The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Terror on every side” it comes from the Hebrew Word “magor missaviv” which means “terror on every side.”
Jeremiah suffers physical persecution while wrestling honestly with the burden of his calling. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Jeremiah 20.
Jeremiah describes how Pashur, chief governor in the house of the Lord, hearing his prophecy, struck him, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord, and the next day Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks, Jeremiah declaring that the Lord has not called his name Pashur, but “Magormissabib,” “magor missaviv” in Hebrew, meaning terror on every side, since he shall be a terror to himself and to all his friends.
Jeremiah pours out raw, honest complaint, “O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me,” describing how he said he would not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name, but His word was in his heart as a burning fire shut up in his bones, and he was weary with forbearing, and could not stay, hearing the defaming of many, fear on every side, since even his familiar friends watched for his stumbling.
Jeremiah declares confidence despite this, “But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail… Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers,” yet the chapter ends in stark contrast, Jeremiah cursing the day he was born, “Cursed be the day wherein I was born… Why came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?” this chapter’s raw emotional swing from confident praise to genuine despair capturing the profound, honest struggle involved in Jeremiah’s difficult, costly calling.
Jeremiah’s raw complaint, you have deceived me, and I was deceived, gives startlingly honest voice to the genuine tension between feeling called by God and experiencing that calling’s real, painful cost through public mockery and persecution. This chapter’s dramatic swing from confident praise to cursing his own birth reveals that even history’s most faithful prophets experienced genuine, unresolved emotional struggle rather than constant, unwavering confidence.
Visit Us At: www.youtube.com/@BibleLifeBasics
Support Us On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/BibleLifeBasics