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Truth will prevail

Jeremiah 20.7-13 (NRSV)

This is a page from Jeremiah's spiritual journal where he reflects privately on the difficulties of being a prophet. His name’s forever associated with doom and gloom; to this day people accuse pessimistic forecasters of being ‘a Jeremiah’. And of course his bleak warnings got on people’s nerves. They took turns either to reproach him for lowering national morale or to deride him for being a ‘remoaner’, always imagining disaster instead of planning for success. 

Even his friends distanced themselves from Jeremiah. After all, he’d spent time in prison for his stand against the government’s foolishly optimistic policies. ‘Terror is all around!’ they whispered, ‘Why not conform?’ When he still refused to listen there was understandable pressure on his allies to denounce him. Some people tried to entice him to change sides, others tried to wear him down. His enemies tried to take revenge on him for the damage that his fearless campaigning had done to their reputations.

This is only one interpretation of Jeremiah’s enigmatic journal entry, but it’s a convincing one. An alternative version, taken from the ancient Greek translation, has his acquaintances conspiring against him, or fearing that they’ll be caught up in those conspiracies. It has Jeremiah plagued with self doubt, faithlessness and misery, whereas the New Revised Standard Version has him thinking to himself that he must continue warning about violence and destruction.

However, all of the versions agree that Jeremiah felt an inner compulsion to continue prophesying, even when he wanted to stop. A burning fire which he couldn’t bear, raged within him. He was weary from holding in the message. Like someone with Tourette’s Syndrome, he had to let the message out, and when he spoke the Lord took possession of him like a strong or fearsome warrior.

Many preachers, witnesses and whistleblowers have testified to the irresistible urge to say what needed to be said, which wouldn’t leave them alone until they’d done it. Is this how we feel about speaking for the Lord, and speaking out against injustice and wrong-doing? Truth is mighty, thinks Jeremiah, and will prevail, because it derives from the God who knows everything.

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