Read Joshua 14-15, Jeremiah 39, and Romans 4.
This devotional is about Jeremiah 39.
In this chapter of scripture we read how God kept his promise to Judah.
But, it was not the kind of promise you would want God to keep because what happened in this chapter was an act of God’s judgment, the fulfillment of God’s covenant curse. God had promised in his law and through the prophets that Judah’s idolatry and sinfulness would cause them to be taken from their land as exiles to a foreign nation. That’s exactly what happened in this chapter through the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (v. 1).
When the Babylonians broke through the wall of Jerusalem and invaded the city (v. 2), the entire nation of Judah was affected. Many people died and many of those who lived were carried off to live in exile in Babylon (vv. 9-10).
But this chapter describes the Babylonian captivity through the experience of three men: Zedekiah, king of Judah, Jeremiah the prophet, and Ebed-Melek the Cushite. Let’s look briefly at how each man experienced this traumatic event:
- Zedekiah could have saved a lot of lives and made his own life easier had he surrendered to the Babylonians as Jeremiah told him to do in 38:17-18. He did not surrender, however, and here in chapter 39:5-7 we read that he was captured, blinded, and taken to Babylon in chains.
- Jeremiah, by contrast, was left in Judah. Verse 14 says, “So he remained among his own people.” He had been treated terribly by his people when he preached the truth to them and urged them to repent. Now, although his nation was in bad shape, at least he was able to live in his homeland.
- Finally, Ebed-Melek the Cushite was given a promise by God though Jeremiah that he would be rescued from harm when the Babylonians invaded. Verse 18 says, “I will rescue you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear. I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life….”
There we have it: the story of Judah’s defeat as told through the experience of three different men.
Two of them escaped the worst of God’s wrath and were able to live out their lives in relative peace. One of them lost everything, including his eyesight.
What made the difference in the lives of these men?
Verse 18b told us: “‘you… will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the Lord.’” Faith in God and his promises rescued these men from the worst of God’s judgment. They had to deal with some of God’s punishment because that punishment fell on the whole nation and they were there when it happened. But they escaped the worst of God’s punishment because of their faith in God.
When God promises to deliver us when we trust in him, that is not a blanket promise of a trouble-free life. Jeremiah had a lot of problems in his life because he stood virtually alone in delivering God’s truth.
God’s promises to deliver us refer to the outcome of our lives, not every incident in our lives.
For Jeremiah and Ebed-Melek, trusting in God meant deliverance from the fate that most people in their society experienced–the fate of God’s wrath through Nebuchadnezzar. For us it means deliverance from God’s eternal wrath because of sin. You may face some difficult problems in life, even problems created by your faith like Jeremiah did. But, take heart, if you trust in God he will deliver you in eternity. God is faithful to his promises; we are called to trust in him to keep those promises and wait for his deliverance.