Sabbath, February 1 – Jeremiah 38, 39
Study Questions:
1. What price did the prophet Jeremiah pay to fulfill his prophetic ministry? (Jeremiah 38:4-6)
2. Who came to the rescue of God’s servant, and what was his ethnic origin? (Jeremiah 38:7-9)
3. What tragedies did Zedekiah reap for not following the Lord’s instructions to the letter? (Jeremiah 39:5-7)
4. How did God reward the faithfulness of His servant Ebed-Melech? (Jeremiah 39:15-18)
Commentary and Reflection:
Chapters 38 and 39 of Jeremiah describe the lamentable spiritual condition of the kingdom of Judah. The stubbornness of the nation’s leaders—starting with the king, his princes, and the priests—is incomprehensible as they repeatedly rejected God’s warnings and admonitions through His prophets. Their hearts remained as hardened as flint.
Jeremiah is a spiritual champion, repeatedly and tearfully appealing to the Jews to heed the Lord’s voice. In response, these pseudo-leaders repaid him with contempt, torture, and death threats. God’s servant continued to appeal to their hearts from a muddy cistern, but they hardened themselves even more. Eventually, the judgment was fulfilled, and Judah was taken captive to Babylon for 70 years.
King Zedekiah had the unfortunate distinction of being Judah’s last king before the invasion and deportation of the people to Babylon. His reign exemplifies the expression, “what could have been but was not.” Commenting on Zedekiah, Ellen G. White writes:
“Zedekiah at the beginning of his reign was trusted fully by the king of Babylon and had as a tried counselor the prophet Jeremiah. By pursuing an honorable course toward the Babylonians and by paying heed to the messages from the Lord through Jeremiah, he could have kept the respect of many in high authority and have had opportunity to communicate to them a knowledge of the true God. Thus the captive exiles already in Babylon would have been placed on vantage ground and granted many liberties; the name of God would have been honored far and wide; and those that remained in the land of Judah would have been spared the terrible calamities that finally came upon them.” (Prophets and Kings, p. 440)
Satan worked tirelessly to ensure that the leaders and the people ignored God’s warnings through Jeremiah. False prophets arose to discredit Jeremiah’s messages. King Zedekiah, a weak and cowardly man, feared the corrupt princes who blackmailed and threatened him if he followed the prophet’s words (Jeremiah 38:1-6).
The Lord’s directive to submit to the Babylonians, which would have minimized the suffering of captivity, was rejected by everyone. Although the princes’ recommendation to kill Jeremiah was not immediately carried out, their decision to throw him into a damp dungeon to die slowly was far more cruel than killing him outright.
At this point, a brave man stepped forward to intercede for God’s servant. Ironically, it was Ebed-Melech, a servant or slave in the royal household of Ethiopian (African) origin—a Gentile whom the Jews considered inferior or second-class. Ebed-Melech was a God-fearing man. He courageously approached the king to plead for Jeremiah’s life. God guided him to protect the prophet.
The king immediately instructed Ebed-Melech to gather a group of men and rescue Jeremiah from the dungeon. The Ethiopian’s pious and tender attitude is striking; he even gathered old rags for Jeremiah to place under his armpits so the rope would not injure him as they lifted him out.
Once freed from the cistern, the king summoned Jeremiah to inquire about the word of the Lord. After promising to spare his life, Jeremiah repeated the same message he had previously delivered in the temple: “If you surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.” (Jeremiah 38:17, NKJV)
Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the fall of Jerusalem. Zedekiah’s fate was tragic, the result of his lack of courage and adherence to God’s principles.
The contrast between Zedekiah’s fate and that of Jeremiah is stark. The Lord protected His faithful servant. After being freed by the Babylonian officials, Jeremiah chose to stay with the poor of the land—vine-dressers and farmers whom Nebuchadnezzar left in Judah.
Let us ask God for the spirit of faithfulness, compassion, and integrity demonstrated by Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech.
Blessings to all.
Professor Javier Diaz