JEREMIAH
38
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2003 James Melough
38:1. “Then
Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the
son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that
Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,”
38:2. “Thus
saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall
live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.”
38:3. “Thus
saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of
Babylon’s army, which shall take it.”
What Jeremiah had proclaimed
was what the Lord had commanded him to say; but instead of accepting the
prophet’s words as being from God, the four princes mentioned here rejected
them, having chosen to believe the words of the false prophets instead, even
though their prophesies thus far had proved to be wrong.
“... shall have his life for
a prey” means that every man who did as Jeremiah advised would save his life.
38:4. “Therefore
the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death:
for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city,
and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this
man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.”
With defeat and death
staring them in the face, the four princes still clung stubbornly to the false
belief that somehow they would be delivered out of the hand of the
Babylonians; and today’s equally doomed world clings tenaciously to the false
belief that somehow man is going to overcome all difficulties, and by his own
efforts bring in a golden age of peace and plenty, even though everything
points to the truth that the world is tottering on the very brink of the
catastrophe foretold by God. And like those four foolish princes, the men of
the world hate those who proclaim the truth, and would similarly wish to kill
them.
God’s way was, Surrender and
save yourselves, and it still remains His way. Only those who confess their
hopeless estate and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, will save their
souls; but man’s way is, Don’t surrender. Cling to the belief that man is not
a doomed ruined creature in need of a Savior, and work your way to heaven by
good deeds. All such will meet the same sad end as did those four princes and
the fools who heeded their advice, see 13:6.
38:5. “Then
Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hands: for the king is not he
that can do anything against you.”
The weak vacillating king
didn’t even make an attempt to save Jeremiah, for like many another, he feared
men more than he did God, and thereby damned his own soul, as do all who are
governed by the same fear.
38:6. “Then took
they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech,
that was in the court of the prison: and they let Jeremiah down with cords.
And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the
mire.”
Only spiritually blind eyes
will fail to see in what happened to the prophet an adumbration of Christ’s
experience at the hand of His enemies, and as anticipated by the Psalmist, “I
sink in deep mire, where there is no standing .... Deliver me out of the mire,
and let me not sink,” Ps 69:2,14.
The word “dungeon” is
literally cistern, and refers to a hole or pit used to catch water
during the wet season, November to April, for use during the dry months. Even
when empty, the bottom of such a pit was full of mire. It was a horrible
place in which to imprison a person.
38:7. “Now when
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house,
heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the
gate of Benjamin;”
38:8.
“Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king,
saying,”
38:9. “My lord
the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the
prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for
hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.”
The great men, the princes,
would destroy the Lord’s prophet, but a servant had compassion on him, and so
was it with Christ. The great men mocked, despised, and hated the Lord, and
wouldn’t be content until they had killed Him; but the poor “unlearned and
ignorant men” Ac 4:13, loved him; nor has anything changed over the years:
believers, for the most part, are earth’s lowly ones, as it is written, “For
ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and the base things of
the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory
in his presence,” 1 Cor 1:26-29.
38:10. “Then the
king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men
with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he
die.”
It is generally agreed that
Ebed-melech was to take with him three men, not thirty. And again the weak,
vacillating character of the king is revealed: one day at the urging of the
princes, he hands Jeremiah over to their will; the next, he delivers him out
of their hands.
38:11. “So
Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under
the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let
them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.”
38:12. “And
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts
and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.”
The gracious, compassionate
character of Ebed-melech is disclosed in the care he took to see that Jeremiah
should suffer no more discomfort than was absolutely necessary when being
lifted up out of the dungeon. Most men would have considered it enough that
he was being delivered.
A practical lesson is being
taught in this. Believers are at best weak and fallible, and any of us may
become one of those needing to be lifted up. Love and grace should govern the
words and conduct of those whose privilege it is to restore an erring brother,
as it is written, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are
spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted,” Ga 6:1; and again relative to the restoration of
the sinning Corinthian brother, it is written, “Sufficient to such a man is
this punishment, which was inflicted by many. So that contrariwise ye ought
rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be
swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would
confirm your love toward him,” 2 Cor 2:6-8.
38:13. “So they
drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah
remained in the court of the prison.”
The prophet remained a
prisoner, but the conditions of his imprisonment were vastly improved, for the
difference between the dank, dark dungeon, and the palace guard house, was as
great as that between night and day. God doesn’t always deliver us from
trial, but He tempers it to what He knows we are able to bear, and comforts us
with His promise, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (age)”
Mt 28:20, and, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” Heb 13:5. He
didn’t deliver Daniel’s three friends out of the furnace, but He walked with
them in it, Dan 3:25.
38:14. “Then
Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third
entry that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said unto Jeremiah, I
will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.”
The “third entry” was the
door at the side of the Temple reserved for the use of the king, and it was
there that Zedekiah met with Jeremiah to inquire further of him relative to
his own fate and that of the city.
38:15. “Then
Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely
put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?”
Jeremiah responded by
telling the king that the tidings he had to deliver were evil, and would
result in his being put to death for declaring them, and that any advice he
might give the king would just be ignored, so why bother to declare what God
had revealed to him concerning the fate of Zedekiah and of Jerusalem?
38:16. “So
Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the Lord liveth
that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee
into the hand of these men that seek thy life.”
Zedekiah, however, swore
that he himself would neither kill the prophet, nor hand him over to those who
desired to kill him.
“... that made us this soul”
means simply “who has given us our life.”
38:17. “Then
said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of
Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes,
then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and
thou shalt live, and thine house:”
The very thing against which
the princes advised was what God declared to be the only means of salvation
for Zedekiah and for the city: surrender to the Babylonians; nor has time
changed anything: man still rejects God’s way of salvation, which is to
confess ourselves sinners, and cast ourselves on His mercy by trusting in the
Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
38:18. “But if
thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city
be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and
thou shalt not escape out of their hand.”
Rejection of God’s way would
bring utter destruction to king and city alike; and so is it still. The man
who refuses to confess himself a sinner, and who refuses to trust in Christ as
Savior, will perish eternally; as will also the Christ-rejecting world,
represented here by rebellious Jerusalem.
38:19. “And
Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen
to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”
The king rejected the
prophet’s advice because he was afraid that the Babylonians would hand him
over to the Jews who had already defected, and who would mock and abuse him.
Fear of man cost the foolish king his life, as it does multitudes today. Many
refuse to trust in Christ simply because they are afraid of being laughed at
by others, thus damning their souls to eternal torment, a torment that will be
shared by the very same foolish men whose laughter they had feared on earth.
There is no laughter in that dreadful place to which the fear of man consigns
multitudes, a fear in regard to which God warns, “The fear of man bringeth a
snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe,” Pr 29:25.
38:20. “But
Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee, Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of
the Lord, which I speak unto thee, and thy soul shall live.”
Jeremiah gave absolute
assurance of safety, and used every possible persuasion, as has many another
servant of God since then, but to no avail. The fear of man, and rejection of
God’s word carried the foolish king to his doom, as they have countless others
since then, and continue to do today.
38:21. “But if
thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me:”
38:22. “And,
behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be
brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy
friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee, thy feet are sunk
in the mire, and they are turned away back.”
There was a terrible
alternative to accepting God’s word: death; that dreadful alternative being
the same today.
As Zedekiah’s wives and
women servants were led out to the Babylonians, they would repeat to the
foolish king the same truth as had been given him by the prophet, that is,
Your friends have prevailed against you; they have set your feet on the path
to destruction, and now with your feet sunk in the mire, those false friends
have forsaken you. So will it be with all who allow false friends to turn
them away from Christ.
38:23. “So they
shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou
shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king
of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.”
Not only would Zedekiah
himself perish, but his folly would bring ruin on all his family, and on the
city, which the Babylonians would burn.
38:24. “Then
said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt
not die.”
38:25. “But if
the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and
say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it
not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto
thee:”
38:26. “Then
thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he
would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.”
This man’s folly is
unbelievable. Having been told how to save himself and the city, he not only
rejected the advice, but would kill God’s messenger if he told others of the
interview. Many, however, have aped his folly down through the years. They
not only reject the Gospel themselves, but would kill those who would proclaim
it to others.
38:27. “Then
came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according
to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking
with him; for the matter was not perceived.”
38:28. “So
Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was
taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.”
An obvious question presents
itself here. Why did Jeremiah not ignore the king’s command, and tell those
men the truth? It was certainly not fear that kept him silent, for all that
is written concerning him reveals him to have been a man who fearlessly
delivered the truth given him by God. The answer appears to be that he knew
the futility of giving them further warning. They had sealed their ears and
hearts against the truth, and were now abandoned by God to perish. The same
terrible possibility faces all who persistently reject the Gospel, as it is
written, “My spirit shall not always strive with man,” Gen 6:3; “He, that
being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
without remedy,” Pr 29:1.
[Jeremiah
39]