Jer 38:4-13

 

4 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.”

5 “He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”

6 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.

7 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,

8 Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him,

9 “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.”

10 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.”

11 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.

12 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,

13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

 

In the middle of Jeremiah’s story and prophecies there is the story of Ebed-Melech a Cushite. Cushite means he was from Ethiopia which means he was black. Ebed-Melech means he was a king’s servant and a eunuch. So when we read “official” understand that he wasn’t some hoity toity running around the kingdom getting great tables at booked up restaurants but was actually a castrated slave with a title probably in charge of the king’s harem. Not a job I would want that’s for sure.

In the story Jeremiah had been put into a cistern. (A cistern back then was an upside down water tower, built underground. When they got old they collected a lot of mud in the bottom of them.)

Do you think Ebed-Melech was the only one to know about Jeremiah being in the cistern? It stands to reason that if one servant knew about it that probably others did. Guards as well I would imagine. It was most likely the talk of the palace: “Who’s the screamin’ idiot in the well?”

Do you think he was the only one to disapprove of the action? There were probably others that thought that this was a horrible thing to do to a person. After all there had been no trial. No official accusation of any crime. No authorized execution. In fact even the people that did this were obviously not to secure in their actions either. They had told the king on the sly instead of accusing Jeremiah of treason in the open court. They had no real case evidently. So the king said do what you want I won’t kill him but I won’t stop you. And the way they lowered him into the well with ropes instead of just knocking him over the head and chunking him in there. They didn’t really want to be responsible for his death (reminds me of Jacob a little.)

 

Another thing was that it was very inappropriate for Ebed-Melech to go to the city gates and speak out in public about Jeremiah being in the cistern. A good servant may have said something quietly to the king, probably a better servant would have said nothing. But Edbed-Melech knew the best way to ensure the king would do the right thing was to bring it up at the place of judgment while the King sat at the gates to hear cases.

 

I don’t know how many of us would have left our post and gone before the king, risking his disfavor, to point out an injustice that he had allowed in his own house. I would hope some. I pray that I would.

How many would have volunteered to go get the ropes and help get Jeremiah out once the king said do it? –I would hope most of us! We are good at getting the ropes aren’t we!

“The king has said I can take thirty of you with me to help a poor sop get out of a hole. It’ll take you five minutes and you can feel good about yourself for a week!” Heck, I could probably get 30 just out of our Sunday school class! Yep us Christians are good with the ropes!

But here is the rub. This is the thing that has stuck with me like a sandbur in my sock since the pastor asked it: How many of us would have thought to get the rags?

 

Wow! The first time I heard the passage I didn’t even consider the rags? Then when the Pastor asked about them I didn’t ever remember what they were for. To wipe the mud off of him I guess? I thought it trivial. Ebed-Melech didn’t. He made it a point to get them at the same time he got the ropes. It was certainly important enough to Jeremiah! He made it a point to convey in his story!

“…to pad the ropes…”

The thoughtfulness.

The compassion.

It makes me shiver.

I am afraid I would be wiping my forehead of sweat and saying “Man, what was I thinking, I am glad he didn’t throw me down there with him.” Or maybe even scared to death that I would disappear in the night to come. At the least worried about what he would say to me the next time he saw me in the castle corridors. But this man under all this stress and going out on a limb like he did still had the thoughtfulness to consider the strain on pulling a man out of the mud whose skin had been softened by the moistness. How much more difficult it would have been to pull him out wet and exhausted verses lowering him dry and healthy.

I have pulled my share of cows out of the mud. I know what the skin can do after a night in those conditions. I know how easy it is to hurt a cow when its muscles are exhausted but I didn’t think of it when I was reading the passage. I doubt I would have thought of it in the heat of the moment.

 How many of us would have dislocated his shoulder or ripped his flesh from his body trying to save him? And then just thought well how terrible but at least you are safe. I wonder if I would just consider the wounds the fault of the wicked that put him down there? I wonder how many of us would have been able to be thoughtful in crisis?

I don’t know, I might possibly be very surprised but I know whom I thought of when the pastor asked the question. I know whom I would place my bets on. I know whom I would want to be in charge of getting me out.

Julie and Scott have their problems but I thought it was neat to see her kind of character portrayed in the bible (at least I saw her there). The scripture doesn’t say whether or not Ebed was a very likable guy, but I figure a black man penned up with a harem of women all day with his gooblies whacked off would not be very pleasant conversationalist!

So Julie might not be the one I would turn to for advice on matters of the heart but in a crisis or stuck down a well I think you could trust her to not only get you out but do it “thoughtfully”.

PS. God saved Ebed-Melech:

 

Jer 39:16

16 “Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite, `This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes.

17 But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear.

18 I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.’”

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 15th, 2007 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.