When the Establishment Strikes Back Text: Jeremiah 20:1-6
Introduction: The Intolerance of a Corrupt Peace
We live in an age that prizes niceness above truth. Our compromised and effeminate generation of churchmen believes that the highest Christian virtue is to beinoffensive. They want a quiet life, a respectable faith, and a good working relationship with the powers that be. But the Word of God is not nice. It is a fire, and it is a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. And when that Word is faithfully proclaimed, it will inevitably collide with the corrupt establishments of the day, both in the state and, most especially, in the apostatizing church.
The prophet Jeremiah lived in such a time. Judah was a nation under covenant with God, but its leadership had grown fat, complacent, and corrupt. They maintained the outward forms of religion, the temple was still standing, the priests were still officiating, but the heart was gone. They had substituted the traditions of men for the commandments of God. And into this comfortable corruption, God sent a prophet with a word that was anything but comfortable. Jeremiah’s message was simple: repent or be destroyed. The Babylonians are coming, and they are God’s instrument of judgment against an adulterous people.
This was not a popular message. It was seen as treasonous, demoralizing, and deeply negative. The establishment had their own prophets, men who preached peace and safety, men who knew how to get along. They prophesied smooth things because they were in the business of smoothing their own way. But Jeremiah was not in that business. He was in the business of speaking the word Yahweh gave him, regardless of the consequences. And in our text today, we see what those consequences are. We see what happens when the immovable Word of God meets the irresistible corruption of the religious establishment. It is a clash that is as old as Cain and Abel and as current as this morning’s headlines.
This passage is a stark reminder that the most vicious persecution of God’s true messengers often comes not from the raving pagans outside the city gates, but from the credentialed, robed, and respected officials inside the temple courts. When the church makes peace with the world, it must necessarily make war on the truth.
The Text
Then Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was ruling overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words; and Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet struck and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Yahweh. Now it happened that on the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name Yahweh has called you, but rather Magor-missabib. For thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take them away into exile to Babylon and will strike them down with the sword. I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all the fruit of its labor, and all its precious things; even all the treasures of thekings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’
(Jeremiah 20:1-6 LSB)
The Official Response to Truth (vv. 1-2)
We begin with the reaction of the man in charge.
"Then Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was ruling overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words; and Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet struck and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Yahweh." (Jeremiah 20:1-2)
Notice the credentials of the antagonist. Pashhur is not some random heckler. He is a priest, from a priestly family, and he is the "ruling overseer" in the house of Yahweh. This is the chief of temple police, the head of security, the man responsible for maintaining order and decorum. He is the establishment personified. He has a title, a position, and a reputation to protect. And what does he hear? He hears Jeremiah prophesying "these words," likely the prophecy of the broken flask in the previous chapter, a graphic depiction of Jerusalem's coming destruction.
Jeremiah's words are a direct threat to Pashhur's entire system. Pashhur's job is to keep things running smoothly. His career depends on the assumption that the temple is a place of peace and security, that God’s blessing is guaranteed. Jeremiah comes along and says that the whole operation is a sham and that God is about to bulldoze the entire thing. When a man’s paycheck and prestige are tied to a lie, the truth becomes his mortal enemy.
So what does the establishment do when confronted with an inconvenient truth? It doesn't debate it. It doesn't refute it with Scripture. It can't. So it resorts to brute force. Pashhur has Jeremiah struck, beaten. Then he has him put in the stocks. This was not just a means of restraint; it was an instrument of public humiliation and torture. The stocks would contort the body into a painful, cramped position, leaving the victim exposed to the elements and the mockery of passersby. And where does this happen? At the upper Benjamin Gate, a prominent place "by the house of Yahweh." Pashhur wants to make an example of Jeremiah. The message is clear: "This is what happens to those who disrupt our peace. This is what happens to those who don't play by the rules of the religious guild."
This is the timeless reaction of all corrupt authority. When they cannot win the argument, they silence the man. They cannot answer the Word, so they beat the prophet. We see it with the Pharisees against Jesus, with the Sanhedrin against the apostles, and we see it today with compromised church leaders who excommunicate faithful men for calling out their worldliness and doctrinal deviation.
The Prophet's Re-branding (v. 3)
Pashhur thinks he has won. He has silenced the prophet for a night. But the Word of God cannot be put in stocks.
"Now it happened that on the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him, 'Pashhur is not the name Yahweh has called you, but rather Magor-missabib.'" (Jeremiah 20:3)
Jeremiah comes out of the stocks, not with an apology, but with a fresh word from God. He has been physically abused and publicly shamed, but his spirit is unbroken because his authority comes from God, not from the approval of men like Pashhur. And his first act is to rename his persecutor. This is a profound act of spiritual authority. In the Bible, naming something asserts dominion over it. God names the day and night. Adam names the animals. And here, God, through His prophet, re-names Pashhur.
The name Pashhur likely meant something like "prosperity" or "freedom." It was a name of blessing. But God says, that's not who you are. Your identity is not what your parents named you, but what your actions have revealed you to be. Your new name, your true name, is Magor-missabib, which means "Terror on Every Side."
This is a glorious, biblical irony. Pashhur, the man in charge of security, the one who tried to impose terror on Jeremiah to create a false sense of peace, will now become the embodiment of terror himself. The judgment of God is always fitting. It is always poetic. God makes the punishment fit the crime. Pashhur wanted to be the source of fear; God will make him the subject of it.
The Unpacking of the Name (vv. 4-6)
Jeremiah then proceeds to explain exactly what this new name means. The word of God is not vague; it is brutally specific.
"For thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies...'" (Jeremiah 20:4)
The terror will be both internal and external. First, God will make Pashhur a terror to himself. His own conscience will condemn him. His false confidence will shatter, and he will be consumed by the very fear he tried to inflict on others. He will live in a state of perpetual panic. Second, he will be a terror to his friends. His very presence will become a bad omen. He will be a walking, talking catastrophe. And he will be forced to watch as the very friends he tried to protect with his lies are slaughtered by the Babylonians.
The prophecy then broadens from the personal to the national. Pashhur’s fate is tied to the fate of the nation he helped lead astray.
"So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon... I will also give over all the wealth of this city... all the treasures of the kings of Judah... And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies." (Jeremiah 20:4-6)
God’s judgment will be total. Notice the repetition of "all." All Judah. All the wealth. All its labor. All its precious things. All the treasures. God is going to strip the nation bare. The very things they trusted in, their economy, their political power, their national heritage, will be plundered and carried off to a foreign land. Their false security will be utterly demolished.
And then the final, personal blow. Pashhur will not die a martyr's death in Jerusalem. He will be rounded up with everyone else and deported to Babylon. He will die an exile's death in a pagan land. And he will be buried there, far from the holy city he pretended to protect. And who will be buried with him? "All your friends to whom you have prophesied lies." The false prophet and his deluded followers will share the same fate. God will not be mocked. You cannot build a ministry on lies and expect a heavenly reward. You reap what you sow, and Pashhur sowed lies of peace and safety, so he will reap a harvest of terror and exile.
Terror on Every Side, Grace in the Center
This is a hard word. It is a word of unrelenting judgment. And it is a word that our modern, sentimental church needs to hear. We have our own Pashhurs today. They are the celebrity pastors who preach a gospel of therapeutic self-improvement, who tell people that God just wants them to be happy and successful. They are the denominational bureaucrats who silence any talk of sin and judgment for fear of offending wealthy donors or the spirit of the age. They are the ones who prophesy lies of "peace, peace," when there is no peace.
They promise a Christianity without a cross, a crown without a conflict, and a kingdom without a King who demands total obedience. They strike the true prophets with slander and marginalization. They put them in the stocks of public opinion, labeling them as divisive, unloving, and extreme. But the Word of the Lord stands.
The judgment that fell on Pashhur and Judah is a foreshadowing of a greater judgment to come. But in the center of it all, there is a profound gospel truth. The true Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, came and spoke the ultimate truth to a corrupt religious establishment. And what did they do? They struck Him. They put Him in the stocks of a Roman cross. They sought to silence Him in a tomb.
And on that cross, Jesus became Magor-missabib for us. He became a terror to Himself. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He endured the ultimate terror, the full, undiluted wrath of God against sin, so that we would not have to. He took the terror on every side so that we, who believe in Him, could have peace in the center. He went into the exile of the grave so that we could be brought home to the Father's house.
The choice before us is the same choice that was before the people of Jerusalem. You can listen to the Pashhurs of this world, who will prophesy lies to you, who will promise you a comfortable, respectable, and ultimately damning religion. Or you can listen to the Word of the Lord, which comes through His true prophets, and now perfectly in His Son. That Word is a hammer. It will crush your self-righteousness. It will demolish your idols. It will expose your sin. But if you bow to it, if you repent and believe, it will rebuild you into a living stone in a spiritual house, a house that will never be overthrown. Do not be among the friends of Pashhur who are buried in Babylon. Be among the friends of Jesus, who are raised to eternal life.