Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I dread the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me" (Jeremiah 38:19).

Jeremiah told King Zedekiah again and again to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or else he would suffer and die and the city would be burned. Zedekiah's response could be summarized in the expression, "I would, but..." Zedekiah feared that he would face harm from the Jews that had already surrendered to the Babylonians. Zedekiah did not trust Jeremiah's prophetic assurance of safety in surrender. He figured that if the situation grew too intense, he had enough resources to flee, even to flee to Egypt. 

Now, we know that everything happened just as God foretold and as Jeremiah prophesied. Zedekiah did flee, but he was captured, his family killed before his eyes, and the city burned.

Friends, we are given such a detailed account so that we might identify with Zedekiah and learn from his sin. Zedekiah trusted in his intuition over God's Word. When push comes to shove, when we are backed into a corner, do we pray and trust in the Lord, or do we scramble about with a "survival of the fittest" mentality, willing to compromise our spiritual principles to regain the upper hand? 

Friends, let us admit our vulnerability and our powerlessness apart from the grace of God. Let us make our earnest appeal to God's grace and providence, so that we might be found humble and faithful in every adversity, giving praise to God while confessing our weakness. And as we discern His instructions, let us strive, according to His power within us, to prioritize obedience, trusting that whatever the outcome may be, God will be glorified in us.

Then the officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him, and they put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which they had made into the prison. For Jeremiah had come into the dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days (Jeremiah 37:15-16).

But I will deliver you [Ebed-melech] on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord’” (Jeremiah 39:17-18).

Notice these two events. In the former the prophet Jeremiah was beaten and imprisoned. In the latter Ebed-melech was preserved from the coming destruction to Jerusalem. God allowed Jeremiah to suffer but preserved Ebed-melech from suffering. Was it because Ebed-melech trusted in the LORD but Jeremiah did not? I don't think so. This was not a case of faith versus unbelief but rather a matter of God's sovereignty. God can do whatever He pleases. As He told Moses, when He revealed Himself to him:

And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (Exodus 33:19).

Job recognized God's sovereignty after all his wealth and children were taken from him:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:20).

And again when he lost his health to painful boils, he rebuked his wife, who urged him to curse God and die:

Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?

Solomon recognized this when he observed the vanity of every experience and pursuit in life "under the sun." He recorded these observations in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Asaph, David's Chief Musician, complained about the inequities of life in Psalm 73, how the wicked were prospering while the righteous were suffering. Even under the Old Covenant, God was sovereign and did just as He pleased. 

Friends, I mention these examples as a disclaimer to my earlier claim that under the Old Covenant prosperity theology was true. It would be more accurate to say that those who sought prosperity for their obedience had a greater claim to such prosperity than those under the New Covenant. But even under the Old Covenant, the claim to prosperity was not an absolute claim, for God could always demonstrate sin even in the most righteous of souls to vindicate His actions. Even righteous Job repented when he encountered God:

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:5-6).

Isaiah's testimony is that even their righteous deeds were filthy before the holiness of God:

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (ISaiah 64:6).

When Isaiah encountered God, all he could think to say was:

Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips (Isaiah 4).

Friends, what claim, then, do we have to blessings and prosperity on the basis of our righteousness? None whatsoever. Instead, let us put all of our hope on the righteousness of Jesus and cling to the promise of eternal life through Him, for 

He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

In Christ we have true righteousness, and in Him alone we can make an absolute claim to eternal blessings. I would let go of every blessing in this life a thousand times so that I might lay claim to the eternal hope offered in Christ Jesus my Lord.

Therefore, my friends, are you suffering? It is only for a moment. Are you feeling blessed in this life? This too will pass. I encourage you to do this:

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Colossians 3:2-4).

Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying, “Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 39:15-18).

With all the turmoil that is going on in Israel as Nebuchadnezzar brings the Babylonian army against the remnant of Judah, God remembers one man, Ebed-melech, who is not even an Israelite. He specifically sends Jeremiah to tell him that even though God is bringing disaster on the city, he would be delivered. Why? Part of the reason certainly was that he rescued Jeremiah from the cistern in Jeremiah 38:7-13.  But in the passage it is simply stated, "because you have trusted in Me."

I think this provides a beautiful real-world picture of what Jesus taught the disciples:

Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows (Matthew 10:29-31).

God knows, sees and cares for each and every one of us. Just as he remembered Ebed-melech, He will remember us. I'm not saying that He will always deliver us from hardship, but for us, who have already received His promise of deliverance from eternity in hell, it should be sufficient that He thinks of us. 

There is a beautiful song that reflects how the sovereign God thinks of us and has delivered us. It is my little 4-year-old daughter's favorite song. It's called "Above all": Listen on YouTube.

But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please." So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land. (Jeremiah 40:4, 6 NIV)

Today, I'll keep this short. This little bit of history may have been included to remind us that Jeremiah was no traitor to his people. Rather than enjoy the comforts of Babylon, he chose to remain with his people to the bitter end. As I consider the life of Jeremiah, and all his sorrows, I remember the words in Hebrews 11, that these servants of God endured what they did because they looked forward to a better place in heaven:

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16 NIV)

This is our hope as well, for we too are citizens of heaven. Let us live with this view in mind:

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20, 21 NIV)

As a follow up to my post on Jer. 26-29 regarding standing for God, here in chapter 38 we see Jeremiah risking all by speaking God's pronouncement of judgement on the city of Jerusalem.  This led to him being thrown in a muddy cistern left to die.  God's provisions come in the form of a man named Ebed-Melech, an official that had enough authority to get King Zedekiah to order Jeremiah to be lifted out of the cistern.  Furthermore later as the Babylonians overtook the city the LORD tells Jeremiah to go and tell Ebed-Melech not to worry as the LORD promises he will not be handed over to the enemy because Ebed-Melech trusted in the LORD when he stood up for Jeremiah who was unjustly thrown in the cistern (Jer. 39:15-18).  In this account we see the purpose of each of God's servants being fulfilled based upon their obedience and trust in the LORD.  One thought is that Jeremiah could have as easily died in the cistern as been saved.  What is the significance?  I believe this would have been just as appropriate in God's eyes.  We all have a purpose.  We may never know what it is and even if we know it may be in hindsight.  The point is we don't know when and where our days will end but rest assured if our belief and trust is in Christ Jesus then we will finally be home.  Until then we should pursue Christ and strive to live as he lived as flesh as if it were our last day.  Fear of death is a measuring stick of faith.  At some point in a Christian's walk life in this world becomes more purposeful as does death.

Friends, look what the captain of the Babylonian guard says to Jeremiah:

The LORD your God has pronounced this doom on this place. Now the LORD has brought it, and has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the LORD, and not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you (Jeremiah 40:2-3).

How remarkable is that?! How does a foreigner know the oracle of God against His people in Judah? Clearly the word has gone out even beyond the borders of Judah that God was judging His people for their sins. Unfortunately, while a godless nation like Babylon embraced this truth, the people of God did not.

Keep in mind also, that at this point in history Daniel and his friends, who were exiled to Babylon in the first deportation (Daniel 1:1) have been many years in Babylon, even gaining reputation for their wisdom and understanding while they served in the king's court (Daniel 1:20). In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar (c. 604 B.C.), we are told that Daniel even explained and interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream, a dream that none of the wise men could explain. As a result of this, Daniel was exalted to a high position and Nebuchadnezzar even acknowledged the supremecy of the LORD:

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king (Daniel 2:46-49).

Now, it is likely that King Zedekiah in Jerusalem was probably not aware that all of this was occuring in Babylon. All he knew was that Nebuchadnezzar was the godless and ruthless king of a foreign nation. Yet, all along God was preparing this foreign king and the nation of Babylon to be a temporary place of rest for His people during the seventy years they would be in exile. Through Daniel and his friends, King Nebuchadnezzar saw and acknowledged the reality and power of Israel's God. If only Zedekiah had trusted the LORD when Jeremiah gave him His Word. If only he could understand that even the king of Babylon was in the hand of God.

Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: "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. But if you do not surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand" (Jeremiah 38:17-18).

Friends, these accounts are written to be instructive for us, so that in the time of testing we might not lose faith in the Lord. As Paul wrote to believers in Romans 15:4, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." So, when we are confronted with the choice of trusting and obeying God or else following our own way, let us not be afraid of loss or of threats from others or of the uncertainty of the future, because we know that our God is always in control and has promised us ultimate good in Jesus Christ.