Exeter Temple
Bible Message notes: Sunday 9th
August 2015
Bible Reading: Jeremiah
38-39
Many people have heard of Jeremiah but the name of
Ebed-Melech is not so familiar. Yet, without him Jeremiah would have died a
slow and painful death.
Background
The Northern Kingdom of Israel
has already fallen to the invading Babylonian army. The same fate now awaits
Judah, but King, Zedekiah has allied the country with Egypt and they had
already sent troops to support the
Judean army and as a result they had
pushed the Babylonians back. Jeremiah, had continually prophesied any hope
Judah had of staying free, was to return to God. Jeremiah could see that Egypt
would only defend Judah whilst it was in its own interests. Jeremiah counselled
that the Babylonians would have their day, but all would not be lost for Judah,
if she learned from this lesson returned to the Lord and forsook worshipping
other gods. His advice sounded like treason to the Jewish leadership desperate
to cling on to power. On an innocent
family business trip Jeremiah was arrested, beaten up and imprisoned.
Secretly King Zedekiah knew that
Jeremiah was right but was too weak to challenge the decision of his officials
to issue a death warrant on Jeremiah, Jeremiah was taken and put him into the
cistern of Malkijah, the kings son which was in the courtyard of the guard
where without help he was sure to die.
Who was Ebed-Melech?
This was not his name, but a title for what he
did. It literally meant “Servant of the
King.” He came from the land of Cush, a general
term for regions of Africa south of Egypt.
Some modern translations state that he came from Ethiopia. The NIV lists him as an official in the
palace of King Zedekiah, other translations say that he was a eunuch. If he was
this possibly indicates he was a guard of the women’s quarters. It is also
possible he was a slave. His was a very
different status to that of the four officials in Jeremiah 38:1 who opposed
Jeremiah. They were members of the royal family and were very powerful.
Ebed-Melech, the man with no
name, was a foreigner and a lowly back-room servant, just doing his job.
But despite his position he became a key figure in Jeremiah’s rescue.
One commentator describes him as “a moral man in tune with God”
1.
He heard v 7
How Ebed-Melech heard about Jeremiah’s plight is unknown. Jeremiah had not had a trial; he was not to be
executed publicly. He was kept hidden away in the private drainage system
within the confines of the palace. The
point was to get rid of Jeremiah, whilst letting the world think he had
defected to the enemy.
Zedekiah should have protected Jeremiah but he claimed he could
do nothing.
v 5 “He is in your hands. The king can do nothing to oppose you.”
We are prone to saying, “Somebody should do something about this.” Sometimes we wish somebody else would go –
but God says, I want you to go.
Sometimes we wish somebody else would do the task needing to be done but
God says I have placed this in our hands; no one else is going to pick this up.
This is yours.
Christian speaker Ruth Hill likens the situation to being at baggage
collection at the airport. Dozens of
bags pass before your eyes on the conveyor belt. You don’t pick them all up but
you do step forward and you do collect those with your name on. Most of the
time, if you don’t pick it, it becomes lost luggage.
When we don’t really want to do something, many good reasons
surface in our mind to justify our passivity. It is easy to be absorbed in the
endless busy-ness of our small worlds: my study, my family, my home, my job, my
local church, my comfort, my future.
But Ebed-Melech’s sensitive heart would not allow him to remain
indifferent. He has been called the Good Samaritan
of the Old Testament
2. He went v8
Ebed-Melech could have brought Jeremiah bread every day to keep
him alive until the fall of the present regime. This would still have been an
act of sacrifice because in the current crisis they were in bread was difficult
to come by and it would have been an act of faith because it showed that
Ebed-Melech believed Jeremiah’s prophecy. This
would be all very commendable and sensible; helping but not risking too much;
caring but not compromising your own position.
But this was not what faith in God was calling Ebed-Melech to do.
Instead he had a two-fold mission.
1. - to expose the truth of what had happened to Jeremiah, clear
Jeremiah’s name so that the word of God would not be discredited.
2. to show some compassion for Jeremiah personally and literally
get him out of a hole.
It would take great faith and courage for Ebed-Melech
to go to the king and plead for Jeremiah.
He went to see Zedekiah when he was in a court
outside the palace where, as the king he listened to appeals for justice. Ebed-Melech made Jeremiahs plight public and
shamed the king into acting more justly.
Ebed-Melech’s words are bold. Kings usually don’t like to be
corrected and especially not on moral matters. Yet King Zedekiah knew
EbedMelech was right and he commissioned him to lift Jeremiah the prophet out
of the cistern before he dies”
Even with King’s permission, it was still a risky act to go and get
Jeremiah out of the cistern, given the power of the men who had put Jeremiah
there in the first place. Ebed-Melech
didn’t need the 30 men provided by Zedekiah to pull one man out of a well. He
needed them as body guards!
3. He used what he had
When Jeremiah prayed for deliverance he probably did not think that a bag
of jumble would be a sign of hope. It is
obvious that without the ropes Jeremiah could not have got out of the cistern
but the old rags made it possible for him to get out without further injury.
Ebed-Melech was in the right place to hear about Jeremiah’s need,
he knew where the king was to be able to bring the truth to light and who else
but someone who knew the palace as well as a servant would know that there were
worn out clothes in a room under the treasury!
For Ebed-Melech, serving the Lord, being the hero God asked him to
be, simply depended upon him being himself and using the opportunities and the
resources that were already his.
, “Just thanking God for making ordinary people like us
indispensable co-workers with himself in his plan of redemption for those who
are near to us and of course further afield. “ Commissioner Harry Read-
Facebook
1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to
serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in various forms.”
4. He held on
Amazingly,
Ebed-Melech had stayed at his post. He hadn’t gone over to the Babylonians, he
hadn’t run away back to Ethiopia or escaped to Egypt but this meant that the
outlook for him now was very bad indeed. His very title gives him away as a member of the deposed
king’s staff. Prison, forced labour or
execution is the most likely outcome for him.
In the midst of the
chaos Jeremiah starts to prophesy but his message is not for the nation, it is
not for the new governor or for the exiles in Babylon, it is a personal word
for a faithful servant of God, with no name who was alone and terrified.
“I am about to fulfil
my words about this city through disaster not prosperity. At that time they
will be fulfilled before your eyes but I will rescue you on that day declares
the Lord; you will not be handed over to those you fear. I will save you and
you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you
trust me.” (Ch 39:16-17)
God doesn’t always choose to physically protect
the people he is pleased with but he never overlooks them, even if others do.
Notice too, that even though he was afraid, God talks in the present tense of
Ebed-Melech’s trust.
We can be assured that whatever it is that God
calls us to get involved with, he knows us and he is aware of our fears, our
battles and temptations.
“And God is faithful; he
will not let you be tempted[b] beyond
what you can bear. But when you
are tempted,[c] he
will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
Ebed- Melech may never be in the Top Ten of biblical heroes but it is
unlikely he ever wanted to be, his main concern being to do what was right.
God Bless
Alan
