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Then the LORD said [to Moses], “I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. Numbers 14:20-23

When the LORD promises Jeremiah today that “Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle,” I’m reminded of the two other instances in which the LORD used these exact words. Each time – with Samuel, Manasseh, and now with Jeremiah’s generation – it was a warning of such tremendous upheaval that no one could doubt it was divinely ordained. It’s safe to assume that the LORD’s higher priority is the same here as it was in the days of Moses: one way or another, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

In chapter 19 the LORD gives Jeremiah another object lesson: smash a flask before the elders of the people, for “So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended.” Though it was now under a puppet ruler and many of its ruling class had been exiled, Jerusalem was still intact. The nation survived, even as a vassal of Babylon. But it would not last.

Resistance to this proclamation will fill the coming chapters. When Jeremiah takes his message to the steps of the Temple, in chapter 21, Pashur the priest beats him, and puts him in stocks. This drives Jeremiah into another lament, grieved that whenever he cries out “Violence and destruction!” he hears many whispering: “Denounce him! Let us denounces him!”

It’s no wonder that he sees terror on every side. Yet listen closely, for in the midst of his grief, the prophet will sing.

Our verse for this week is Lamentations 3:22-23: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Jeremiah 19 through 21. Now let’s read it!

Jeremiah 19 - 21

Thus said Jehovah, "Go, and buy a potter's earthen container, and take some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests; and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I will tell you. Say, 'Hear Jehovah's word, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel says, "Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears will tingle. Because they have forsaken me, and have defiled this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods that they didn't know--they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah--and have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I didn't command, nor speak, which didn't even enter into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come," says Jehovah, "that this place will no more be called 'Topheth', nor 'The Valley of the son of Hinnom', but 'The valley of Slaughter'. "'"I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem void in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth. I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them."' "Then you shall break the container in the sight of the men who go with you, and shall tell them, 'Jehovah of Armies says: "Even so I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter's vessel, that can't be made whole again. They will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury. This is what I will do to this place," says Jehovah, "and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth. The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky and have poured out drink offerings to other gods."'" Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Jehovah had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people: "Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel says, 'Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.'" Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in Jehovah's house, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in Jehovah's house. On the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, "Jehovah has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib. For Jehovah says, 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon, and will kill them with the sword. Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all its precious things, yes, I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies. They will make them captives, take them, and carry them to Babylon. You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house will go into captivity. You will come to Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.'" Jehovah, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day. Everyone mocks me. For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, "Violence and destruction!" because Jehovah's word has been made a reproach to me, and a derision, all day. If I say that I will not make mention of him, or speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones. I am weary with holding it in. I can't. For I have heard the defaming of many: "Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!" say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. "Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him." But Jehovah is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won't prevail. They will be utterly disappointed because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten. But Jehovah of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to you. Sing to Jehovah! Praise Jehovah, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers. Cursed is the day in which I was born. Don't let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed. Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, "A boy is born to you," making him very glad. Let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and didn't repent. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime, because he didn't kill me from the womb. So my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame? The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, "Please inquire of Jehovah for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps Jehovah will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may withdraw from us." Then Jeremiah said to them, "Tell Zedekiah: 'Jehovah, the God of Israel says, "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation. I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence. Afterward," says Jehovah, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy."' "You shall say to this people, 'Jehovah says: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will live, and he will escape with his life. For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good," says Jehovah. "It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire."' "Concerning the house of the king of Judah, hear Jehovah's word: House of David, Jehovah says, 'Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain,' says Jehovah. 'You that say, "Who would come down against us?" or, "Who would enter into our homes?" I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,' says Jehovah; 'and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it will devour all that is around her.'"

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