Jeremiah 38:8-9

How faithful are we? To what extent do we go to spread the Gospel and the knowledge of God? Do we tell people only when we feel perfectly comfortable? Or do we distort the message so that we do feel more comfortable? Are we truly living the message?

Jeremiah had to tell many people God’s message as a life ministry. That didn’t mean just his close friends and other like-minded scribes and people. In chapter 39 he tells princes of Judah, and they, not being very inclined to his message, set about putting him in jail. Problem was, the ‘jail’ they put him in was actually a cistern with no water in the bottom. Instead there was mire. So he had no food or water, and if he sank too far into the mire he would die as well. What a pickle. When he finally got out (and we’ll look at that in a little while), what did he do but tell the king the same message! He did make the king promise not to kill him though. He didn’t change the message. And he didn’t shirk his duty. Remember his duty was to tell everyone God’s message, that he was given specifically by God. Doesn’t sound too different to us does it? Our whole life is a dedication to God, and a big part of that is telling other people about Him. Telling them the message He has entrusted to all of us specifically in the Bible. To what lengths do we go to accomplish this?

So, back to how Jeremiah got out of the cistern. It turns out that someone had overheard the talk amongst the princes of how they were going to treat Jeremiah. An Ethiopian no less. And he had the moral fibre and strength to go to the king and request that he be taken out.

‘Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying: “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 likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city.”’ (Jeremiah 38:8-9)

How often do we see evil and do nothing about it? How can we sit back in our self-contented shells, blissfully unaware of the evil that goes on around us? Being faithful also requires action. This Ethiopian was a foreigner and stranger to Jeremiah, but he knew right from wrong. How much more we who have the Spirit of God in us!