Dear Friends:

Below I present to you the contents of the secret political and psychiatric tribunal’s report on the prophet Jeremiah which was carried out by the Temple Police under the oversight of the priest and Chief Officer of the Temple, Pashhur, son of Immer. Pashhur was a kind of chief of police at the temple whose job was, in part, to root out lunatics and false prophets and ensure the correct conduct of business in the temple (cf. Book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verses 24-26).

After Jeremiah had prophesied the doom of Judah and Jerusalem and exposed the fact that so much religious and political corruption had been allowed to flourish there (Book of Jeremiah, chapter 19), Pashhur — plainly because Jeremiah’s prophecy brought the whole of his temple ministry into question — gave Jeremiah a beating and put him in some public stocks (see image). In fact, Pashhur’s own actions were against the law! After releasing him the next day, Jeremiah not only promptly reiterated what he said but also renamed Pashhur as Magor-Missabib, “Terror-on-Every-Side”, and foretold that he and his family and friends would be taken off to Babylon by the future invading force (Book of Jeremiah, chapter 20, verses 1-6).

Surely no one imagines that Pashhur simply went off in quiet, humble penitence after such a denunciation of his life and ministry. In fact, we can now reveal that Pashhur embarked on the destruction of Jeremiah through the compilation of the report which I have reproduced below. Fortunately, Jeremiah had some interesting friends in “high” places who kept him safe from the wrath of Pashhur and his type (e.g. Book of Jeremiah, chapter 26, verse 24; chapter 36, verses 19 & 26; chapter 38, verses 7-13). But this does not nullify the incessant wearying attempts by such people to justify themselves and destroy their detractors.

There are a great many “Pashhurs” operating with authority in today’s church scene — more than most would care to admit. Pashur was the forerunner of the Pharisees and lawyers who tried to destroy Jesus; and they are all forerunners of their equivalents today in the many legalists, nitpickers, error-spotters and heresy-hunters who litter the religious scene of today. I remember an instance many years ago when I had given a powerful lecture at a conference and a woman in the audience (some kind of official in the Church of England) who had regularly dogged me with scathing criticism and attempts to undermine my ministry approached me in the car park outside with an anguished, desperate look on her face. She grasped my arm and leaned towards my eyes, saying, “Where do you people find your faith?” There was tremendous despair in her voice. I answered quietly and compassionately. She scoffed and withdrew herself. It was not long before (along with the usual others) she continued her campaign.

Such desperadoes proliferate in the church scene, more so than ever today. They can be pastors, deacons, officials, or just brainwashed pew-sitters who have managed to accrue some kudos for themselves in their churches. But they all manage to cultivate the ability to twist your words and even barefacedly lie about you if they find you a threat and are triggered by you. And they all claim to be God-fearing ‘Christians’. But they are impostors. Fear of reprisal keeps many from blowing the whistle on them. Coupled with this is the fact that the Pashhurs of today often appear to be so ‘godly’ and ‘squeaky-clean’ — due in part to their deft ability convince others of that and also because of mostpeople’s general stupidity — that it blinds the discernment of many. It is very pertinent that Matthew Henry should say, in reference to the original Pashhur, “The greatest malignity to God’s prophets was found among those that professed sanctity and concern for God and the church”. A very perceptive observation. Little has changed in all these years! The greatest malice towards the forthtellers and truthtellers of today is found among those who so avidly profess to be the true guardians of the faith and the church.

Furthermore, the tactics of the Pashhurs of this world in dealing with their enemies haven’t changed much since the beginning of history. If you expose their warts for all to see — or even if they merely discover that you personally have seen through them — you can guarantee an explosively destructive response, replete with snide insinuations, outright lies, character assassinations, the twisting of one’s words, the taking of one’s words out of context, the falsifying of one’s past, the heartless exploitation of one’s valid fears and pains, the ridiculing of one’s observations, the misrepresentation of one’s mission, and so on. It is for this reason that I thought you may find the report below to be of some instructive value in your own lives. For I can absolutely guarantee that if you cultivate a Jeremiah-like investigative, expository mind, you will be confronted with Pashhur-like malice and suppression from many sides, and they will do everything they can to destroy you. For these ‘Pashurs’ have a completely unteachable spirit and deeply despise those whose teaching threatens to expose their psychopathy.

I am therefore pleased to share the contents of this secret political and psychiatric report on Jeremiah. I should add that whenever the words of Jeremiah have been quoted in the report, I have recorded the actual reference in the Book of Jeremiah in the Bible where those words are now recorded. Any such editorial insertions occur within square brackets, like this […].

REPORT OF THE POLITICAL AND PSYCHIATRIC TRIBUNAL ON JEREMIAH OF ANATHOTH
Prepared by Pashhur, Governor of the Temple in Jerusalem in the reign of Zedekiah
(6th century BC)

[The report opens with some indecipherable words, followed by an announcement by a tribunal official of the summing up statement by Pashhur. Pashhur now begins his summing-up]

“As you are all aware, this was intended to have been a purely psychiatric report; but it is difficult to distinguish between the madness of Jeremiah of Anathoth and his criminal behaviour. In fact, they are intimately interlinked, one with the other. His blasphemy and sedition are interwoven with his rambling paranoia and insane conspiracy theories. We have brought many witnesses before this tribunal to prove our case. But even on his own admission he is plainly highly mentally disturbed. Need I remind you of the reported sayings out of his own mouth concerning his unstable mental condition: “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent…” [4:19]. “As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine” [23:9]. As if we need any further evidence of this man’s unfitness to be a prophet and witness in Israel. He has condemned himself with his own mouth. Thus we have Jeremiah of Anathoth’s own admission of madness and uncontrollable behaviour.

Let us now, in summing up, enumerate the many severe crimes and patent lunacy of Jeremiah of Anathoth. May I remind this tribunal that here we have a man who purports to be a purveyor of truth and to have a discerning mind and a godly heart. This is a man who would have us believe that he acts in accordance with the Divine will as a credible prophet of the Lord. I ask you to consider this question as you meditate on the following facts: Would a man of such antisocial actions, unstable thoughts and insane ravings be a fit mouthpiece for the mind of God?

Firstly, and most seriously, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of BLASPHEMY. On one notable occasion, in his prophetic ramblings, he was heard to accuse God Himself of having “completely deceived this people and Jerusalem” [4:10]. What an arrogant assertion! What kind of a man are we dealing with here — a man who dares to accuse God directly of deception?

Secondly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of NEGLECTING HIS DUTY OF PRAYER to the Lord. As a servant of God, his duty is to pray for the people. However, on his own submission, he has claimed that the LORD had said to him: “Do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster” [11:14; cf. 7:16]. On another occasion, he claimed to have been told by the LORD: “Do not pray for the well-being of this people” [14:11]. Not only does this provide an indication of his poor spiritual state but it also imputes to the LORD a lack of compassion which borders once more on the blasphemous.

Thirdly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of DISPLAYING PARANOIA AND A PERSECUTION COMPLEX. Many times he has openly said how he thinks that the whole world is against him. “Everyone curses me” [15:10], he said on one occasion. But even if it was true, the reason can be found in his own paranoid rantings, when he described himself as “a man of strife and conflict in all the land” [15:10]. Is it not an absurd thing to make oneself into such an obnoxious individual and then complain about it because people happen not to like him? [According to a parenthetical sidenote, much ridiculing laughter rippled through the tribunal at this point]. On another occasion he imagined that his own townsfolk from Anathoth were seeking to kill him [11:18-23]. Imagine that! The people from his hometown with whom he had grown up, whom he had known from an early age. What a slur on their character! How convenient for him to imagine that the Lord had assured him of their future judgement. On more than one occasion, like all true paranoiacs, he had the gall to ask the Lord to punish those he imagined were persecuting him. He put it like this: “You understand, O LORD; remember me and attend to me. Avenge me against my persecutors. In Your patience, do not take me away. Know that I endure reproach for Your honor” [15:15; cf. 18:19-23]. One can almost hear the harps playing plaintively for the poor victim! [Again, a sidenote records laughter in the tribunal]. How pathetic his paranoid delusions are! To hear him whining “I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me” [20:7] in that carping voice of his is the height of irony. Poor persecuted Jeremiah! Then he has the audacity to say: “I have heard the whispering of many: ‘Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!’ All my trusted friends watch for my fall” [20:10]. Oh really? As if people have got nothing better to do than stand around watching a total failure to see if he messes up! And as if he has any friends! [More guffaws from the tribunal].

Fourthly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of SPREADING BASELESS CONSPIRACY THEORIES. On a number of occasions he hinted as much, but on one notable occasion he explicitly said: “There is a conspiracy among the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem” [11:9]. The last thing we need in such a time as this, when we should all be pulling together as one, is paranoid conspiracy nuts running around spreading lies and alarm among the people.

Fifthly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of SEDITION AGAINST HIS RULERS. He was heard to accuse the leaders of the people — in the hearing of the people — of Sabbath-breaking [17:19-23]. On another occasion, he publicly accused our King of oppressing and plundering the people, of failing to care for the widow, orphan, poor and needy, of committing bloodshed and of not judging righteously [22:1-3, 11-17]. On yet another occasion, he was actually heard to make the seditious remark: “The wind will drive away all your shepherds” [22:22]. Doesn’t this man realise that it is not his place to criticise those who have the rule over him? His role is to obey his leaders and pray for them. How dare he put himself on a pedestal so that he sits in judgement on his own King and others in power? On another occasion, shortly before I confronted him, he accused our rulers of the most monstrous crimes [19:4-5]. What sort of man would even imagine that our leaders burnt their children as a sacrifice to Baal? Is it any wonder that I gave this man the beating he deserved? What sort of a sick mind would invent such heinous things, let alone write them down? Do we need any further proof that this man is insane and a disturber of the good order of Israel?

Sixthly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of REJECTING NORMAL SOCIAL RELATIONS. This excuse for a man claimed that he was exempt from the basic social obligations of marriage, having children, mourning with the bereaved and enjoying a good feast [16:1-9]. Some have claimed that his rejection of marriage was the product of his sexual perversions. One has to wonder just what kind of repulsive relationship he had with the miscreant Baruch, who is widely known to have exercised a strange hold over Jeremiah [cf. 43:3]. He wouldn’t be the first to enjoy an alternative lifestyle with his secretary. Is a man who rejects social norms and who forms such dubious relationships to be trusted by us as a prophet?

Seventhly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of CASTING ASPERSIONS ON THE FATHERS OF ISRAEL. On one occasion, he claimed that the Lord had said something to him which plainly nullified the intercessional power of Moses and Samuel [15:1]. We know very well that both these giants of our history successfully interceded in defeating the nation’s enemies and turning away the wrath of the Lord [see Exodus 32:9-14; Numbers 14:11-20; Deuteronomy 9:18-20, 25-29; First Samuel 7:5-11; 12:19-25]. But Jeremiah of Anathoth knows better than them and claims more power for himself than they wielded. Would a bona fide prophet of the Lord engage in such power-building and egomania?

Eighthly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of BRINGING DISCOURAGEMENT TO THE PEOPLE. The role of a prophet is to encourage and comfort God’s people, rather than depressing them all the time by speaking seditiously about religious/political corruption on the part of the priests and king, and a coming judgement on the Lord’s chosen ones. Even Baruch, his own “secretary” — I use that euphemism for want of a better word — was utterly discouraged by the prophet’s rantings. As a direct result of Jeremiah’s ravings, Baruch was overheard to say: “Woe is me because the LORD has added sorrow to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest” [45:3]. What sort of encouragement is that for God’s people, when even his own “secretary” feels so depressed?

Ninthly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of FAILING TO HONOUR HIS OWN MOTHER. What sort of a man says: “Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me…” [15:10]? Or, worse still, how many sons would dare to say this in God’s hearing: “Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy” [20:14-15]. Is that not the height of dishonour towards one’s mother and a clear breach of the fifth commandment.

Tenthly, Jeremiah of Anathoth is guilty of TEARING UP THE COVENANT WHICH THE LORD MADE WITH OUR FATHERS. As if sedition against our rulers and blasphemy against the Lord wasn’t enough, this self-styled “prophet” [with this word, “prophet”, Pashhur sarcastically made quotation marks with his fingers] claimed that the Lord was going to scrap the covenant He made with Israel on Sinai and then make a new one — all of which sounds dangerously like antinomianism [31:31-34]. What kind of a covenant could it be which is not rooted in written laws from God? What kind of will-o-the-wisp idea is it which simply relies on the human heart to curb our corruption instead of the statutes of our Lord?

Now what more can be said about this disreputable charlatan, Jeremiah of Anathoth? Have we not heard enough? We have brought many witnesses and used his own words to show what a hypocrite and mentally disturbed poser he is. His self-styled maverick behaviour, his refusal to conform to the standards and traditions of his elders, priests and leaders, his placing of himself outside of the spiritual community of God, his persistent presentation of himself as the Lord’s exclusive spokesperson, his false foretellings, his crazy conspiracy theories, his paranoia, his persecution complex, his pathetic self-deprecatory ramblings, his horribly discouraging demeanour (which has been a stumbling-block for many a child of God), his wilful sedition against our fine upstanding prophets, priests, princes and leaders, his rejection of normal social relations (with all the perversion that this implies), his denial of the relevance of the Laws of our Covenant (hence, his antinomianism), his delusions of grandeur, his negation of the power of our fathers Moses and Samuel, his blasphemies against the Lord, his lack of care and prayer for his fellows, all mean that he is a threat to the good order of our theocracy and he should therefore be disciplined in the highest degree — even put to death if our leaders can be persuaded.

I now place this report before the proper authorities for their approval and ratification.”

[Here ends Pashhur’s summing up statement at the conclusion of the Political and Psychiatric Tribunal on Jeremiah of Anathoth]

Dear Friends,

I could say a great deal about this report, but I will stay my hand, hoping that you yourselves will be able to see through its dishonest, truth-twisting and spurious findings. It reveals so much about the desperately cunning and mendacious workings of the religious mind when it is pitted against the simplicity of the genuinely spiritual person. Remember this: If you cultivate a Jeremiah-like investigative, expository mind — especially if you go public with it, crucifying people’s ‘shibboleths’ — you will be confronted with Pashhur-like malice and repression from many sides. People will criticize your writings even though they have barely even read them, if they have read them at all. The above document reveals succinctly how this works out in practice. May we learn well from the madness of Pashhur, so that we will develop the courage and discernment necessary to confront such people (for they can be both men and women) and expose them for what they are. It is a most sane pathway to do so, regardless of the flak one will inevitably receive.

Yours, in the cause of God and truth,

Alan Morrison
Diakrisis Project

PS: For those who may be imaginationally-challenged, obviously, the above report has been written by me and is not a genuine document (to my knowledge! 😊). It has been written in order to highlight how the Pashhurs of this world operate. Imagine what Pashhur’s reaction must have been to what Jeremiah stated in chapter 20, verses 1-6. Wow! What scintillating honesty there is from the prophet there. I have always held a special love in my heart for Jeremiah. I feel I understand him in all his facets of fearless prophesying and willingness to show his vulnerability. However, I have also come to understand the Pashhurs of this world in all their facets too. They are considerably more prolifically distributed in this evil world than the Jeremiahs. Hence the need to familiarize oneself with their tactics. It is all part of being “wise as serpents” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, verse 16).

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© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2023
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]