Ain't It Th Pits?

Ain’t It the Pits?

Jeremiah 38

Sin brings trouble. Proverbs tell us Pro 13:15 …the way of the treacherous (or faithless, or transgressor) is hard. And you know, we know from our own experiences that this is true, don’t we? When we’re disobedient, whether it’s to our Lord, the laws of the land, or many other situations we may find ourselves in, that disobedience or faithlessness will many times result in hard times, especially when we get caught. Sin brings trouble, but do you know what? Obedience can also bring trouble.

Think about all the people who followed God faithfully who had been killed, tortured, maimed, disfigured, lost their families, homes, jobs and even run out of their homeland because of their faith in Christ and willingness to follow Him? So, yeah. Sin brings trouble, but so can faithfulness and obedience. The difference between the two is that God is for those who get into trouble for their obedience while He is opposed to and warns those who are in trouble because of sin.

Pro 28:18 NASB95 He who walks blamelessly will be delivered, but he who is crooked will fall all at once. This is the underlying theme of the book of Jeremiah, and especially the 38th chapter, our text today. As another translation puts it, Pro 28:18 NRSV One who walks in integrity will be safe, but whoever follows crooked ways will fall into the Pit.

Will fall into the pit. Have you ever been in a pit? I’ve been in trouble many times in my life, and I’ve experienced things that made me think I was in a pit. But the pit I’m talking about isn’t one we fall into because of sin or our own stupidity. No, the pit I’m talking about right now is the pit that Jeremiah was put in. A pit that came from being faithful to and following the Lord.

1. Jeremiah’s Pit (38:1-13)

In chapter 37, Babylon had Jerusalem under siege but when they discovered that Egypt was coming to Judah’s aid, they lifted the siege and turned to deal with Egypt. Jeremiah, ever faithful to his call, had been warning the king, princes, and people of Jerusalem that surrendering to Babylon was their only option if they wanted to live. When Babylon lifted the siege, Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to take possession of some property there. The son of one of his enemies saw him, arrested him, and accused him of trying to defect to the Babylonians. The officials beat him and put him, Jer 37:16 …in the cells, and remained there many days.

King Zedekiah heard that he was in prison, so he sent for Jeremiah to enquire of the Lord for him, but because Zedekiah was weak, he ordered that Zedekiah remain in prison and be given a loaf of bread every day until the city ran out of bread. In chapter 38, the leading men of Jerusalem went to the king to petition him to execute Jeremiah because he continued to preach to everyone who would listen that if they stayed in the city they would die, but if they turned themselves in to the Babylonian king they would live. The officials accused Jeremiah of treason by discouraging the fighting men and the people. They want him dead, but apparently, they don’t have the nerve to do it themselves.

At their request to kill Jeremiah, the king told the princes or officials, Jer 38:5 …"Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you." The king didn’t want to be the one to kill the prophet, and admitted that he was powerless against them, so, do what you want to do. But it seems that they didn’t want to be the ones to take his life either. They didn’t execute Jeremiah, but instead, they threw him into a pit, or a cistern. Jer 38:6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king's son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

Even though he was already in trouble, Jeremiah continued to spread his message on how the people could be saved. Does that sound familiar? We need to ask ourselves if we have the same fortitude with our message of salvation through Jesus Christ. The people of Judah and Jerusalem could be saved and receive the gift of life if they would surrender and turn themselves over to the mercy of the Babylonian king. And guess what? The people of this community, our neighbors have the same problem. They’re also fighting a losing war, a losing war with God. If they would lay down their arms and surrender to the King of kings, they could be saved and receive the gift of eternal life. Like Jeremiah told them in chapter 21, Jer 21:8 …Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.