Jeremiah 38:1-6 – Take a stand for God

To understand why the four opposers of Jeremiah were mad at him we need to understand the desperate condition of Jerusalem was in. Nebuchadnezzar’s army had laid a siege on the city, camped outside the wall, and surrounded it. The supplies to the city were s cut off, the ration was running low and there was a severe food shortage. Besides the cistern was dry. Depleted of water, those well only had mud.  In such a situation it was difficult to imagine how demoralized the people were. Any stout-hearted man would be disheartened and demotivated to go out and fight the war.

And Jeremiah’s message did not help. He was proclaiming that “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. This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.” He was encouraging the people to submit to the will of God and not fight the Babylonians.  

Therefore, it was not surprising that the four officials of Zedekiah namely, Shephatiah, Gedaliah Jucal, and Pashhur should be upset with the prophet. His message was bad for the morale of the people. So they came to the king seeking Jeremiah’s life. They told the king “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and 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.”

Here we see King Zedekiah as a man who could be easily swayed. He gave in to political pressure too easily. Such people would vacillate and be incapable of making tough decisions. They would rather pander to the opinions of men. The Scripture is clear that “the fear of man will bring a snare.” Yet Zedekiah would rather listen to men than to truth.  So he gave Jeremiah into the hands of the gang of four - Shephatiah, Gedaliah Jucal, and Pashhur – who then had Jeremiah thrown into a cistern, an unused well, and left to die.

 

There is a price for being true to God. Like Jeremiah, true servants of God with a message from God are not afraid to confront the status quo. They know their lives will be at risk since their message does not conform to societal norms. Will we remain true to G0d and be His true messengers in a world hostile God? We must not be afraid to share the truth even when it is unpopular to do so. Let us “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2).