the life of a prophet

The other day my wife said that prophesy runs in our family. It comes out in funny ways because we, like most people bent this way, try to hide it. It's a gift few people like. People don't like prophets. It makes people uncomfortable when truth is spoken. Often people blatantly deny it.

Another word for prophet is JERK. Now not all jerks are prophets (but a sizable percentage are) but all prophets are jerks. They make people mad. They annoy people. They say things no one wants to hear but they say them anyway. That makes them jerks. Often they do it confidently which makes them look arrogant.

In Jeremiah 20, Jeremiah has prophesied. So he is thought of as a jerk. One of those leading priests that heard him prophesy (Chapter 19) responded by having him whipped and put in the stocks. I remember the stocks from stories about the Puritans. I'd forgotten about them. Jeremiah was kept in the stocks for a day and then released. I can imagine people coming by and mocking him, maybe spitting on him. He was helpless to do anything about it.

When Jeremiah is released by this same priest he responds by telling him of his future. He will see his friends killed and he will die an exile in another land.

Then Chapter 20 becomes poetry and the viewpoint is changed. From history we now read of Jeremiah's personal anguish at being a prophet. He can do nothing but prophesy and it gets him into trouble. But if he tries to stop it just builds up inside and he cannot hold it in (v.9).

He hears all the whispers against him. Yet God has promised to protect him and he is aware of that protection.

There are some famous verses in this lament. In verses 14-18 he goes on lamenting that he was ever born. That is real depression when you feel sorry that you were ever born. People steal this idea for books and movies. Remember "It's a Wonderful Life"? That is the whole premise of the movie. The hero is sorry he was ever born so an angel gives him an opportunity to see what it would have been like.

Do we ever lament that we were born? Surely God has a plan for each of our lives, as he did for Jeremiah. That does not mean that we will not go through hard times like Jeremiah did. They could be really hard involving health issues. We might endure rejection, even failure. Yet if we are following his leading God will be our comforter, our constant companion and protector. We can trust in that, as Jeremiah did.