ESOCS Devotional 17 February 2025 – Truth Sometimes Stings
MEMORY VERSE: “Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.” Jeremiah 20: 2 KJV
TEXT: JEREMIAH 20:1-18
Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 2 Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.
3 And it happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has not called your name Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib. 4 For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword. 5 Moreover I will deliver all the wealth of this city, all its produce, and all its precious things; all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them, seize them, and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. You shall go to Babylon, and there you shall die, and be buried there, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies.’ ”
7 O Lord, You induced me, and I was persuaded;
You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.
I am in derision daily;
Everyone mocks me.
8 For when I spoke, I cried out;
I shouted, “Violence and plunder!”
Because the word of the Lord was made to me
A reproach and a derision daily.
9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not.
10 For I heard many [d]mocking:
“Fear on every side!”
“Report,” they say, “and we will report it!”
All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying,
“Perhaps he can be induced;
Then we will prevail against him,
And we will take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail.
They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper.
Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
12 But, O Lord of hosts,
You who test the righteous,
And see the mind and heart,
Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For I have pleaded my cause before You.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
For He has delivered the life of the poor
From the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day in which I was born!
Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
15 Let the man be cursed
Who brought news to my father, saying,
“A male child has been born to you!”
Making him very glad.
16 And let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent;
Let him hear the cry in the morning
And the shouting at noon,
17 Because he did not kill me from the womb,
That my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always enlarged with me.
18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow,
That my days should be consumed with shame?
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
The event in our text took place during the reign of Jehoiakim of Judah. Jeremiah preached at the valley of Hinnom, the centre of idolatry in the city. He also preached in the Temple, which should have been the centre of true worship. Pashur heard Jeremiah’s words and, because of his guilt, locked him up instead of taking his message to his heart for correction. Pashur may have thought he was a strong leader, but he was really a coward. This is real persecution. Jeremiah faced so many life threatening persecutions. Yet in the midst of all these he confessed that the Lord was with him (verse 11).
Today, believers face the same persecution all over the world. It started with Jesus and the Apostles. So, we cannot escape it. Of course, Jesus foretold us (Matthew 24:9)
The truth sometimes stings, but our reaction to it shows who we are and made of. We can deny the charges and hide, manipulate or destroy evidence of our misdeeds. We can take the truth humbly to heart and let it change us. There are many Pashurs today, even among brethren. But truth will always sting the guilty.
CHALLENGES
- Fear of being persecuted forced many preachers to dilute the word.
PRAYER POINT
- Dear Lord, give me the spirit of boldness and sound mind at all times to declare the truth.
FURTHER READING: Matthew 24:4-26
ESOCS Devotional 17 February 2025
