“This is what the LORD says: “Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.”
~ Jeremiah 38:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you good at making choices? Which is easier for you to make – a good choice or a bad choice? Have you ever had to choose between two choices – with neither choice being a good choice? You are going to find out as you become as old as your dad that you will at times have to choose between which is the better of two choices – with neither choice a choice that you would normally make under a normal life situation. Jeremiah – as one of God’s prophet spokesmen, had choices to make. Jeremiah had the choice of telling God’s specially chosen guys and gals what God had told him to tell them and to suffer the consequences for passing on a message that would be very unpopular with the city of Jerusalem officials or to keep his mouth shut. Jeremiah would end up at the bottom of a muddy cistern with the real possibility of starving to death because he made the choice of passing on the message that God told him to pass on to His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem instead of making the choice of keeping his mouth shut. The message that God told Jeremiah to tell His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem is found in Jeremiah 38. Verse 2 says, “‘This is what the LORD says: “Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.” ”’ God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem now had a choice to make between two worst case scenarios. Per what Jeremiah was asked by God to pass on to His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem, they had the choice of staying in their houses in the city of Jerusalem – where they would ultimately end up dying from having a sword stuck through them or dying from not having enough food to eat or dying from a killer malady or they had the choice of making their way to the country of Babylonia – where they would be able to live exiled lives. Which of these two choices would you want your dad and ma to make if you were kids who were living over 2600 years ago in the city of Jerusalem?
Jeremiah had a network of friends who were living in the city of Jerusalem. Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehucal and Pashhur were four of Jeremiah’s friends who helped Jeremiah get the message out that God gave Jeremiah to tell His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem the two choices that He was giving them to make. When Ebel-Melech heard that Jeremiah had been let down into a dark, dank mucky cistern, Ebed-Melech took it upon himself to go to the Benjamin Gate where Zedekiah was doing some official business to tell Zedekiah what an appalling thing that some guys had done to Jeremiah. Zedekiah at this time was the king who was reigning over the guys and gals who lived in Judah’s land area. Ebel-Melech may have been a servant of Zedekiah. Zedekiah gave Ebed-Melech permission to have Jeremiah pulled out of the cistern. Ebed-Melech could have made the choice not to have his friend Jeremiah lifted out of the cistern fearing what the officials in the city of Jerusalem would do to him but . . . after Jeremiah was lifted out of the cistern, Zedekiah decided that he wanted to meet with Jeremiah. Jeremiah gave Zedekiah the choice of joining God’s specially chosen guys and gals who had already been taken as exiles to the country of Babylonia or remain in the city of Jerusalem and face the consequences of staying. Because Zedekiah thought that he would be badly maltreated by God’s specially chosen guys and gals who had already been taken as exiles to the country of Babylonia – even though he was told by Jeremiah that he would not be ill-treated by them, Zedekiah decided that his best choice was to stay in the city of Jerusalem. If you had to choose between a couple of ill-fated choices – like Zedekiah had to do as he interacted with Jeremiah about having to choose between two choices with both choice leading to problematic outcomes, how would you decide which choice to make?
What would you do if you found that the bedroom that you chose to sleep in was in the flight path of bats as they left their indoor hangout for their nightly forays? What if you found that this same bedroom that you chose to sleep in was where rats scurried laps and staged races in an empty built-in bookcase that was located right next to the single bed that was in the bedroom? Your grandmaa and grandpaa spent one night in this bedroom in the vacated house that had been built by Charles and Jane Dempsey while they were missionaries living in Zapoco ministering to Ayoreos. Ayoreos are made up of an indigenous people group of guys, gals and kids who roamed as family units and may be still roaming southeastern Bolivia. Ayoreos have killed missionaries as well as others who have invaded the land area where they live. When your grandpaa plugged the broken window in the room that he chose to sleep in with your grandmaa the night that they stayed with a summer team in Zapoco, your grandpaa did not realize that he was blocking the bats’ exit from their indoor lair to their outdoor food supply – which were mosquitos. When the bats realized that their exit hole was plugged, the bats would do a loop inches over the heads of you grandmaa and grandpaa. Your grandmaa slept on the side of the single bed that was only inches away from the built in bookcase. Even though bats were swooping over her head and rats were racing back and forth in the empty bookcase, your grandmaa slept. Your grandmaa made the choice to not let anything keep her from having a restful night’s sleep while your grandpaa made the choice to . . . what choice do you make when a Satan minion buzzes you and/or a gofer messes with you? Your grandpaa hopes that you will always remember that God is always ready to help you.
Jeremiah 38 (595)