Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Jeremiah 38 Devotional

The King Who Feared Everyone

““They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the voice of the LORD in what I am telling you, that it may go well with you and you may live.”Jeremiah 38:20 (BSB)

Jeremiah keeps urging surrender to Babylon, and the officials want him dead for it (38:2-4). King Zedekiah hands him over, saying the king can do nothing against them (38:5). They lower Jeremiah into a cistern with no water, and he sinks into the mud (38:6). It is Ebed-melech, a Cushite official, who names the wrong to the king and pulls Jeremiah out, with old rags to pad the ropes (38:7-13).

Then Zedekiah meets Jeremiah in secret. He fears the officials (38:24-26), and he fears the Judeans who have gone over to Babylon (38:19). The one voice he will not follow is God's. Jeremiah pleads with him to obey so that it will go well with him and he will live (38:20), and warns that otherwise the king's own feet will sink in the mud (38:22). Proverbs says fear of people is a snare, while whoever trusts the LORD is kept safe (Proverbs 29:25). Fear of others promises safety and delivers the mire. Trusting God frees you to do what is right.

To think about: Whose opinion do you fear most right now, and what would trusting God look like in that situation?

About Jeremiah 38: Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern

Officials angered by Jeremiah’s call to surrender to Babylon get Zedekiah’s consent and lower him into a muddy cistern. Ebed-melech gains the king’s approval and draws the prophet out, and in a secret meeting Jeremiah urges the fearful king to surrender, then stays under guard until the city falls.

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