The persecution of Jeremiah continued and he was put in the stocks by the priest Pashhur. Jeremiah was put in the stocks, and the reason for this was that Jeremiah had been prophesying about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was unrepentant and warned Pashhur that he himself would become a terror to himself. The destruction would come. The people, including Pashhur, would be carried off to Babylon.
Earlier (Jer 15:18) Jeremiah had spoken of God as being a deceptive brook. Here he says that God has deceived him. Once again we get an insight into the heart of the prophet. He has been faithfully carrying out the task given to him by God, despite all the opposition. Yet inside he is experiencing all sorts of turmoil. On the one hand he feels that the more he carries out God's word the greater the suffering gets. Yet God's word is burning within him and he has to let it out. Giving up isn't an option either.
His friends are of no help either. It is good to have close friends, but there is a limit to what even they can do. "But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior". Faith starts to arise in Jeremiah. Difficult times force us to draw deep on the power of the Lord, to put our trust more and more in Him, to rely more and more on Him, for we are left with no other option.
This faith lasts for verses 11-13, then in verse 14-18 he falls back into despair. Isn't this roller coaster what we often go through as well? We have this notion that if only we were really good Christians then we would go serenely through life trusting God. It doesn't happen that way, and God is well able to cope with all our ups and downs, with the reality of who we are and what we are like.
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