A Pashhur in our life,

Jeremiah 20:1-6

Most of us have had a Pashhur in our life, we have known he was the richest and most popular kid at school, or maybe his dad owned the company you worked for, or maybe he was a member of your family.  He is always a little smarter than anyone else in his thinking, and he/she does not desire words that are not to their liking, not even, and maybe especially words of truth.

It may be challenging for our time to grasp the power of the office of the Priest and in the case of Pashhur, the son of Immer, the chief official in the temple of the Lord.  Pashhur is out and about with the people doing whatever a priest should be doing when he hears Jeremiah prophesying, and they are not words to his liking, so this is what took place.  We find the account in verse two; “Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD.”   Now guess what; Pashhur had the authority to do this in that culture and time, he was the law.

God was still on his throne and in total charge and was acutely aware of what was taking place with His spokesman.  It is the next day and Pashhur goes down to the Upper Benjamin Gate in the Lord’s temple, it was the northern gate and the most prominent gate in the city.  If you are Jeremiah that is the presided place to share what God is about to do, and if you are Pashhur it is also the place you want the people to see what happens when someone speaks evil of the leadership or the nation.

It is now the second day, and I’m sure Pashhur has no doubt that Jeremiah will now be subdued and submissive to his authority.  Picking up the rest of the story; verses 3-6, “The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon, you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

The beating of Jeremiah may have been the fist physical beating of his mission, but it will not be the last.  What did you learn from the prophet Jeremiah and what did you learn from the priest Pashhur?  How can you apply this Scripture to your walk with the Lord?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

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