(Jeremiah. 20:1 ft)

Jeremiah's temple sermon brought him into conflict with priest Pashhur who was the chief priest of the time and the in charge of the temple affairs.

The priest had Jeremiah beaten up and put in chain for a whole night. This was a public humiliation for the prophet who spoke so much with God's authority.

However, upon being released the following morning, Jeremiah publicly renamed Pashhur with symbolic meaning as "Terror Everywhere" to signify what would happen to the priest himself, his family and to the whole of Judah.

THE CAUSES OF THE CONFLICT

Jeremiah conflict with priest Pashhur stemmed from the temple sermon particularly its content, reaction of the people and Pashhur's attitude towards the whole event.

Jeremiah made his sermon without consulting Pashhur who was the chief priest. This made the priest annoyed and consequently he questioned the intentions of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah had prophesied the destruction of the Jerusalem temple yet to the priest, the political leaders and everybody else in Judah believed in the invincibility of the temple.

Jeremiah's message that the Jerusalem city would be attacked and destroyed also annoyed priest Pashhur. He took it that Jeremiah was wishing his own people bad luck.

Pashhur was disappointed by Jeremiah's prophesy that the people of Judah would be taken into exile and put under the power of the king of Babylonia. To the priest, God could not punish his own people to such an extent hence the thinking that Jeremiah was delivering wrong information.

The priest was angered that Jeremiah came up with a revelation that the enemies would plunder all the wealth of the city and seize all its possession and property as well its treasures.

The priest was annoyed that Jeremiah renamed as "Terror Everywhere". To worsen it, the prophet interpreted the name to mean that the priest would be a terror to himself and to his own friends.

Pashhur was annoyed that Jeremiah had made a personal attack on his family. Accordingly, Pashhur's family would be taken into exile and his wife made to become a prostitute.

The priest was disappointed that Jeremiah had condemned him and his people as being involved in pagan worship.

Pashhur was angry about Jeremiah's public proclamation he, was preaching lies to the people of Judah.

The priest was annoyed that Jeremiah had attacked the worship in the temple as being useless.

Pashhur was annoyed that Jeremiah had made a call to the people not to trust the temple any more yet the people believed that they were safe by being in the temple.

Pashhur was also disappointed by Jeremiah's prophesy that all the people of Judah would be taken into exile.

Jeremiah's preaching that all the people of Judah were unholy and irreligious just like their priest annoyed Pashhur.

The priest also feared that Jeremiah's sermon was likely to cause a rebellion among the people of Judah. Therefore, it was highly possible that the priest Passhur conflicted with Jeremiah to prevent the possibility of an uprising.

Pashhur was annoyed that Jeremiah had said that the temple had been turned into a place of robbers.

Revision Questions

1.          Account for the conflict between Prophet Jeremiah and Priest Pashhur.

2.          Justify the disagreement between Priest Pashhur and Prophet Jeremiah

3.          Discuss the circumstances that led to the conflict between Jeremiah and priest Pashhur

4.          Discuss the basis of conflicts among religious leaders in Uganda today.

JEREMIAH BRANDED A TRAITOR IN ISRAEL

Because of Jeremiah's harsh prophesies and messages of judgement, the people of Judah looked at him as someone against them. Consequently, they branded him as a traitor because of the following:

Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of the Jerusalem temple yet he knew the people treasured it so much as being the house of the Lord. This made him to appear to be against the people's religion.

Jeremiah also prophesied the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. He said there would be massive death in the city as it would be taken over by their enemies.

Jeremiah prophesied that the people of Judah would be taken into exile. Therefore, it appeared that he was wishing the people he claimed to love bad luck.

Jeremiah wrote a letter to the people of Judah who were in exile and encouraged them to settle down and pray together their masters.

Jeremiah also sang a funeral song for the people of Judah. Therefore, it appeared that he wanted to see the people dead.

Jeremiah asked the king Zedekiah of Judah to surrender to the invaders. The people of Judah took it that Jeremiah had conspired with the invaders.

Jeremiah lived an isolated life for was forbidden from attending weddings, feasts and mourning. This made it appear that Jeremiah was against the cultures of the people.

Jeremiah expressed sorrow if the people of Judah and yet it was him who had prophesied about their destruction.

Jeremiah over attacked the priests. He told them they were not better than the people they were serving.

Jeremiah also attacked the people's worship at Jerusalem. He told them that their worship lacked inner commitment and therefore was useless.

Jeremiah stayed single yet according to Jewish culture everyone grown up had to marry before the age of twenty. Therefore, it appeared that he was against the Jewish tradition.

Jeremiah disobeyed all the commands of king of Jehoiakim of Judah. This was taken to be a form of disloyalty that was never tolerated among the people of Judah.

Jeremiah said that there would be terror everywhere in Judah. This was reflected in the renaming of priest Pashhur as "Terror Every Where".

Jeremiah also declared that the temple treasures would be taken away by the enemies of the people of Judah.

JEREMIAH AS THE WEEPING OR THE SUFFERING PROPHET

(Jeremiah's Remonstration, Protest and Confessions with God)

Jeremiah is referred to as the weeping or suffering because of the difficulties he experienced in his personal life during his prophetic ministry.

He suffered greatly that at the climax of it, he openly complained to the Lord about it. In his confession to the Lord, Jeremiah presented to the Lord the intolerable suffering.

He was ridiculed, scorned and persecuted. Many people looked at him as anti-social and a dangerous person to the society and did everything possible to silence him.

Jeremiah was forced to pronounce judgement upon the people he loved so much. He hated to be the one causing troubles to his own people.

The Lord revealed to Jeremiah during his call that the kings of Judah, his officials, the priest and everyone in the land would be against, resist and oppose him. This meant that he had difficult' prophetic work ahead of him (Jer.1: 18-19).      .

The people in Jeremiah's home town plotted to have him killed. Consequently, he was forced to go into hiding yet he had the duty to proclaim the Lord's word (Jer.11 : 18 ft).

Jeremiah felt a lot of pain to see the wicked and the dishonest prosper at the expense of the righteous like him suffer. This forced him to question and challenge God on matters of justice even though he knew he would prove to be right (Jer.12: 1 ft).

Jeremiah complained bitterly to the Lord why he had to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land as if he had lent or borrowed money to and from everyone. He showed God that he had always been unhappy among his own people (Jer.15: 10)

Jeremiah was forced to curse the day he was born because of his suffering. He saw no reason as to why his mother brought him in to the world (Jer. I5: 10).

Jeremiah suffered physical insult during his persecution by priest Pashhur. He was beaten up, chained and arrested after his temple sermon (Jer. 20: 1ff).

Jeremiah was forbidden from preaching in public by King Jehoiakim. However, he felt that he could not hold the Lord's message within him, which he described as burning like fire within him (Jer. 20:9).

Jeremiah's scroll was burnt by King Jehoiakim. The burning of his scroll meant that Jeremiah was forced to do his work without giving reference (Jer. 36:20).

The people of Judah conspired and refused to listen/to Jeremiah's preaching. This made his work difficult.

Jeremiah was tied up, thrown in a dry well and left alone to die. He had prophesied that everyone in the city would die (Jer. 38:1 ff)

He complained to God that he was tired of being scolded and ridiculed. He said this was the reason he was complaining to God.

Besides, Jeremiah told the Lord that he was tired of crying out and fighting violence and destruction every time he could speak (Jer. 12: 1 ff).Jeremiah longed for the day the Lord would allow him take revenge on those persecuting him but it never came to pass (Jer. 15:15).

Jeremiah endured the burden of carrying the wooden yoke upon the Lord's command. This was in demonstrating how Judah would submit to the Babylonian king (Jer. 27: 1 ff).

Jeremiah was forced to ask God for help against the increasing threats from the people of Judah. He felt that he had abandoned and exposed to his enemies and now he wanted terror placed on them (Jer. 17 16-21).

Jeremiah was among the people of Judah the Babylonians captured and took into exile. The people of Judah isolated Jeremiah. They all stood against him and regarded him a traitor.

The friends of Jeremiah waited for him to make the slightest mistake for them to take advantage and bring him down. Others even tried to trick him so that they could catch him in the wrong.

Because of his suffering, Jeremiah wished he was better off dead than alive. He saw no purpose in living but he had to continue that way.

Jeremiah was arrested, imprisoned and fed on only a loaf of bread- upon the order of King Zedekiah. This was because the king thought he was deserting after they had just retreated (Jer. 3 7: 11 ff)

The Lord forbade Jeremiah from attending any; feast in entire life. This meant that the prophet lived a life full of only sorrow.     

Revision Questions

1.          Discuss Jeremiah's confessions or remonstration to the Lord.

2.          What lessons do Christians learn from Jeremiah's suffering?

3.          Account for the reference to Jeremiah's as a suffering prophet/servant.

4.          To what extent was Jeremiah a weeping prophet?

To a large extent, Jeremiah was a weeping prophet

However, to a small extent, Jeremiah was not weeping prophet

·       The Lord promised to give Jeremiah strength to resist all those against him. He would be like a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall.

·       The Lord assured Jeremiah of his protection from those against him during his ministry.

·       The Lord promised to give Jeremiah the words to speak to the people he was being sent.   

·       God gave Jeremiah authority over all nations and kingdoms. He the power to uproot and pull down, destroy and over throw and to build and plant them,

·       Jeremiah had a personal secretary Baruch who prepared and wrote down his words.

·       During his trials Jeremiah had people who pleaded on his behalf.

·       Jeremiah was helped by his friends to go into hiding when king Jehoiakim wanted to have him arrested.