Bible Study - Person God Uses - Persevere in Obedience - Jeremiah 37 and 38 - August 26, 2012

Bible Study – Person God Uses – Persevere in Obedience – August 26, 2012

Note: A special thank you to all who have been praying for our family due to the death of our eldest son Ted. I have not figured out how to respond back to the comments. Blessings to all.

This is our final lesson in our series entitled “The Person God Uses.”

Our scripture is Jeremiah 37:11-17, 38:4-6, 38:14-18.

Imagine preaching for about forty years without anyone paying you any attention. GOD called Jeremiah when he was likely in his teens. It was during the 13^th year of the rule of Josiah 627 B.C. During the repair of the temple in Jerusalem, the Mosaic covenant was discovered and Josiah reinstated the Passover, forbade the worship of Baal and the places for the worship of Baal were torn down. Josiah reestablished the ritual of worship but the missing factor was that the hearts of the people did not change. Religion is like putting a bandage over cancer. People can go through the motions of being religious but unless their hearts have been changed by accepting CHRIST as their Savior, they are just going through the motions of worship, which makes them feel good but their hearts remain the same.

What GOD had told the people of Judah was coming true but they still refused to repent and return to GOD. Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed in 587/586 B.C. The events in our lesson today occurred about 2 years prior.

The prophet Jeremiah ended up in Egypt, against his will, and we do not know what finally happened to him.

Jeremiah preached the message that GOD laid upon his heart for over 40 years. He began preaching as a teenager. He was consistent and that was vital during the last days both for the final king of Judah, Zedekiah, and for the survival of Jeremiah. We will see this as these final events unfold.

Zedekiah was a puppet king. Zedekiah’s original name was Mattaniah but King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave him the name Zedekiah it is thought to demonstrate his ownership and authority over him. King Nebuchadnezzar gave the title of king to Zedekiah in 597 B.C. He was king in name only and was spineless. Zedekiah’s officials wanted him to rebel against Babylon and reach out to Egypt for help. He tried but in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign Babylon invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. Zedekiah ruled for 11 years until the Babylonians completely conquered Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Jeremiah preached truth to Zedekiah during his reign but he rejected it. Zedekiah had an opportunity to take a stand for GOD and lead his people to listen to the message of GOD that Jeremiah was preaching but he did not.

GOD has a message of salvation to the world today. It is the message of salvation through HIS Only SON, JESUS CHRIST. America embraced that message at one time but it is quickly abandoning it to seek the pleasures the world has to offer. We are in the me generation and it seems to be the idea embraced at the moment. Religion is for old folks because we, the young folks, have a lot of living to do. I will be the first to admit that many of us have not been consistent followers of CHRIST. We have not walked the walk of a consistent Christian life. I think it has been because many of us prevented the indwelling Holy Spirit from leading and guiding our lives. We did not want to become so called religious fanatics. We did not understand that being led by the Holy Spirit does not mean shoving CHRIST down the throats of others but waiting for the opportunity to speak truth when GOD opens the door of a person’s heart.

Our young adults have experienced the tragedy of abuse, divorce and failed institutions which used to be secure. This has resulted in them questioning or rejecting true Christianity because in many cases they have been betrayed by Christians or those in leadership of the church or institutions founded upon Christian values. I am not trying to put down these groups because there are many that are true to GOD’S Word. Those who have been hurt to the core by the actions of some of these groups are still accountable to GOD. Don’t let your disappointment result in missing out on eternal life through JESUS CHRIST.

It is time for a real revival among Christians to walk their talk through Spiritual renewal.

In our lesson today, there will be a lot of different names. If they are too tough just pronounce the first letter of the name and move on.

Let’s read Jeremiah 37:1-10: (Background)

Jerusalem’s Last Days (Eighteen (18) years had passed between the events in Chapter 36 and 37.)

1 Zedekiah (zed uh KIGH uh) son of Josiaha (2Kg 24:17; 2Ch 36:10) reigned as king in the land of Judah (b Ezk 17:12-21) in place of Jehoiachinc = Coniahd (Jr 22:24) son of Jehoiakim, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made him king.
2 He and his officers and the people of the land did not obey the words of the Lord (e 2Ch 36:12-16) that He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal (f Jr 38:1) son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah (g 2Kg 25:18-21; Jr 21:1; 29:24-29) son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, requesting, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us!”
4 Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks (h Lit was coming in and going out) among the people, for they had not yet put him into the prison. (i Jr 32:2-3)
5 Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, (j Ezk 17:15) and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:
7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king, (k Jr 21:1-2) who is sending you to inquire of Me: Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, (l Lm 4:17) is going to return to its own land of Egypt.
8 The Chaldeans (kal DEE uhns) will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down. (m Jr 21:10; 34:2,22; 38:18)
9 This is what the Lord says: Don’t deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will leave us for good,’ for they will not leave.
10 Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire Chaldean army that is fighting with you, (n Jr 21:4-5) and there remained among them only the badly wounded (o Lit the pierced men), each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city down.”

Jeremiah was going about preaching GOD’S message of repentance. The Babylonian army (also referred to as the Chaldeans) had surrounded Jerusalem. Word came to King Zedekiah that the Egyptian army was approaching Jerusalem. The Babylonians/Chaldeans temporarily pulled back. Why they pulled back is not fully known because the Babylonian army was considered powerful enough to defeat the Egyptians. Jeremiah was advising King Zedekiah to yield to Babylon whereas Zedekiah’s advisors were urging him to make an alliance with Egypt, who was an enemy of Babylon. Zedekiah was caught between a rock and a hard place, so-to-speak.

King Zedekiah sent a messenger to Jeremiah requesting him to pray for them. Since the Egyptians were enemies of Babylon, did the king see a thin veil of hope since his advisors were urging him to make an alliance with Egypt? Had GOD changed HIS mind regarding the fate of Judah/Jerusalem?

In verses 6-10, we see GOD’S answer to the king. GOD’S message remains the same. The one thing the leaders and people of Judah can do is repent of their sins of worshiping pagan gods, child sacrifice and return to worship GOD.

By the king sending an inquiry to Jeremiah reveals to me that the king had confidence in the fact that GOD was speaking truth through Jeremiah. Jeremiah remained true to the message GOD had given him. Will Jeremiah remain faithful to deliver GOD’S message regardless of the circumstances? Let’s see.

Let’s read Jeremiah 37:11-17 and 38:1-3:

Jeremiah’s Imprisonment

11 When the Chaldean (Babylon) army withdrew from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s (Egypt) army,
12 Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin (Jeremiah’s hometown) to claim his portion there (p Jr 32:1-15) among the people.
13 But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, (q Jr 38:7; Zch 14:10) an officer of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah (eye RIGH juh) son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, and he apprehended Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.”
14 “That’s a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials.
15 The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan (r Jr 38:26) the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.
16 So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeons (Gn 40:15; Isa 24:22; Zch 9:11) and stayed there many days.

When the Babylonians backed off, Jeremiah had some personal business in the land of Benjamin. When he was leaving the city an officer of the guard, Irijah (eye RIGH juh) took him to the officials. He accused him of defecting to the Babylonians/Chaldeans, thus being a traitor. It was a false accusation but none the less Irijah took him to the officials, who in turn had him beat, likely forty lashes and placed him in a house that had been made into a prison. There he stayed in the dungeon until he was summoned by the king. Had this beating and imprisonment resulted in Jeremiah changing his message from GOD? Let’s see.

Jeremiah Summoned by Zedekiah

17 King Zedekiah later sent for him and received him, and in his house privately asked him, “Is there a word from the Lord?” (t Jr 38:14-16) “There is,” Jeremiah responded, and he continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” (u Jr 21:7)

Yes, Jeremiah had a message from GOD and he delivered it in verse 17 just as GOD revealed it. Jeremiah had a question for the king in verse 18.

Let’s read Jeremiah 37:18-21:

18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people that you have put me in prison?
19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and this land’? (v Jr 28:1-17)
20 So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you.(w Jr 38:26) Don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”
21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard. (x Jr 32:2) He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker’s street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard.

In essence, Jeremiah was trying to get the king to think outside his narrow mind by saying – Look at the facts dear king:

-         I have been consistent in telling you what GOD has told me and it has come to pass just as I have told you. Notice how respectful Jeremiah was to the king, “my lord the king” in verse 20.

-         You apparently are listening to those who were telling you that what Jeremiah has been telling you is not the truth. So who is right? The Babylonians have been all around you.

-         This must have gotten the king’s attention for awhile because he honored Jeremiah’s request not to send him back to where he had been held prisoner. Jeremiah told the king that if he went back to that filthy, rat and germ infested cell, he would die. 

-         The king honored his request and had him placed in the guard’s courtyard, which was a better prison than where he was located. He could have visitors there, if he wished, plus he received a loaf of bread, which was considered a day’s wage. Apparently the king respected Jeremiah’s counsel and did not want to risk losing him. Jeremiah’s consistency and honesty in face of serious pressure did not change his message from GOD.

-         Zedekiah was a spineless king as we will see in our next scripture.

Let’s read Jeremiah 38:1-3:

Jeremiah Thrown into a Cistern

1 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucala = Jehucal in (Jr 37:3) son of Shelemiah, (b Jr 37:3) and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:
2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He will keep his life like the spoils of war and will live.’ (c Jr 21:9; 39:18; 45:5)
3 This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will most certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon’s army, (d Jr 32:3-5) and he will capture it.’”

We see Pashhur surface again in Jeremiah’s life. Jeremiah was still speaking GOD’S message of repentance with a new twist for the people to leave the city while they had this lull. GOD’S message was very clear; Jerusalem and Judah would fall into the hands of the Babylonians. Many still believed that they were in the sweet spot and GOD would not let anything happen to them. As I mentioned in an earlier lesson their comfort was in where they were physically located and not in the comfort of knowing that they abided in the loving and caring arms of GOD through their faithful and obedient worship of the true GOD of Judah.

The message GOD had given to Jeremiah was consistent but it made the officials of Jerusalem angry. That is what happens when the officials don’t like a message of truth that runs counter to what they want. You got it, they silence the messenger.

I bet there are a number of people reading this who recall in the last few years that knew the fate of the company they worked for due to poor management. I recall a true story of a high level vice president (H) speaking to a lower level Vice President (L). I will refer to H and L. H told L, if you have a choice of doing something trivial for the CEO such as go and buy a box of chocolates for his girlfriend or working on something important that would seriously impact the company, go buy the chocolates. Folks that is why we are in the mess we have in America. Sorry to say but we have that same or similar mentality running our governments in many states and federal. It is truly a sad day. Will America step up to the plate and do what is right for America?

It is still about greed and it is all about “me.” What is best for “me?” I came up in the period that if the owner could not meet payroll, he/she did without. Integrity has gone out the window and it is time it came back into the home, schools, work place and governments. It is time to hold leaders accountable.

I think GOD has given us a preview of what can happen when those who know HIM takes their eyes off HIM and do not take a stand for HIM.

Let’s read Jeremiah 38:4-6:

4 The officials then said to the king, “This man ought to die, because he is weakening the morale of the warriors who remain in this city and of all the people by speaking to them in this way. This man is not seeking the well-being of this people, but disaster.” (e Jr 29:11)
5 King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he’s in your hands since the king can’t do anything against you.”
6 So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. (f Gn 37:20-24)

Jeremiah’s message was beginning to affect the people and especially the warriors. The officials needed the warriors to remain in the city to protect them after all they were so important. So they concluded that Jeremiah had to be killed. But they were afraid to kill him outright. So they devised a plan.

They presented their case to the king and the spineless king washes his hands of the matter and hands him over to the officials. They take Jeremiah to the king’s son’s cistern which was in the guard’s courtyard. A cistern was designed to hold water and was generally bell shaped. These cisterns were hewed out of rock. They could range from 12 to 15 feet deep and 10 to 12 feet wide with an opening in the top of about 3 feet. In this cistern there was muck (mud) in the bottom.

Notice, they did not throw him into the cistern but they lowered him by ropes.  This was likely so he would mire up in the muck standing up for him to die a slow painful death of starvation.

It would be impossible to escape a cistern unless you had assistance. But guess what? GOD called an Ethiopian to come to Jeremiah’s rescue. It took courage for this man to respond.

Let’s read Jeremiah 38:7-13:

7 But Ebed-melech, a •Cushite court official employed in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate, (g Jr 20:2; Ezk 48:32; Zch 14:10)
8 Ebed-melech went from the king’s palace and spoke to the king:
9 “My lord the king, these men have been evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern where he will die from hunger, because there is no more bread in the city.” (h Jr 37:21)
10 So the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Cushite, “Take from here 30 men under your authority and pull Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.”
11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went to the king’s palace to a place below the storehouse. (i Or treasury) From there he took old rags and worn-out clothes and lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
12 Ebed-melech the Cushite cried out to Jeremiah, “Place these old rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,
13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, but he continued to stay in the guard’s courtyard.

Ebed-melech served in the house of the king. He heard what the officials had done to Jeremiah and once he received the king’s okay, he went into action. Notice that Ebed-melech was prepared to hoist Jeremiah out without causing him harm. He instructed Jeremiah to place old rags, he provided, under his arms and they pulled him out of the cistern using ropes. Jeremiah was still relegated to the guard’s courtyard prison but he had the blessings of the king to be there and the watchful eye of Ebed-melech. Nothing is said about the 30 men that accompanied Ebed-melech but could they have been assigned to guard Jeremiah.

Let’s read Jeremiah 38:14-18:

Zedekiah’s Final Meeting with Jeremiah

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will kill me, won’t you? Besides, if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.”
16 King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private, (j Jr 37:17) “As the Lord lives, who has given us this life, (k Isa 57:16) I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who want to take your life.”
17 Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of •Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, (l 2Kg 24:12; Jr 27:12; 38:2; 39:3) then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.
18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape from them.’”
19 But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am worried about the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans. They may hand me over to the Judeans to abuse me.” (m Jdg 19:25; 1Sa 31:4)
20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the voice of the Lord in what I am telling you, so it may go well for you and you can live.
21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the verdict (n Or promise); lit word that the Lord has shown me:
22 ‘All the women (o Or wives) who remain in the palace of Judah’s king will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon and will say:
Your trusted friends (p Lit The men of your peace misled) (q Or incited you) and overcame you. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you.
23 All your wives and sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans. (r Jr 39:6; 41:10) You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn down.’”
24 Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about these things or you will die.
25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you (s Jr 38:4-6) and come and demand of you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; don’t hide anything from us and we won’t kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?’
26 then you will tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” (t Jr 37:20)   
27 When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he reported the exact words to them the king had commanded, and they quit speaking with him because nothing had been heard.
28 Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was there when it happened. (u)

The king summoned Jeremiah. King Zedekiah must have had confidence and respect for Jeremiah. Zedekiah wanted the truth. Jeremiah used the moment to bargain with the king. He knew the king was fickle. The king gave Jeremiah assurance that he would not have him killed after he revealed the truth to him.

Notice, Jeremiah’s message did not change.  He told the king that he had a choice.

The king asked Jeremiah not to tell his officials what he had told him but to tell them something else as a diversion. The king’s officials did approach Jeremiah and he did exactly as the king requested. It was a message that Jeremiah was under the protection of the king and they left him alone. Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard until the collapse of Jerusalem.

As stated earlier. Jeremiah went to Egypt where he faded into the landscape.

Being called by GOD to obediently serve HIM is not easy. But notice that even though Jeremiah suffered many things GOD came to his rescue by calling others to respond to his need. We may be called to be a Jeremiah or to come to the aid of the Jeremiahs of the world. When called will we respond? Blessings!!!