Jeremiah 39.16-18 16 “Go
and tell Ebed-Melek the Cushite, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of
Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city—words concerning
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 given
into the hands of 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.’”
Today, as we boys are wont to do on Thursdays, we
discussed theology and our discussion included an observation that much of the
time the Biblical narrative centers around those in leadership or notoriety;
the common Joe – at least in the Old Testament – doesn’t get mentioned all that
much.
However, in Jeremiah 39 an unknown named, Ebed-Melek is
mentioned, and a specific prophesy is given to him alone. God said to him, My
word will come true and disaster will take place but you, Ebed-Melek, will be
rescued and the reason for that is this: because
you trust[ed] in Me.
Not a lot is known about Ebed-Melek save that he worked
in the palace of king Zedekiah, and, he rescued the prophet Jeremiah from
certain death out of a cistern where he’d been thrown for prophesying the truth
to the people of Judah. Jeremiah ruffled a lot of feathers but he stuck to his
guns: God is going to bring disaster on
this place, and her inhabitants. Babylon done gwine wipe you all out.
So, because he persisted in prophesying truth (which
included impending gloom and doom) the local authorities thought it best to
toss Jeremiah into a cistern which had a deep pool of mud at the bottom. There
they intended to leave him until he died either of exhaustion, drowning, or
starvation. Whatever, he’d be quiet. So, Ebed-Melek went to the king and pleaded
to rescue Jeremiah from his fate and place him in the courtyard of the guard,
where at least he’d get bread and water.
And right before the city fell, God told Jeremiah
to tell Ebed-Melek the truth: ‘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.’
It seems God rewarded Ebed-Melek’s faith. Hebrews 11.6
states: And without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. I don’t know what ‘He rewards’
looks like to you, but to me it means, just that. God rewarded Ebed-Melek for believing
in Him, and doing what was right.
God rewards faithfulness. God looks at our lives and
rewards our faith, deals with our faithlessness; but abhors our unfaithfulness.
Ebed-Melek was an unknown, but one who did a good thing for a known, and
God saw what he did, and in the midst of utter disaster, spared his life.
Father, You love
people of faith and You reward the faithful. May what I do be for the sake of
faith, and may whom I serve be done to bring honor and glory to Your Name. I
want to live a life of ever-increasing faith; and I want to do good for the
oppressed. Help me God – Amen.
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