The great city of Jerusalem had lost something, and they could not find it because they did not look for it in the right place. They had lost the favor of God. In fact, they had thrown it away as if it was worth nothing.
We have lost the favor of God too, because we have sinned against Him. Do you know where to find God’s favor? The Bible gives us the answer - right in the strong, loving arms of Jesus! His death on the cross, where He shed His precious blood to wash away our sins, is the reason why God can give to you and me something much better than what we lost. Don’t keep on looking for God’s favor in the wrong place.
In today’s story, Jerusalem was in trouble. The city was under siege - that means that the great army of the king of Babylon was camping all around the city. The people inside the city walls were starving hungry, and no food came in.
King Zedekiah, the king of Jerusalem, was a people-pleaser. It seems that he listened to anything and tried to please everybody.
The prophet Jeremiah was not a people-pleaser. He listened to what God said, and he told the truth no matter what people said. Jeremiah was as hungry as the rest of them - maybe more so - but still he told the truth as God told it to him.
Jeremiah’s message from God was that Jerusalem would NOT be saved. He told the people that the king of Babylon would destroy them. The only way they would live was to surrender to the king of Babylon. But the people hated this message. King Zedekiah may have believed it, but he had no courage to do what Jeremiah said.
Do you have the courage to say, “I believe that God’s message is true; I know that God will punish this sinful world that deserves it; I will take Jesus as my Savior right now”?
Most people hated Jeremiah’s message, and they got the king’s permission to put him in prison. They chose the worst part of the king’s dungeons - a dark hole with muck at the bottom. They dropped him down into the hole with ropes, and his feet sank in the oozy mud.
But God cares what happens to His messengers. King Zedekiah had an Ethiopian helper named Ebed-melech who believed and trusted God. When he heard that Jeremiah was in that terrible dungeon, he went to the king and said, “My lord the king, these men have done evil. [Jeremiah will] die for hunger . . . for there is no more bread in the city.”
The king told Ebed-melech to take “thirty men . . . and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon.”
The kind, Ethiopian helper did more than he was commanded. He remembered how thin Jeremiah was, and he got some ropes and then searched for old rags to pad the ropes to make it softer for Jeremiah’s armpits as they pulled him out. This did not give Jeremiah liberty, but it put him in a much more pleasant place and assured his small bread supply every day.
Then the king called for a secret interview with Jeremiah. He told the king the very same message he had told him before-that judgment on Jerusalem was sure to come. Jerusalem had sinned and God MUST punish sin.
“I am afraid,” said the king.
Perhaps you are afraid too. If you don’t know Jesus the Savior of sinners, you should be afraid. But listen right now to this message from the Word of God: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)). If you come to Him now, you will find His loving promise to be true: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). The ones who are lost are those who will not come to Him now.
What happened to Ebed-melech? God promised him that he would be saved from the judgment which fell upon the city. Why? Because he was kind to Jeremiah? No. God said, “Because thou hast put thy trust in ME.”
It is not your good deeds that will save you, but it is your trust in God that makes the difference for all eternity. No good deeds could ever wipe out the sins of the past, but the precious blood of Jesus is enough to make you spotless when you stand before the throne of God. Will you trust Him for this?
Was King Zedekiah captured after all? Yes, he surely was. You may read that sad story in Jeremiah 39 in the Bible.
Jeremiah’s life was spared. God has special purposes and plans for those who trust and obey Him. We can only say, as Jesus Himself said long ago, “Come and see” (John 1:3939He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. (John 1:39)).