In these studies in the second half of the book of Jeremiah, we will see God’s word coming through Jeremiah and being rejected again and again. We will see the difficulties of Jeremiah but also the way he is saved through it all. Jeremiah is God’s reporter on the spot, in the midst of one of the most tumultuous periods in Israel’s history.
For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, and the particular theme, as with studies elsewhere, each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read on the main Bible page.
Down a Well
Jer 38:1-13
1 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 nothing to 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,[c] an officia 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.
A. Find Out
- What would happen to those who stayed in Jerusalem? v.2
- What did the officials say should happen to Jeremiah? v.4a
- What effect was his word having? v.4b
- So what did they do to him? v.6
- What did Ebed-Melech fear? v.9
- How did he rescue Jeremiah? v.12,13
B. Think:
- How did the message of the Lord have both warning and hope?
- How is the king shown to be weak?
- What does the Cushite’s action say about Jeremiah?
C. Comment:
We already have seen, previously Jeremiah beaten and imprisoned and then released. Now we see his further persecution. The message he is bringing could understandably be considered depressing from a human viewpoint. None the less it did bring some hope – there would be life for those who left Jerusalem, but that needed faith to be received and that was largely absent in Jerusalem at that time!
In what follows we see not only the unpleasantness of the officials but also the weakness of the king who, although he quite liked Jeremiah, hadn’t the courage to stand up for him. The weak in faith seek to be strong in harsh deeds and the king can’t stand up to them.
After Jeremiah is left in the cistern or well, it is interesting to note that there ARE those who are still concerned for him, concerned enough to risk approaching the king on his behalf.
When we speak the truth, although the majority may not like it, there WILL always be some who will respond to it and who will want to stand with us, even though it may not be publicly. We need to remember that.
D. Application:
- Do we remember that most of the time we are likely to receive opposition when we preach the Gospel?
- Can we also remember that there WILL be some though who will respond when they hear us.
The King talks
Jer 38:14-28
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[e] 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 tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to 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.
A. Find Out
- Where did the king meet with Jeremiah? v.14
- Why did Jeremiah think it was a waste of time? v.15
- How did the king reassure him? v.16
- How did Jeremiah say the king could be spared? v.17
- Why was the king afraid to do this? v.19
- What did the king say to say if Jeremiah was questioned? v.25,26
B. Think:
- What, again, was it about Jeremiah, do you think, that made the king want to talk to him?
- How, even in the midst of judgement, is the Lord allowing Zedekiah to have hope?
- What, ultimately, is Zedekiah’s problem?
C. Comment:
Zedekiah knows in his heart that Jeremiah is God’s man. Something in him yearns to know from God what he should do, and so he meets secretly with Jeremiah and questions him.
Jeremiah, fairly understandably, feels it is a waste of time. Either the king will kill him because of what he is saying, or he will simply ignore his counsel anyway. The king reassures him by an oath that he will not be harmed. Having been reassured, Jeremiah tells the king what he has told him before, that both king and city will be spared if they surrender.
Even with the hope of being spared, the king cannot let himself quite trust the Lord. This is his problem: half of him wants to trust and the other half can’t. He is a man with a divided heart, half for the Lord and half for himself, and because he’s not willing to be whole-hearted, he will suffer God’s judgement. It is a problem that many face but God does not bestow His salvation unless there is whole-hearted commitment to Him and that applies to all men and women.
D. Application:
- Do we hang onto self-sufficiency while trying to trust the Lord, or have we surrendered ourselves totally to the Lord?
- Place ALL in His hands today.