*Jeremiah 38:1-13
Jeremiah is thrown into a muddy cistern by officials but rescued by Ebed-melech, a foreigner who works in the king’s palace.
- Jeremiah’s Situation:
- The passage begins with Jeremiah being confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of King Zedekiah of Judah.
- Zedekiah’s officials, Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Pashhur, and Jucal, hear about Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Jerusalem and decide to bring their concerns to the king.
- Confrontation with the King:
- These officials approach King Zedekiah and inform him that Jeremiah is discouraging the people, urging them to desert to the Babylonians, and warning of the city’s impending capture.
- They plead with the king to have Jeremiah put to death, arguing that his prophecies are demoralizing the people and weakening their resolve to defend the city.
- Zedekiah’s Response:
- King Zedekiah responds by giving the officials permission to take Jeremiah and lower him into the cistern of Malchiah, the son of the king’s secretary, Jonathan, located in the courtyard of the guard.
- Zedekiah washes his hands of responsibility, telling the officials, “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”
- Jeremiah’s Plight:
- The officials take Jeremiah and lower him into the cistern with ropes, where he sinks into the mud at the bottom, unable to escape.
- Jeremiah remains in the cistern, sinking in the mud, while Ebed-Melek, an Ethiopian eunuch in the king’s palace, goes to King Zedekiah to intercede on Jeremiah’s behalf.
- Ebed-Melek’s Intercession:
- Ebed-Melek approaches King Zedekiah and pleads with him to reconsider the actions taken against Jeremiah, highlighting the prophet’s innocence and the injustice of his treatment.
- He implores the king not to let Jeremiah die in the cistern, as there is no food left in the city, and Jeremiah will surely perish if left there.
- Zedekiah’s Response to Intercession:
- Moved by Ebed-Melek’s plea, King Zedekiah instructs him to take thirty men and lift Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.
- Ebed-Melek immediately follows the king’s orders, taking the men with him to the palace storeroom, where they find old rags and worn-out clothes to use as makeshift ropes to pull Jeremiah out of the cistern.
- Jeremiah’s Rescue:
- Ebed-Melek and his men go to the cistern, where they lower the rags and worn-out clothes down to Jeremiah, instructing him to place them under his arms to cushion the ropes and facilitate his extraction from the cistern.
- With Jeremiah secured, Ebed-Melek and his men pull him up out of the cistern and bring him back to the courtyard of the guard, where Jeremiah remains under the watchful eye of the king’s officials.
Jeremiah 38:1-13 teaches us to stand firm in doing what is right, even when it’s difficult. Jeremiah stayed faithful to God’s message, even though it led to hardship. But God used an unlikely helper, Ebed-Melech, to rescue him. This reminds us that when we follow God, we may face challenges, but He will always provide help in unexpected ways. It also encourages us to be like Ebed-Melech—willing to stand up for others and do what is right, even when it’s not popular.
Jeremiah 38:1-13 (WEB)
38:1 Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, 2 “The LORD says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live. He will escape with his life and he will live.’ 3 The LORD says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’ ”4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them; for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”5 Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate), 8 Ebedmelech 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. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.”10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.”11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.”Jeremiah did so. 13 So they lifted Jeremiah up with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.