In
this chapter, just as in the former, we have Jeremiah greatly debased under
the frowns of the princes, and yet greatly honoured by the favour of the
king. They used him as a criminal; he used him as a privy-counsellor. Here,
I. Jeremiah for his faithfulness is put into the dungeon by the princes,
ver. 1-6. II. At the intercession of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, by special
order from the king, he is taken up out of the dungeon and confined only to
the court of the prison, ver. 7-13. III. He has a private conference with
the king upon the present conjuncture of affairs, ver. 14-22. IV. Care is
taken to keep that conference private, ver. 24-28.
|
Jeremiah
Put into the Dungeon; Ebed-melech's Care of Jeremiah.
B. C. 589.
|
|
|
|
1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and
Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the
son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the
people, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD,
He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by
the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he
shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. 3 Thus saith the
LORD,
This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army,
which shall take it. 4 Therefore the princes said unto the king,
We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the
hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the
people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the
welfare of this people, but the hurt. 5 Then Zedekiah the king
said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he
that can do any thing against you. 6 Then took they
Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech,
that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with
cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah
sunk in the mire. 7 Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of
the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah
in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; 8
Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king,
saying, 9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that
they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the
dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there
is no more bread in the city. 10 Then the king commanded
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and
take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king
under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and
let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 And
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast
clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah
did so. 13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up
out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
Here, 1. Jeremiah persists in his plain preaching; what he had many a time
said, he still says (v. 3): This city shall be given into the hand
of the king of Babylon; though it hold out long, it will taken at last.
Nor would he have so often repeated this unwelcome message but that he could
put them in a certain way, though not to save the city, yet to save
themselves; so that every man might have his own life given him for a prey
if he would be advised, v. 2. Let him not stay in the city, in hopes
to defend that, for it will be to no purpose, but let him go forth to the
Chaldeans, and throw himself upon their mercy, before things come to
extremity, and then he shall live; they will not put him to the
sword, but give him quarter (satis est prostrasse leoni--it suffices the
lion to lay his antagonist prostrate) and he shall escape the famine
and pestilence, which will be the death of multitudes within the city.
Note, Those do better for themselves who patiently submit to the rebukes of
Providence than those who contend with them. And, if we cannot have our
liberty, we must reckon it a mercy to have our lives, and not foolishly
throw them away upon a point of honour; they may be reserved for better
times. 2. The princes persist in their malice against Jeremiah. He was
faithful to his country and to his trust as a prophet, though he had
suffered many a time for his faithfulness; and, though at this time he ate
the king's bread, yet that did not stop his mouth. But his persecutors were
still bitter against him, and complained that he abused the liberty he had
of walking in the court of the prison; for, though he could not go to the
temple to preach, yet he vented the same things in private conversation to
those that came to visit him, and therefore (v. 4) they represented
him to the king as a dangerous man, disaffected to his country and to the
government he lived under: He seeks not the welfare of this people, but
the hurt--an unjust insinuation, for no man had laid out himself more
for the good of Jerusalem than he had done. They represent his preaching as
having a bad tendency. The design of it was plainly to bring men to repent
and turn to God, which would have been as much as any thing a strengthening
to the hands both the soldiery and of the burghers, and yet they represented
it as weakening their hands and discouraging them; and, if it did
this, it was their own fault. Note, It is common for wicked people to look
upon God's faithful ministers as their enemies, only because they show them
what enemies they are to themselves while they continue impenitent. 3.
Jeremiah hereupon, by the king's permission, is put into a dungeon, with a
view to his destruction there. Zedekiah, though he felt a conviction that
Jeremiah was a prophet, sent of God, had not courage to own it, but yielded
to the violence of his persecutors (v. 5): He is in your hand;
and a worse sentence he could not have passed upon him. We found in
Jehoiakim's reign that the princes were better affected to the prophet than
the king was (ch. xxxvi. 25); but now they were more violent against
him, a sign that they were ripening apace for ruin. Had it been in a cause
that concerned his own honour or profit, he would have let them know that
the king is he who can do what he pleases, whether they will or no; but in
the cause of God and his prophet, which he was very cool in, he basely
sneaks, and truckles to them: The king is not he that can do any thing
against you. Note, Those will have a great deal to answer for who,
though they have a secret kindness for good people, dare not own it in a
time of need, nor will do what they might do to prevent mischief designed
them. The princes, having this general warrant from the king, immediately
put poor Jeremiah into the dungeon of Malchiah, that was in the court of
the prison (v. 6), a deep dungeon, for they let him down
into it with cords, and a dirty one, for there was no water in
it, but mire; and he sunk in the mire, up to the neck, says
Josephus. Those that put him here doubtless designed that he should die
here, die for hunger, die for cold, and so die miserably, die obscurely,
fearing, if they should put him to death openly, the people might be
affected with what he would say and be incensed against them. Many of God's
faithful witnesses have thus been privately made away, and starved to death,
in prisons, whose blood will be brought to account in the day of discovery.
We are not here told what Jeremiah did in this distress, but he tells us
himself (Lam. iii. 55, 57), I called upon thy name, O Lord! out of the
low dungeon, and thou drewest near, saying, Fear not. 4. Application is
made to the king by an honest courtier, Ebed-melech, one of the
gentlemen of the bed-chamber, in behalf of the poor sufferer. Though the
princes carried on the matter as privately as they could, yet it came to the
ear of this good man, who probably sought opportunities to do good. It may
be he came to the knowledge of it by hearing Jeremiah's moans out of the
dungeon, for it was in the king's house, v. 7. Ebed-melech was
an Ethiopian, a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, and yet had
in him more humanity, and more divinity too, than native Israelites had.
Christ found more faith among Gentiles than among Jews. Ebed-melech lived in
a wicked court and in a very corrupt degenerate age, and yet had a great
sense both of equity and piety. God has his remnant in all places, among all
sorts. There were saints even in Cæsar's household. The king
was now sitting in the gate of Benjamin, to try causes and receive
appeals and petitions, or perhaps holding a council of war there. Thither
Ebed-melech went immediately to him, for the case would not admit delay; the
prophet might have perished if he had trifled or put it off till he had an
opportunity of speaking to the king in private. Not time must be lost when
life is in danger, especially so valuable a life. He boldly asserts the
Jeremiah had a great deal of wrong done him, and is not afraid to tell the
king so, though they were princes that did it, though they were now present
in court, and though they had the king's warrant for what they did. Whither
should oppressed innocency flee for protection but to the throne, especially
when great men are its oppressors? Ebed-melech appears truly brave in this
matter. He does not mince the matter; though he had a place at court, which
he would be in danger of losing for his plain dealing, yet he tells the king
faithfully, let him take it as he will, These men have done ill in all
that they have done to Jeremiah. They had dealt unjustly with him, for
he had not deserved any punishment at all; and they had dealt barbarously
with him, so as they used not to deal with the vilest malefactors. And they
needed not to have put him to this miserable death; for, if they had let him
alone where he was, he was likely to die for hunger in the place where he
was, in the court of the prison to which he was confined, for there
was not more bread in the city: the stores out of which he was to have
his allowance (ch. xxxvii. 21) were in a manner spent. See how God
can raise up friends for his people in distress where they little thought of
them, and animate men for his service even beyond expectation. 5. Orders are
immediately given for his release, and Ebed-melech takes care to see them
executed. The king, who but now durst do nothing against the princes, had
his heart wonderfully changed on a sudden, and will now have Jeremiah
released in defiance of the princes, for therefore he orders no less than
thirty men, and those of the lifeguard, to be employed in fetching him out
of the dungeon, lest the princes should raise a party to oppose it, v.
10. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God--we may succeed better
that we could have thought, for the hearts of kings are in the hand of
God. Ebed-melech gained his point, and soon brought Jeremiah the good
news; and it is observable how particularly the manner of his drawing him
out of the dungeon is related (for God is not unrighteous to forget
any work or labour of love which is shown to his people or ministers,
no, nor any circumstance of it, Heb. vi. 10); special notice is taken of his
great tenderness in providing old soft rags for Jeremiah to put under his
arm-holes, to keep the cords wherewith he was to be drawn up from hurting
him, his arm-holes being probably galled by the cords wherewith he was let
down. Nor did he throw the rags down to him, lest they should be lost in the
mire, but carefully let them down, v. 11, 12. Note, Those that are in
distress should not only be relieved, but relieved with compassion and marks
of respect, all which shall be placed to account and abound to a good
account in the day of recompence. See what a good use even old rotten rags
may be put to, which therefore should not be made waste of, any more than
broken meat: even in the king's house, and under the treasury too,
these were carefully preserved for the use of the poor or sick. Jeremiah is
brought up out of the dungeon, and is now where he was, in the court of
the prison, v. 13. Perhaps Ebed-melech could have made interest
with the king to get him his discharge thence also, now that he had the
king's ear; but he though him safer and better provided for there than he
would be any where else. God can, when he pleases, make a prison to become a
refuge and hiding-place to his people in distress and danger.
|
Zedekiah's
Conference with Jeremiah.
|
B.
C. 589.
|
|
|
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took
Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the
house of the LORD:
and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from
me. 15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it
unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel,
wilt thou not hearken unto me? 16 So Zedekiah the king sware
secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD
liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I
give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. 17 Then
said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD,
the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto
the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall
not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then
shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn
it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. 19
And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are
fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock
me. 20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee.
Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD,
which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall
live. 21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word
that the LORD
hath shewed me: 22 And, behold, all the women that are left in
the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of
Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set
thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and
they are turned away back. 23 So they shall bring out all thy
wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of
their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou
shalt cause this city to be burned with fire. 24 Then said
Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not
die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee,
and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou
hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to
death; also what the king said unto thee: 26 Then thou shalt say
unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not
cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there. 27 Then
came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them
according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off
speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. 28 So
Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was
taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.
In the foregoing chapter we had the king in close conference with Jeremiah,
and here again, though (v. 5) he had given him up into the hands of
his enemies; such a struggle there was in the breast of this unhappy prince
between his convictions and his corruptions. Observe,
I. The honour that Zedekiah did to the prophet. When he was newly fetched
out of the dungeon he sent for him to advise with him privately. He met him
in the third entry, or (as the margin reads it) the principal
entry, that is in, or leads towards, or adjoins to, the house
of the Lord, v. 14. In appointing this place of interview with
the prophet perhaps he intended to show a respect and reverence for the
house of God, which was proper enough now that he was desiring to hear the
word of God. Zedekiah would ask Jeremiah a thing; it should
rather be rendered, a word. "I am here asking thee for a word
of prediction, of counsel, of comfort, a word from the Lord, ch.
xxxvii. 17. Whatever word thou has for me hide it not from me; let me
know the worst." He had been told plainly what things would come to in
the foregoing chapter, but, like Balaam, he asks again, in hopes to get a
more pleasing answer, as if God, who is in one mind, were altogether
such a one as himself, who was in many minds.
II. The bargain that Jeremiah made with him before he would give him his
advice, v. 15. He would stipulate, 1. For his own safety. Zedekiah
would have him deal faithfully with him: "And if I do," says
Jeremiah, "wilt thou not put me to death? I am afraid thou
wilt" (so some take it); "what else can I expect when thou art
led blindfold by the princes?" Not that Jeremiah was backward to seal
the doctrine he preached with his blood, when he was called to do so; but,
in doing our duty, we ought to use all lawful means for our own
preservation; even the apostles of Christ did so. 2. He would answer for the
success of his advice, being no less concerned for Zedekiah's welfare than
for his own. He is willing to give him wholesome advice, and does not
upbraid him with his unkindness in suffering him to be put into the dungeon,
nor bid him go and consult with his princes, whose judgments he had such a
value for. Ministers must with meekness instruct even those that oppose
themselves, and render good for evil. He is desirous that he should hear
counsel and receive instruction: "Wilt thou not hearken unto me?
Surely thou wilt; I am in hopes to find thee pliable at last, and now in
this thy day willing to know the things that belong to thy peace."
Note, Then, and then only, there is hope of sinners, when they are willing
to hearken to good counsel. Some read it as spoken despairingly: "If
I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me; I have reason to
fear thou wilt not, and then I might as well keep my counsel to
myself." Note, Ministers have little heart to speak to those who have
long and often turned a deaf ear to them. Now, as to this latter concern of
Jeremiah's, Zedekiah makes him no answer, will not promise to hearken to his
advice: though he desires to know what is the mind of God, yet he will
reserve himself a liberty, when he does know it, to do as he things fit; as
if it were the prerogative of a prince not to have his ruin prevented by
good counsel. But, as to the prophet's safety, he promises him, upon the
word of a king, and confirms his promise with an oath, that, whatever he
should say to him, no advantage should be taken against him for it: I
will neither put thee to death nor deliver thee into the hands of those that
will, v. 16. This, he thought, was a mighty favour, and yet
Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, when Daniel read their doom, not only
protected him, but preferred and rewarded him, Dan. ii. 48; v. 29.
Zedekiah's oath on this occasion is solemn, and very observable: "As
the Lord liveth, who made us this soul, who gave me my life and thee
thine, I dare not take away thy life unjustly, knowing that then I should
forfeit my own to him that is the Lord of life." Note, God is the
Father of spirits; souls are his workmanship, and they are more fearfully
and wonderfully made than bodies are. The soul both of the greatest
prince and of the poorest prisoner is of God's making. He fashioneth
their hearts alike easily. In all our appeals to God, and in all our
dealings both with ourselves and others, we ought to consider this, that the
living God made us these souls.
III. The good advice that Jeremiah gave him, with good reasons why he should
take it, not from any prudence or politics of his own, but in the name of
the Lord, the God of hosts and God of Israel. Not as a statesman,
but as a prophet, he advises him by all means to surrender himself and his
city to the king of Babylon's princes: "Go forth to them, and
make the best terms thou canst with them," v. 17. This was the
advice he had given to the people (v. 2, and before, ch. xxi.
9), to submit to divine judgments, and not think of contending with them.
Note, In dealing with God, that which is good counsel to the meanest is so
to the greatest, for there is no respect of persons with him. To
persuade him to take this counsel, he sets before him good and evil, life
and death. 1. If he will tamely yield, he shall save his children from the
sword and Jerusalem from the flames. The white flag is yet hung out; if he
will be acknowledge God's justice, he shall experience his mercy: The
city shall not be burnt, and thou shalt live and thy house. But,
2. If he will obstinately stand it out, it will be the ruin both of his
house and Jerusalem (v. 18); for when God judges he will overcome.
This is the case of sinners with God; let them humbly submit to his grace
and government and they shall live; let them take hold on his strength,
that they may make peace, and they shall make peace; but, if they harden
their hearts against his proposals, it will certainly be to their
destruction: they must either bend or break.
IV. The objection which Zedekiah made against the prophet's advice, v.
19. Jeremiah spoke to him by prophecy, in the name of God, and therefore if
he had had a due regard to the divine authority, wisdom, and goodness, as
soon as he understood what the mind of God was he would immediately have
acquiesced in it and resolved to observe it, without disputing; but, as if
it had been the dictate only of Jeremiah's prudence, he advances against it
some prudential considerations of his own: but human wisdom is folly when it
contradicts the divine counsel. All he suggests is, "I am afraid,
not of the Chaldeans; their princes are men of honour, but of the Jews, that
have already gone over to the Chaldeans; when they see me follow
them, and who had so much opposed their going, they will laugh at me, and
say, Hast thou also become weak as water?" Isa. xiv. 10. Now, 1.
It was not at all likely that he should be thus exposed and ridiculed, that
the Chaldeans should so far gratify the Jews, or trample upon him, as to
deliver him into their hands; nor that the Jews, who were themselves
captives, should be in such a gay humour as to make a jest of the misery of
their prince. Note, We often frighten ourselves from our duty by foolish,
causeless, groundless, fears, that are merely the creatures of our own fancy
and imagination. 2. If he should be taunted at a little by the Jews, could
he not despise it and make light of it? What harm would it do him? Note,
Those have very weak and fretful spirits indeed that cannot bear to be
laughed at for that which is both their duty and their interest. 3. Though
it had been really the greatest personal mischief that he could imagine it
to be, yet he ought to have ventured it, in obedience to God, and for the
preservation of his family and city. He thought it would be looked upon as a
piece of cowardice to surrender; whereas it would be really an instance of
true courage cheerfully to bear a less evil, the mocking of the Jews, for
the avoiding of a greater, the ruin of his family and kingdom.
V. The pressing importunity with which Jeremiah followed the advice he had
given the king. He assures him that, if he would comply with the will of God
herein, the thing he feared should not come upon him (v. 20): They
shall not deliver thee up, but treat thee as becomes thy character. He
begs of him, after all the foolish games he had played, to manage wisely the
last stake, and now at length to do well for himself: Obey, I beseech
thee, the voice of the Lord, because it is his voice, so it shall be
well unto thee. But he tells him what would be the consequence if he
would not obey. 1. He himself would fall into the hands of the Chaldeans,
as implacable enemies, whom he might now make his friends by throwing
himself into their hands. If he must fall, he should contrive how to fall
easily: "Thou shalt not escape, as thou hopest to do," v.
23. 2. He would himself be chargeable with the destruction of
Jerusalem
, which he pretended a concern for the preservation of: "Thou shalt
cause this city to be burnt with fire, for by a little submission and
self-denial thou mightest have prevented it." Thus subjects often
suffer for the pride and wilfulness of their rulers, who should be their
protectors, but prove their destroyers. 3. Whereas he causelessly feared an
unjust reproach for surrendering, he should certainly fall under a just
reproach for standing it out, and that from women too, v. 22. The
court ladies who were left when Jehoiakim and Jeconiah were carried away
will now at length fall into the hands of the enemy, and they shall say,
"The men of thy peace, whom thou didst consult with and confide
in, and who promised thee peace if thou wouldst be ruled by them, have set
thee on, have encouraged thee to be bold and brace and hold out to the
last extremity; and see what comes of it? They, by prevailing upon thee,
have prevailed against thee, and thou findest those thy real enemies
that would be thought thy only friends. Now thy feet are sunk in the
mire, thou art embarrassed, and hast noway to help thyself; thy feet
cannot get forward, but are turned away back." Thus will
Zedekiah be bantered by the women, when all his wives and children shall be
made a prey to the conquerors, v. 23. Note, What we seek to avoid by
sin will be justly brought upon us by the righteousness of God. And those
that decline the way of duty for fear of reproach will certainly meet with
much greater reproach in the way of disobedience. The fear of the wicked,
it shall come upon him, Prov. x. 24.
VI. The care which Zedekiah took to keep this conference private (v.
24): Let no man know of these words. he does not at all incline to
take God's counsel, nor so much as promise to consider of it; for so
obstinate has he been to the calls of God, and so wilful in the ways of sin,
that though he has good counsel given him he seems to be given up to walk in
his own counsels. He has nothing to object against Jeremiah's advice, and
yet he will not follow it. Many hear God's words, but will not do them. 1.
Jeremiah is charged to let no man know of what had passed between the king
and him. Zedekiah is concerned to keep it private, not so much for
Jeremiah's safety (for he knew the princes could do him no hurt without his
permission), but for his own reputation. Note, Many have really a better
affection to good men and good things than they are willing to own. God's
prophets are manifest in their consciences (2 Cor. v. 11), but they care not
for manifesting that to the world; they would rather do them a kindness than
have it known that they do: such, it is to be feared, love the praise of
men more than the praise of God. 2. He is instructed what to say to the
princes if they should examine him about it. He must tell them that he was
petitioning the king not to remand him back to the house of Jonathan the
scribe (v. 25, 26), and he did tell them so (v. 27), and
no doubt it was true: he would not let slip so fair an opportunity of
engaging the king's favour; so that this was no lie or equivocation, but a
part of the truth, which it was lawful for him to put them off with when he
was under no obligation at all to tell them the whole truth. Note, Though we
must be harmless as doves, so as never to tell a wilful lie, yet we must be
wise as serpents, so as not needlessly to expose ourselves to danger by
telling all we know.
