BELIEVER IN A DARK TUNNEL

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BELIEVER IN A DARK TUNNEL The Confessions of
Jeremiah
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Lesson 4 Bitterness in the Dark Tunnel
Jeremiah 1818-23
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INTRODUCTION 1. Tracing Jeremiahs movements
through the dark tunnels of his ministry makes us
uncomfortable. Too often his ugly thoughts in
those moments of depression reflect times in our
lives when we have felt the same way. 2. We come
now to the fourth personal crisis in Jeremiahs
life. This is perhaps his most bitter outburst
against his adversaries.
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New Plot 1818
18a They said, "Come, let's make plans against
Jeremiah
1. Already in 1119 Jeremiah became aware that
his opponents were devising plans against him.
a. The language makes clear that opposition to
Jeremiah was not a knee-jerk, irrational,
emotional reaction to the prophets hard-hitting
sermons. b. The evil plans made against
Jeremiah parallel the evil plans made in
resistance to Yahweh in v 12.
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c. The Judeans showed their opposition to the
message from God by plotting against the
messenger (v 18a).
18b for the teaching of the law by the priest
will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise,
nor the word from the prophets.
2. The aim of the plot was to protect sources of
man-made wisdom (v 18b). After all, they had
the priests, the wise men and other prophets (cf.
Ezek 726).
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a. Instruction, counsel, and the prophetic word
were three modes of communication that had been
taken over by pretenders who had no divine
guidance. 1) The plotters feared that, if
left alone, Jeremiah might gain popular support.
2) The regular leaders of the nation might
lose their positions of influence.
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b The priests were responsible to give
instruction based on the Law of Moses. c. The
wise men of the Bible were religious and moral
teachers. 1) Ahithophel and Hushai were
prominent members in the court of David.
2) Some of the wise men of ancient Israel,
being gifted by the Holy Spirit, produced the
wisdom literature of the Old Testament.
3) The wise men in Jeremiahs day had become
worldly wise. They were strictly political
counselors who judged matters purely from the
standpoint of probability, not faith.
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d. Prophets were to deliver to the people the
message that was revealed to them by God from
time to time. 1) Jeremiah constantly was at
odds with the prophets. 2) These men had not
received a heavenly call. 3) They had not
received genuine revelations from God.
4) They were mere professionals. They
maintained their positions by giving oracles that
were pleasing both to the general populace and
the rulers.
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18c So come, let's attack him with our tongues
and pay no attention to anything he says."
3. The enemies planned to make lying accusations
against Jeremiah. a. By twisting his words
they hoped to turn the masses against the
prophet. b. Perhaps they hoped to lay the
groundwork for legal action as well.
c. Clearly they planned to kill him (cf. v
23). d. This plot seems to be more widespread
than the plot that Jeremiah faced from family and
friends in Anathoth in chapter 11.
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A Complaint 1819-20
19 Listen to me, O LORD hear what my accusers
are saying!
1. The text does not indicate how Jeremiah
became aware of the new plot against him.
a. When he heard what his enemies had planned
for him the prophet cried out to God (v 19).
b. He asked Yahweh to take note of the threat
against his messenger.
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20a Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they
have dug a pit for me.
2. Jeremiah mentioned three grounds for his
complaint (v 20). a. First, the plot was
unfair. Jeremiah had done good to the Judeans
by boldly proclaiming the truth about what the
future held for Judah. b. Second, the plot
was unscrupulous. Borrowing the terminology
from the Psalmist Jeremiah cried, they are
digging a pit for my soul (Ps 576
357). Jeremiah senses legal entrapment or
worse in the offing.
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20b Remember that I stood before you and spoke
in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them.
c. The third ground for Yahwehs intervention
was Jeremiahs intercessory prayers. 1) In
1515 Jeremiah asked God to remember him. Now he
asked Yahweh to remember his ministry of
intercession. 2) He had wept for his people
he had interceded for them at the throne of
grace. 3) He was the only true friend that
Judah had. 4) When the people should be
honoring him for what he had been doing they were
instead plotting against him.
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Imprecation 1821-22
21a So give their children over to famine hand
them over to the power of the sword.
1. Therefore has the connotation of under these
circumstances (v 21a). 2. Jeremiah prayed that
the sons of his enemies might experience
faminethat they might be delivered over to the
power of the sword, i.e., violent death.
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21b Let their wives be made childless and
widows let their men be put to death, their
young men slain by the sword in battle.
3. Jeremiah prayed that the wives of his enemies
will become childless and widows (v 21b).
Death, as in 152, probably refers to
pestilence. 4. Jeremiah also asked that the
young soldiers be thrust upon the sword until
their life-blood had been poured out.
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22a Let a cry be heard from their houses when
you suddenly bring invaders against them
5. The cry is one of distress it is a cry for
help (v 22a). Jeremiah prayed that the homes
of his enemies might be plundered by a troop of
soldiers.
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Narrative Prayer 1822b-23
22b for they have dug a pit to capture me and
have hidden snares for my feet.
He described to Yahweh the situation as he
perceived it 1. Digging a pit is a metaphor for
plotting evil. Snares are bird traps.
a. Narrative prayer does not aim to inform God
of something about which he is unaware.
b. Rather, the petitioner describes his
predicament to God in order to request divine
intervention.
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23a But you know, O LORD, all their plots to
kill me.
2. You know was a statement of praise and of
profound trust in Yahweh. a. Jeremiah was
always confident of Yahwehs awareness of any
situation (cf. 1716). b. In v 18 the enemies
alluded to the counsel of the wise but here the
counsel was against Jeremiah. They want him dead.
c. Perhaps that was the advice that these
enemies were receiving from their wise men.
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More Imprecation 1823b
23b Do not forgive their crimes or blot out
their sins from your sight. Let them be
overthrown before you deal with them in the time
of your anger.
1. Jeremiah asked God not to pardon the men who
were plotting against him. a. Such a prayer is
rare in the Old Testament, but not unique (cf.
Neh 337). b. Jeremiah did not want God to
ignore or forget about the vicious plots of his
enemies.
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c. Stumble at the very least means to fail in
their plot. It implies being humbled, broken,
and brought to ruin. d. Jeremiah wanted God to
deal with his enemies in the time of divine
anger, i.e., to show them no mercy. 2. Several
points need to be considered in interpreting this
difficult prayer. a. First, the imprecation is
not hurled at the nation as a whole, but at those
enemies who plotted Jeremiah's death.
b. Second, the prophets were neither
vegetables nor machines, but men of like passions
with ourselves (G.A. Smith).
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c. Third, this outburst does not represent
Jeremiah at his best. It is uttered in a
moment of exasperation. d. Fourth, the anger
of the prophet was aroused, not so much because
he personally was being attacked it was because
God was being rejected in the person of his
prophet. e. Fifth, the particular blasphemy
that the enemies hurled at Jeremiah was that his
prophecies had not been fulfilled. Jeremiah
was calling upon God to execute those threats
that he so boldly had proclaimed.
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f. Sixth, the prophet did not pray for these
hardened people because Yahweh already had
indicated his unwillingness to forgive.
g. Seventh, precedents for such prayers of
imprecation can be found in the Psalms.
Jeremiah may have been borrowing the language
of the Psalms in formulating this prayer.
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Conclusion
1. So we see in this confession how ugly
spiritual depression can get. 2. We also see the
need for Jesus teaching about praying for your
enemies. 3. How did Yahweh respond to Jeremiah?
a. God gave him a mission to perform (191).
b. Sometimes the key to getting out of
spiritual depression is to immerse ourselves in
the work of the Lord.