Jeremiah 38:7-13 NLT
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with him. “My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.” So the king told Ebed-melech, “Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.” So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope. Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready, they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard—the palace prison—where he remained.
Jeremiah 39:15-18 NLT
The Lord had given the following message to Jeremiah while he was still in prison: “Say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will do to this city everything I have threatened. I will send disaster, not prosperity. You will see its destruction, but I will rescue you from those you fear so much. Because you trusted me, I will give you your life as a reward. I will rescue you and keep you safe. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
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The siege of Jerusalem, as Jeremiah had said was nearing its end. The Babylonians were going to take the city and the most of the inhabitants would be taken captive and forcibly exiled from their beloved country.
There was nearly no bread left at all for the people to eat.
Jeremiah was seen as a negative influence and a real threat to the morale in the city. What he was suggesting in giving up and surrendering was completely rejected. They'd die first.
And God even in this scene is keeping his promises. He is protecting Jeremiah, he is judging his people and he is involving the nations in his master plan and using them to bless his people and through his people he is blessing them.
You might wonder, what is an African (Ethiopian) doing in Jerusalem during the siege? How did Ebed-melech end up serving in the court of the Hebraic King? And of all the people who could be concerned for Jeremiah, the word of God and the rightness of the situation, it is this foreigner from a cursed people who makes it right.
God is bringing the nations into His kingdom. His sovereignty extends over the Ethiopians, Jews and the Babylonians alike. And in these accounts it is the people not born of Abraham who appear to be more in tune with the will of God.
And when it is all said and done and the judgement is complete God blesses Ebed-melech this foreigner. Who is listening to God? Who is responding with compassion? Who appears to be the servant of God and more godly?
Ebed-melech represents us, the grafted in gentile (Romans 11).
Who protects the prophet of God? Ebed-melech the foreigner. Even today in world politics Africa seems to all to often play second fiddle. But in God's kingdom they are there at significant moments and part of God's plan. Whether it is Simon of Cyrene, the Ethiopian Eunuch of Acts, or Ebed-melech here, God has the African playing very important roles in carrying out his plans. And this pattern continues through the beginning of the church where with Barnabas a believer in the Syrian church in Antioch is named among the prophets in the church with two African's Simeon and Lucius.
God's family and those who listen to God have always been from a diverse representation of the nations.
In fact, as can be seen here in Jeremiah these "outsiders" are found on the inside listening to God. Will you be one of the outsiders on the inside listening to God and being blessed by God?
https://soundcloud.com/wkbode/consider-the-following-ebed
https://soundcloud.com/wkbode/consider-the-following-ebed
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