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The Bible Breakdown
Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah Needs Some Meds
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, jeremiah, chapter 20. And I, just to be honest with you, I struggle to come up with a title for this one, so don't get mad at me for this one. Here it is. Today's title is Jeremiah Needs Some Meds. Jeremiah, he needs all the meds. Whatever you got, he can use it, including some Tums. He needs some anti-acids. He needs headache medicine. He needs some mood regulation. He needs it.
Speaker 1:Okay, and you're going to find out by the time we get to the end of this chapter. He is going through a roller coaster and can I tell you it is chapters like this. Number one lets me know the Bible's inspired, because if it wasn't inspired, if it was just a man-written book, we wouldn't have included this chapter. But then the other thing is, is it's so wonderful? Because we remember Jeremiah was a bro, he was a regular old dude in touch with a supernatural God, and only through God was he able to do the things he was able to do, because he's normal and you think about the pressure that Jeremiah is under. No wonder he's having these massive highs and these critical lows and all of this kind of stuff, because life is hard, but the great thing is, god is with him all the way and he needs some meds. Okay, so we're going to get into all that in just a moment, but if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and, as always, make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion who? I am sure that they will have a much better title for what I am talking about today, but this is the best I got because I feel for my man, jeremiah, all right, and they do an amazing job over there. Okay, so if you have your Bible, wanna open up with me to Jeremiah, chapter 20. Let's talk about Jerry. Okay, Now, remember, the overall goal of the book of Jeremiah is for God to give us a future and a hope in the middle of all of this darkness God's light in the middle of darkness.
Speaker 1:So Jeremiah is one of the true prophets in a group of false prophets, and so every day, he is going to Jerusalem, he lives in Jerusalem, he's going to the temple and he is debating and arguing with these false prophets because they're saying everything's fine. Nebuchadnezzar may be coming our way, but Babylon's not going to overtake us. I mean, look at us, we're us, we're going to be fine. And Jairus said no, look at us. Okay, I see something very different than what you see. I see people who are completely sinning and turning their back on God and you think God's just going to let us go. No, bad things are coming, and so, as Babylon is getting closer, they're starting to realize. Well, maybe Jerry knows what he's talking about, but he needs to kind of change that a little bit, because he's a little bit of a negative, nancy, right. And so they start asking for him to, you know, beseech God for them, but make sure he says it the way we want him to say it, right. And so it's just this back and forth thing of up and down. So let's read this together and let's just kind of just enjoy the fact that man God tells the truth, he tells us the way it is, and that Jeremiah is doing well and he's not doing well and everything in between, and he just just kind of just feel a little bit better that when we that, when life is hard for us, we go. Good, it's not just us right, here we go. If you're ready, let's read it.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah 20, verse 1 says this Now Pasher, son of Emer, the priest in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard what Jeremiah was prophesying. Now pause, remember, he's prophesying it's all going to get bad, it's going to get real bad, so you might as well just give it all up. Right, here we go. Verse two so he arrested Jeremiah the prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin gate of the Lord's temple. They beat him up and put him in jail. But then verse three the next day when Pasher finally released him, jeremiah said day when Pasher finally released him, jeremiah said Pasher, the Lord has changed your name.
Speaker 1:From now on, you will be called the man who lives in terror. Now, real quick pause. In Hebrew you would say it like this Megor Mishabib. Imagine someone come up to you and says hey, your name is now Megor Mishabib, which means the man who lives in terror. For this is what the Lord says. I will send terror upon you and all your friends. You will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. I will hand these people of Judah over to the king of Babylon and I will take them captive to Babylon or run them through with the sword. I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem and all the famed treasures of the city. The precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings will be carried off to Babylon. As for you, pasher, you and all your household are going as captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you prophesied that everything would be all right. Now pause, wow.
Speaker 1:So Jerry gets the snot beat out of him and thrown in jail, and the next morning he says hey, broski, guy who threw me in jail, you's a gonna die, you and all your crazy friends. Y'all gonna get arrested or killed. That's crazy. I mean, jeremiah is low, then he's mad. Now he's going to get even lower because now he is going to complain to the Lord and watch how he does this.
Speaker 1:Okay, verse seven. This is just going to make you feel better. Okay, verse seven. Oh Lord, you misled me and allowed myself. I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked.
Speaker 1:Every day, everyone laughs at me. When I speak, the words just burst out Violence and destruction. I shout, and so these messages from the Lord. It made me a household joke, these messages from the Lord. It made me a household joke. But I say to myself I'll never mention the Lord or speak his name. But his words burn in my heart like a fire, like a fire in my bones, and I am worn out, trying to hold it in. I can't do it.
Speaker 1:I have heard the many rumors about me. They call me the man who lives in terror. They threaten if you say anything, we will report it. Even my old friends are watching me, waiting for a fatal slip. He will trap himself, they say, and then we will get our revenge on him. But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior. Before him, my persecutors will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated, and dishonor will never, their dishonor will never be forgotten. Oh, lord of heaven's armies, you test those who are righteous and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets. You see, let me see your vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you. So sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for, though I was poor and needy, he has rescued me from my oppressors. Pause.
Speaker 1:So he got beat up. Then he started threatening folks. Then he says God, I feel like you've just tricked me, like I'm supposed to do this for you, but yet things aren't working out for me. But then I trust you. So God judged them, and now he's like praise the Lord, he's all over the map. And yet here we go again, verse 14.
Speaker 1:Yet I curse the day I was born, poor Jerry, may no one celebrate my birthday, my day of birth. I curse the messengers who told my father Good news you have a son. Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the Lord overthrew without mercy, terrifying him all day long with battle shouts. Because he did not kill me at birth. Oh, that I had died in my mother's womb, that her body had been my grave. Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow and shame.
Speaker 1:Poor Jerry, he's just trying to follow the Lord and it's just not going good. And I don't know about you, but when I read that, first of all, jerry needs some myths. He's having some peaks and some valleys. He's having some good days and real bad days. He needs a little stability going on in his life. But at the same time, that makes me feel so much better, that helps me realize that's what life is. That's what serving God is. Now let's also be real and say that's what not is. That's what serving God is. Now let's also be real and say that's what not serving God is too. I mean, you know what I'm saying. You're going to have good days and bad days, whether or not you serve God. The difference is is you're not ever going to have to do them alone. If you've got God with you and he walks with us and he redeems every bad day, and it's just so much better to serve the Lord, but it doesn't mean you're not going to have bad days.
Speaker 1:But what's amazing is what Jeremiah is doing, and this is what I want to leave with us today. I want to kind of leave you with a question as well. Jeremiah is going up and down, up and down, up and down, but every time he kind of makes this circle, this up and down, but also this circle he circles back around to but God, but God, god, they threw me in jail. But God, god, I wish I'd never been born. But he comes back around to God, god, I need you to do this. But he comes back around and he comes back around, and he just comes back around to God.
Speaker 1:So here's the thing it's okay to not be happy about the season you're in. It's okay to not be happy about what people are doing. It's okay to wish that circumstances would improve, as long as you always come back to God. I am not happy, but I will not leave you. I'm going to trust in you, even to the point where he's even mad at God. God, when's this going to get easier? God, I'm doing this for you and I feel like that I'm. I'm experiencing all kinds of trouble because of it. I love that he's honest with God, but after he's done being honest, he still comes back to the Lord.
Speaker 1:That's the secret sauce for making it through difficult seasons, and that is, first of all, to not be ashamed of being unhappy. It's okay to be unhappy. It's okay to not be okay with the fact that your family's going crazy, that your job is miserable, that you're arguing with those that are supposed to love you and that things don't make sense. That's okay to not be happy about that. The great thing about seasons is that they always change. That's the best and the worst thing about it.
Speaker 1:The only thing you can't do is you can't forget that God is in charge and always come back around to him, and that's what we see Jeremiah constantly doing. And if we always come back around to him, god always leads us in the right direction. Because what we don't notice is is, even though we're kind of like we're going through circles and going through circles, those circles aren't just staying in one place, but we're circling very slowly in the right direction. Just think about it. Think about where you were five years ago. Think about where you were maybe 10 years ago, if you're old enough for that. You are not where you used to be. Yes, you're not where you want to be, but thank goodness you're not where you used to be. So, even though it feels like you're going through cycles and circles and you know that's the story of my life and all that stuff You're still much further along than you were. God has actually been moving you in the right direction, more than you realize, and he will stay faithful always.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you that you're with us and you're for us. I pray today, god, that no matter what goes on in our life, we'll always turn back to you. We're thankful for you today. In Jesus' name we pray Amen, amen. God's word says in Jeremiah 29, verse 13,. If you look for me wholeheartedly, say it with me, you will find me. That's my prayer is that every day you will find God more and more. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Jeremiah, chapter 21.
