Wed.’s Devo - Jeremiah’s Persecution

Read: Jeremiah 37:1-38:28; 1 Timothy 6:1-21; Psalm 89:38-52; Provers 25:28 Zedekiah was Josiah’s third son and the last king of Judah. Even though Zedekiah didn’t listen to what Jeremiah said, he still wanted him to pray for him. The Babylonians had laid a siege to Jerusalem but when they heard that the Egyptians were coming to possibly help the Israelites, the Babylonians left Jerusalem and went to fight Egypt. This gave Jerusalem a small respite from the Babylonians. The Babylonians promised they would return, which they did. Jeremiah sent word to Zedekiah saying that the Babylonians were returning so he didn’t need to think everything was going to be fine. They would come back and burn Jerusalem to the ground. During that time Jeremiah left Jerusalem to check out some ancestral property he needed to claim. The city guard stopped him and accused him of deflecting to the Babylonians. Jeremiah tried to plead his case but there was no justice in the land so he was flogged and put in the dungeon. After a while, Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah to ask him if he had any message from the Lord. He said, “Yes, you will be defeated by the Babylonians.” (Lol!) Then he asked what he had done to be thrown in prison. He begged him not to send him back. Hezekiah had him put in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace instead. He was to be fed fresh bread every day which was more than the people were eating. Four of the officials complained to the king that the prophesies of Jeremiah were hurting the morale of the army. He needed to die as a traitor. Zedekiah obviously had no backbone because he told them that whatever they did, he couldn’t stop them. They took Jeremiah and lowered him into a muddy cistern with no food or water. Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian official found out what they had done and rushed to tell the king and save Jeremiah’s life. The king ordered him to get 30 men to pull Jeremiah out. He was returned to the courtyard where he remained. One day, Zedekiah called Jeremiah in secret and asked him to tell him his future. Jeremiah thought it was useless but told him anyway. If he surrendered to the Babylonians he would not die and it would go well with him. If he didn’t, he would die. The city would be burned to the ground. King Zedekiah was afraid to surrender to the Babylonians because of his fear of what his own people who deflected might do to him. Jeremiah promised that he wouldn’t be turned over to them. If Zedekiah refused to surrender, the women in his palace would be given to the Babylonan officers and all his wives and children would be led out to the Babylonians but he wouldn’t escape. (Sadly, that is exactly what he tried to do.) Zedekiah made Jeremiah promise not to tell anyone of their conversation. As soon as he was taken back, Jeremiah was interrogated about his conversation with the king. He didn’t tell them anything. In Timothy, Paul teaches that if your boss is not a believer then you should work in a way that he would have nothing bad to say about the Christ in you. If you work for a believer then you work to honor your Christian brother so he can be blessed. Our contentment should not be in the things of this world but eternal blessings. Trust in the world and money will eventually lead a person astray and bring sorrow instead of blessing. If a person is blessed with material wealth, they can use it to bless others. We should be rich in good works and generous to others in need. Lord, may we use the resources you have given us to bring blessing to others and glorify Your kingdom.