ‘Like an ^aeast wind I will ^bscatter them 

            Before the enemy; 

            I will ¹show them ^cMy back and not My face 

            ^dIn the day of their calamity.’”

 

Jer. 18:18   Then they said, “Come and let us ^adevise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the ^blaw is not going to be lost to the priest, nor ^ccounsel to the sage, nor the divine ^dword to the prophet! Come on and let us ^estrike at him with our tongue, and let us ^fgive no heed to any of his words.”

 

Jer. 18:19    Do give heed to me, O LORD, 

            And listen to ¹what my opponents are saying!

^{20         a}Should good be repaid with evil? 

            For they have ^bdug a pit for ¹me. 

            Remember how I ^cstood before You 

            To speak good on their behalf, 

            So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

²¹         Therefore, ^agive their children over to famine 

            And deliver them up to the ¹power of the sword; 

            And let their wives become ^bchildless and ^cwidowed. 

            Let their men also be smitten to death, 

            Their ^dyoung men struck down by the sword in battle.

²²         May an ^aoutcry be heard from their houses, 

            When You suddenly bring raiders upon them; 

            ^bFor they have dug a pit to capture me 

            And ^chidden snares for my feet.

²³         Yet You, O LORD, know 

            All their ¹deadly designs against me; 

            ^aDo not ²forgive their iniquity 

            Or blot out their sin from Your sight. 

            But may they be ^3boverthrown before You; 

            Deal with them in the ^ctime of Your anger!