38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’ 3 Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is [a]discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and [b]all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your [c]hands; for the king can do nothing against you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, [d]a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; 8 and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he [e]will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here [f]under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his [g]authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse.
14 Then King Zedekiah sent and [h]had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this [i]life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your [j]life.”
This passage shows quite the contrast between the princes of Israel–not the king’s sons, but rulers and leaders of the tribes most likely–and one Ebed-melech, who was a foreigner without a name. That is, Ebed-melech simply means “servant of the king”. And here in the middle of all of it is King Zedekiah, waffling back and forth, not willing to commit to anything.
In the first case, Zedekiah is confronted by these princes, and simply says, “…the king can do nothing against you.” Really? Who is the king here? However, he was only king because his brother was killed and his nephew carried off to Babylon. His rule was founded only in the decree of the very Babylonians who were laying siege to the city.
On the other side, the princes themselves were not much for showing backbone either. If the king was really so impotent, why didn’t they just kill Jeremiah outright? And still, even with Zedekiah’s permission, it seems they feared someone, for they still didn’t kill Jeremiah, lest their hands be stained by blood–even though they likely already were. Instead of a quick execution, they put Jeremiah down an abandoned cistern to starve the death.
On the other, other side then, we have the “servant of the king” who is bold enough to stand in opposition to the princes. Yet He could not do it alone, so Zedekiah tells Ebed-melech to gather thirty of his men and rescue Jeremiah. They didn’t need thirty men to lift a half-starved man from the cistern, but rather to stand guard if the princes should come back to try and finish the job.
The whole thing is capped off when Zedekiah, still living in fear, meets Jeremiah in secret at the temple. Jeremiah rightly points out Zedekiah’s hypocrisy regarding the attempt on Jeremiah’s life, but also basically says, “Look, I can tell you the truth, but you’re still not going to listen…” And true to character, the king promises to keep Jeremiah safe (again), but makes zero promises about actually obeying God’s word.
We can certainly give Zedekiah a hard time, and he deserves every bit, but we have to examine our own courage in the same light. Would we be so bold in such a situation? Are we even so bold, as to stand for God’s truth, in whatever situation we find ourselves now. Never mind being king of a nation on it’s last leg, we have enough trouble standing firm without any such notoriety or pressure.
It is instructive then, that Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth…” This is in a whole passage with various parts of the “armor of God”, and the one place where he says to “stand firm” is in regards to truth. If we are wishy washy like this world, where people make up their own “truth”, we will not stand for anything.
But just as Ebed-melech needed the backing of thirty men to carry out justice, we need (even more so) the help of our Father God to stand for truth. A big part of that means learning what God has actually said in His Word. The other? We must listen to His voice and not dismiss our conscience when we know what is right and true. Stand firm indeed, and “gird your loins” with God’s truth and justice.