Jeremiah 38:6 "They took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern.
Jeremiah 38:15 "Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me. But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah insecret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”
Ebed-melech could have remained silent. But that was not right with God---not right with this holy man. Willing to be harmed and humbled, Ebed-melech was directed by the Spirit of God to stand up for Jeremiah. He saved his life. We may never know when our words may save someone from their dilemmas in life. May we be directed by the Spirit of God and listen only to Him, not to man, not to this world. Crabb wrote in 66 Love Letters: You assume that you are doing fine in your relationship with God while you run off trying to make life work. Expecting God to cooperate. Notice t.h.i.s. God doesn't solve secondary problems. The big issues in life is worship and intimacy with God, not wealth, health or personal comfort.
PRAYER FROM PSALMS
God, please bend down to listen to my prayer, hear my voice.. Psalm 116:1-2.
Would you help us to awake to be Ebed-melechs in this crazy world in which we live.
Don't shoot the messenger!
ReplyDeleteJer 38:4 “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is [a]discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and [b]all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm."
I'm thinking this morning about how we only like to hear the good news, even picking and choosing the "good" verses in the Bible. In today's verses, they don't like what God has to say through Jeremiah so they throw him into a cistern to die. Many of us are blind to truth and sugar coating the Gospel message. Yes, there is the best news possible for a contrite and humble soul to seek and find our God waiting for us. But there are harsh warnings from God in the Bible that NONE of us can afford to ignore.