38:1 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah had heard the things that Jeremiah had been telling the people. They had heard him say,
When Jeremiah was relocated from the dungeon to the courtyard, he had more freedom to talk to the people. The military officers in the courtyard listened to his prophecies.
38:2 “The Lord says, ‘Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives.’ ”
Jeremiah was not a seeker-friendly pastor. He gave the same message to the people over and over again, Their only chance of survival was to surrender to the Babylonians and be deported to Babylon. Those who remained in the city would die by the sword, starvation, or disease. This negative message of death and destruction was not what the people wanted to hear, but it was the truth. This negative message was also treason to the ears of the military leaders. This kind of talk would bring down the morale of the soldiers.
Pastors today who faithfully teach the Word of God will not compromise with the world and tickle the ears of their congregation. They will expose evil, even if it is inside of the church. They will teach about the negativity of sin and the fallen nature of man. They will encourage their congregation to study and apply the written Word of God at the deepest level. They will teach members from other churches to beware of false teachers who are residing inside many of the surrounding local churches. They will not tolerate seeker-friendly churches who water down the teaching of the Word of God. They will expose evil in politics. They will warn the electorate that they need to be grounded in the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level so that they can effectively elect politicians who have mastered Bible doctrine. They will speak out against unbiblical issues, such as same-sex marriage, abortion, fornication, adultery, and liberalism. Communities will usually not support these kinds of pastor-teachers, because the congregation's lack of Bible doctrine will cause them to seek a softer and more entertaining type of message. Instead of learning the Bible book-by-book and verse-by-verse from the original languages, those with little Bible doctrine will flock to churches who replace the teaching of the Word of God with music concerts, skits, plays, and cute little sermonettes. Many other Christians will just decide to sleep in on Sundays, thinking arrogantly that they do no need to participate in prayer or deep Bible doctrine from the original languages. Jeremiah would not be welcome in most modern churches today. He would speak the truth, but no one would listen to him. He would not be invited back.
38:3 They had also heard him say, “The Lord says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.’ ”
Jeremiah spoke the truth so that he could save physical and eternal lives. However, this truth was treason to those of the satanic world system.
38:4 So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. This man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.”
The military officials wanted to execute Jeremiah for treason. Jeremiah was trying to save the soldiers from death by sword, starvation, or disease, but he was accused falsely of harming the morale of the soldiers.
38:5 King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. For I cannot do anything to stop you.”
King Zedekiah was a weak, puppet king. He was a cheap politician who wanted to please God, Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, and the Jerusalem city officials all at once. God will not allow His children to be political. He will knock them off of the political fence and make them choose sides.
38:6 So the officials took Jeremiah and put him in the cistern of Malkijah, one of the royal princes, that was in the courtyard of the guardhouse. There was no water in the cistern, only mud. So when they lowered Jeremiah into the cistern with ropes he sank in the mud.
The cistern was a deep well which gathered rainwater in the winter for use during the dry summer. There was no water in the cistern at this time, because most of the water had been drunk during the siege. When Jeremiah was lowered into the pit, then the ropes would most likely cut into his skin. The officials may have also thrown rocks on Jeremiah while he was in the pit. However, Jeremiah was promised immortality until he had completed his divine mission from God.
38:7 An Ethiopian, Ebed Melech, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. While the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate,
Ebed Melech means “servant of the King.” He was a Gentile Ethiopian court official from Egypt. The king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, meaning that he was judging cases.
38:8 Ebed Melech departed the palace and went to speak to the king. He said to him,
Ebed Melech left his official post at the palace and took his case to King Zedekiah at the Benjamin Gate.
38:9 “Your royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city.
Ebed Melech was the only court official in the entire city of Jerusalem who would stand up for Jeremiah. He was a Gentile. No Jewish person would make this stand for God’s Jewish prophet. When a man stands for the Word of God, then very few men will stand with him.
38:10 Then the king gave Ebed Melech the Ethiopian the following order: “Take thirty men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”
King Zedekiah ordered thirty soldiers to rescue Jeremiah from the military officials. One man could have lifted Jeremiah out of the pit. It would take thirty soldiers to defend Elijah from the Jewish princes who wanted him dead.
38:11 So Ebed Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasure room in the palace. He got some worn-out clothes and old rags from there and let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
Ebed Melech did not want the ropes to cut into the skin of Jeremiah, so he used old rags and clothes instead.
38:12 Ebed Melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes. Jeremiah did as Ebed Melech instructed.
The cloth and rag rope was sent down to Jeremiah.
38:13 So they pulled Jeremiah up from the cistern with ropes. Jeremiah, however, still remained confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse.
Jeremiah was rescued from the pit, but he was still confined to the courtyard of the guard. Jeremiah once again was giving access to instruct the Jewish people of the coming destruction of Babylon.
38:14 Sometime later Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I would like to ask you a question. Do not hide anything from me when you answer.”
The third entrance of the temple may have been a secret entrance from the palace to the temple. King Zedekiah wanted to meet with Jeremiah in private. He wanted to hear the truth from Jeremiah.
38:15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I answer you, you will certainly kill me. If I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
Jeremiah was reluctant to answer, because either the king would execute him or not listen to his advice.
38:16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.”
Zedekiah promised that he would not kill Jeremiah. He should have promised that he would listen and act upon Jeremiah’s advice.
38:17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, says, ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared.
Jeremiah reminded King Zedekiah that God is sovereign over all things. Zedekiah was warned that he must surrender to Babylon to save his life, his family, and his city.
38:18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.’ ”
If Zedekiah would not surrender, then he would be captured and the city of Jerusalem would be burned to the ground.
38:19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.”
Zedekiah had mistreated the Jews who deserted Jerusalem and went to Babylon. These deserters believed that Jeremiah was a prophet. They listened to Jeremiah and left Jerusalem so that they could avoid death by sword, starvation, or disease. Zedekiah was afraid that King Nebuchadnezzar would turn him over to these deserters. These deserters hated Zedekiah. Zedekiah felt as though these deserters would injure him.
38:20 Then Jeremiah answered, “You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I have been telling you. Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared.
Jeremiah assured Zedekiah that King Nebuchadnezzar would not turn him over to his Jewish enemies in Babylon.
38:21 But if you refuse to surrender, the Lord has shown me a vision of what will happen. Here is what I saw:
Jeremiah was given a vision of the future.
38:22 All the women who are left in the royal palace of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. They will taunt you saying, ‘Your trusted friends misled you; they have gotten the best of you. Now that your feet are stuck in the mud, they have turned their backs on you.’
If a king wanted to humiliate another rival king, then he would violate his harem. If King Zedekiah remained in Jerusalem, then his own harem would taunt and ridicule him. What Zedekiah feared in Babylon would take place in Jerusalem.
38:23 “All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.”
If Zedekiah remained in Jerusalem, then he would lose his family. He would be captured by the Babylonians. Jerusalem would be burned to the ground.
38:24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had. If you do, you will die.
Zedekiah threatened Jeremiah with his life, but Jeremiah had already been promised protection from God. No one can take the life of a Christian without the permission of God. A Christian is immortal until he finishes the task which God has given him. If the Christian refuses to partake of his divinely-appointed task, then God may bring him home and give his task to another. All believers should pray that God will help them complete the task which they have been called to do.
38:25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you. Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’
The officials were Jewish spies who were working with those in Jerusalem who opposed the king. They would later question Jeremiah about this conversation.
38:26 If they do this, tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’ ”
Jeremiah was to tell the spies that he was pleading with the king to not be sent back to the dungeon. It is biblically permissible to tell a lie, kill, steal, and deceive during times of war.
38:27 All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah. He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation.
The spies did question Jeremiah. Jeremiah answered these spies in the way in which King Zedekiah commanded him to do so. Jeremiah told the princes only what they needed to know.
38:28 So Jeremiah remained confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem was captured.
Jeremiah was able to continue his prophetic ministry in the courtyard until the fall of Jerusalem.