Jeremiah in a pit
38
📚Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, 2 📚“Thus says the LORD: ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live; for his life will be like plunder to him, and he will live.’ 3 📚Thus says the LORD: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, which will take it.’ ”4 📚Therefore the officials said to the king, “We beg you, let this man be put to death, for in this way he is weakening the hands of warriors who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm”.
38:4 Often in the eyes of ungodly men those who faithfully proclaim God’s truth are worthy of death. They misunderstand the ministry and the motives of God’s servants (Acts 22:22). Jeremiah’s faithfulness to God’s word made him seem like a traitor to his nation.⚜
5 📚Then Zedekiah the king said, “See, he is in your hands; for the king cannot do anything against you”.
38:5 Verses 24-26; Jer 37:17.⚜
6 📚Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the courtyard of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank down in the mud.
38:6 Jeremiah sought the good of the people with his whole heart (Jer 8:21—9:1; 13:17). This was his reward in this world (compare John 15:18-19; Heb 11:35-38).⚜
7 📚Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit. when the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin, 8 Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying, 9 📚“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have thrown into the pit. And he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread in the city”.
10 📚Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take with you thirty men from here, and take Jeremiah the prophet up out of the pit, before he dies”.
11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him, and went into the king’s house under the treasury, and took from there old rags and old worn-out clothes, and let them down by ropes into the pit to Jeremiah. 12 📚And Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these old rags and worn-out clothes under the ropes under your armpits”. And Jeremiah did so. 13 📚So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes, and took him out of the pit. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the prison.
38:7-13 When there was none among the people of Israel to help Jeremiah, God chose an outsider, an Ethiopian, and put compassion in his heart for the prophet. God can send help to His suffering people from the most unlikely sources. Ebed-melech acted as he did because he had faith in the true and living God (Jer 39:18).⚜
Zedekiah removes Jeremiah from the well and questions him
14 📚Then Zedekiah the king sent men and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the LORD; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me”.
15 📚Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me”.
16 📚So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made these souls of ours, I will not put you to death, and I will not give you into the hands of these men who seek your life”.
17 📚Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you will definitely go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire; and you and your household will live. 18 📚But if you will not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hands”.
38:14-18 If Zedekiah was expecting Jeremiah to change God’s message he was disappointed. God’s prophets could not and did not pervert the truth to please the rulers of this world.⚜
19 📚And King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, that they may deliver me into their hands, and they will mock me”.
38:19 Verse 5; Jer 37:17. If he had feared God as he ought he would not have feared men. If he had ruled justly and well he would not have feared the Jews who had defected to Babylon.⚜
20 📚But Jeremiah said, “They will not deliver you up. I beg you, obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you. Then it will be well with you, and your soul will live. 21 📚But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the LORD has revealed to me: 22 📚‘Now, see, all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say,
“Your friends have misled you,
and have prevailed against you.
Your feet have sunk in the mud,
and they have turned away”.
23 📚So they will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you will not escape from their hands, but will be seized by the hands of the king of Babylon; and you will cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know of these words, and you will not die. 25 📚But if the officials hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king. Do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death. Tell us also what the king said to you’; 26 📚then you shall say to them, ‘I presented my plea before the king, that he would not make me return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’ ”
38:24-26 Jeremiah’s words did not remove Zedekiah’s fear of men. Zedekiah’s life is an example of the truth of Prov 29:25. We must never let the fear of others prevent us from doing what God tells us to do. What a contrast there is between the king on his throne and the imprisoned prophet! The king was bound by fear wherever he turned; the prophet was free in spirit to serve God.⚜
27 📚Then all the officials came to Jeremiah, and questioned him; and he spoke to them in accordance with all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, since that conversation had not been overheard.
28 📚So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken, and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.