Jeremiah 39
COMMENTARY:
: 4 So it was, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the plain. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.)
DEVOTION: There is an old saying that goes, “You can run but you cannot hide!” That was certainly true here in this passage as Zedekiah and all the men of war saw the Babylonians in the Middle gate of Jerusalem! As the city was falling the men tried to escape but God had other plans for Zedekiah. When God has plans for an individual no matter how they may try to run He knows their location and is at work. The Babylonians taking seats indicated that they were victorious and judgment was to be administered. In trying to escape the leaders actually brought greater judgment upon themselves. In humiliation and shame the king was shackled and led in to captivity because he ignored the warnings of God’s prophet (38:17-23). Like Jonah the king found that he was unable to run from God and His will.
CHALLENGE: Perhaps today you are trying to run from the clear direction of the Lord for your life. He is patient and longsuffering but eventually it ends and He calls for obedience. Trust that He knows what is best for your life even though it appears that it is contrary to be designs or interests. It is better to live in peace with God in a dungeon then to live in a penthouse of luxury running from Him. Zedekiah found out the hard way, learn from him and submit to the Lord today! (Dr. Brian Miller – Board Member)
: 11 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying,
:12 Take him and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto you. (6680 “charge” [tsavah] means command, commandment, give orders, appoint, constitute, instruct, give direction, or decree.)
DEVOTION: Jeremiah was faithful to the LORD throughout his ministry. He had to endure a lot from the people of Jerusalem. He told them the truth but they didn’t want to hear it. He gave them hope if they would repent.
Now the city of Jerusalem was under the control of Nebuchadrezzar. He had put king Zedekiah’s sons to death before his eyes. Then he took out the eyes of king Zedekiah and took him to Babylon.
Zedekiah had a choice to make but he feared the reaction of the people rather than the LORD. His choice was wrong and he paid the consequences of his actions.
Now we see that this foreign king giving honor to Jeremiah. He told his captain of the guard that he was responsible for the care of Jeremiah. He was to treat Jeremiah well. He was to give Jeremiah want ever he wanted. It was an open commitment to honor Jeremiah.
The king of Babylon knew what Jeremiah said regarding the captivity. He knew about the LORD through the ministry of other Hebrews. Daniel was influence later.
God honors HIS servants who are faithful. They will suffer for their faithfulness but never forgotten. Each of God’s faithful servants had to go through a hard time. If we read through Hebrews 11 we see this as fact.
The Christian life is one that includes suffering because this is the way that the LORD chastens for sin or prunes us for more fruit. It is because of HIS love that we suffer.
Christ demonstrated this on the cross and throughout HIS life here on earth. People don’t like the message of commitment. Each of us has to take up our cross and follow HIM. The cross is heavy at times. We are not to be lazy or selfish with our carrying of the cross.
CHALLENGE: Faithfulness as a steward of God while on this earth is necessary to show our genuine commitment to the LORD.
: 16 Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring MY words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before you. (2896 “good” [towb] means the condition of prospering in life, kindness, benefit, pleasant, joyous, desirable, festive, pleasing, favor, or prosperity.)
DEVOTION: The children of Israel were not obeying the LORD and HE sent judgment through the nation of Babylon. Also, they were not treating Jeremiah good except for this foreigner. Ebed-melich, had treated Jeremiah well and the LORD was going to bless him for his actions.
The LORD blesses those who help HIS people during hard times. HE knows what is going on in the world. HE knows that even those from other nations still helped HIS people during hard times.
Here is a man that was from another nation, Ethiopia, that helped a servant of God during a hard time. He helped Jeremiah when he was down and the LORD was going to bless him for this action.
We need to make sure that we are helping those who need help even if they are not from the right nation or tribe. God looks at hearts and not at the outside appearance of those that help HIS servants.
I have served in a church that had people from many nations and ethic groups. This is what is supposed to happen today. The problem is that there are many who claim Christ who are not willing to help those from different backgrounds or nations. This is not what the LORD wants of those who are HIS servants.
The children of Israel treated HIS servant, Jeremiah, poorly and they were judged for their actions. This man from another nation treated Jeremiah well and the LORD blessed him for his actions.
CHALLENGE: We need to make sure that we treat the servants of God well. Our nationally should make no difference to us when we are serving the LORD. The LORD loves all those who were serving HIM no matter the nation they come from today.
: 18 For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey unto you: because you have put your trust in ME, says the LORD. (7998 “prey” [shalal] means gain, spoil, booty, become safe from danger of death, escape with life or plunder.) Jerusalem is fallen.
DEVOTION: The king tried to run away in the night. The king was caught. He stood before the king of Babylon and watched his children being killed. The king put out his eyes, so that, his last visual memory was of his children dying.
It is sad because Jeremiah told him it would happen if he did not surrender to the Babylonians. He did not and it happened. Jerusalem was burned.
Jeremiah was taken out of prison and given a place of honor by the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah had a message from the LORD before the city was destroyed. It was a message regarding Ebed-melech, the one who had saved him from the dungeon of mud. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian had asked the king to take Jeremiah out of the cistern. He had received the king’s permission to take Jeremiah out of the cistern. He went and took Jeremiah out of the cistern.
The LORD made a promise to him for his help of Jeremiah. He was the only one who was willing to defend Jeremiah against the princes and the king. The LORD’S promise was that he would not go into captivity. He would have his own life as plunder against the enemy army. He had gained his life because he trusted in the LORD.
We have to stand up against great odds at times to do the LORD’S work but we can rely on the LORD to be with us. The promise to this man can be a promise to us if we trust in the LORD against all odds. Do we trust the LORD to take care of us when it seems like everyone is fighting against us? There have been times in my life when it seemed like all were against me but the LORD has carried me through. Does that mean that there will not be hard times ahead still? NO! But we need to trust the LORD in every circumstance.
CHALLENGE: Servants are rewarded for doing what they think is right even when it might cause them heartache. Here we have a man from a different culture helping a servant of the LORD. He was rewarded by the LORD.
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