"Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord."
While growing up I often visited Fort William Henry, where battles took place during the French and Indian Wars. On the grounds were stocks that people could try out and take the obligatory photograph of themselves. I remember how fun it was to be in the stocks at first. But left for any length of time my back would start to ache from hunching over. My legs and feet would hurt from standing in one place. It was impossible to scratch my nose with my fingers being cruelly separated by the stocks. The confinement and inability to freely move would make me want out pretty quickly. This verse made me picture Jeremiah being in those stocks. Then I pondered on how today we do the same thing to prophets by putting them in stocks. Not literally, but figuratively when we hedge up their way, and by not sustaining them. It even gets more vile when their council and words are taken to the public arena and openly ridiculed and mocked. After Jeremiah was placed in the stocks he prophesies about what would happen to Pashur and Judah, none of which was good. It is never wise to go counter to the words of a prophet and to mock what they say.
Day 1340
No comments:
Post a Comment