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!’”

Jeremiah was a prophet who was very much despised by many in his day. Because he only spoke what God told him to speak and not what the people wanted to hear, many people tried to shut him up or have him killed. His prophesies were prophesies of judgement for the people of Judah and Jerusalem because of their vile and wicked ways. They had totally abandoned the Lord and He, in His mercy, sent many warnings through Jeremiah and other godly prophets. But the people didn't want to hear about judgement. One time, a group of leaders had gone to the King Zedekiah of Judah to request that they be allowed to put Jeremiah in an empty cistern where he would be left to die. His crime was telling them what God had said. He told them that if they wanted to live, they would have to surrender to the Babylonians. The king agreed to their request, so they took hold of Jeremiah and lowered him into the cistern. It didn't have water in it but had a thick layer of mud at the bottom and when they lowered Jeremiah all the way down, he sank into the mud. They left him there to die a terrible death.

But when Ebed-melech, an important court official, heard what the other officials had done, he immediately ran to the king to appeal for Jeremiah's life. He argued this was an evil thing that had been done to Jeremiah and that he would die from hunger in that cistern. This caused King Zedekiah to have second thoughts, and he ordered Ebed-melech to take thirty men with him to pull Jeremiah out with a rope. Ebed-melech hurried to get the men and even thought of bringing rags and old clothes so that Jeremiah could put them under his armpits to protect him from the rope. They pulled him out successfully and Jeremiah lived to see another day. Not long after, Jeremiah's prophesies came to pass, and many of the people of Judah and Jerusalem were killed while others were exiled to Babylon. But not Ebed-melech. God had seen what he had done to rescue Jeremiah from certain death in the cistern and He was now going to reward him. Although many people died or were captured in the Babylonian siege, Ebed-melech would be spared and would be kept safe by God Himself.

Ebed-melech acted out of a genuine heart of concern. His heart went out to Jeremiah because of the predicament that he was in. Ebed-melech knew that Jeremiah was a godly man who spoke truth, so he broke with the Judean officials and put himself at odds with them in order to do the right thing. In the environment in Judah at that time, doing the right thing was a quick way to get into trouble with those in power. But what mattered to Ebed-melech was saving Jeremiah and though no one else commended him for it, God had seen the whole thing. Being kind and caring for others captures God's attention. Even when nobody else sees, God is watching all the time and He not only watches, but He registers what He sees in the annals of the books of life so that at the proper time, He can reward those who have done good to others. In Ebed-melech's case, it meant that his life was spared at a time when everyone around him was dying at the hands of the Babylonians, and he would be kept safe by Almighty God. Be kind and do good even when no one is watching and though you may not get back anything in return, because God sees every kindness and doesn't fail to reward everyone who is kind and who has a heart for others.

Pastor Joey Vazquez