The Response of Jeremiah to Persecution: Prayer — Seeking a Hiding Place in the Lord

Introduction

Smashing a clay jar destroys it beyond repair. This is the subject of the present Scripture. The smashed jar symbolizes God’s coming judgment, one that will be final and will determine people’s destiny forever. The judgment of God will smash the universe beyond repair. He will create another universe, but it will be completely new and of a totally different quality. The new universe will be made of permanent, eternal material, an incorruptible substance that will last throughout the unending ages of eternity. Chapters 19 and 20 are closely linked to the pottery theme of chapter 18. For a second time the Lord instructs Jeremiah to preach a sermon based on pottery. This is, The Lesson of the Smashed Jar: Judgment — Destruction Beyond Repair, Jeremiah 19:1-20:18.

I.   The lesson of the smashed jar: judgment is a surety due to the people’s stubborn hearts and disobedience (vv. 19:1-15).

II.   The reaction to the broken jar, the lesson of God’s coming judgment: the leaders arrested Jeremiah (vv. 20:1 -6).

III.   The response of Jeremiah to persecution: he sought refuge, a hiding place in the Lord (vv. 20:7-18).

Jeremiah 20: 7–18   The Response of Jeremiah to Persecution: He Sought Refuge, a Hiding Place in the Lord

The persecution Jeremiah suffered cut his heart to the core. The leaders and people had insulted, abused, and held him in contempt, hurting him very deeply. So he did what he knew to do: he went before the Lord in prayer and cried out for His help. Opening his heart to the Lord, God’s prophet poured forth his innermost thoughts and feelings. Crying out from the depths of his soul, he exposed four raw emotions with the Lord:

1.   Due to the constant abuse he had suffered, Jeremiah questioned God’s call to him (vv. 7-8). He asked the Lord if he had been deceived about his call. It was difficult to believe that he had been deceived, for at the time of Jeremiah’s call, the Lord had already addressed his objections. And the Lord had thoroughly convinced him that he was truly called to preach God’s Word. Nevertheless, his preaching had borne no fruit. To the contrary, he had been ridiculed daily. Everyone was mocking him. Although he faithfully proclaimed God’s warning of His coming judgment, preaching the Word of God had brought him only persecution. People insulted and reproached him all day long (v. 8). Jeremiah clearly needed what so many prophets of God need when they are discouraged: a reconfirmation of God’s call and mission.

2.   Despite Jeremiah’s discouragement, he knew that he could not deny or ran from God’s call and mission. He knew that even if he left the ministry, he would still be compelled to proclaim God’s Word (v. 9). God’s Word burned in his heart like a fire that consumed his bones, his entire being. He could not hide away the Word of God in his heart and mind and keep it only for himself. He could never stop sharing it with others.

3.   Clearly broken before the Lord, Jeremiah revealed the deep pain he felt because of the persecution he was suffering (vv. 10-13). A scandalous campaign had apparently been launched against him in an attempt to defame his reputation as a prophet and keep the people from listening to him. They evidently took the saying that the prophet had so often used and turned it against him giving rise to a nickname for Jeremiah. When they saw him coming, his enemies would simply say, “Here comes ‘terror on every side!”’ Whatever the case, Jeremiah’s enemies constantly opposed him. Even his friends turned against him. Seeking to stop his preaching, they sought to find out something criminal about him to report to the authorities.

But note the strong faith of Jeremiah (v. ll). He knew that the Lord, like a mighty warrior, was protecting him (v. 10). He knew not only that the Lord would cause his enemies to stumble and fall but also that God would punish them with eternal shame and dishonour.

Jeremiah’s major concern was that God vindicate Himself (v. 12). He knew that the Lord examines the hearts and minds of people to determine who is righteous. Therefore, the Lord could execute true and just vengeance. The Lord could vindicate His prophet and the mission He had given him, the preaching of His very Word. The Lord was very capable of fulfilling everything Jeremiah had prophesied. By fulfilling the prophecies concerning His coming judgment, the Lord would vindicate both His Word and the cause of His prophet. Realizing this wonderful truth, Jeremiah broke out in praise to the Lord. He praised God for delivering the poor in spirit, true believers, from the wicked (v. 13). With confidence flooding his heart, he knew that the Lord would deliver him.

4.   After the Lord gave Jeremiah a deep sense of joy at the triumph over his persecutors, a sense of shame and despair seems to have come over Jeremiah (vv. 14-18). Although most commentators interpret this passage as a continuation of his despair over his persecutors, more likely he sensed that he had miserably failed the Lord by questioning Him and His call. Having just broken out in a triumphant song, Jeremiah now turned to the Lord and confessed that he was such a miserable failure before the Lord that it would have been better if he had never been born. The day of his birth should be cursed, not blessed. Most, if not all, prophets of God have experienced this sense of unworthiness, this feeling of having failed the Lord. Most have even confessed that, if it were not for Christ, it would have been better if they had not been born.

Apparently the man who had brought the news of Jeremiah’s birth to his father was one of the abusive friends who were persecuting him. For this reason, Jeremiah pronounced a curse upon the man, a curse like the one God pronounced against Sodom and Gomorrah. Of course, this is a reference to the coming Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, an attack that would utterly destroy the capital, even as Sodom and Gomorrah had been destroyed. Feeling that he had utterly failed the Lord, Jeremiah said that it would have been better for that man to have killed him in the womb than for him to have failed the Lord as miserably as he had. Note that Jeremiah explains his despair to the reader (v. 18). He felt that he had failed the Lord in his preaching, for he had been unable to prevent the coming judgment. He and the people were to experience catastrophic trouble and sorrow due to God’s hand of judgment. The Lord had sent him to warn the people, and he was convinced that he had failed. None of the people had responded in repentance. None had turned back to the Lord. Thus, in summary, Jeremiah was gripped by despair...

•   because he had questioned the Lord as a result of the persecution by his enemies

•   because his preaching had failed to turn the people back to the Lord in repentance, which meant that he had been unable to stop the coming judgment

Thought 1. There is only one answer to persecution: we must turn to the Lord in prayer and cry out to Him to meet our need. Only the Lord can deliver us through such trials. When we are opposed, ridiculed, or attacked — whatever the form of persecution — our only refuge is the Lord Himself. Jeremiah sought refuge in the Lord, for the Lord was his hiding place from his persecutors.

Deut 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, ‘Destroy him!

Psa 17:8 “Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”

Psa 27:5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

Psa 31:20 “In the shelter of your presence you hide them from all human intrigues; you keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues.”

Psa 32:7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Psa 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Psa 71:3 “Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.”

Psa 119:114 “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.”

Psa 143:9 “Rescue me from mine enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you.”

Prov 18:10 “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”

Prov 30:5 Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Isa 25:4 You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall. ♣

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