From the Prison to the Palace.

“EVIL-MERODACH, King of Babylon, in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, King of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison; and spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments; and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the King of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life” (2 Kings 15:27-3027In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. 28And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 29In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. 30And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. (2 Kings 15:27‑30); Jer. 52:31-3431And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, 32And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, 33And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. 34And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life. (Jeremiah 52:31‑34)).
This incident is recorded in identical language in the close of the Second Book of Kings, and in the book of the prophet Jeremiah. It is an unusual thing to find a double record of an event in Scripture, so we may conclude that there is some special lesson to be learned. We may gather from it a striking picture of grace, and an illustration of the way of God’s grace today. It is the story of a journey from the dark depths of a dungeon to the glories of a royal palace.
Two persons are prominent. One the head of the mightiest empire that ever existed, the empire of the “golden head”; the other a captive in a dismal dungeon. Profane history tells us a little about the potentate; Scripture gives us a brief summary of the life of the prisoner. He “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Sin led to bondage. Seven-and-thirty long years he was a helpless captive. No doubt he had planned many an escape and vainly tried to break his bonds.
How like his history to yours! You too have done evil in the sight of the Lord. It does not say in the “sight of man.” Perhaps no one can lay a finger upon you outwardly. You are moral, upright, a regular communicant, a Sunday-school teacher, perhaps a generous, kind, benevolent person. Yet there is that secret sin, that sin which none but the piercing eye of God has seen. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Men saw the good, He alone saw the evil. Now, sin and bondage go together; sorrow and death follow in their train. A judgment-seat lies beyond for the “secrets” of man. We would fain hope that you earnestly long for deliverance. You say, “Yes, but all my efforts are in vain.” Yes, and every day the task will be more difficult. A judge condemned a prisoner to forge a link every day to the chain hung on his body. As the weight increased he was less and less able to get free. So with you. You ask, Is there no way of escape? None by your own efforts. You are as helpless to deliver yourself from the thralldom of sin as Jehoiachin was to break his prison bonds; but, thank God, there is a way of escape, there is deliverance for the captives, but another must free you. Let us see how Jehoiachin got free.
Profane history tells us that Evil-Merodach governed the affairs of the kingdom of Babylon during the time that the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar lost his reason, and ate grass like the oxen. When his reason returned, and he resumed the reins of government, Evil-Merodach was imprisoned in the same prison with Jehoiachin. There he became acquainted with the sorrows of the captive. On the death of Nebuchadnezzar he became heir to the throne, and the reins of government again passed into his hands. He signalized his accession by an “act of grace”; he visited the dungeon once more, but this time it was to take the captive out and set him on a royal throne. Let us trace the steps of this act of grace.
We read first of all that in the first year of his reign he lifted up his head, then brought him forth out of prison, and spake kindly to him. Can you not imagine the captive’s feelings when he heard the mighty king had sent for him? Such a message meant either life or death. How intensely relieved he would be when the head that had lain low on a dungeon floor was “lifted up,” and the doors of his prison house were thrown open. He was “brought forth”; but, above all, how his heart would beat with joy at those “words of kindness,” those “good things” which the margin tells us he spake with him.
Before we go on any further with this touching story, let me tell you of another King who sits on a throne far more glorious than that of Babylon. He too has visited a dungeon full of captives. For three-and-thirty years He sorrowed and suffered, and tasted by personal experience the misery sin had brought in. He was not deposed, but came as a willing visitor to this dungeon home where the captives of sin, Satan, and death lay in all their misery. Before He went back to that glorious throne which was His by right, He announced that He was sent to “preach deliverance to the captives,” and to “set at liberty” them that are bruised. In order to do this, He had to undertake to pay the ransom price of every captive. Over each cell He saw written, “None can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him.” Then He came and announced that He had come to give “His life a ransom for many.” His life! “All that a man hath will he give for his life.” Here is One who had no evil of His own. One free from bondage. One upon whom sin, Satan, and death had no claim; of His own voluntary will paying the ransom price of that deliverance He proclaimed. One who could say, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death.”
Shall I tell you His name? It is Jesus! Jesus!! JESUS!!! He bore that name because of the mighty work of emancipation He had undertaken. The millions paid by England for the emancipation of the slaves pale beside the price He paid. Silver and gold availed not. Life was forfeited, and life must be given. “The precious blood of Christ” was the ransom money. Calvary’s cross in the blackness of darkness tells how He ransoms His captives. He enters their dungeon, bears their punishment to give them a righteous claim to be free. Now we can say to you— “Come forth.” “Come out.” Words of kindness await you—matchless words of kindness, telling how “God so loved” that He “gave his Son,” and how that Son so loved, that “he gave himself.” Himself!! The price is paid, you may go free. Jesus is no longer on Calvary, no longer paying the price. He is seated a “crowned” King on the throne of the Majesty on high. When He took His seat there, His very first act was to throw open the door to three thousand prisoners in one day. This was an act of grace indeed! Evil-Merodach’s name is associated with grace to one—Christ with grace to untold myriads.
For nineteen centuries free pardon, full forgiveness have been daily and hourly coming from His palace. He proclaims “liberty” even for you. Just let Him put His blessed arms under your head. He waits to “bring you forth,” to breathe His words of loving-kindness in your ear. “God commendeth his love to us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Ah, there is no end to His words of kindness. He does not, however, stop with words at your prison door.
This lovely story of Evil-Merodach gives us still further illustrations of the love that delights to bless as well as to deliver. He never rested until the prisoner was freed from the dungeon and seated in the palace. So we are told that he gave him a “throne above all other thrones.”
“Changed his prison garments, and cared for him.” “All the days” and “every day,” all the “days of his life until the day of his death.” This surely was salvation to the uttermost. This was no niggardly act of grace. Each step unfolds fresh and fuller expression of grace abounding.
And so, if you will lay your head in the blessed bosom of Jesus, He will not only breathe words of kindness, and relieve your burden and break your chains, but He will let you know that that bosom is to be your resting-place forever, and His blessed hand will minister to your necessities to the very last step of your earthly journey. His care will never cease, for “having loved his own, he loves them to the end,” and waits to welcome you to His palace, and seat you in His throne.
He is not satisfied for you to be the secret subject of His love and care. He will presently set your throne above all thrones. For has He not said, “A seat on my throne” awaits those who respond to His grace. The day will soon dawn when the redeemed and the Redeemer, the ransomed and the Ransomer, will be displayed in glory, and He will publicly own you as the “ransomed of the Lord.”
But even now He will change your “prison garments.” He would destroy every trace of your prison house. You are not to be a ticket-of-leave man. You say, What do you mean? Just this, a ticket-of-leave man is out on his good behavior, and he is liable to be sent to prison again if he fails in his duty. Not so does Jesus treat His ransomed. He delights to strip you and to clothe you. You in your rags may do for the prison. Nothing less than the best robe will suit the palace. He does not cover your rags with a royal robe. He says, like He did to Joshua, “Take away the filthy garment.” Jesus is no longer on the cross. He is risen—nay more, He has ascended, and is in the presence of God. Each believer is accepted in the Beloved, and is made the righteousness of God in Him.
The best robe is now upon all them that believe. The bolts and bars of your prison home are broken forever. The palace garments are yours, nay, more, Jesus has charged Himself with every step of your journey. Every day and all the days a gracious provision awaits you. He is at the right hand of God, a great and gracious priest, saving to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. A bounteous store of present blessings is yours, and royal glory by-and-by. What a story of love and grace is thus unfolded. Grace to the vilest and grace to the end.
H. N.