Read Jeremiah 38
Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern
38 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, 2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’ 3 And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”
4 Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”
5 “He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothingto oppose you.”
6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
7 But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
11 So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again
14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”
16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from them.’”
19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”
20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me:22 All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:
“‘They misled you and overcame you—
those trusted friends of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;
your friends have deserted you.’
23 “All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will be burned down.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. 25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ 26 then tellthem, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s houseto die there.’”
27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.
28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
The Fall of Jerusalem
This is how Jerusalem was taken:
Go Deeper
Jeremiah 38 occurs in the midst of a complex time for the prophet Jeremiah and the nation of Judah. The nation of Judah is being sieged by the nation of Babylon. This method of attack involved the invading armies surrounding a city and cutting off supplies until there was no food and/or water left in a city and its inhabitants were forced to surrender. The process of surrender often took time and involved the people of the city trickling out slowly until it was weak enough (in numbers or physical strength) to be easily overtaken by the attacking army.
This is an important factor in understanding this chapter as we see the atmosphere in the city playing a key role in the events that take place. For example, a motivating factor in Jeremiah being thrown into the cistern was because his message that “whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live” (v. 2) was “discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all of the people” (v. 4).
This context is helpful to understand the drastic response to Jeremiah’s teaching, but also makes clear the courage and faith that Jeremiah has to continue speaking the Word of the Lord. Throughout the book of Jeremiah, we have seen the pressure grow hotter in response to the Word of the Lord spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. As the judgment of God becomes closer for the rebellious people of Judah, they become more hostile to Jeremiah’s prophecies. However, the prophet remains steadfast in his service to the Lord.
In the same way, we can see the teachers of the law and the Pharisees grow more and more obstinate against the teaching of Jesus and ultimately determine that He is worthy of death. For Jeremiah, the leaders of the city attempted to murder him by cowardly throwing him into a cistern to die a slow death and avoid shedding his blood themselves.
For Christ, the leaders handed Him over the Romans in hopes that he would be killed for proclaiming Himself as the Son of God and the King of the Jews. After Jeremiah was lowered into the cistern, he was raised up by Ebed-melech (whose name means servant of the king). Jeremiah was raised to continue proclaiming the Word of the Lord against the people of Judah that were enslaved to their sin. After Jesus was crucified, He was raised up by the power of the Spirit to defeat death and the power of sin once and for all.
Questions
- What stuck out to you most about this chapter?
- Do you see anywhere else in this chapter where the setting of war impacts the actions and decisions of the people?
- Do you have a faith that could stand up against persecution like Jeremiah?
By the Way
This is not the only time a prophet’s life was in danger during a siege. Check out this passage from 2 Kings 6:24-33:
24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.
26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” 28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ 29 So we cooked my son and atehim. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth on his body. 31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”
32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” 33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.
The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
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9 thoughts on “Jeremiah 38”
There are 3 main characters playing important roles in this chapter:
•a spineless king who was easily swayed by public opinion
•a brave royal official who stood against injustice
•a weary prophet who faithfully delivered God’s message
Truthfully, I can connect with each of them. There surely have been times when I’ve been a people pleaser rather than 100% faithful to God. I’m hard wired to root for the underdog and standing up for others especially vulnerable people is my natural response. Swimming upstream in this world and living counterculture for the sake of the gospel can be exhausting. Oh, how I would love to be able to tell Jeremiah how greatly he impacted not only his generation but countless others including mine. That his faithfulness spurred me on giving me courage to run this race with perseverance. Well done, good and faithful servant Jeremiah!
Amen!
God gives us a job to speak to others about what Jesus has done in our life. People are frustrating and are discouraging because they dont listen or heed the “warning” like with Jeremiah. So we keep silent the next time probably due to fear of what others will think and/or because when we have spoken the words are not listened to. I bet Jeremiah felt like he was beating his head against a brick wall. He still was faithful to God and God was faithful to him. God is so amazing because when we least expect it He resuce us from the deep pit of mud. Steadfast, unmovable, full of perservence and faithfulness, this is Jeremiah. I too, want to be these things along with gentleness, patience, loving, peaceful, acknowledging God in all I say and do.
Thank You God for the tools to run this race set before me. Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Thank You for being able to be still and listen with hearing. Thank You for peace today. God grant me the peace that was made through Your Son to know that I know You are in the midst of all struggles and turmoils. Thank You for the spiritual wisdom and understanding that I may walk in every good work and be increasing in the knowledge of You. God You are my strength, with Your power to do and be the person You have called me to be today in these minutes in Jesus name amen.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’ 3 And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”
Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.” Jeremiah 38: 2-4
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I can only imagine this to be extremely challenging…especially to an American. Especially to a Texan American dare I say.
Honestly, I believe I would have tended to feel and express the same sentiments of disgust with Jeremiah. Stand your ground; Never, never never give-up; Come and Take it!
And then there’s this: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8-9
The ONLY way I can HEAR from and OBEY the Lord’s leading in my life, is if I am relentlessly DEPENDENT on Him and ABIDING in Him versus my own logic and common sense and cultural indoctrination.
To that end…God help me!!!
Exactly!
PS – Who didn’t read ahead to Jeremiah 39 to see the outcome?!?!? (HA!)
Yes, I read ahead as I wanted to find out what happened to Ebed-Melek. I won’t spoil it for tomorrow.
I am intrigued how God used Ebed-Melek for this brief moment to save the prophet Jeremiah. God could have obviously acted on his own but he used this person. And Eber-Melek courageously obeyed the direction and through his actions saved Jeremiah.
My prayer for me and all of us is that we are like Ebed-Melek today.
This is why the “Power of positive thinking “ and prosperity gospel is so dangerous and even demonic! When God is trying to warn us and wake us up to danger, we better be willing to listen and obey! We cannot be lulled into thinking “I’m ok, you ok, everyone is ok” no matter what they do! Wake us up, Lord!🙏
4 “Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”
I completely get the officials’ mindset’! In my leadership roles, I’ve never wanted such persistent naysayers on my team (although putting them to death was not an option!). But every now and then, having a “Jeremiah” on the team actually is very helpful, despite being very annoying!