A Helping Hand

Jeremiah 38:1-13 

1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur 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 shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.' 3 Thus says the LORD: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.'"

4 Therefore the princes said to the king, "Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm."

5 Then Zedekiah the king said, "Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you." 6 So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

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 dungeon. When the king was sitting at 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 cast into the dungeon, 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 from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies." 11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 

12 Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes." And Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Jeremiah was once more thrown in the dungeon by those who refused and rejected God’s word through him because they did not like to hear His judgment on them.  Many still respond to the gospel this way because people don’t want to be accountable for their sin inherited from Adam and added to by their own corrupt hearts, and therefore reject the facts of the bad news of their condition and refuse to hear the good news of God’s deliverance offered His way alone.  These wanted to fight the word of God and the government coming into power to stay in Jerusalem instead of facing their just due in the captivity in Babylon for a while.  God made it clear that those who stayed would die, just as those refusing the gospel will die spiritually forever in the punishment holding them accountable for disbelief and disobedience.  The leaders wanted the death penalty for Jeremiah because the message he brought was in their eyes for harm and not the good of the people.  They did not really accept or grasp that it was the word of the LORD and not the messenger so they wanted to take out their hatred and anger on him instead.  They’re chucked him into the empty well of the king’s son into the deep mud until a servant of the king intervened on Jeremiah’s behalf.  This Ethiopian man spoke directly to the king of what evil the princes had done and pointed out that Jeremiah would die of hunger there.  The king heard and ordered the man to take thirty men to lift him out of the deep well so he did not die there.  Certainly it would not take thirty to lift one man no matter how deep he had sunk to be stuck in the mud; he ordered that many to ensure nobody tried to interfere with the rescue, knowing the ones who did this were set on the death of the prophet to silence God’s word.  Jeremiah was rescued and then stayed in the prison court for a while.  We see how the LORD delivers and how He judges people according to his word and character.  Of these things we can be sure as we anchor our hope in Him for deliverance from our sin and wicked men alike (Psalm 140:1, Hebrews 6:19, 2 Thessalonians 3:2).  May we be like the Ethiopian servant who speaks up with a helping hand for the deliverance of the godly and stand valiantly for the truth of God’s word, for many are not valiant for God’s truth (Jeremiah 9:3).