Jeremiah 38:1-13.  Today’s story is very similar to yesterday’s reading.  It is so similar that some scholars think it is the same story being retold.  But there are difference too.  In yesterday’s story Jeremiah was arrested as he was trying to leave the city.   He was accused to being a traitor because he had been telling the people of the city that the Babylonians would win and that they should to submit to the Babylonians.  In yesterday’s story the message that came right before the story of the arrest though was directly to King Zedekiah.  The message to the king was similar to the message that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people in verses 2-3 of today’s reading, but the audience was different (the king verses the people).

In yesterdays reading he was arrested by the captain of the guard but was taken before certain “officials”.  Those officials beat him and put him in a dungeon (probably a cistern) at the house of Jonathan.  In today’s reading we have officials too (v. 4) they are probably the guys named in verse 1.  In today’s reading the officials take Jeremiah to the king and request that he be put to death for discouraging the people.  In another show of weakness (remember the sneaking Jeremiah to the palace yesterday) Zedekiah bails out on his duty and tells them that they have Jeremaih and what can he do about it.  WE see no beating in today’s reading but it doesn’t say they didn’t either.  Instead of killing him outright they stick him in (another?) cistern.  The word here is different from the words used in Jeremiah 37:14-15 that doesn’t prove that it is a different story but it might be why a different word is used.  Bible experts think that the place he was put in Jeremiah 37 was a cistern but it could have been some other sort of basement.  Here in chapter 38 it is definitely a cistern or well.  We also see that this one is in a different place the house of Zedekiah’s son.  The wording of verse 6 indicates pretty harsh treatment, he was “thrown in with ropes”.  They probably didn’t kill him directly because it is strictly forbidden in the Old Testament Law to kill an innocent person.  They may not have liked his discouraging messages but they were not punishable by death under the law.

In verse 7 we meet an interesting person Ebed-Melech, we are told that he an Ethopian and a eunuch.  The word for eunuch can be translated “eunuch” or “official” and was used in the book of Genesis for an official named  Potipher who was married (Genesis 39:1).  The important thing to notice here is that he was an Ethopian, not a Jew.  Ebed heard what had been done to Jeremiah and he went looking for the king.  The king was sitting by one of the city gates (ironically the Benjamin Gate the one where Jeremiah was arrested in yesterday’s reading).  Kings usually sat in the gates to hear cases; to act as judges.  That is ironic too if that is what Zedekiah was doing since he had just sold out Jeremiah.  Maybe he was trying to sooth a guilty conscience.  Ebed confronted the king with the situation and called it what it was, evil; the officials had been wicked.  The word here can mean harmful or displeasing.  Their actions were harmful to Jeremiah and were also displeasing to God.  Ebed informed the king that Jeremiah would die right there in the mud because there was no more bread in the city.  I suppose that was sort of a reference to the message that Jeremiah was giving when these guys arrested him.  People could survive if they left the city and turned themselves over to the Babylonians (Chaldeans).  On the outside they would probably be fed.  Jeremiah was trapped and could not leave.  It is interesting that in yesterday’s story, after Jeremiah was rescued by the king in secret, that he was brought to the palace where he was kept in the courtyard and given food “until it ran out”.  That tells me that this story is later than that one.

Although the king had said he couldn’t stop the officials earlier now he orders Ebed to take thirty men and rescue Jeremiah before he dies.  This was not a night time secret rescue.  Ebed then rescued Jeremiah in a way that contrasted the rough treatment he had received from the Jewish officials.  He even made sure he was comfortable when being pulled up out of the mud (which can suck on pretty good to things).  Jeremiah was returned to the court of the guard.

It is clear that this is a different story that follows the one before.  I think the picture of Zedekiah is interesting, he was a weak leader and his people were suffering because of it.  He was also somewhat of a hypocrite in that he said he didn’t have power when he did and that he was acting like a good judge when he had sold out one of God’s most faithful servants.  The contrast between the officials and Zedekiah with Ebed-melech is cool too.  Jews verses Ethiopian; he was a foreigner and more faithful and took more risks that any of the local guys.  It is important to know that, although the Israelite people have a special place in God’s plan that they are not the only people God is interested in nor the only people that can serve God (see “The Old Testament Connection“).    The Jewish people wee supposed to be an example to the nations of the world, a good example, unfortunately their disobedience and rebellion against God, reduced them to prisoners and exiles.   But even in their failure the world gets to learn about God and his standards and God will fulfill all his good promises to them, promises that we will all benefit from.  God is awesome that he can make something good out of the mess we have made in the world.

God thank you for having a place for any of us in your world and your eternity.  Thank you for finding ways to teach us what we need to know about you.  Thank you for your faithfulness and the good and perfect eternity you have waiting for all who will give their lives to you.  Thank you for loving me.

Jeremiah 37:1-21.  In chapters 30-33 Jeremiah took a break from his main themes of punishment and the disaster that was coming to give some hope.  Of course to put hope in perspective you need to remember that you are in trouble or have need, so there was some talk of that in those chapters too.  Before those chapters Jeremiah had been warning and warning.  In chapters 27-29 we have messages that Jeremiah gave during the reign of the last king of Judah, Zedekiah.  In chapters 34 and 36 we see the author return to messages and events during the siege of Jerusalem.  Those two chapters are basically an explanation or defense of why Jerusalem was in trouble.  Chapter 35  helps us understand by contrasting the unfaithfulness of the Jews to God with the faithfulness of the Rechabites (a non-Jewish or Gentile tribe of people) to one of their human ancestors.  Chapters 37-44 form a section of Jeremiah concerning the actual fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians and events in the lives of the Jews who ran away to Egypt.

In verse 1 we see that Zedekiah is king.  He was the third son of Josiah and was put into power by Nebuchadnezzar.  Nebuchadnezzar removed Zedekiah’s nephew from the throne in 597 BC.  In this verse he calls the nephew, Coniah.  That is a shortened form of Jeconiah.  Both of these words are a compound of the Hebrew word for “establish” and the personal name of God, “Yahweh”.  When we see words that are reflections of the original Hebrew words (especially names) that start with “Je” that part of the name is the first part of “Yahweh”; the “Ya”.  The “iah” ending is also taken from “Yahweh” the “eh” part.  These word form compounds like Coniah, Jeconiah, or even Jehoiachin.  All three would translate as “Yahweh” (sometimes translated as Jehovah) will establish” (for more on this see “What’s in a Name”).  IN verse 2 we see what we already know, no one was listening to Jeremiah (which, by the way, would translate “the one whom Yahweh lifted up”).

In verse 3 we see something kind of shocking; the king sends two guys to ask Jeremiah to pray to “Yahweh our God”.  This is during the time of the siege (as we will see) and the king must have been nervous about the outcome.  Of course if he had been listening he would have known what was coming.  If he ad been listening and been a good leader they might have avoided the invasion altogether. In verses 4-5 we are told this is “before Jeremiah was imprisoned”.  We have already seen that he was held in the courtyard of the palace as prisoner.  He had actually been a prisoner before that, as we will see in a few verses.  We are also told that the Egyptian army was coming to help Jerusalem and that the Chaldean (Babylonian) Army was pulling away from Jerusalem to go deal with them.  So this part of the story is in the earl days when the siege was lifted.  No body was listening to Jeremiah who consistently told them not to resist the Babylonians.  Zedekiah’s request seems sincere but what he was really looking for was Jeremiah to talk God into taking all the trouble away; something that God had repeatedly told them was not going to happen.  There had been a time when God would have let them stay in the land (probably under Babylonian control) if they would turn back to him, but they never did.  Even here it’s more about Zedekiah trying to “turn” God to him rather than him “turning” to God.  In Numbers 22-24 there is a story of a king, Balak, and a prophet, Balaam.  Balaam actually was a prophet of Yahweh but he was not a part of the Israelite people. In the story (which takes place during the 40 years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness, see “The Old Testament Connection”) Balak was a foreign king who felt threatened by the Israelites, he repeatedly asked Balaam to ask God to curse the Israelites, but each time Balaam came back he had “blessings” (promises to provide and protect) from God for the Israelites instead.  In Numbers 23:19 God’s message to Balak was, “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent (change his mind or plan); has he said and will he not do it?  Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill what he has said?”  Unfortunately Balaam was not as consistent as God or Jeremiah, evidently he was true to repeat what God told him but he also told Balak how to deal with the Israelites; get them to marry your daughters and turn their back on Yahweh (Numbers 31:16).

Jeremiah once again delivered the truth to Zedekiah and the people, “Pharaoh is going back, Nebuchadnezzar is coming back, and this city is going to be laid out on it’s back (Ok technically the city was going to be burned down, common habit back in those days of invading armies)” (vv. 6-8).  I think God was getting a little tired of the constant asking without listening.  IN verses 9-11 God informs Zedekiah (and perhaps all the people) that even if they had defeated the entire army of Nebuchadnezzar that the wounded enemy soldiers would still win by burning the city down.

In verses 11-16 the siege lifted (for a while).  Back in Jeremiah 32:1-15 Jeremiah was told by God to help out a relative by “redeeming” a piece of land that belonged to the family.  It was a symbolic act to show that the Israelites would not be banished from the land forever.  Jeremiah bought the land and sealed the deed up in a jar that could keep it safe for “a long time”.  In today’s it appears that this symbolic act may have taken place very early during the time that the siege was lifted (when the relative would have had access to Jerusalem).  In verses 11-13 it seems like the action is continuing from that story.  Jeremiah was going to check out some land in the territory of Benjamin (the tribe he was from, so this was “back home”, and is possibly the same land he had just bought).  When he got to the Benjamin Gate (the one leading out of the city in the direction of his home territory) he was challenged and arrested.  The captain of the guards at the gate accused him to being a traitor and trying to defect (He had after all been telling all of them to surrender for years).  Evidently in those days there was no innocent until proven guilty because Jeremiah was beaten and locked up in a near by house that they were using as a jail.  The language here indicates that he was put in an underground room and that it may have had a low ceiling.  The language is sometimes used for a cistern, sort or an underground room used to collect water for use in the dry seasons.  Think of a pool with a concrete lid on it.  Jeremiah was kept there for “many days”.  The siege probably returned while he was in this pit.

In verses 17-21.  Zedekiah has Jeremiah brought to him from this “prison”.  Once in the palace the king “secretly” asked Jeremiah if he had a message for him from God.  Of course he did, and guess what, it was the same as it had been all along, “You lose!”  In an unusual show of personal emotion Jeremiah then challenges Zedekiah about why he has put him in prison.  The interesting thing is that Zedekiah may have had nothing to do with what happened to Jeremiah, it looks like all the action was by certain “officials”.  The fact that Zedekiah questioned Jeremiah secretly, and that he still wanted a message from God and through Jeremiah, tells me that Zedekiah was a weak king.  Jeremiah on the other hand was very strong in his challenge to Zedekiah, “Why are you asking me?  You never listen to me.  Where are all those “prophets” who told you this would never happen?”  Then Jeremiah challenged Zedekiah to act like a king, he petitioned (asked for favor, real kings had power to choose what happened to their subjects) Zedekiah not to send him back to the dungeon; Jeremiah was sure he would die if he was put back in the pit.  It was at this time that Jeremiah was put in the courtyard of the guardhouse where he remained a prisoner until Jerusalem was destroyed.  The king also made sure that Jeremiah would be fed until food completely ran out in the city.

Although he was a weak leader it appears that Zedekiah had at least some respect for Yahweh.  It was not uncommon for people in the ancient would to have more than one god.  Maybe Zedekiah was just “covering his bases” by continuing to ask Jeremiah for a message from Yahweh.  In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus told his followers not to be hypocritical when they prayed.  There were lots of people in Jesus day who prayed as a show but Jesus wanted them to talk to God in a real way.  They needed to go to God privately like they would to any one and ask God whatever it was they wanted to ask him for.  Jesus also told them to not keep asking. Some people think that the person they are asking for help or advise or whatever doesn’t understand them so they keep asking over and over again.  Jesus said God hears and know what we need.  Later he assures his followers that God not only hears but will meet their needs.  When we keep asking over and over again people get mad, they don’t want to be bugged.  Sometimes it is like we are trying to manipulate or control them; force them to do what we what.  But that is disrespectful, we need to ask and then trust them for help.  Of course we are evil and sometimes we don’t do what we ought to do, but God is never like that he will take care of us and give us what we need.  Zedekiah seems to know God is real and has power but he didn’t really trust or respect him; Zedekiah was told “no”, basically, and he needed to leave it at that and honor Nebuchadnezzar.  Unfortunately it was too late for Zedekiah, nothing was going to stop the invasion, God was actually behind it, the Israelites needed to learn that God is pure and be reminded that they were to have no other “gods”.  They also needed to learn that God is serious about his standard.  When God answers our prayers we need to listen and accept whatever the answer is.  We need to understand what it is God is trying to do in our lives and turn down the paths he is leading us on.  God is the good shepherd and his “rod an staff” should comfort us, the paths he leads us down take us to sources of refreshment and quiet rest, now and for eternity (Psalm 23).  We need to respond to God willingly and sincerely and let him care for us, as only he knows how to do.

God thank you for leading.  Thank you for caring.  Thank you for being consistent.  Thank you for knowing.  Help me trust you only for the answers in good times and bad.  Help me not be a hypocrite.  Let me care for your sheep and your servants.