©Michael Player
Chapter 20:1-6 (ESV) - Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.”
Question to consider: What is the difference between Josiah’s reaction to the word of the LORD with that of Pashhur?
Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, the high priest who discovered the book of the Law in the temple treasury and brought it to king Josiah. “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, ‘Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.’” (2 Kings 22:11-13)
Upon hearing the written word of the LORD, Josiah was able to recognize that the only true prophets were Jeremiah and Zephaniah, and thus he began to make the reforms. It’s unfortunate that even though Josiah got rid of the false prophets and necromancers of Baal, there was a fresh supply of false prophets who rose up when his sons took over after his death.
We don’t know the age of Pashhur to know how old he was during the reforms of Josiah, but his name meant something to the effect of “secure on every side” suggesting that he was friends with all of the nations. Unlike Josiah, the word of the LORD served to infuriate Pashhur. When he heard Jeremiah proclaim that Jerusalem would be shattered like the vessel he broke, and the bodies of the people of Judah being unburied, he beat Jeremiah and put him in the stocks on the opposite side of the city. The Benjamin Gate (also known as the Sheep Gate) was on the northern tip of Jerusalem before the outer wall. Maybe he did this to keep the beaten Jeremiah out of sight of the people in order to keep his facade of peace.
Jeremiah’s message didn’t change upon his release. Rather than being the one who brought security and peace to the people, Jeremiah told Pashhur he would now be known as “Terror on Every Side”. Pashhur would be alive to witness the fallout from his false prophecies of peace as people all around him were slaughtered by the Babylonians. He and all his family would know what terror looked like when they were carted off into slavery while the Babylonians plundered the temple treasury.
Words and ideas have consequences. Woe to the false teachers of today who will see the devastation they have caused.
Dear heavenly Father, please help us to set aside our foolish pride and repent of our sin. May we know the relief of Your mercy and forgiveness rather than the weight of Your judgment. Thank You for offering it freely through the righteousness won for us by Christ Jesus. Amen.