What Burns Within You?

Jeremiah 20:9 (ESV) 9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

As always, our words are better explained by our lives; by what happened and how we responded. 

• Let’s look at what lead to this statement from Jeremiah. 

Jeremiah 20:1-6 (ESV) 1 Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.”

We are reminded that at the beginning of this book that the prophet Jeremiah is told by God that this would happen. 

Jeremiah 1:17-19 (ESV) 17 But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”

BUT the LORD tells Jeremiah that they will not prevail against you!

Let’s go to verse 7 to fully understand Jeremiah’s mindset and his complete statement. 

Jeremiah 20:7 (ESV) 7 O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.

The NKJV uses the word induced instead of deceived which is probably a better fit. 

• The KJV translates Strong's H6601 Pata in the following manner: entice (10x), deceive (8x), persuade (4x), flatter (2x), allure (1x), enlarge (1x), silly one (1x), silly (1x).

This passage is about Jeremiah being more strongly influenced by God than he had every planned. 

• It’s as if someone enters a marriage thinking it’s going to be a 50/50 only to realize its actually 100/100. 
• We say we will follow Christ, but many seem surprised when they become captivated by the Gospel!

Jeremiah 20:8 (ESV) 8 For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.

The word of God has made him a laughing stock, a joke and there’s no relief from it. 

• God never promised it would be easy, instead He promised us it would be difficult. 

John 15:18-19 (ESV) 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Psalms 69:4 (ESV) 4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me,

those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?

Matthew 24:9-14 (ESV) 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 

So, the prophet who is hated by the world around him, is so captivated by God and the Word of God that he says it’s like a fire burning in his heart all the way down to the depths of his bones. 

Jeremiah 20:9 (ESV) 9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

The completion of this thought in Jeremiah’s mind... 

Jeremiah 20:10-12 (ESV) 10 For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.” 11 But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me.

They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. 12 O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.

Take Away: 

• Are you willing to drown out the world’s words through meditating on God’s promises to you as His child? 
• Do you trust that God’s justice will prevail? 
• Have you fully committed to the cause of Christ?