May the mumbling commence!
“Then they will know that I am the Lord.” It is a recurring phrase in Ezekiel 25 and 29. Though the Lord was pronouncing judgments on Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia for their part in desecrating Judah; the goal of the judgments was to allow them to know the Great I Am as the one and only Lord. Though the Lord was pronouncing judgment on Egypt for helping Judah to deny the will of the Lord, the goal of the judgment was to allow them to know the Great I Am as the one and only Lord. And, sometimes, those strange to Israel recognized the Great I Am as the one and only Lord well before the people of Judah. Read from Jeremiah chapter 38:
Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, "This is what the Lord says: 'Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.' And this is what the Lord says: 'This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.'"
Then the officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin."
"He is in your hands," King Zedekiah answered. "The king can do nothing to oppose you."
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him, “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city."
Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."
So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did so, and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. (Verses 1-13)
Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehucal, and Pashhur had top-notch Jewish pedigrees. But when they heard the word of the Lord through Jeremiah – the word of surrender and escape with your lives, they turned to the king and asked for Jeremiah’s death for discouraging the soldiers and people.
And King Zedekiah responded to them with all the strength of a limp noodle. He told them that he could not prevent them from doing as they wished with Jeremiah. Did he know that what they asked would be wrong? Maybe and maybe not. On his own, King Zedekiah was not willing to make a stand one way or the other. He, too had a top-notch Jewish pedigree.
Then, Ebed-Melech (whose name means servant of the king or of the god Melech) comes along. Ebed-Melech was the furthest thing from being Jewish. In fact, he was likely a eunuch to King Zedekiah – a descendant of someone taken as spoils in a successful war against his home country. He knew the wrong that was done to Jeremiah, so he made a stand for Jeremiah before the king. Ebed-Melech knew the will of the Lord in the case of Jeremiah.
What a slap in the face to King Zedekiah! The king gave Ebed-Melech thirty men to rescue Jeremiah from the cistern. Ebed-Melech made the stand that the king was not willing to make for Jeremiah and for the word of the Lord. Wisdom and faith comes from some unexpected places and people sometimes.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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