Jeremiah 38

August 27, 2022

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Reading along with us in Jeremiah? Here’s today’s reading:

Jeremiah 38 (NIV)

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern
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.’ ”........Continue Reading

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This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. First…poor Jeremiah! Just when his situation seems awful it manages to get worse! He spoke God’s words under threat of torture, ridicule, imprisonment, and now sure slow death! Yet his faithfulness means God is always with him and always provides a way out and this time in the form a foreigner who pleads for his removal from the pit in which the princes surely expected him to die a slow death without the worry of his actual blood on their hands. Very cowardly!
    However, their cowardly acts are reflective of their cowardly ruler, Zedekiah, who knows he should obey God and yet worries about what everyone would think and again is secretly meeting with Jeremiah. And verse 15 is my favorite….
    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.”
    He knows who he is dealing with and answers his request so appropriately but still continues to share God’s words and follow God’s plan for him despite the potential dangers involved.

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  4. Once again those who don’t like what Jeremiah is saying seek to silence him. It is typical of those who reject God and is the very thing that has lead to believers being harmed and killed throughout history. Now what they are saying makes sense in terms of the effect of Jeremiah’s words, but if they are true, then to reject them and silence him is to subject people to death and destruction. But people who just care about their opinions and their ends are not open to the thoughts of God. And kudos to this foreigner who speaks on Jeremiah’s behalf and courageously approaches the king. And the same king that told Jeremiah’s enemies that he would not stand in their way, directs this man to save him. King Zedekiah definitely shows us that it is always more important to do what is right than to do what is easy. And his lack of courage is seen through the rest of the chapter. He wants to hear what Jeremiah says, but is afraid to do what he says. And yet it is the necessary step that followers of God need to take….to know what God says and then do it, even if the consequences of doing it seem scary or seem that we are losing something. Because when we follow God, we are always gaining something…..

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  5. Zedekiah puts his finger in the air to see which way the wind blows! He allows the princes to take Jeremiah and put him in the dungeon, but then when another comes along, he tells him to lift him out! He doesn’t want anyone to know that he is talking to Jeremiah. He is afraid to obey God and surrender to Babylon, but he also is afraid to disobey. Boy, can’t say that I would be so keen on Jeremiah’s message. Would we believe it if someone came to us and told us to surrender and allow ourselves to be enslaved to another nation? But Jeremiah is a prophet of God. It would have to be Jesus Himself for me to believe that was the plan.

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