Jeremiah 38 reminds me of one of my summer jobs, installing septic tanks. At some point, someone must get into the hole to level the bottom, prior to lowering in the large concrete cylinder. On one occasion, the walls began to cave, leaving me and a co-worker 12 feet down, half buried and helpless on our own. The chapter begins with one of the shifty anti-religious leaders of Judah hearing, “what Jeremiah was telling all the people… Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonianswill live”. Shifty was not happy and went to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city”. Remember King Zedekiah was a weak indecisive unworthy ruler. He did what all men without conviction do, he simply looked away. “He is in your hands”. In the vacuum of leadership, spiritual collapse often follows. “They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud”. What a picture of despair. He was alone, in a deep dark hole, stuck with no help above. It is doubtful he even called out.
Next we read, “But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern”. This Ethiopian eunuch was an unlikely ambassador for the Hebrew prophet, but he found the king to tell him what happened, “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”. The king surprisingly took action, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies”. They did just that; “they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard”. Pulling Jeremiah up didn’t make everything perfect, he was still in captivity.
“King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet”. He was not filling out OSHA reports; he wanted to know what God told Jeremiah, “Do not hide anything from me”. Jeremiah knew the reality, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me”. “But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah”. Jeremiah again spoke God’s Word to the king, “If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down”. The king gave a candid answer, “I am afraid”. Jeremiah gave the king something to cling to, “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared”. In my own story from the pit, my young co-worker was pulled out first, leaving me alone with nothing to do, but look up and wait. Maybe you are down in the muck, or maybe you see someone else in despair. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 describes our human plight. “Two are better than one, because… If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up”. But Solomon adds a comment from someone that has come out of the pit, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken”. I believe Solomon’s words are for each of us today. This threefold cable is the very presence of God Himself. The Holy Spirit of God can lift us out of cisterns and out of hopelessness. He will bring us into the light of His presence and the help of fellowship. Is today the day you will hold firmly to the promise God has for you?